Driven to tears
Delivery drivers.
What do you think of them?
Most businesses use couriers or delivery drivers at some time.
We hear plenty about rude, tardy, sleazy, unfit, dishonest and incompetent drivers.
Yet little is said about their situations or challenges.
Here, then, are my observations – from both sides of the fence.
I hope you’ll add yours.
Heat stroke
One summer afternoon, a delivery driver came to Empire House. It was 45 °C (113 °F) in the shade.
As he heaved my monthly grocery order onto the porch, I compared the chilled bags to his flushed face.
He looked so wrung out that I offered him a cordial, which he downed in one draught.
I asked about his day. He said he had many more deliveries to make.
When I said he must be looking forward to regaining his air-conditioned truck cabin, he snorted.
‘The groceries are refrigerated, but I am not!’
There was no cabin air conditioning.
With peak hour building, he wouldn’t even get moving air from an open window.
I found this extraordinary.
Cold snap
Next month, I met a hot driver from a different supermarket.
This man’s van had cabin air conditioning, but with a catch.
With the engine already struggling to refrigerate deliveries in the back, there wasn’t enough power to cool the cabin too.
Any time the driver flicked the switch, the van became too slow to maintain his tight schedule.
The image of this harried porter was far from the smiling, clean-pressed pics on the store’s website.
I wondered how a company could have such little regard for staff so pivotal to its supply chain.
Grim picture
I was surprised again when a driver delivered my new camera on Saturday.
He explained that working on his own time was the only way to keep up with his employer’s crushing schedule.
He concurred that our city’s fast-growing population was making deliveries ever harder.
This reminded me of the day Flip Shelton had to triple park and hoick a box of her muesli over my fence, because she hadn’t a second to spare.
Licence to kill
If you ever find yourself in Taxi No. 1007, get out.
As the worst driver in my owner’s fleet, I always got the crappest car.
It had no mirrors, fuel gauge, spare tyre or air conditioning.
The boot was held down by an octopus strap. Sometimes.
The seat was so skewed, I had to drive with a street directory stuffed behind my back (which still got wrenched).
I hated that gutless, reeking wreck of a cab.
But it did make me more circumspect about taxi drivers.
Verdict
Though some may consider drivers ‘little people’, they can deliver a profound brand message at a customer’s door.
Do you drive or use drivers?
Do my views mesh with yours?
If not, why not?
Let’s get this debate rolling.
Paul Hassing , Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire
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As a online shopping site, we deal solely in delivered gifts, so yeah, I get to do some deliveries locally but on the whole we entrust our national deliveries to courier and have great success.
Thanks, Brendan. We’re getting some great insights into your operation.
As we love promoting excellence in this blog, would you be happy to name the courier who looks after you? Doing so could help the rest of us cut to the chase when we’re next in need. Only if you’re comfortable, of course.
How true, those drivers are the public face of the retailing monoliths. I can just imagine those in charge of the purse-strings looking at the costs to air-condition the drivers’ cabs and cursing them to workplace hell at the flick of a pen without a second thought about the impression a roasted and frazzled driver will make.
Reminds me of a certain client we almost shared once Paul and their attitude to suppliers. I’m always suspicious as a designer when I’m approached by a company with existing good design work. My first thought is ‘what went wrong with the talented designer who created this?’.
In this instance what went wrong was one of the partners in the firm, he was one of those people that seem to have been born with the conviction that the world is out to rip him off. Incessant nit-picking, quibbling and antagonism made it impossible to create good work for his company.
A good relationship with suppliers is essential for any business. Don’t you find that the better the relationship, the better the service? I know I’ve had rabbits pulled out of hats by printers when I’ve been in a jam deadline-wise, had inks delivered by the business owner in rush hour and other super-hero acts that go above and beyond because I look after my suppliers, not just paying their bills on time every time, but sending them referrals, taking time to give advice, sharing and caring wherever possible.
To bring it back to drivers, I think you can measure the integrity of a person, a business or even stretching the analogy, a country by the way they treat the vulnerable and voiceless.
You said it, Angela! You just said it all! Where to start …
I used to go to a thriving medical practice. The best I’d ever seen. When it was bought out, the monolith made some changes. The staff were not amused, but they stayed.
One day, the new accountant cancelled the water fountain in the waiting room. That did it. The doctors revolted and a mass exodus left the practice in ruins. The doctors reconvened at a new and better place, and now I go there. All for a water fountain!
That client we almost had was a shocker. When I suggested it might be a good idea to pay for a few of the 11 hours I’d invested in learning his needs, he looked like I’d pinched the Shroud of Turin and put it on heavy wash.
I say on my website that ‘we love our clients’. In many cases, I do feel great affection for them. I’ll wait up late at night to hear them on the radio, then email my praise and pointers before retiring. I don’t charge a cent for this sort of thing. I’m proud they’re out there, building their brand and doing good, worthwhile things.
Finally, you touched on one of my favourite analyses of society. I’m sure Stephen G will have MUCH to say about that point.
Thank you for your extraordinary generosity in commenting. I really couldn’t ask for better readers.
Just spotted a relevant post on Winston Marsh’s blog:
http://blog.winstonmarsh.com.au/?p=503
Those who seek to emulate the Corporate model of maximizing profits and minimizing everything else rarely see the connections between what they think are unimportant cuts and the clients running out the doors.
There is a big change coming and the wise among us have to make a decision where we stand: with the “maximize income at all costs” crowd or the selfless few. While the masses won’t understand what hit them until the Greater Depression is in full force, the few will have quietly created an alternate economy.
I hope you and your readers will consider joining us. More details in the post linked to this comment and another I wrote on the benefits of embracing Word of Mouth Marketing,
Thank you very much for visiting, Gail. I’ve long been impressed by your writings and I like what you’re saying here. I will check out that link with interest. Best regards (and come back soon!), P.
Great topic!
Delivery people. They have always been the foundation of commerce over here across the big water. It all began with the Pony Express. Dusty riders arriving with the mail pouch.
UPS, Federal Express, the United States Postal Service followed. They all make it happen here.
Such great marketing lessons too in branding and positioning. I learned some priceless lessons studying branding and positioning from Federal Express. They were originally positioned as the overnight letter and small package delivery company. They established a corporate-wide culture beginning with their drivers which I feel has been the foundation of their long-term success. I use this philosophy all the time. They told the drivers that when they walked into an office to visualize $150,000 stamped on the foreheads of every receptionist because they believed that was the long term value of this one office’s business.
This alone created the smiling and friendly and consistent level of service.
UPS got known for their clean brown trucks which are washed nightly, and their drivers are always friendly, helpful and nice.
I happened to be lucky enough to have an outstanding Post Office staff processing my mail and package sending – and I have heard plenty of horror stories too.
As a business owner I learned long ago that the performance of the person delivering my inventory could make or break my business. They are the front line in making much in the states move. Without them many businesses would fail. They always get my first smile, my first kind word, my friendly wave when I see them around the village, and they always get my inquiries about their family and how their day is progressing. I do this because it is the right thing to do.
Something many seem to overlook here in the states is how far we have come with internet commerce to actually arrive back at the same station. There are many who do not know the foundations of the whole direct marketing industry (now called internet marketing or ecommerce) was created over a century ago with the arrival of the Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Ward’s Catalogs. Someone had to deliver all these packages and merchandise. None of these companies would have survived as well as they did without and excellent delivery system available to them.
So we set up websites, we offer our products for sale, we get orders, we pack the merchandise and get it to the post office or have UPS or Federal Express pick up the packages. And then they are on their way. And you cross your fingers and hope everyone along the distribution and delivery line is on their toes and having a great day – because without them performing and acting on our behalf we’re screwed and out of business.
So I recommend being really nice to the person bringing you your package because someone else across the country is handling the packaged you shipped yesterday and you can only hope it’s being handled by a happy delivery person.
Cheryl
Naomi, can we please have a bunch or bottle of something really special delivered via UPS to Cheryl?!
Her amazing comment goes beyond what any blogger could reasonably expect.
Thank you, Cheryl.
A mere three words, but I mean every one of them.
Your three mere words are all I ever require!
This topic is very dear to me. Back in the early days of online book selling my store used to ship at minimum eight postal bins of books a day.
Now when I am standing on line in the post office I always like to gather small conversations with others waiting their turn. Usually I receive comments about how it looks like business is good, etc. And I like to comment “This is what internet selling looks like all across the country.” And then I like to go on and on about how in another post office somewhere else someone else is doing the same thing to get a packaged delivered to them…. and then I talk a bit about how they could avoid these long longs by buying locally…. and then when I’ve really got their attention I stress how online shopping is great and if they are going to do it (you know, buy through Amazon) to at least portal through my website so I can make a commission on the sale (never stop selling!).
Thanks for the platform!
Cheryl
Jolly good show, Cheryl.
I’ve never stopped being impressed at how you make your Amazon income sing by getting folk to buy through your portal.
I even got a mate to go through mine the other day.
It was the best 38 cents I ever made!
I truly know what you mean!
We, as internet marketers, have to stop assuming that everyone knows about this. Many are delighted to learn of the option of supporting local businesses this way.
The reality is, people are not going to stop shopping online, and they are not going to stop buying merchandise from Amazon, so the smart thing to do is to put yourself in the path of their shopping experience. I don’t care how many local businesses get their socks in a bunch over Amazon or eBay. They are not going to go away so become a part of the commission structure.
Besides, when you make shoppers aware of how they can help you it helps to make them feel a little less guilty about choosing the ease and convenience of Amazon buying versus driving into to town to buy from you or another merchant. Everyone wins, some just more than others.
Put yourself in the path of the cash.
Cheryl
Mate, I’m heading out to lay down in Hoddle Street this instant!
LOL!!!!
And may you be run over by the cash – repeatedly!
Hi Folks,
I would be very happy to become redundant here. Why? Because then I wouldn’t feel like the only one saying the stuff I do…today may be that day
“I think you can measure the integrity of a person, a business or even stretching the analogy, a country by the way they treat the vulnerable and voiceless.”
Dear Angela…I do not consider this a stretch at all…I consider it ‘uncommon sense’. I have been hoping for far too long that it once again becomes ‘common’.
“While the masses won’t understand what hit them until the Greater Depression is in full force, the few will have quietly created an alternate economy.”
Dear Gail…what more can I say but, dear Gail
2 questions though Gail:
1) I could not find your name on your excellent blog post. It’s on your comments (kinda), but not your posts…why? There appear to be 3 ‘commenters’ from GrowMap under the mentioned post – 2 of them you? (”Gail from Small Business Support” and “Gail from KeywordLuv”), but all have the same generic GrowMap Logo Avatars. I may yet be wrong but I only extrapolated that it was your post from the content and writing style in your comments. I think it would add a great deal to your site if you added your names and faces. In my apparently strange and unusual little world, ‘Word from Face’ is much more powerful than ‘Word of Logo’. And what’s in a name? A lot…if what you say about ‘word of mouth’ is true. And I believe you
2) ‘Alternate economy’? In light of the ‘archaic’ definition of ‘economy’ (i.e. “the management of household or private affairs and especially expenses” – Mirriam Webster Dictionary), what would you consider the ‘alternate economy’ might be?
And Dear Paul…you do understand the notion of becoming ‘a victim of one’s own success’ don’t you?
I reckon we may well have become ‘un-employable’ in the current ‘unalternate’ economy, because from the point of view of those ‘difficult clients’, what must we look like? 
Before I go, I reckon I’d best leave at least something slightly on topic
Like Paul, I have also been a courier. My cargo, like Paul’s was People. It quite fascinated me how so many people loved to complain about the exorbitance of Taxi fairs. To which my response was always the same:
I take it that you don’t use Freight very often? Did you know it costs less to transport a live Human on-call, across town, than it does to transport a cardboard box of similar weight and volume the same distance overnight?
To which I would enjoy adding another of my favourites – Did you know that I get in more trouble for beating-up a building than a person?
“I sincerely believe…that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.” – Thomas Jefferson, 1816
“A home is foreclosed in America every 7.5 seconds” – documentary ‘Capitalism; A Love Story’ 2009
“It’s class warfare, my class is winning, but they shouldn’t be” – Warren Buffet, World’s Richest Person, 2007
Lets talk about values… ;-P
And here is what may reasonably be considered the penultimate nail in the proverbial and not so proverbial coffin:
Dead Peasants Insurance
You know we’re soaking in it?…
Cheers
Stephen G
Hiya, Stephen.
These kindred souls are pretty neat, huh?
You’re so good at articulating the soak, I expect you may be called on to plug a certain oil leak.
That’ll put new life in the phrase: ‘money for old rope’!
Thanks for your valued views.
BTW, that Dead Peasants Insurance link is quite chilling.
Love your work Cheryl!
Naomi – thank you for your kind words!
I find myBRC to be a delightful mix of perspectives and I continue to be snagged by the topics.
And never being one at a loss of words……..
Cheryl
Ah, The Little People. They are the legs the entire table relies upon. The little perks such as air conditioning, water coolers, and a safe work environment are the wedges between the table leg and the ground that create stability for the entire unit. Take that wedge away to save a few pennies and you will find everything sliding off the table due to its sudden instability.
*sigh*
Nice comes free – it shouldn’t cost extra.
Lovely to see you back, Zoe. I like your imagery a lot!
Hi Paul
Those ‘kindred souls’ certainly are pretty neat
Don’t get me started on that bluddy oil leak. 8 months and how many ‘engineers’? Well at least if something ‘really’ bad happens, like an Asteroid or Climate Change, we can all feel assured that we our best and brightest didn’t have a viable contingency plan, or couldn’t figure out how to catch the water that falls out of the sky …that hundreds of years of human endeavour amounted to what? Homeless people, dead people and unstoppable oil slicks etc, etc ad bluddy nauseum. I feel so much better about paying tax now…don’t you?
But it’s ok…think of the insurance payouts? 5.9999 billion dead peasants…what a coo! ;-P
It’s heartening to know that the billions of us that have lived our lives in ’service to humanity’ have not lived and/or died in vain. There are 370 humans that are actually better off. It’s a ’step’…right?
Oh! And as always, you’re most welcome ol’ Bean
Cheers
Stephen G
Oh crap! I meant ‘coup’
Cheers
Stephen G
One of my esteemed advisors says I’m crazy not to provide a link when I mention an online initiative. Therefore, here is my Amazon portal:
http://astore.amazon.com/thefeiemp-20
It’s an easy matter to create your own portal. In fact, if there’s significant interest, I can do a post on it.
If you’d rather keep me in organic muesli, however, kindly do all future Amazon shopping via my portal. And please tell your friends. Especially if they’re responsible for buying supplies for large secondary schools!
The 4-15% commission comes from Amazon. Buyers pay no more.
We now return you to our regular programming.
Kudos!
Excellent decision Paul.
I have copied the address and will do my part to help you get run over on the path of the cash!
Cheryl
You are absolutely unreal, Cheryl! I’m extremely grateful.
No problem Paul! Always happy to help.
Might I suggest you do a post on “Show and Tell”?
You have an excellent group of business people reading your blog and embracing the concepts and ideas you write about. Why not have a “Show and Tell” day to let your community share with you what they do, if even passively, that other readers might not know about?
A sort of “help your neighbor succeed with referrals?” I do it up here whenever I can. By simply asking people what is going on in their business you become empowered to share that news with others. It serves two great purposes and you get to feel good about sending on the news.
Over and out for a bit. Have to go and see what “daylight people” do at this hour of the day!
Cheryl
That is a fabulous idea, Cheryl!
I often feel coy about including my links, but if we ALL do it, it’ll lift our entire community.
What say you, Naomi?
Is all the cash in Hoddle Street, or is there some going in Sydney too?
I’ll let you know the instant Empire coffers runneth over, Joanna.
As yet, I can still see bare boards, two cockroaches and a dead mouse.
I want to second Cheryl’s suggestion and raise you both one. If you want to do what she calls a “Show and Tell” why don’t we all do one at the same time and send our readers over to visit you?
Paul, I’m going to do my best to show you my vision of the importance of bloggers on small business. It starts with being willing to recommend Small Businesses and other bloggers and we already have a Blogger community that embraces that concept.
We make it easy and fun by using CommentLuv and if you join us between us we can connect the businesses that read your blog with bloggers who will welcome them.
Not all bloggers understand yet but since I am the Editor-in-Chief and Usability advisor to CommentLuv and there are already 20,000+ bloggers using it, more and more of them will understand how we can improve the economy for all by taking the Word of Mouth recommendations we have always shared with family and friends and spreading them online.
Thank you, Gail. It’s obvious to me you’re right at the cutting edge on these things. As a relatively low-tech person, I find the articles a bit overwhelming. I also worry about their applicability outside the US.
HOWEVER! You’ve never steered me wrong in all the time I’ve been following you. And that Good Millwork site you mention is truly one of the best I’ve ever seen. So I will persevere to get a handle on these exciting-but-slightly-daunting new tools and concepts.
I really appreciate you stretching my vistas, Gail, even though it stings a bit. Thanks again for putting so much value into your comments.
If any of our more technically gifted readers have comments on this comment (I’m looking at YOU Stephen H!) I’d LOVE to hear them.
Alternatively, Gail, to stop my brain exploding, what is one small, simple thing I could do today to begin this new path?
Best regards, P.
Hi Paul,
Thank you for taking the time to understand. I do my best to make what is extremely complicated as simple as possible and know that it still is not simple enough.
Everything is similar to learning to read. First just recognizing the letters is daunting but eventually we can write them, and then put them together as words and then sentences and then paragraphs…
Years later we can’t remember when we could read or write but we do. Each new concept we tackle is like that. We build on what we know, keep adding pieces of the puzzle and eventually – just as we can see the photo on the jigsaw puzzle once it is put together – it all starts to make sense.
The concepts I write about are 100% applicable to all people, in every country, in every business. Many Web sites and tools are better for specific locations as they are often U.S. Centric so leaders like you in other countries may need to identify or create similar sites for your country and let me know about them so I can help spread the word.
Thank you for the compliments about Good Millwork. Derek Semmler installed their blog, keeps it updated and migrated their existing content from their old blog. The are busy running their business so many of the posts you see there were edited by me. Some they write, some Jen Syrkiewicz writes for us and some I write.
The one thing I would do first is to start using CommentLuv. It has benefits even if you don’t have it installed but if you install it will do far more for you.
And if you know anyone who likes cash and contests the CommentLuv blogging contest we just announced is already up to $1850 in cash prizes.
Thanks a lot for your clarification, Gail. Please bear with me; I suspect I may be one of your ‘problem children’ in this area. Perhaps you can make the most of this by using me as your ’stupidity benchmark’!
I had a go at signing up for CommentLuv but became confused by the $1 and $5 charges. I’m so used to things being free on the internet, it’s daunting to see fees mentioned so early in the relationship.
Also, I got burned last year by Google’s $50 ‘free credit’ scam, which actually cost my credit card $10 of real money to activate.
As I firmly believe you to be a person of good character (who will probably relish the opportunity to sweep away my anxieties) may I ask you to clarify what I must pay for and when – if indeed I must pay at all?
Naturally, if you’ve bigger (and smarter!) fish to fry, I won’t be at all upset if you discard this clarification request.
At the end of the day, I do wish to feel the luv! Best regards, P.
Thank you for telling me this. Obviously we have some usability work to do to make that clear.
Using CommentLuv, signing up for CommentLuv, and downloading and installing the plugin are all free. The only things you would pay for are default links, premium addons and features for blogs hosted at ComLuv or if you want to buy advertising on the ComLuv site.
I gave you so many links because it can be challenging to find what you want quickly on the ComLuv site. That is one reason Andy brought me on board as Editor-in-Chief and Usability Advisor – because I wanted to make CommentLuv and the ComLuv site easier to use and understand. I still have my work cut out for me.
Thank you soooo much for being willing to provide feedback and figure out how to join us in the CommentLuv community.
I suspect you saw the featured post from the blog that talks about buying credits using a cell phone. Here are some better links for you to use.
First register your blog and set up your CommentLuv profile and then read the post on How CommentLuv Works,
To install the CommentLuv plugin click on the DownLoad tab and select your blogging platform. Here is the direct link to the WordPress version.
This comment links to my comprehensive post about CommentLuv in my blog. Don’t be shy about asking questions. Andy and I and any of the regular CommentLuv users like @BSwafford and @Kikolani are happy to assist any time.
Thank you very much, Gail. I shall continue my education with interest! Best regards, P.
Lacking threaded comments I am uncertain how to respond to Stephen and I don’t want him to think I am ignoring him. I no longer use my real name or image on the Internet because of very real privacy issues which you can read about in the privacy and data mining category of my blog.
Ironically it never occurred to me that using different keywords in the name field of my own blog might be confusing to some. I’ll have to rethink that. I will never again use a photo online as I have no intention of making it easy for stalkers or anyone who decides to round us up for any reason to recognize me – not that they get much chance as I do not travel any more. I don’t even have a car these days.
Honestly I do not understand the obsession so many have for names and images. I prefer substance myself and feel what I share at GrowMap is what is important and not what I look like, where I live or who I am. If it were up to me I would not use a name at all but that is apparently too far outside the comfort zones of many.
I ask anyone who believes those who want us to put our photos and every connection, relative, hobby and detail of our personal lives into a giant database and even allow Twitter, your vehicle or handheld GPS and cell phones to track your every movement to ask WHY.
WHY do some many sites like Yahoo ask for ridiculous “secret questions and answers” so you can “recover your password” when all you really need is an email address? Have you ever tried to actually use their questions for that purpose. (I did at Yahoo when a bank wanted to know the exact wording and answers in a Yahoo account, I created both at the same time, copied and pasted the exact information – and it didn’t work!)
Did you know that white pages sites now list the names and ages of your children and that the school they go to is publicly available. What do you suppose your neighbors or someone at their school would think if someone knew all your names, addresses, hobbies, location, etc.? I can tell you – most people would assume they were a friend or relative and let them have your child.
I know that because I know a con artist who can cash checks in a woman’s name with no I.D. for any amount and talk anyone out of anything. THINK before you share ANYTHING. When you have to answer those things, pick the most general question and give the most vague answer you can.
Example: where did you spend your vacations; “in the mountains” or where did you grow up: “in the country” or “in a big city”. Better yet, when it is available create you own question and answer even more general than theirs.
Already given away too much personal information? Add plenty of disinformation to make it harder for them to figure out what is true and what is not. See the posts in the category linked from this comment for more details.
By jingo, Gail! I knew you were one for high quality comments, but this is in a class of its own.
I am highly satisfied with and educated by your response. I can’t speak for Stephen, but I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t applaud your clarity and candour.
Thank you very much for taking the time to articulate your views in such detail.
Yep! Definitely applauding..great reply and very helpful information for those that aren’t familiar with keeping as safe as possible on the Internet:-)
It’s stuff like stalkers that I didn’t consider. Is that because I don’t live in America?…or is it because I’m an ugly bloke?
I agree wholeheartedly with your advice re: security and I follow those practices myself (especially re: secret questions and misinformation…e.g. I never, ever use my actual birthday.)
I suppose the other thing I’ve got going for me is that I’ve got nothing for anyone to take
. Which of course also has it’s disadvantages 
I’m just generally careful. My avatar and the couple of email addresses it’s connected to are all there is. And I’m very selective about the sites I use those on. I only contribute to a handful of sites. I’m hardly a ‘Social Media’ butterfly. I’ve got a Twitter account that was for my business and I use sparingly these days, I don’t use Yahoo, or MySpace and have never had and never will have a Facebook account. So I reckon the only thing folks could find out about me is the stuff I don’t mind them knowing about me. That said, if someone did want to find me, it probably wouldn’t be that difficult. For me, the image and name thing is just about a kind of signature that is personable.
I don’t put masses of personal information anywhere either. And even my Linkedin profile doesn’t offer any more contact information than there is here.
I figure that if anyone wants to steal my identity they are going to have to hack some major official database that I’m in whether I like it or not…and in that regard, I’m as vulnerable as everyone else.
I suppose because my internet usage is comparatively small, celebrity has never been an issue and therefore a consideration.
Oh! And I don’t feel ignored Gail. I reckon that anyone that gets worried about being ignored shouldn’t bother with the Internet
Thanks for your great reply.
Cheers
Stephen G
Onya,Stephen! Onya Gail! I reckon this kind of frank-but-polite Q&A is a cornerstone of our SBO blog community. Great stuff!