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Well that's been quite a week !!
At this time of year most business go a bit quieter after Xmas and we've been the same. But its not easy to plan or accommodate for and always frustrating! Well we've had a bit of luck at the end of this week. The major star in the sky has been a request for a delivery to Helsinki, Finland - yep I kid you not ! Ok... no problem - customer called Thursday, mid morning, looking for delivery on Wednesday 18th. So arrangements commenced - that was I started asking for quotes from trusted other couriers. Then it started to unfold.... it was around 4.30pm, my customer sent me an email....errrr their customer would now like delivery on Monday 16th !!. The problem was I was on the road - well you don't read emails when you're on the road do you ? - at least I don't ! Got home (around 7.00pm) and, as always, needed to check emails, then my heart sank as I read the 'updated request' from my customer. There were a number of quotes that had come in and we'd had a few calls with regards to the delivery on the 18th. I contacted as many as I could about the change in delivery date - a deafening silence was heard ??!! So, off to bed, but after a rather restless night and then up at 6.30am to see if there'd been any updated responses. One possibility and two outlandish re-quotes.....?????!!!!! By this time I was on plan 'F' I think ??? Suddenly I needed to consider taking our newly acquired secondhand van. The biggest issue I had was that the tyres, while they are virtually new (they were on the van when I bought it!) and of good quality - they were NOT winter tyres. Remember, I was looking at travelling all the way from Suffolk into France then Belgium, Germany, Poland then Estonia, before finally taking a ferry across to Helsinki, Finland - that's ~ 1700 miles in case you're wondering? Had promised our customer a response by 9.00am Friday, but that was not to be as I was hanging out for a response from the one possibility. Then at 9.40am I got a call - sorry I cant do this change of dates !! Oh shit... 9.44am another call - Hi Steve, YES, we can do this, price is a bit higher.... Relief or what. So back to customer with 'updated price' - thank you I'll just check with our customer...... 30 minutes went... An hour went.... An email sent to customer asking for a response - we're conversing with them I'm told.... Another 30 minutes went.... The driver who offered to do the job came back to me asking what was going on (I'm being polite) Finally at 11.45am we go the go ahead ! Same day delivery can be really quite exhilarating, in that you just DON'T know when the phone goes just where you'll be asked to go - but this was just a bit more than a nail biting finale
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The horse breeding 'seasons' is pretty much peeking just now, with a number of semen samples already transferred around the UK. Furthest travelled has been to Fife in Scotland.
But today we are transporting an embryo and taking it to a stud farm in Shropshire. We only do this, maximum, a couple of times a year - but its always a good feeling doing these deliveries rather than the more often documents, replacement keys and forgotten passport. Give a wave if you see me - A14/M6 most of the way .... TTFN PS - I'll try to find out what breed of horse and let you know later  It's often thought that a motorcycle courier can only take packets and papers.
Well here's a piccy to show that definitely is NOT the case. Today we loaded 2 x boxes across the pillion seat - we put them in poly bags (to keep them dry!). The brown tape ensures that the corners and edges do not flap about and tear - that's it simple :-) Best of all, a happy customer getting their delivery on time - like only a motorcycle courier can do! The 1st August 2016 marks the start of our 8th year providing same day courier service. These anniversaries always tend to focus the mind on both the current and future challenges. This coming year will certainly be a challenge, with key indicators already showing that change is on the way and that we have to position the business to a) have greater resilience and b) to better harness these changes to ensure the business continues to grow and develop. So far during 2016 we've already felt a significant swing in customer buying patterns - in fact the patterns and trends we've become used to over these previous years seem now obsolete. So what of the future ?
Keep an eye out for further blog post and we'll keep you updated on our journey...... |
Steve....Hi and welcome to my blog. Hopefully this will provide you with an insight into the world of a motorcycle courier. Archives
January 2017
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