Because courier service involves interaction and dealings between parties who knows little or nothing about each other, integrity and trust are of paramount importance in any courier business if the organization is to stay ahead of competitors.

Integrity and trust are not built in a day, but a conscious effort brought about by premium service and honesty. We’ve already seen different ways couriers services can use bulk SMS effectively, with one of them is using bulk SMS for consignment delivery status. Transparency though is essential in any courier service and that is why clients must be able to get any information they need at any time from the organization. SMS can be used to accomplish this.

First and foremost, you must have a contact line for your business dedicated to the sake of communication with your clients. Clients must be able to at any time make inquiries, ask for updates, or forward complaints to the company. You can choose to use a phone number or a short code, but whichever you use, it should be very easy to remember. A client should be able to use SMS for the following:

• Ask about the due date for delivery of a package (either from the sender or the receiver)

• Ask about the status of the delivery, where the package is at the moment

• Ask about special offers or promos by the company

• Forward complaints about delivery issues, maybe failed delivery or delayed delivery

• Inquire about pricing for delivery to a particular place, and so on

At your base, you should have a system in place that monitors the messages sent by the clients and follow them up promptly. It is in this area of follow-up that bulk SMS again comes in. You should have your registered bulk SMS account on which responses can be sent to those making the complaints or inquiries.

You must have a phone number database of all your registered clients and have those numbers saved in your bulk SMS account using the online phonebook. It will also be nice having them saved with the names of the clients so that the responses made can be targeted to such ones. Also, addressing your clients by name gives them a sense of belonging and fosters relationships between both parties.

When you talk about one of the fastest means of communication today and at a low cost, SMS readily comes to mind. With this provision, you can also make a haven of transparency exist in your courier business, where everyone can air their opinions, commendations, and grievances, they can be effectively settled and the relationship was stronger.

What do you feel about the use of SMS for inquiries, updates, and complaints by clients of a courier service? We would love to hear from you.