Why do customers call to ask where their order is?
Almost every “where is my order?” call comes down to uncertainty. The customer does not know one of four things:
- Whether it has left. The gap between ordering and dispatch feels like nothing is happening.
- When it will arrive. “Today” is not useful to someone deciding whether to pop out.
- Whether it is late. If the expected time passes in silence, they assume the worst.
- Whether it has been delivered. Especially when it was left with a neighbour or in a safe place.
Each of those is a question you can answer before it is asked. The calls are a symptom of information the customer does not have.
What does each call cost you?
More than the minutes on the phone. Someone in your office stops what they are doing, looks up the job, often calls the driver, and calls the customer back. The driver is interrupted, sometimes while driving. And the customer’s patience is a little thinner when the answer finally arrives. Multiply that by every live delivery on a busy afternoon and the cost is real, even if you never measure it.
How do you answer the question before it is asked?
Give a delivery window at booking
The first message should say when the delivery is expected, as precisely as you honestly can. A window you meet builds trust; a vague promise invites calls.
Send a live tracking link
A link to a page that shows the driver’s position and an arrival time answers “has it left?” and “when will it arrive?” in one go, as often as the customer wants to check. Send it when the delivery is booked, by email or by text or WhatsApp. Our guide on sending live tracking links covers the details.
Update the arrival time when it changes
An arrival time that is wrong is worse than none. When traffic or a long collection pushes the time back, the customer should see the new time without asking. Track That Ride shows an updated arrival time on the tracking page when it moves by more than ten minutes.
Tell customers about problems first
If a delivery will be late, or cannot be made today, say so as soon as you know, with what happens next. A message on the tracking page reaches the customer where they are already looking. For consumer deliveries, timing can matter legally as well as commercially: the Consumer Rights Act lets consumers treat timely delivery as essential in some circumstances.
Show proof when it is delivered
“Delivered” on its own often prompts the next call: “where did they leave it?” A photo, the recipient’s name and the time answer that. You can choose to show them on the tracking page once the item is delivered.
What should the first message say?
Keep it short and answer the questions in order: who it is from, what is coming, when, and where to look for updates. For example:
Hi Sam, your order from Example Flowers is booked for delivery today between 2pm and 4pm. Follow it live here: [link]. Reply to this message if you need to change anything.
Use the customer’s first name, your business name (not the courier’s, if you are delivering for a shop), a real time window and one link. Leave out marketing: it makes the message easier to ignore and brings the electronic marketing rules into play.
Do business customers need the same treatment?
Yes, with a twist. A business receiving deliveries often has one reception or goods-in team expecting items from many suppliers. Give them the tracking link too, and record who signs for each delivery, because the person who ordered is often not the person who receives. Many “where is it?” calls from businesses are really “who in our building has it?”, which a recorded recipient name answers.
What else reduces calls?
- Capture good addresses and instructions at booking. Drivers who cannot find the door call the customer, who then calls you.
- Let drivers send quick updates without typing. Preset messages such as “Running ten minutes late” keep customers informed without the driver picking up the phone.
- Give customers one place to look. If updates arrive by email, text and the tracking page, keep the message the same everywhere.
- Know who has seen what. If you can see that a customer opened the tracking page after a delay notice was posted, you know whether a call is needed.
How do you measure the change?
Pick a simple measure before you change anything: the number of calls and messages that are only asking where a delivery is, per hundred jobs. Count it for a few weeks. Make one change at a time, starting with the tracking link, and count again. Without the “before” number, you will not know which change helped.
Where does Track That Ride fit?
Track That Ride gives every delivery a tracking page and link automatically, emails it at booking when you have the customer’s email, lets your team post messages that appear on the page, and shows whether customers have seen them. See customer delivery tracking links for what customers see.