Amazon Partners with Local Couriers to make Shipping Faster and Cheaper

The mega online retailer is now expanding its same day delivery service to a total of 27 US metro areas. So far, the majority of the eligible cities are on the east and west coasts, with the interior of America sure to follow as the network of couriers expands. Thankfully, Arizonans in the Phoenix Metro area and Tucson are not left out. With Amazon reaching out to renowned local couriers like IntelliQuick Delivery, same day delivery could become the standard one day.

While Walmart is the king of brick and mortar retail, Amazon is the undisputed king of online shopping. While it began as a simple online bookstore, it steadily increased its offerings to physical and digital media. Today, Amazon sells practically everything. From toilet paper to television sets, people around the world expect to be able to go to Amazon’s website and find whatever they may need and have it shipped directly to their door. The company has not rested on its laurels when it comes to delivering your packages either. In 2005, Amazon launched ‘Amazon Prime’, a subscription service that made two day shipping free, and one day shipping more affordable for eligible items. You also get access to streaming movie and television content, and all for an annual fee of just $99.  

Logistical Growing Pains

The service, while great in theory, had some holes in it from the very beginning. Not all items can qualify for the service. Even for those items that are eligible, not all customers live in areas where Amazon’s existing delivery routes would be compatible. America is a large land mass, and Amazon cannot possibly solve the problems of fast yet affordable package delivery on its own. To make it even more difficult, Amazon has expanded shipping to include same day deliveries.

IntelliQuick Delivery is Held to Incredibly High Standards by Itself and Amazon

If you are an Amazon Prime customer in the Valley, there is a very good chance your package is being delivered by IntelliQuick Delivery. It is important to note that IntelliQuick Delivery is contractually obligated to meet Amazon’s quality standards. These standards govern everything from the vehicles the drivers operate to software the dispatchers use. These strategic partnerships allow Amazon to gain all the benefits of growing without actually having to make all of the massive investments in infrastructure that would otherwise have to be made. When you see a company like Amazon entrust its products, customers, and reputation to a company like IntelliQuick Delivery for an ambitious endeavor such as same day internet deliveries, it means that courier already had a world class delivery system in place that impressed one of the leading companies in the world today.

Furthermore, Amazon awards more work to common couriers who maintain the highest performance standards, so there is incentive to not become complacent. You can look forward to continued expansion of speedy delivery service without a drop off in quality, guaranteed. 

Win/Win

One of the things I’ve discovered after being in business for several decades is that it’s

beneficial to view your clients as partners instead of just clients. To some, this might seem

obvious; to others, it might seem like a foreign concept. If your viewpoint is the latter, it might

be worth considering as it can be an effective way to grow your company and develop better

relationships with your customers.

How Do You View Clients?

Most business owners think of their clients as the people who supply them with business. While

this is accurate on the surface, let’s dig a little deeper and ask the question...Do you see clients

as friendly partners or opponents with whom you have to negotiate? The Old School attitude is

to be a tough negotiator. However, if you’re selling something, it’s your job to get the best price

possible. Your client, meanwhile, wants to try to pay as little as possible.

This is similar to the Marxist idea that business owners and workers are naturally in conflict

with one another. This way of looking at the world is called Conflict Theory by economists and

sociologists. Now, the relationship between owners and clients is a little different. However,

the idea of conflict is similar if you think in terms of having to outsmart or out-negotiate your

clients. As the process is viewed as one in which someone has to lose.

The alternative is to embrace a more modern view of seeing clients as partners. This idea

involves having a win/win outlook rather than a scenario where one side comes out ahead of

the other. If you’ve learned how to be hard line negotiator, it will take some time and

adjustments before you can embrace this new outlook. So it will be helpful if you look for and

understand the benefits as well. This perspective is relevant for any type of negotiation. I’ve

found that it’s an extremely important consideration in the bargaining that occurs between

shippers and carriers.

Valuing Relationships Over Cost

One of the adjustments you have to make when adapting a win/win philosophy is to

understand that price isn’t everything. You can “win” negotiations in a way that doesn’t serve

your long term interests. That’s because, in the long run, shippers and carriers depend more on

solid business relationships than on saving a little money on individual transactions.

Shippers and carriers are completely dependent on each other for their respective businesses

to run smoothly. Because these industries deal with constant fluctuations in supply and

demand, having stable, long-term relationships is of utmost importance. If negotiations are too

confrontational and emphasize price over loyalty, the result is often carrier churn which ends

up causing problems for everyone.

When shippers and carriers see one another as partners, they’re able to create customized

logistics solutions that recognize the needs of both parties. Rather than looking out solely for

their short term interest, each can view themselves as part of a larger process.

A Psychological Shift

The example, from my own industry of shippers and carriers, can be applied to almost any type

of negotiations. For in any business or organization, everything runs more efficiently when all

sides have an attitude of cooperation. Having a win/win outlook requires you to take a long

term view of your interests. You also have to learn to not get your ego invested in negotiations.

For there’s a psychological as well as an economic side to this attitude.

For old school negotiators, the process is a game or contest where the objective is to beat your

opponent. Many people are attached to this process and even enjoy it. Even if you take on a

win/win attitude, you have to be prepared to negotiate with others who still see it the old way.

As negotiating expert and sports agent Leigh Steinberg explains, it’s important not to show fear

during negotiations, especially if the other party is trying to bully you.

A Changing Paradigm

This shifting from win/lose to win/win is slowly gaining traction across industries. It’s a way of

thinking that helps everyone get what they want during negotiations. It all begins by taking an

honest look at how you see clients and others who sit across from you at the table. The more

you can see them as partners rather than adversaries, the easier it will be to come up with

solutions that benefit everyone.

IntelliQuick – The Leading Courier in the Western United States Region

The large national carriers have quite the mindshare with the general public, but increasingly, regional carriers are rising in importance in the shipping industry. With the explosive growth of e-commerce, the need for more carriers has only increased and will continue doing so for the foreseeable future. IntelliQuick Delivery quickly rose to the very top of the western carrier industry by delivering customer satisfaction along with parcels to its B2B and B2C clients in states like Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado. But just who are they?

A Brief IQ Delivery History Lesson…

Established in the year of 1998, IntelliQuick Delivery set out to change the game in the Southwestern delivery service industry. First Keith bought out Jet Delivery. Very soon, Keith would merge Jet Delivery with Connection Courier and grow the personnel to approximately 80 members – 60 of those being out in the field on delivery routes.

With the name of the company being changed in 2002 to IntelliQuick Delivery, the company steadily yet ambitiously expanded its reach to cities such as Reno, Denver, and Salt Lake City. Finally reaching nearly 400 in personnel, no other regional courier has the western region covered like IQ does. Not even a down economy could slow IntelliQuick’s growth. As a matter of fact, it is in the era of the unstable economy that IntelliQuick continued to grow and seize new opportunities in the delivery space. The opportunities include regional delivery, same day, next day priority deliveries, 1 hour rush, regular route services, next flight out, medical stats and routines, time scheduled pickups, and airport tenders/recoveries. They knew their smaller size was an asset so they set out to be faster, better and smarter than the competition. In doing so, they also became more efficient.

What the Regional Carriers Bring to the Table…

The most obvious advantage to utilizing a smaller carrier is the lower cost that is often available. Carriers in this class tend to offer lower freight rates than the national companies. The savings to the consumer can be somewhere between 15 and 30 percent! Companies like IntelliQuick are more eager to give value with their service, so expect fewer fees and surcharges than you get with the nationals.

It isn’t all just about the prices. Choosing an elite regional carrier like IQ Delivery can mean the possibility of even faster deliveries. When the national carrier says a same day delivery is impossible, IntelliQuick is busy finding a way to make it happen with a next level mastery of local logistics. Need someone to go the extra mile when delivering your parcels? IQ Delivery can also offer extras like signature requirements, multiple delivery attempts, and on-call pickups.

The Key to IntelliQuick’s Success…

IntelliQuick Delivery is never complacent. Having come from such humble beginnings and now growing into the role of a major player in the regional scene, IQ Delivery understands that the flexibility is crucial to succeeding and thriving in an ever changing landscape. You can look forward to the addition of new service offerings to enhance the delivery experience.