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01/04/05 Fleet News - All your hiring needs are just a click away
Internet booking has now become an integral part of improved customer service. But the web isn’t just an alternative method of booking. It offers a host of other facilities long after a rental has finished.
Almost all daily rental companies now offer internet services for their fleet customers. It has become an integral part of improving customer service, enabling fleets to book vehicles more efficiently. The whole rental process has been streamlined and booking can now be completed in a fraction of the time it used to be.
Neil McCrossan, vice president sales and marketing for National Car Rental explained: “Focusing on e-commerce has enabled us to enhance the overall efficiency of the vehicle rental process – from initial reservation and rental view to ongoing rental management and billing.”
It is not just booking vehicles which can be done on rental websites. A whole host of other facilities can be taken advantage of. Peter Hamer, sales and marketing director at Arriva Vehicle Rental, said: “Our website offers secure online ordering, off-hiring and web-enabled back-end systems. Customers can access account information including rates and service level agreements, and can also make a new booking or amend an existing one.”
Online technology enables the rental companies to provide fleets instantly with management reports at the click of a button. Penny Stoolman, sales and marketing director, Avis Rent A Car, said: “The Avis Rapid Return service uses wireless technology to check in rental cars and generate a condition report and receipt in 60 seconds.”
The time it now takes to produce reports is far removed from the laborious task of paper invoicing and reporting. However, it is vital that rental companies back the online system with an unrivalled service including vehicle delivery, branch efficiency and customer service.
Stoolman added: “Everything to do with corporate rentals now is all about reducing the time it takes. But unless rental companies combine speed of booking with speed in collecting and returning a rental car they will lose customers.”
Alongside the introduction of online rental accounts, companies are continually striving to offer new initiatives to keep fleets onside. Phil Moorhouse, managing director UK Rental at Northgate, said: “As well as offering bookings online to customers, we also offer a “Which Vehicle? Service”. This allows customers to get information on the right vehicle to meet their needs. In the future more and more customers will request their vehicles in this way.”
Some rental groups are even looking at other aspects of business travel which can be incorporated online alongside traditional rental bookings. Services including currency exchange, flight bookings, hotel and chauffeur hire can now be accessed online. Eurodrive founder, chairman and managing director Richard Lowden, said: “We are expanding the services and products that we offer online. These include the Eurodechange service allowing customers to select the type of currency and travellers cheques they need online with delivery the next day. Euroflights also takes bookings for low-cost flights from the UK”s major airports.”
But despite new technology arriving on an almost daily basis, the use of paper is still evident in a lot of rental companies. It is unlikely to disappear completely as some fleets still prefer to receive a hard copy of their invoice but it is becoming less of an issue.
Neil Cunningham, general manager Hertz UK said: “Not everyone has regular access to e-mail but it won’t be long. For fleet customers it's almost a prerequisite for doing business to have some e-invoice ability and we encourage it wherever possible.”
But online systems still offer a lot according to Mark Horrocks, netrentacar commercial director at FMG Support. He said: “The full potential is yet to be realised. More focus needs to be given to the possibilities and benefits of integrating the end-to-end process from on-line booking through to billing.”
Fleets using daily rental companies have a lot to look forward to if technology keeps advancing. The online offerings could soon be a doorway to all business requirements from hire cars to travel agents.
