The Real Cost of Transport to a Business
When talking in general to business owners and managers about their transport needs i commonly hear them say things like "I don't care as long as it’s cheap" and "it’s a necessary evil that costs". This sort of comments tells me that business in general doesn't see much advantage to one transport company over another. Well I'm going to try and explain why that couldn't be more from the truth!!
Is It Possible To SAVE MONEY By Spending a Little More?
Think about this…. Companies will spend thousands, Hundreds of thousands creating Brands. They will spend big money on a reception area of the company to ensure the first impression to anyone is that of strength, warmth and invitation. They will spend and spend on sales brochures and literature to give to potential clients, but then at the back end of the process they will put the stock being delivered to that client that has cost them thousands upon thousands of dollars to win, onto a vehicle you look and wonder how it passes registration checks for the sake of $5/hr or $10 for the delivery.
These three things below are important to think about.
- The representation of your business. The vehicle that turns up to your customer is representing YOUR brand that you have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars creating and then you devalue your business by representing it badly at the very end.
- Reliability. If your transport provider is unreliable or the vehicles and drivers they use are unreliable, then in YOUR client’s eyes, YOU will be the unreliable one.
- Presentation. This is not only presentation of the vehicles but the drivers too. There is a lot to be said for the saying "pay peanuts and get monkeys". In most cases what you pay for your transport will go hand in hand with the presentation of the vehicle that carrys it and the driver.
In Conclusion I would say this.
If a vehicle turns up to your premise to collect products to go to your clients and that vehicle has multi colours panels, is blowing smoke and leaking oil all over your driveway and is generally tired looking and under maintained and the driver then gets out wearing tracksuit pants and a HiVis shirt that is filthy then that is a fair representation of how your products and your client will be treated.
If a company or person cannot look after their own vehicles and presentation then why would they look after your products and presentation?
When you look at the TRUE cost to your business that Transport can have in the three points of Representation of YOUR business, Reliability and Presentation you have a lot to lose. From lost or damaged products, drivers, that due to low rates, take longer to do things trying to boost their wages which means late deliveries, and at worst, lost customers, why would your risk all the thousands of dollars spent winning clients for the sake of a few dollars at the end.
So YES, I do believe that the correct transport solution can in fact save your business money and definitely provides advantage over other companies.