Reaching a New Level in Your Business: 5 Tips for Finding the Best Fulfillment Center Possible
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One of the most critical areas of maintaining your business operations is order fulfillment. Being able to keep up with all of your customers’ orders without driving yourself crazy can seem like an impossible task. However, by having a fulfillment center to take care of this side of your operations for you, then you can spend more of your energy taking care of other things. Here are five tips you’re going to need to find the best fulfillment center possible.
- Determine What your Long- and Short-Term Goals Are
When choosing a fulfillment center, determine which ones can help you accomplish your goals. When it comes to short-term goals, focus on decreasing the response time of customer support, cutting down on the costs and times of shipping, and improving the accuracy of orders. Long-term goals should be expanding your fulfillment operations to multiple facilities, reducing the strain on internal departments, and expanding the product line itself to include more inventory.
Raise these goals with each fulfillment center on your list to see which ones have the right solutions in place so that you can meet them in a timely manner. Any that can’t should be scratched off the list.
- Evaluate Their Expertise in your Market
Look at fulfillment centers that are focused on the kinds of products you’re selling in the market. Each product has a different kind of need, and a center that isn’t prepared to meet these needs is not one you should consider. Inquire into their standards for packing and shipping, and how inventory is stored. If you provide small electronics in your business, you’re not going to want to choose a fulfillment center that solely works with clothing retailers. It’s just not going to work.
- Fulfillment Centers Should Appreciate your Values
It would be an easy choice to pick a provider who has the most affordable costs to save you money. But in this light, you’re just another source of income for them. Instead, go with a center that cares about your vision and values, and understands what you’re trying to achieve. Look at what the mission of the fulfillment center is to determine what their focus is. Their business model should focus on professionalism, customer satisfaction, and continuous advancement of the business.
- Levels of Personalization and Flexibility
For a growing business that is evolving over time, this is key. Determine whether a center will accommodate for the evolving nature of your business over time or if they’re methods are to rigid. Be mindful that after you have chosen a fulfillment provider, you should provide them with timely notice when these changes are being made.
- Customer Support and Communication
When you’re first looking for a provider, your interactions with them will give you a glimpse of how they treat their customers. Did you receive a timely response to your inquiry? Were your questions answered? Did their response seem knowledgeable? If not, then you’ll want to cross them off the list.
Exercise patience; you’re not going to find a provider on your first try. But it’s better to establish a working relationship with one that’s reliable instead of going with the first one you find.
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