3 Helpful Tips for Better Shipping While you're focused on growing your online business, these reminders can help you work more efficiently and keep your customers delighted at the same time.

As an entrepreneur running an online business from your home, shipping is an essential part of your operation. Taking the time to optimize your shipping process to make it more efficient and cost effective can pay off.

Here are a few ways to improve the shipping experience for your customers and for your bottom line.

1. Create a process and stick to it.

As with any component of your business, creating a standardized process can save you time and money. This is true for shipping as well. For the best shipping outcomes, you should be making your decisions on a per package basis, says Michael Botti, product marketer at Pitney Bowes. This means each package should be weighed to accurately calculate your shipping rate.

"You may qualify for a lower rate if your package is even an ounce lower than what you anticipated it being, so taking the time to weigh your package could in the long run save you a lot of money," he says.

Also consider all carriers each time you need to ship in order to find the most affordable option for your needs. A shipping solution like SendPro Online can help you with this process by providing a 10-lb scale to weigh packages and a cost comparison tool to make sure you're choosing the carrier with the best price for each shipment. It can save you time as well by enabling you to print shipping labels yourself. The more you save on each package shipped, the more you can invest back into your business.

2. Be efficient in your packaging.

While a small box inside a larger box, inside a larger box may be a great joke when gift giving, customers don't want to spend that long unboxing the products you've sent. "Don't over package your products," Botti says. It can be a pain for customers, but it could also cause you to lose money on shipping.

Carriers charge not just based on weight but on dimensions as well. A lightweight package, like a blueprint, may not weigh much, but it still takes up a lot of room on the truck. "Being conscious of the type of packaging you put your product in can have a significant impact on the cost to ship," he says.

3. Don't treat shipping as an afterthought.

The biggest mistake companies make is not taking the time to do shipping right, Botti says. Whether it's not weighing every package or not considering all your carrier options, there are many little things that can add up to extra costs. Creating the best outcome for your customers requires you to be meticulous in getting products from point A to point B.

"I think a lot of companies view shipping as just something that needs to get done instead of being thoughtful around the process and the impact it could have on their overall business," Botti says. He points out that the shipping process is a reflection on your company, so it's important to get it right.

"Shipping is really an extension of your brand, regardless of the type of company you are," Botti says.

It's a true differentiator of exceptional customer service to keep your clients updated on the status of their packages and make deliveries as convenient as possible. With a tool like SendPro Online, you can schedule package pickups and track shipments from departure to arrival. Keeping up-to-date on the status of your packages, in near real-time, gives you the opportunity to keep your customers in-the-know and provides you with peace of mind knowing your precious packages are exactly where they're supposed to be, and when.

Click here to learn more about how SendPro Online can simplify the process of sending packages.