Every business makes a promise to their customers. Fulfillment companies help businesses fulfill those promises.
If you’re in business, you know your main goal is delighting customers. Retail businesses know this better than anyone. Zappos, a company that started selling shoes online, trains their employees to deliver happiness over the phone. They’ll surprise customers with overnight shipping and other perks they didn’t ask for or pay for, simply because it can put a smile on their face. There’s something about opening the door to a package with your name on it that lights up the day. Though fulfillment companies might not be glamorous to look at (or frankly, read about), the fulfillment company is the linchpin in delivering happiness. And we don’t take that responsibility lightly!
Inventory management, quality assurance, shipping, processing, handling, stocking, pricing, warehousing and many more logistical aspects are involved in making that magic door-opening moment happen.
According to Entrepreneur Magazine, fulfillment is the process of receiving, packaging and shipping orders for goods. Wow, is it really that simple? Well, no. Here’s a quick history of inventory management and shipping. Don’t worry: we’ll try to keep it interesting!
A brief history of inventory management and shipping processes.
Just like all human endeavors, inventory management and shipping processes are constantly improving. The fastest piece of mail in the history of the Pony Express, Lincoln’s inaugural address, was delivered from Washington, D.C. to California in 7 days and 17 hours. “Stagecoach” Mary Fields took weeks delivering mail all across Central Montana in 1899. While early airmail by homing pigeons has been documented since the times of Persia, and airmail by hot air balloon had existed since the 1700’s, modern airmail with functional airplanes has only been around since 1911.
“Stagecoach Mary”, the first African-American woman route mail carrier in the United States
Today’s shipping speeds, capacity, and standards would be considered a miracle to someone who witnessed the first airplane airmail. FedEx and UPS can now fly thousands of pounds of freight across the country in a matter of hours, and customer patience has grown shorter the entire time.
Competing is getting easier for small businesses, thanks to data driven fulfillment companies.
From cloud hosting to outsourcing, there are a myriad of ways a small business can compete today in ways that would have been impossible just a decade or two ago. Customer Relationship Managers assist in the customer communication and support process. Companies can outsource raw material production to streamline the process at their in-house manufacturing stage. Working with a company like Big Sky Fulfillment, small businesses can focus on their business instead of in their business. A concept many entrepreneurs know would help them grow, but they just can’t quite take those first couple steps.
So delight customers, dial in your fulfillment and experience net-promoter-scores, customer happiness and overall customer satisfaction increase. Want to chat fulfillment (yup, there’s a team of us behind the scenes) just send us an email or give us a call. We’re here to help.