You did it, you’ve arrived at your destination! Ultimately, this is the most rewarding part of your journey - for a couple of reasons. First, you get to witness a priceless family reunion or “expansion” with their pet. And second, you get paid and start looking forward to your next trip! Below are some recommended steps to take to ensure a smooth transition, transaction, and completion of your transport:

• Step #1: Delivering the pet and receiving the payment
• Step #2: Getting your first review
• Step #3: Pro Tips (Must read!) 

Delivering the pet and receiving the payment

When you are about 30 minutes to an hour away from your shipment drop-off, contact the customer to confirm the exact location for your delivery as well as any location-specific instructions (i.e. apartment number and name on their intercom, code for the gate if it’s a gated community, etc.).

This is also the time to confirm what is owed to you for the transport and how you will receive your final payment. This should all be spelled out in your transport agreement but it’s always a good idea to review it with the customer right before delivery.

Transporters using CitizenShipper usually receive full payment upon delivery. The method of payment should be pre-determined and agreed to by both you and the shipper. The most common forms of payment are cash and services such as PayPal.

NOTE: On occasion, either the shipper or driver will request the delivery and payment to be in a public location citing safety precautions. While this might seem unusual, it is not an uncommon experience. Remember neither partners know each other and when the transport involves a transfer of cash, sometimes individuals prefer the exchange to occur where other people are around.

Once you deliver the pet, give the customer a few minutes with his or her furry family member. You want the pet owner to see that the pet is in good shape and fared the journey well. 

Some drivers also opt to create a form for the shipper to sign upon delivery that states the pet was received in good condition and that there are no suspected issues or complaints about the service you provided. Whether you decide to incorporate this into your transports is up to you. Keep in mind this is your last opportunity to make an impression on the customer before pursuing review feedback. Make sure you leave the customer with a healthy, happy pet and a sincere appreciation of their business.

Getting your first review

Once the delivery is complete and the payment is submitted, login to your CitizenShipper account, navigate to your “Booked” shipments tab, and mark the shipment as delivered by clicking on the “Mark Delivered” button.

Once your shipment is marked “delivered” in the CitizenShipper system, several actions are automatically deployed to jump-start your effort to secure a transport review:

• The transport is added to the total of completed shipments that appear on your profile.
• An automated message is triggered and sent to the customer, asking her or him to leave a review.
• You are allowed to write a private note to the customer, which he or she will see after leaving a review.

Our data makes it clear that a new driver who wins a shipment and receives a good first review is much more likely to win the second shipment faster than a new driver who has completed a shipment, but not secured a customer review. That’s the power of a customer review! To help you get an amazing start on CitizenShipper, below are some suggestions to set the stage for securing a stellar customer review.

Pro Tips

The transport went great. The customer was thrilled. So why won’t he respond to the email sent through the CitizenShipper system, on behalf of you, asking for a review? Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. HIs pet is home. Responding to your email is not his priority. He intends to reply but ultimately forgets. Now what? Experienced drivers suggest that if you don’t receive a review within 48 hours of marking a successful shipment complete in our system, consider contacting your customer to check on how his pet is doing. Use the exchange to gently remind and encourage your customer to review your services. Your conversation with the customer might go something like this: 

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You: Hello *CUSTOMER NAME*, I just wanted to see how’s *PET NAME* doing, has he/she settled in nicely to its new home? 

Customer: Hey there, yes he/she is doing excellent, thanks for asking! 

You: I am very happy to hear that! I know how happy and excited you were when I got him/her to your doorstep, so I assume you’ve missed an email asking you to leave me a review. 

To me, getting positive feedback early on means everything, and I know that you as a pet lover would want all future pet owners needing transportation to know that they will get the same service as you did if they hire me. It’s really simple to do it, just watch this 30-second video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgEcIVhwD-E. 

I really appreciate your time and kind words! Enjoy the rest of your week/weekend. 

________________________

Of course, sometimes even if the delivery process does go smooth from your point of view, you could still end up getting a bad review. Other times, you might needed to cancel last minute or simply failed to provide the expected service so a bad review might be justifiable. Either way, even if you never received a bad review before, here are some of the best practices on how to avoid getting them!

Winning your first shipment. Completing your first transport. Obtaining your first customer review. You’re certainly on your way! In the next chapter, we’ll discuss how to accelerate your business - how to go from 1 to 10 won shipments in just a couple of steps!

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