If your company deals in high-value goods, secure shipping is probably one of the most important aspects of your business. Considering that, you should conduct thorough research on this matter before starting a venture of this kind. This article is meant to help you gain some basic knowledge on the matter.
Outsourcing
There should be no dilemma between outsourcing and insourcing here. Besides the obvious economical benefits of outsourcing, in this case, it’s also about safety. You would have to spend thousands of dollars and years of training just to maintain reliable staff, and still take a security risk or pay costly insurance.
Companies that specialize in secure high-value parcel shipping, such as Unival Logistics, will help you cut these costs and avoid the risk. These companies employ capable professionals trained to safely deliver valuable cargo promptly using various anti-theft strategies, and they also offer insurance.
You should browse for companies that specialize in transferring your specific kind of goods and meet most of the conditions mentioned in this article.
Staying Updated
It’s very important to stay up to date with the most recent improvements of this service available on the market. It’s the only way to stay competitive and improve your company’s reputation. This also means that you should learn to recognize a shipping company that is constantly up to date with the latest innovations in their branch.
Insurance
When choosing an appropriate logistics company to partner with it’s very important to discuss their insurance policy. You should hire the ones that provide insurance proportional to your average shipping value.
Obviously, that way you’ll avoid companies that can’t insure the value of your shipment, but also the companies that form higher average quotes based on their highest available insurance that you might never need.
On the other hand, if your shipping value is showing a growing trend, it might be better to start with a carrier that offers insurance of higher value, which can also be criteria that will help you narrow down your list of potential partners.
API Software
Every liable shipping company nowadays offers API (Application Programming Interface). An API is a software intermediary that allows easier communication between applications. It will help your company’s software integrate with the carrier’s shipping software.
This way you’ll accelerate the communication with your partner company, which also means cutting the costs and optimizing your staff’s efficiency. It’s also of crucial importance that your customer can track the package 24/7.
Building Trust
The most important thing in a business like yours is trust. Besides the necessary trust between the seller and the customer, this also includes the trust between you and the logistics company.
You can start by hiring a reputable company, but you also have to work to build that trust. This means relying on automated communication and building and keeping good personal relations with the responsible individuals from your partner company.
Good insurance will cover any of your potential financial loss, but it won’t save your company’s reputation if your carrier gambles with your customer’s patience.
That’s why you should get to know your partner’s company to the core, which includes business dinners, frequent direct communication, knowing their employees, and visiting their facilities from time to time. After all, every business is a people business.
Timeliness
Keeping a good delivery time rate also reduces security risk and improves both your and your customer’s feeling of security. You’ll achieve this by always processing and shipping orders on time, but also by hiring a carrier with a good reputation for punctual delivery.
The best shipping company’s punctuality shouldn’t be affected by peak seasons and bad weather, but it’s also up to you to consider and eliminate potential risks. This means that maybe you shouldn’t ship to areas being hit by extreme weather or process orders during national holidays and weekends.
Your package might get stuck for days, which will raise security risks and cause unnecessary anxiety to you and your customer. Your customers will understand and appreciate your concern for their orders.
Geography
When taking the security risk into account, you should also think about the risk factors of the delivery routes and location. If you’re a worldwide shipper, you should be aware of the fact that there are many parts of the world with high-security risks.
That means that before processing the order from a foreign country you should investigate the current risk factors over there. If you conclude that there’s a high risk of your shipment getting hijacked or damaged, then maybe you should warn your customer and act according to their response (considering that your shipping partner company offers insurance).
You should also know some basic laws of the country of delivery because some of them might not allow your specific goods. Several items cannot be shipped by plane anywhere in the world. Your partner shipping company will also analyze the potential risk and might refuse to take it if it appears to be too high.
Taking Everything in Account
Besides tech gadget security solutions, trading with highly valuable goods is an attractive but risky business reserved for brave and responsible people. It requires confidence and style, but also careful and patient planning. Shipping is only a part of this business that requires thorough study, and this article should just be something, to begin with.
A good partnership is crucial for building a successful and reputable company, so it’s worth investing time and money to find a good logistics company and maintain a trusting relationship with them.
