Accurate ETA’s and predictability

The customer is planning their business based on receiving their merchandise at a certain time. It is best to tell them what time the delivery will occur much in advance, as soon as routes are finalized. If there are delays due to traffic or other unexpected situations, you need to let your customer know so that they can make the necessary adjustments. The more lead time you are able to give and the more accurate your ETA is, the more comfortable the client feels about doing business with your organization because they know that working with you ensures their success.

Customers are not willing to be dictated by the delivery organization anymore. They are demanding more information and accurate information. Customer will book the order based on the ETA and has specific requirements on the time window in which the delivery has to happen. Your customers have their own tight schedules and busy lives which cannot be disrupted by a delivery delay. Customers are not willing to readjust their lives around your schedules. If there is a change, they want to know well ahead of the scheduled ETA so that they can replan.

How do you take care of all the possible changes/delays that can happen on the long distance travel with multiple stops? There is a probability that a delay can happen when loading or unloading the truck at each stop. Some customers may take more time and want to have a detailed discussion or an issue could crop up which may take more time than planned. How does the delivery organization know of these delays? In addition to the delays at delivery points, drivers may get into unforeseen traffic jam or bad weather condition which could delay the next set of deliveries.

Your customer may have taken permission from work to receive the goods at home and after waiting for a long time, he gets to know that after all the delivery is delayed and would be the next day, you know what you are in for! You may have a cancelled order or worse, a customer lost! Therefore, you need a way to have real time estimates and a predictable way to know the ETA. Gone are the days of just visibility where you could know where your shipment was at the moment. Customers want to know when they will receive too!

DispatchTrack software has the built-in ability to predict the ETA accurately. The solution also helps to capture the position of the vehicle, give inputs on the weather, safety, speed etc. and factors in multiple factors while computing the ETA. Driver can update the status of delivery while starting for the next delivery point and system recalculates and gives the ETA information. This helps the customer in knowing upfront if the delivery is early, on time or late. While the customers do want to know the ETA, they are also averse to a flood of messages/calls. Therefore, your communication should take care of the preferences of the customers while informing them about the ETA.