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Your Shop on Wheels
How to get your drivers to deliver for your shop |
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Written by Bernice Klassen
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Your delivery drivers are the face of your business. Each time they interact with a floral recipient, they are speaking with a potential customer.
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As with any of your employees, your delivery person needs to be professional and courteous, and has to provide friendly service. The flowers in the back of the delivery van should be delivered intact, without breakage or any water leaks. After all, you’re handing flowers over to someone who could become a future client and floral consumer.
So what policies and strategies can you put in place to make sure your delivery people are on board with your shop style and service culture? Here’s a look at the major areas you need to focus on:
Professionalism: Even when using a delivery service, all drivers should have identification in the form of a t-shirt or jacket as well as photo ID tags. This not only promotes the industry as a legitimate business, but also provides security to the recipient. A flower delivery is no different to the recipient than a meter reader or a door-to-door salesperson. There is a level of caution required by the recipient, and as a business we must respect that.
Courteous and friendly: Your flowers often go out to recipients to help comfort them during delicate situations like a death in the family. Delivery drivers need to be aware that their conduct needs to be respectful, yet friendly. If they recognize the occasion as a birthday or a celebration, a more relaxed attitude is acceptable. Provide your driver with the words you want them to use when making deliveries. If you have your own drivers and don’t depend on a delivery service, be sure they state the name of your shop at least once. Your name and branding should also be included on the enclosure card, the envelope and the delivery tag. The driver needs to greet the person at the door, recite the name of the person on the delivery tag and state your shop name. It could go something like this: “Good morning, I have a delivery for Mary Brown from Jane’s Flower Shop. Is she here or is there someone here that can accept these on her behalf?” When someone answers, “Yes, I can,” the driver should then say, “Great! You are?” When the person answers with a name, the driver should ask him or her to please sign for the delivery and thank them for doing so, and the conversation should end with something like this: “Thanks again. Jane’s Flower Shop appreciates the opportunity to serve you. Have a great day.”
Undamaged designs: Teach your drivers the correct way to handle flowers and the importance of temperature. If you live in most provinces in Canada, it takes three seconds to freeze flowers and about five to 10 minutes to fry them! Work with your drivers to make the process as simple as possible. You should also spend time with your designers and packers to ensure the mechanics are in place and the flowers are securely positioned in delivery packages. Having a review session prior to a holiday would be a great way to show each person his or her importance in the final outcome.
If the driver feels the arrangement may have been damaged in the delivery process, they should offer to wait until the recipient has unpacked the flowers, to verify that the blooms are in good condition. Some drivers are even good enough to inspect prior to delivery, and can make adjustments to broken stems and other issues themselves.
Deliveries done in a timely manner: Communication is the key. If you have your own drivers, they should be the first ones in the shop in the morning. They should organize their entire day based on special time requirements, overall traffic, construction and weather. A white board dividing the deliveries into quadrants or timeframes is a good idea. Call ahead when possible to find out best delivery times. Have a “check in” system to gauge where your drivers are, how many deliveries are still in their vehicle and what is the expected time back at the shop. If timely deliveries are an issue, have a sheet with the list of deliveries and the time they were delivered. This could be handed in at the end of the day with a signature. Doing so can help you could verify, in the event of customer questioning, the time of delivery, and help you track a design to determine whether it was successfully delivered, brought back to the shop or left with a neighbour.
Using a delivery service is a bit different, but the main principles still apply. Speak with the owner of your service as to what your expectations are, and work together to come up with a way to meet these requirements.
Find the right people: Though there is a level of physical ability required, one of the best places to recruit your driving staff is the local retired/semi-retired community. Life experience can afford a higher level of empathy, often a better attitude on the road and patience, as well as a greater level of commitment to your business. More mature personnel tend to exude a more secure experience for your customer when opening their door to a stranger. That’s not to say a young person cannot provide the services you require. In fact, sometimes, when your business has lots of deliveries that require walking, stairs, and heavier packages, younger could be better. At the end of the day, you need to examine what works for your set up. Overall, the personality and work ethic of the driver should be the clincher.
In the flower shop, driving is a profession, just like designing or selling. It carries with it its share of frustrations, not the least of which are traffic jams and bad drivers. Your delivery people need to be respected for their contribution to the business and rewarded for accident-free, efficient and friendly service. If you show them your respect, they will in turn respect your business, and deliver that extra service that makes such a difference to you and your customers.
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