Four surprising benefits of EPOD

There are many advantages to moving to an Electronic Proof of Delivery (EPOD) system from a manual one; improved accuracy, fewer failed deliveries and a less paperwork-cluttered working environment being some of the most obvious. But what about the EPOD business benefits that may not immediately spring to mind? Here are some of the more surprising ways that EPOD can refine your business’s operational performance.

Fewer disputes with customers

Without the ability to track the progress of your delivery drivers as they go about their shifts, your business lacks the insight it needs to verify its movements. Vague or non-existent information about missed or rediverted deliveries will only frustrate your customers and take up your office team’s time and financial resources trying to unravel and rectify the mysteries of mislaid goods.

As its name suggests, an EPOD solution provides the clear-cut proof of delivery your customers want, complete with GPS data, time stamps, electronic signatures and the option to add photos and details of any alternative action taken. All of this data can be logged in real-time by your delivery drivers on connected handheld PDA devices, which instantly transmits this information on each delivery back to base. Your team have instant access to a complete history of each and every delivery, and customers requiring more information receive the clarification they’re after.

Instant communication between drivers and HQ

Paper manifestos and job schedules may work for your business most of the time, but all it takes is a spilled takeaway coffee in a driver’s cab to render them useless. It’s also tricky to ensure all the information your drivers need is on each paper delivery note – details that are miscellaneous yet essential can often be left off a static form with limited fields – which delays your drivers when they have to call HQ for the extra info they need. Instead, EPOD gives your drivers a way to look up exactly what they require with just a few taps or clicks on their handheld devices, with no involvement needed from your office-based teams.

It works the other way too; once a driver records a delivery as completed, an EPOD system notifies HQ so that an invoice can be generated straight away.

A better company reputation

It’s a fact that digitisation has infiltrated every area of modern life and, justified or not, consumers will make quick judgements about businesses that still rely on traditional admin processes. Even if delivery is only a small or infrequent part of a company’s provision, customers may doubt the capabilities of a business that hasn’t yet invested in EPOD technology, especially when its competitors have. Conversely, the many efficiencies EPOD creates can go a long way to establishing and maintaining trust with your consumer base, leaving them more likely to become repeat customers and confident in your ability to solve problems if and when they occur.

Improved productivity in the field

Asking your drivers to rely on paperwork to track delivery deviations and issues as they crop up comes with its own risks; a misplaced delivery note can leave you without any information at all, while a lack of a fit-for-purpose reporting tool means your team has to collate and decipher hastily-jotted down handwritten notes. What’s more, drivers with only a static job schedule can often waste time looking for ways to avoid congestion or accidents in order to stick to the pre-agreed job order, delaying deliveries and inconveniencing customers.

EPOD system hardware gives your drivers a constant link to your office team back at base, so they don’t have to spend valuable time scribbling down action points or responding to problems on the road. Live job updates can be relayed electronically in just a few simple steps (easy-to-use EPOD device functionality also keeps staff training to a minimum), and HQ can pre-warn and redirect them if their route becomes obstructed.  

Capitalise on every advantage EPOD can provide

With all the benefits Electronic Proof of Delivery offers, obvious and not-so-obvious, there’s no better time to explore what it could do for your business. For more information about the ways EPOD could streamline your business operations specifically, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.