IN-SERVICE CONSULTATION: LET YOUR BUSINESS SUCCESSES TELL YOU WHEN TO INVEST MORE, DON'T EXPOSE YOURSELF TO DISAPPOINTING LOSSES FOR GETTING AHEAD OF FACTS.
'I have a video club and I want to implement the home service. Tell me, how much is needed ?! The truth is that I am new to this and I don't know where to start. I do not know whether to buy a car or motorcycle and the risks that each implies. I also want to know how to define the delivery area. '
ARMANDO AZAMAR, COATZACOALCOS, VERACRUZ.
'My business is hamburgers and I need to integrate home service. I say this because here in Campeche I have heard that our competitors base 70 percent of their business success on that service. How do I know what range I should have? How many motorcycles should I buy? '
FRANZ BERRON, CAMPECHE, CAMPECHE.
'I have a fresh food store (fruits and vegetables). I wonder how I could put up an efficient home delivery service. '
JUAN DAVID, IRAPUATO, GUANAJUATO.
Offering an in-home service is a great idea that helps save time for your current and potential clients (See: Take care of your clients' time, Entrepreneur, December 2001). However, the most important thing for this great idea to be favorable for your business is to make the delivery in the time promised to the client. It's about saving you time, and not the other way around, as unfortunately many businesses do.
In principle, I suggest that you don't want to cover too much to begin with. Generally introducing new services implies probabilities of mistakes if they are implemented without due testing.
Therefore I recommend the following
- It is best to start with a comfortable radius for deliveries, which do not take more than 15 minutes (from 5 to 10 km., Depending on your location, traffic and your means of delivery). I suggest not making a large investment until know if you are successful. Perhaps you can start with a bicycle (if the radius to be distributed is not more than 5 km) or with your own car. If there is sufficient demand, then you can evaluate the purchase of the first motorcycle or the first car. Don't decapitalize for the moment. You still do not know if your idea will be accepted by the clientele.I also suggest starting by offering this service, asking the customer for a minimum purchase (profitable for your business) that could be three hamburgers, five videos or from 60 pesos, for example. This so that it is not unaffordable.Otherwise you could discard this option in your business when, in fact, it is a good idea. Remember that it is very important to take into account that the client will want his order to arrive on time, so it is essential to calculate the time well. How can you do it properly ?:
Calculate your average delivery time according to the radius that you determine for your home service, find out the time required for the farthest place. Example: 15 minutes.
Measure your ability to deliver. If you only have one distribution team, and your average delivery time is 15 minutes, you can only make 2 trips per hour (be sure to consider your staff's return time). Take the opportunity to send several orders on a trip if they are from nearby areas; if not, consider it a different journey.
Make a control of your trips to be able to indicate the correct time to the client.
It can be a control sheet or a white board. Example:
If a person calls your business at this time, you can quickly offer the delivery time from 13:30 onwards. If they record each order in said control, they will avoid promising twice the same schedule with the same motorcycle.
If you do not meet the established delivery schedules, increase the time between each trip.
- It is important to consider the imponderables, since these can interfere in the time of their appropriate deliveries, such as:
The delivery staff do not know the area where the order is delivered. This means a waste of time hanging around. Be sure to ask customers for references so as not to be mistaken, in case your collaborators do not know the area.
Instruct the staff taking the order to consult the customer on their payment method. In this way, you can prepare the change (in a stapled plastic bag) to your dealer; And so you won't waste time looking for change.
If after several weeks of testing the service you notice that your sales are increasing, that it is affordable, and that more customers are ordering you, then consider increasing the service radius or the amount of delivery equipment.
Home delivery is something the customer is deeply grateful for if it helps you save time and allows you to access potential customers. Do it correctly and you will see that it is worth the effort.
