Managing the Phone Contact

When the customer calls for the delivery/pickup of a unit, the conversation reaches a point when you ask the customer when he/she wants the unit delivered or picked up. This is when you want to find out when the customer needs the unit and when you can deliver or pickup the unit. These do not have to be the same date, if you can set the expectation of the customer that it is in their best interest if you deliver the unit early or pick up the unit during the week.

Deliver the Unit Early

This allows you to avoid a special trip and to schedule the delivery as part of a service route that is near the site or combine several deliveries/pickups in the same areas for the same day. Let’s look at what the dollar savings are if you can avoid a special trip for the delivery of a unit. The load rate is usually about $20.00/hour for the driver and about the same for the truck, i.e., $.50/mile x 40 mile/hr x 1 hr. So if you can avoid a one hour delivery or pickup trip, you reap the following benefits:

1. Save $40.00 in expenses

2. Have free hour to do additional work, i.e., grow the business

3. Increase customer satisfaction

Pick Up the Unit During The Week

The savings of a delayed pickup are the same as an early delivery. In addition, there is another business benefit if you can clean the unit at the pickup site. The clean unit can then be delivered to another customer in the immediate area. You avoid having to return the unit to the yard and then moving it back out to a customer’s location. This looks like a two hour savings or $80.00 in operational expenses.

If you can combine the delivery and a pickup with one nearby location and clean the unit on site you can save $160.00 in operational expenses and save up to four hours. Not bad for some planning. The amount of saving you obtain is determined by how well you manage your dispatch. Let’s look at some common practices in managing work schedules.