Cost-Effective Small Business Shipping Trends

 Time there was when to ship or not to ship was a big question. Not anymore. In present day business calculations, that isn’t even the question anymore. Your business must ship goods if it has to remain in business. What concerns every small business owner now is how to do shipping in the right way and at the right cost. Big businesses can afford to offer free shipping, discounts for large orders and certain-day delivery services but small businesses can hardly afford to. Because they have to remain in business and they must ship goods, small businesses need to rely on latest shipping trends to remain relevant. Some of these trends include offering customers more shipping options and taking advantage of the latest technological tools to help monitor and understand customer buying habits. Here is what is trending right now which you too can take advantage of.



01. Offering more shipping choices. Most shoppers expect to be given the opportunity to make choices at all times. For that reason, the more the choices you offer them, the better they like your business. These days, most customers crave quick service. You can therefore offer them choices like, allowing them to choose their shippers, which store or warehouse they want to pick up their goods, same-day shipping, rush delivery, same-day delivery or regular delivery.

02. Monitoring customer buying habits. You need high-tech tools to be able to do this. Tools like Google Analytics when properly used can help reduce shipping costs tremendously. This tool enables business owners to monitor and understand their customers’ buying habits. That way, they can target shipping services while saving a lot of time which otherwise would have been wasted. With Google Analytics, it is possible to easily analyze pricing histories, mobile usage, site traffic, shipping time and arrival and other transaction-related information which can help you gain some edge. With such information, you can streamline and control the sales process and eliminate duplicated or wasteful processes thereby saving your customer’s time and money.

03. Simplifying shipping costs. When you see big merchants increasingly simplifying shipping costs it is to boost sales. Many do so mainly to garner a larger share of online customers. Small businesses are increasingly towing that exact same line for same reasons. Here again choices come into the mix. When you simplify shipping costs by way of offering customers choices, they are happier to do business with you at reduced costs to them. They explore their full liberty to pick and choose how they want their goods to be shipped based on what shipping costs they are prepared to bear.

04. Shipment tracking. These days, many small businesses routinely deploy shipment tracking and expected delivery times to check costs. Shipment tracking helps shoppers plan their schedules around the expected delivery times of their goods. Small businesses can do shipment tracking easily because some delivery services do provide package tracking that shows estimated delivery time and route location. Customers generally appreciate if they know when and how they can expect delivery of their goods. With proper tracking, people are able to make promises and keep such promises. Delays and frustrations are largely eliminated. That adds great credibility to many small businesses and customers do respond positively.

5 Ways to Lead Your Business from the Front

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To be an effective business leader is no tea party. You must train yourself sufficiently and be ready to take responsibility at all times. That is about the only way you can expect to be effective while every other member of your team can have the confidence to look up to you to provide leadership. You can’t do so effectively and efficiently if you stay on the side or behind. The best place to lead from is in front.

Here now are 5 things you can do to position yourself to lead your business from the front.

01. Dress and act the part. To be a leader, you must be able to dress like a leader. You’ve got to dress to influence and not to impress. That way, your appearance will always be consistent with your personal and professional brand. Your employees will take a cue from you if they are impressed. That gives your leadership authority.

02. Demand and act on feedback. Not many employees willingly give feedback to their bosses. If you encourage them to willingly give you feedback, such information enables you to lead exactly the way they expect you to. If for example some worker tells you they believe you'd be more effective by communicating more clearly that no doubt will help you to work more to improve your communication down the line.

03. Always walk your talk. Any time you tell someone you’ll do something, be sure you do it. Never make promises you're not sure you can keep. Nothing kills your credibility quicker than a breached promise or unfulfilled expectations. If everyone in your team knows you to walk your talk, they tend trust you more. That confers real leadership legitimacy on you.

04. Support your employees to support your customers. Leading by example is one credible way to lead from the front. If your team members see you treat customers and other persons shabbily, they tend to take a cue from you. For example, asking your team to be courteous to customers and being a jerk to them yourself is not only incongruent but also hypocritical. The way you treat people is always a very clear barometer for everyone on your team.

05. Grow yourself to grow your team. The world we live in is rabidly dynamic. That affects all our businesses too. As a leader, you can’t afford to be in a rot when it comes to acquiring knowledge for personal improvement. Many of your employees will do as you do, if they admire your leadership position. That way, you are leading from the front. Ultimately, there are only two credible ways to effectively grow your business. You must be able to grow yourself and grow your team. Those are the two ways. All told, as you and your team improve, so do service levels, operational efficiency and everything else. Leading from the front can’t be any clearer.