Posted on November 12, 2024 by Alan Wright

7 Ways to Get Better Pricing and Service from Your Packaging Company

If you are frustrated because your packaging materials seem to be too expensive, or your level of service is less responsive than you need or expect it to be, this post will help reduce your packaging costs, and at the same time improve your overall level of service. Too good to be true? Not at all. In fact, with these seven best business practices, it’s easy.

Avoid rush orders. If every one of your orders is an emergency, your supplier will be forced to increase prices at some point, not only because of the extra shipping costs involved, but also because the continual disruption will adversely affect their ability to service other customers. If inventory management is a weak spot in your operation, let us know. We can help you stay on top of it.

Pay bills on time. Just like most other businesses, packaging companies must maintain good cash flow to deliver competitive pricing and excellent service. As a result, customers who are chronically delinquent seldom receive the lowest possible pricing and the best possible service — no packaging company can afford to do that.

Consolidate purchases. The more items you buy from a packaging company, the more incentive and opportunity you give them to reduce prices. For example, shipping 10 items rather than five reduces their per-item shipping costs – and is likely to enable them to offer a lower price on some or all of those 10 items.

Communicate professionally. It always pays to maintain a constructive and courteous attitude, even when you are trying to solve a critical and costly packaging problem.

Communicate promptly. Our company places a high priority on fast response time because we know how frustrating it is, and how costly it can be, to have to wait for answers, especially when you have 100 other things to do. Fast response time works both ways, though. If you are chronically slow in getting back to your packaging supplier with important information, it may restrict their ability to get whatever it is you need in a timely manner. For instance, if your packaging supplier needs to know the quantity of custom corrugated boxes you want to have manufactured, a day’s delay could result in a lead time extension of a week or more, due to production scheduling.

Communicate fully. If you have been buying packaging for any length of time, you know that packaging is a detail-oriented business. Leaving out a seemingly minor detail can easily result in added costs. Again, let’s consider a custom corrugated box order. If your operation cannot accept overruns and you fail to mention it, an industry-standard overrun of 10% could result in an order rejection, a billing dispute, etc. True, it’s important for the supplier to ask all the right questions, but the less you leave to chance, especially with regard to unusual requirements, the better off you and your supplier will be.

Complain! Sometimes, in an effort to be nice or avoid conflict, well-meaning customers can contribute to making small packaging issues large ones. If you are not satisfied with a particular product, or the way it is shipped, the way phone calls are answered, or anything else your packaging supplier is doing that you don’t like, let them know as soon and as frankly as possible. If the supplier is aware of a problem, they can almost always find a way to fix it. For this reason, we always welcome feedback, suggestions, and criticism from our customers. When you help us do better, we help you do better!