OPERATIONS MANUAL

for Packing and Shipping Businesses
and Other Retail Pack & Ship Businesses

PUT POLICIES IN WRITING!

This manual shows an example of an operations manual for packing and shipping stores. The CD ROM has the manual and forms in Word® and Excel® so that you can change and customize the operations manual, forms, and files to your business procedures and policies easily. This makes it easy to insert your company graphics, too.

Have your standards of operation in writing for easy reference. We give recommendations to the owner in bold with choices for the manual. Major topics are briefly described below. To view all information, see Table of Contents and Files on the CD.

• Basic Company Information (services provided, store times, company standards and policies, mission statement, etc.)
• Pay (sick pay, vacation, holiday, bonuses, and more)
• Company Equipment and Tools (usage, care of)
• Processing of Orders (at the counter, upgrading sales, work flow, packing standards, etc.)
• Opening Standards (work times, parking, HVAC standards, counting drawer, starting POS, reading closing notes from previous day, etc.)
• Daily Checklists (standards, stocking procedures, clean-as-you-go policy, forms, etc.)
• Closing Standards (register close-out and deposit standards, overages/shortages policies, closing notes, security)
• Monthly Checklist (inventory counts, mailbox audits, cleaning, end of month reports, etc.)
• Security (security system, being aware of people in and around store, preventing robberies, what to do in the event of a robbery, etc.)
• Emergencies (power outages, storms, fires, injuries)
• Customer Relations Standards (standards with greeting, language, etc.; phone standards; providing options; handling questions; follow-up time standards; standards with complaints, limits of power to reimburse for complaints, forms, etc.)
• Quoting (how to do a quote, availability of services, time standards, etc.)
• Telephone Standards (employees, customers, telemarketers, etc.)
• Inventory (ordering, receiving, transferring, merchandising)
• Carriers (preferred vendors for different services, high value items, liability issues, return services, handling of tracers, handling of claims, C.O.D. procedures, freight, etc.)
• A special section is included for the store owner on bookkeeping for the retail packing and shipping industry. This covers many topics which include bookkeeping basics
• Most importantly, learn how to interview to recruit the best employees.

• How to Open a Packing & Shipping Store
• Basic Packaging & Shipping
• Fragile Items Packing
• Custom Box Making
• Crate Building
• Software for Crate Building and Box Making
• Gift Wrapping Training
• Mail Box Renting (PMB)
• Operations Manual for Pack and Ship Stores
• Sales and Marketing for Packing and Shipping Stores
• Employee Manual
• Profit Centers for Mail and Parcel Centers
• Holiday Planning for Packing and Shipping Stores

• Free Store Signs
• Consulting for Packing and Shipping Store Services
• Industry Links

"After we had an 'experience' with an employee, we knew that we needed an operations manual to put our policies and procedures in writing. I couldn't believe how easy it was to do with your Operations Manual! Now all of our employees know our goals and how we operate. Thank you!"

-Thomas Hinton

"Thomas, this is why we wrote this, besides the fact that others in our packing and shipping industry requested this operations manual. Thank you for your comment! State rules vary, so make certain that you have your operations manual approved by an attorney. It could save you not only money in legal fees, but it could give you nights of peaceful rest."

- Fran Scarborough, Author

Don't Forget to See the New Store Operator Special.

Initially, the Packaging & Shipping Stores' Operations Manual was intended as part of How to Open a Mail & Parcel Center, but our customers who already had been in in the packing and shipping stores business for many years only wanted to have the operational section of this book. Therefore, we split this product into two sections, and this product is a set of books. We decided that we wouldn't sell this manual without the Operations Manual, since that would defeat the purpose of helping you to make an informed decision.

One of the major benefits of this book is that it comes with many forms and files that you can use in MS (Microsoft) Word and Excel. For example, we actually do the major part of a business plan in the book to give you ideas on the thought processes that take place. You can use the Excel spreadsheet to "plug in" numbers for various assets and costs as we give you suggestions on how to get these numbers. The spreadsheet will update to an income statement for you so that you can see what it may cost to open and start your business.

How to Open a Mail & Parcel Center Package is not intended to replace the benefits of hiring a professional consultant or developer to work with you one-on-one, or to replace the benefits that you may derive from being involved with a franchise. For example, this manual can not actually do your store layout, do part of your store build-out (putting up slotwall, laying carpet and tile, etc.), train you one-on-one, actually do the work and research that we discuss in this book, or be available to you for questions and assistance after you open. However, this book does discuss many issues.

Overall, this book is written to help you make educated decisions about your business future and to help you to learn about the major issues associated with opening a retail packing and shipping store. Below you can view the Tables of Contents and files included with this product.

TABLES OF CONTENTS & CD ROM FILES
Click on the links below to see the Tables of Contents and a list of files included on the CD ROMS included with this product. The information below is in Adobe Acrobat format. If you don't have this reader, visit http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

• Table of Contents - Operations for Packing and Shipping Stores (included with this package)
• List of CD ROM Files

Check our Package Specials to review our New Store Operator Package. Keep in mind that this manual is included in the How to Open a Mail & Parcel Center Store product.

Note that many operational manuals for this industry mostly include information on the freight carriers. Since packaging, shipping, and carrier information is in the manual that comes with Basic Packaging & Shipping 101, we did not duplicate it in this product.

$85.00