Now that Baskets of Africa has discovered UPS for domestic shipping, it plans to use UPS for its imports from Africa, too.
Like many small business owners, Cael Chappell is a jack of all trades. He handles purchasing, fills orders and even designed and maintains the website for his New Mexico-based company,
Baskets of Africa, which imports handcrafted baskets from 10 African countries.
But for all his skills, Chappell still needs a reliable partner to ship his baskets to more than 100 stores in the United States and other countries, as well as to individual online shoppers. So when DHL, his regular shipper, announced in 2008 that it was closing down its U.S. domestic service, things could have unravelled quickly.
Instead, the event wound up being a blessing in disguise. By switching to UPS, Chappell says, he's getting vastly improved service that is streamlining his operations and making life easier for him and his customers.
Chappell fell in love with Africa and African crafts when he visited the continent during the 1990s. His two overriding goals with Baskets of Africa are to deliver quality products to his customers at reasonable prices and to improve the living conditions for weavers practicing a centuries-old art that is in danger of dying out. "Part of my mission is to protect that cultural integrity, that heritage," he says.
When he searched for a new shipper, some didn't even return his calls. By contrast, UPS representative Keith Norman "really took the time to understand my business and my priorities."
Savings in time and money
First, Norman arranged an $850 credit through the UPS Customer Technology Program, helping Chappell buy a dedicated computer and printer to handle all shipping from the convenience of his desktop. "The technology UPS offered was light years ahead of DHL," Chappell says. "Inputting an order and printing a label takes half or a third of the time."
Using
Quantum View Notify® enables Chappell and his customers to check the status of any shipment online – removing guesswork and reducing phone calls from customers wanting to know the status of their orders.
UPS Hundredweight® service, meanwhile, has helped Chappell limit costs through a discount for shipping multiple packages to the same address on the same day.
Until now, Chappell has used package delivery only for shipping to his customers. When he buys the baskets from Africa, they arrive through a complex and sometimes unpredictable network of ocean freight and airlines. One of his plans for 2009 is to have UPS begin to handle those freight shipments as well. The reliability of his new partner, he says, allows him to devote more of his precious time to growing the business he loves.
Travel giant streamlines
Small companies aren't the only ones realizing big improvements in the switch to UPS from DHL. With restaurants, hotels, cruises, a premier travel agency and other interests,
Carlson is one of the world's largest privately held companies. The company generates more than 800,000 small package shipments each year.
When DHL announced the end of its domestic service, UPS didn't just pick up where DHL left off, says Kristina Riley, Carlson's corporate purchasing manager. Joe Bianchi, a senior account manager for UPS, has helped Riley and Carlson solve a number of thorny shipping problems that had existed under the old carrier.
Carlson employees around the country had established some 5,000 separate accounts – a system that sometimes seemed inefficient. In addition, it caused Carlson to frequently miss out on volume discounts. And when employees neglected to enter the proper coding on a package, accountants at corporate headquarters had to laboriously investigate the package's history. "We had a team of accountants working on this," Riley says. "It was a huge drain on our time."
Keeping the accountants happy
A UPS tool called
Complete View Shipping is changing all that. For individual employees, Complete View offers the convenience and flexibility of online ordering and multiple shipping options. At the same time, Complete View ensures that packages are properly coded, allowing officials at the corporate level to more easily monitor, evaluate and price their shipping companywide.
At the same time, the number of claims for lost or damaged shipments, as well as the customer service provided when claims do occur, has dramatically improved under UPS, Riley says. A test last September by Carlson's marketing unit was so successful that the company has now declared UPS to be its preferred shipper for all small packages, Riley says.
"Their client management has just been amazing," she says. "There's a real level of trust: What they were telling us they could fulfill, they actually would."
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