As commerce become increasingly internet-focused, distance sales are growing ever more popular. Almost every modern business will find that they need to rely on parcel delivery to meet their customer’s evolving appetite for online buying and telephone sales. It is no longer enough to offer your products in-store; instead, you need to be able to send them straight to your customers’ doors.

The parcel delivery service you offer will play an integral part in building your reputation. Speedy, reliable and efficient online purchasing experiences will keep customers coming back for more; on the opposite end of the spectrum, a slow or shoddy service will send your buyers running for the hills and perpetuate a lot of negative reviews online.

So how do you make sure that you deliver the former rather than the latter service? Read on to find out more…

Take Care With Your Packaging

Making sure that the goods you send out are correctly packaged is vital if you want them to reach your customers in the same condition that they left your premises.

Ensure that all of your items are packaged in sturdy outer containers that are equipped to hold their weight. It’s important to prevent your items from moving during transit, so delicate items such as glassware and ceramics should be surrounded by bubble wrap or polystyrene chips to keep them in place and prevent any damage.

Once you’re certain that your items are safe inside the box, you need to make sure that they won’t end up spilling out of it, so seal the parcel securely, applying tape across all of the edges and openings.

Once this is done, take care to label your package correctly. It’s also a good idea to include a return address just in case your items get lost in transit.

Choose a Reliable Courier

There are multiple professional courier services available for businesses to choose from, so there’s no real excuse for making a bad choice. It’s important to do your research before you make a final decision, so be prepared to spend some time comparing price quotes and services. It’s never wise to make a decision based solely on cost, so take into consideration how quickly your parcels will be delivered, where the courier service delivers to, and what procedures they have in place to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Use this information to draw up a shortlist of around three companies, and then conduct some internet research to help you gain an idea of their reputation. The company you choose ought to come highly-recommended, like TNT, and should be able to provide testimonials or references from satisfied customers at your request.

Take Out Insurance

Most courier services should be covered by their own insurance policy if your goods are lost or damaged, and this will usually cover items up to the value of around £50. However, this is not always the case, so you should never forget to read and examine the terms and conditions before assuming that this is so.

For more expensive items, it is always worth taking out your own insurance policy. If you’ve chosen your courier wisely, the chances of anything going wrong are minimal, but this doesn’t mean that it will never happen. Thus, it’s always worth making sure that you’re covered if something happens so that you don’t find yourself left out of pocket.

Follow our three top tips to provide the perfect delivery service for your customers.

The life of a business person is hectic. Some have a great deal of difficulty staying organized, even with the latest technology available. Virtual receptionists can help organize your day, take some of your call volume and help with daily administrative tasks. This gives you more time to handle important business or spend time with your family.

Assistance Answering Calls
A business person can enlist the help of a virtual assistant to answer specific calls or excess call volumes with call forwarding. The ability to filter specific calls over to the virtual receptionist ensures that you receive only the most important calls. If you have an extremely high call volume, the assistance of several receptionists may be required.

Help Answering Emails
Maintaining customer service standards and answering general inquiries can take up a large portion of your day. Remote workers can reply to these emails with proper business etiquette and pre-filled responses to help resolve queries and customer relations items. Filtering specific emails to at-home workers/assistants can help route emails to specific persons or departments for faster customer service.

Appointment Reminders
It is ideal to provide the assistant with a weekly agenda. These services ensure that all business meetings and engagements are attended. Personal reminders often register easier than a digital notification. Reminders can be scheduled for personal or business appointments. An example is a reminder to leave early to attend a school function for the children.

Better Organization
Working with virtual receptionists and assistants helps organize the flow of your business and helps reduce your personal stress level. With a bit more time to take care of important business matters, get caught up on reports or just take a little time off, the joy of running a business returns. You’ll feel less frustration and confusion along with having a less hectic day.

The benefits of using these services vastly outweigh the added business expense. With more efficiency and organization in place, the cost easily pays for itself. One of the benefits of working in this industry as a service provider is being able to work with multiple clients at one time. Working with multiple clients in a single day helps maintain a full-time schedule.

For people who are invested in making sure that their properties just shine, it makes sense to call in a handyman, but have you ever stopped to consider what a handyman might be able to really do for you? As you look around for a handyman for Joondalup apartments or Perth office buildings, you will quickly see that there is a lot for you to consider. Make sure that you know what a handyman can do, and to make sure that you are taking full advantage of this service.

Office Renovation Help
How much easier would an extra set of hands be when you are looking at renovating your office? Don’t waste your contractor’s time by having them do every little task. Delegate, and you will find that office renovation for your Perth location will never be easier.

Gutter Services
Don’t wait until your gutters look horrible before you get them cleaned. Too many people put off this service and then have to hire a professional firm. Instead, why not take the time hire a handyman who can keep the gutters clean all year round? When it comes to gutter cleaning in Perth, a steady handyman has what you are looking for.

Property Management Made Easy
Isn’t it time you stopped worrying about whether you really needed collect that rent or paint that new office? Aren’t you tired of having to call someone in for every little chore? That is why when you are looking for property maintenance for your Perth location, you should get a handyman, who is capable of being on site and taking care of things whenever you need him to.

Building Maintenance
Remember that when you are looking for building maintenance in Perth that you must be willing to find someone who can be there and be great at the job. Building maintenance is no trivial chore, but when you have someone there all the time and ready to take care of things on a regular basis, things get a lot easier!

As you realize more and more that a good handyman is good for all kinds of tasks around the building, take a moment to consider Men Behaving Handy. As one of the most respected and trusted services in the area, they have the experience to do almost anything that you need, whenever you need it. Never be short a solution again when you decide to take on a good handyman!

MPS is an acronym for a process that revolves around active management and optimization of devices concerned with document output. The related business processes can be storage, security and communications issues. If you click here for managed services, you will learn a tip or two on how you could relegate business operations with regards to printing to other dedicated companies to ease off work.

Factors That Determine the MPS Needs Of an Organization

The size of an organization is a crucial determinant of the type of services that are required from an MPS firm. The needs of a small office with few devices and low volume of document transactions are different from those of large or midsized organizations with large proportions of document transactions and numerous devices.

The demands from an MPS firm will often be compounded by other factors such as multiple locations and larger deployments of the devices. Recently, the ICT sector has been advancing tremendously, and this also places a need for more robust analysis of the necessary MPS solutions for an organization.
Most vendors will specialize in either large MPS deployments or small deployments. Therefore, an evaluation should be thorough and comprehensive enough to allow the organization to clearly see what level of MPS response is needed, and thus, the right MPS firm to engage.

It is also essential that you deliberate on the culture of the organization with regards to the processes around documents. Cultural considerations often fine-tune the preferences of an organization’s MPS requirements.

Important Questions to Ask When Considering MPS Options

What is the organization’s commitment level in considering device standardization and rationalization?
What is the organization’s flexibility when it comes to changing procedures and processes that guide document workflow?

Is the organization ready to adopt flexibility in device brand choices?

How helpful will the organization’s IT department be in assisting in volume data collection in respect to document production and processing? The data captured should include aspects such as scanning, printing, faxing and emailing, among other things.

What is the organization’s level of flexibility in consumable purchasing, and is it acceptable for the process to be centralized to achieve better control?

Is the organization able to assess the delivery of MPS?

Is the organization’s need for change in document processes big enough to require MPS?

Changing to MPS had better be a gradual process; it is often easier to begin with small changes and progressively introduce more structural changes with time. Drastic changes may, at times, be so disruptive that they become counterproductive. However, one thing is evident; businesses stand to benefit from the operational improvements that come with MPS adoption.

It may be that you’re heading to the remote swathes of the UAE deserts, or the jungles of South America to teach some English abroad, or perhaps you’re hitting a foreign city for that coveted office job and promotion. Whatever your reason for leaving your homeland, be sure to check off this list of essential items while you pack…

Essential documents

Perhaps a little obvious, but unquestionably essential nonetheless, packing the proper documentation and forms is a must for any budding ex-pat leaving home. That means everything, from sealing up your financial accounts and checking all your visa papers are in order, to making sure you’ve got the right insurance and printing off the plane tickets for the ride out. It may be worth putting the lot together in a single document case, or e-mailing yourself digital copies, so it’s all accessible from the Cloud.

A pocket WiFi connection

With most ex-pats now leaving home to work (and just a select few enjoying the financial freedom to escape and kick-back on the Costa del Sol), staying connected is more important than ever. That’s why new technologies like the wireless router and USB roaming connectors are on the up, and make a great addition to any traveller’s line-up of gadgetry; allowing for easy web access at places like airports and coffee shops abroad, and making sure there’s never any downtime from the job.  Make sure you consider the costs of data roaming though!

A phrase book

Okay so this one may not go for those lucky ex-pats bound for a country that shares their native tongue, or those skilled in the vernacular themselves, but it’s very important for any leavers heading for the exotic climes of a land that speaks a language they don’t know. Yes, the chances are you will be able to get by with simple English and dramatic hand movements to boot, but that may not be the case, and on the whole, local people have a certain respect for those who try!

A Dual SIM phone

Why so many ex-pats continue to fuss with two separate handsets—switching over their SIM cards to their primary phone whenever they move between countries—is a mystery to a great many travellers in tune with the latest tech. Today, there’s now such a wealth of affordable dual SIM phones on the market that there’s really no excuse to keep fumbling about with those little chips, especially when the alternative means enjoying the lower roaming rates and international call tariffs of dedicated traveller SIMs too!

Plenty of books

There’s nothing more frustrating for the avid reader than scouring a city for bookshops that sell novels in their native tongue, only to be faced with a few outdated periodicals in some off-the-beaten-track news kiosk, or dog-eared Maeve Binchy romances on the shelves of second-hand emporiums. So, to ensure your literary appetite stays sated for good, be sure to take oodles of books to keep you going—at least until you can head back home to refill, or join the rest of the 21^st century in the electronic format!

Creature comforts

You can’t get Tim Tams in Europe, and the Slavic states seem to have something against Marmite. In America you sure won’t have brown sauce with your scrambled eggs and vegetarian sausages are nowhere to be found in Moscow. Put simply, stock up on your favourite creature comforts before leaving town—even if it means packing a freezer bag to keep the perishables alive.

As the new year gains momentum, many people are struggling to keep their personal finance-based resolutions. If you’ve made it your goal to start building wealth and operating in financial prudence this year, it’s important to note that you can make it happen. To get started, be sure to implement the following three helpful strategies:

1. Create A Budget.

You might think that creating a budget is “common sense” and therefore not worth discussing. Yet the reality is that many people neglect to create a budget, and this fact detracts from their personal finance skills. With that concept in mind, it’s important that you sit down and put together a detailed, thorough budget that displays your weekly or monthly income as well as the bills you are required to pay.

2. Familiarize Yourself With The Banks.

Whether you’re interested in getting a loan, obtaining a credit card, or earning more interest on the funds in your checking account, the key to realizing your objective will be familiarizing yourself with the banks. In recognizing the truth of this principle, be sure that you’re doing things such as developing a professional relationship with a financial accountant. Also know where your banks are located so that you’ll always be able to access your funds or professional assistance when necessary. For example, if you bank with J.P. Morgan, make a point to know where all of the J.P. Morgan private banking locations are within a 30-mile radius.

3. Optimize Your Credit Card Practices.

We live in an era in which having a credit card is important if you want to build good credit. At the same time, however, many people overspend on their credit cards and then run into challenges when their impaired credit precludes them from getting loans or engaging in other significant financial enterprises. Don’t let this problem manifest in your life. Instead, get in the habit of paying your credit card bills on time, looking into getting the lowest APR rates possible, and avoiding your inclination to make impulse purchases with the cards.

Summing It All Up

If you’re serious about building wealth in 2015, you should note that there are several ways you can make it happen. By using some or all of the financial principles outlined in the previous paragraphs, you can prepare for an economically lucrative year. Good luck!