DeliveryApp Director of Sales, Steve Gell shares his insights and tips on making the most of the peak season and ensuring you are planning effectively. Steve has worked in logistics for over 20 years and has a plethora of experience supporting businesses through peak periods.
When should businesses begin preparing for Peak Season?
“I think when it comes to Peak planning, you should start as early as possible. It might seem a bit premature but possible even on 1st January! We know each year there are new challenges to overcome, think about the weather for example, because of the time of year Peak is in. So, you’ve got to plan as early as possible and consider other peaks throughout the year. We’re talking about Peak planning in terms of Black Friday and Christmas but depending on the industry there are other major peaks to consider such as Easter and the summer period. As I see it, Peak planning should be part of a business’s strategy throughout the year.”
What should businesses be doing to prepare for Peak Season?
“I believe that businesses should be diving into the detail as fast as possible, looking into forecasts to understand their likely requirements and then working backwards from there. This gives you time to consider what suppliers and partners are required and allows you to build effective relationships ahead of time. If you’ve got a good relationship with several different suppliers, it can only help you as they give you several fallback options for the busy period.”
What problems or challenges do businesses need to overcome during Peak Season?
“In my time in logistics, Peak has changed massively. When I started around 20 years ago, the internet was only in the beginning, not everyone was buying online. There was no Black Friday or Cyber Monday and that changed everything. Suddenly there was this peak in demand that massively outstripped supply, for retailers to contend with. What we are seeing nowadays is, particularly with the larger brands, Black Friday sales are being extended to spread out the demand and enable better management of deliveries.
Other challenges businesses have to overcome are more reactive. For example, we were talking recently about the Royal Mail strikes that happened a couple of years back. Obviously, this had a massive impact on the courier networks as businesses still needed to get deliveries to their customers, but wasn’t necessarily something they could plan for. That’s where building those relationships with local suppliers is key. When something out of the ordinary happens, you want to have the confidence that you have other partners you can fall back on.”
How can businesses maintain employee morale during Peak Season?
“First and foremost it’s important to remember everyone is in the same boat. Whether you work in operations, you’re a driver or you’re a warehouse operative, everyone has an element of stress because it’s Peak! For us managing a sales team, we focus on making sure the team are well rested, take regular breaks and knows that we are there for them as their managers. We’ll sometimes get them excited by ordering a team lunch from whatever the brand of the day is, to give them an extra boost.
I think the problem during Peak is sometimes burnout within your team, and it is particularly common within the parcel sector. But you know, it’s inefficient to work that way! It’s also important to remember that it’s the festive period and so it should be enjoyable for your team. You need to get that balance and make sure that people aren’t resenting their work because they’re missing out on all the fun! “
How can businesses ensure customers have a positive experience during Peak, even when things go wrong?
“In my view, it’s about managing expectations. Some circumstances may be unavoidable but when this happens you don’t want to give false information or make false promises to your customers. Being honest and transparent, giving your customers factual information, even if it’s bad news, is going to be received a lot better than not giving them any information. People understand that its Peak and it’s busy, not everything can go smoothly all the time, but they want to know what’s going on.”
How can same-day delivery support businesses during Peak Season?
“One of the things with Peak is that even though we talk about planning, you can’t plan for everything. There’s always going to be something that comes along, whether it’s sickness, Covid or the weather, you will have circumstances that you didn’t predict. The beauty of on-demand, same-day delivery is that you can have the flexibility you need to be reactive when necessary.
One of the pitfalls some businesses fall into is they put off deciding to use on-demand until the very last minute as they see it as an avoidable cost until they’re in the eye of the storm. If you get to that point and haven’t built any relationships with an on-demand supplier, you will have a less effective experience. You’ll have drivers coming onto site that don’t necessarily know the processes and protocols. When businesses plan early and work with their preferred supplier throughout the year, they can build a regular pool of drivers, that know the sites and processes, so when you’re in an extra busy period they become a more effective resource.
It’s all about having a plan B or even a plan C, that are so often needed in logistics. With same-day, it gives you an easy plan B for when you’ve got a problem.”
How can businesses benefit from using DeliveryApp during Peak Season?
“DeliveryApp gives you great benefits during Peak, because it gives you access to our network of over 10,000 registered drivers – all vetted and approved by our in-house team. It means you can use them as overflow, emergency cover or just to support in covering additional volumes.
Live tracking gives you full visibility of your deliveries and means you can still communicate the delivery progress with your customers, even though you have outsourced. Direct communication with the driver gives you greater control and security of your deliveries. The beauty of it is that it’s 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So, you have instant access to the driver pool, whenever something crops up. Rather than having to think six months in advance, you can solve problems as and when they occur.
I suppose the other benefit is that although we are a tech company, we’re not a faceless platform. You can call our team up in Manchester or you can email us directly and you will be answered by a real person promptly. It’s not just about us sitting back whilst you use our tech – you get both aspects of us. We’re a tech business but with a friendly face!”
Leverage a network of reliable couriers to get your items moving instantly, whether it’s a simple A to B delivery or a complex multi-drop route. With DeliveryApp, you enjoy real-time tracking and instant proof of delivery, all in one user-friendly platform. This ensures your same-day deliveries are efficient, hassle-free, and completely transparent.
DeliveryApp is a nationwide delivery service that connects florists to a network of vetted- professional, courier drivers within minutes, for same-day or scheduled deliveries.
