Revealing our secrets

Thank you for all your comments last week on the progress of our new website, it’s so good to hear all the opinions and to know we’re on the right track.

One of our key objectives with the re-design is to make the website more customer focussed so that it’s easier for you to find what you need.

We’ve also been busy working on how we present our product and service information offline so that it’s as relevant to you as possible. We know it can be confusing! We do have lots of products and services, many of which you’ve probably never even heard of. It can sometimes seem that they are our best kept secrets.

So we’ve grouped together all our products and services into four fold-out Solutions Guides – great for putting up on the wall, or just keeping to refer to. Each guide will give you an introduction to all the relevant offerings and tell you where to go to find out more on our website.

There’s a Solutions Guide on how we can help Kiwi business who are exporting, another for those of you who are distance selling, a third on finding and keeping good customers, and the fourth one covers how we can generally help make business life easier.

If you’d like a free copy of any or all of these Solution Guides simply call us during business hours on 0800 501 501 and select option 1 to talk to our Business Team.

Tell us what you think of our new website design

A big thanks to everyone who volunteered for this week’s user testing – it was great to get all the feedback and insights – they are proving invaluable.

Now we thought it was time to share the developments to date with all our redline readers and ask you what you think.

We’re redesigning our website because customers told us our current website isn’t customer focused enough. So now we’re trying to make it easier for you to use by creating clearer pathways to information, and making sure the content is relevant, easy to understand and takes you on the right path to complete your transaction.

Click each of the images to the right of this article to enlarge and then tell us how we’re doing - what works for you, what you like, what doesn’t work and what you don’t like. We’d really love to include your comments and feedback in the next stage of development.

Send and deliver

We all know that good customer service goes beyond the initial sale. But, this is particularly true if you run a mail order company or use the Internet to sell your goods.

When expecting purchases to arrive by post, customers often put ‘safe delivery’ and ‘speed of service’ up there with ‘cost’ and ‘quality’. So, it’s important that you choose the right delivery options for you – and your customers.

You want your buyers to be pleased with their goods and satisfied with the ‘shopping’ experience. You also want them to come back to you again. The last thing you need is for them to feel disgruntled because something hasn’t arrived when you said it would.

The key to this is in clear communication. Here’s how you can keep your customers happy and confident that you can deliver:

• Manage customers’ expectations – be upfront and crystal clear about your delivery services on your website or in your catalogue. Be explicit about expected delivery times. Don’t promise a ‘tomorrow’ service if you can’t guarantee it, this will only disappoint people.
  
  
• Specify postage costs – say whether shipping costs are included in your product prices or not. If not, state what the exact postage costs for different items and destinations are.
  
  
• Find out what people want from your service – ask your customers what’s important to them. For example – speed, signing for items on arrival, good packaging, shipping costs. You can then offer a range of services (and prices) that will suit differing needs.
  
  
• Offer a tracking service – either offer your customers a tracking facility via your website or do it for them by sending email updates on where their order is at. This way they’ll know when to expect their goods. And it’s always nice to receive a message saying your goods are on their way.
  
  
• Say if there’s going to be a delay – if items are delayed for any reason you must let your customers know. They might be a little annoyed but they will appreciate you getting in touch with them. A quick email or short phone call is all it takes. Better that than leaving your customers to pace up and down at the garden gate.
  
  
• Package up parcels properly – no one wants to receive a damaged item that’s poking out the packaging. Ensure your service team knows how to package and wrap parcels properly.
  
  
• Depending on the type and amount of products you sell, you may need to use a range of delivery services to get your goods safely and securely from A to B.
  

Remember, some delivery companies specialise in delivering certain types of goods to certain locations. Others, like New Zealand Post, offer a wide range of sending options within New Zealand and overseas.

To find the right sending solution, take a look at our range of ParcelPost products.

Does your business provide outstanding customer service? Tell us what you do. Post your comments below.

Shape the future of our website

Customer feedback has told us our website isn't that easy to use.
So, as we work to improve it, we're keen to engage with our users to test our ideas.

Next Tuesday, 11 May we will be running a user study in Wellington, and we'd love an hour of your time in return for a New Zealand Post Prezzy Card.

The sessions will be held during office hours, and whilst we do need you to be a current user of our website, there's no preparation required - just come along, try out some web pages, then tell us what you think (make sure to bring your glasses if you need them for computer work).

These sessions are one on one, and all feedback is confidential and anonymous.
If you think you can help, we'd love to hear from you, just click here to find out more.