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29/03/07 Daily Rental Guide - How the web can improve the rental experience
Most rental firms now offer some form of advanced internet based service, reflecting the benefits technology can bring to suppliers and fleet managers
FOR many years, car hire bookings were made via that time-honoured piece of business technology, the telephone.
If you or a driver needed a vehicle, you picked up the handset, called the rental company and arranged for a car to be dropped off. The paperwork arrived with the fleet manager shortly afterwards.
What could be simpler? Well, lots of things. Piles of paperwork, lost files, forgotten faxes and wrongly completed forms are the downside and use of the internet can change all that.
Use of the internet for managing rental requirements is not simply an internet version of that phone call ethier. It unlocks access to a wealth of information and control that makes the lives of fleet managers much easier – as long as the data is right in the first place.
Debbie McCarthy is travel manager for communication giant BT and says 50% of BT staff use online booking services.
‘Car hire is no different to the other areas of commerce looking to go online,’ she explains. ‘BT has a hardcore of people used to using technology so we’re always trying to be on the cutting edge.
‘It gives the people who want to book online the opportunity to do so and it brings its own benefits. It means call centres are less congested and it takes cost out of the business for the supplier in that they done’t need as many people to answer the phone.’
Nigel Trotman is in charge of brewery firm Whitbread’s fleet. His drivers also book cars online and the decision to try to reserve cars on the web coincided with a company-wide technology drive.
Mr Trotman says:‘We had an increasingly mobile workforce and a lot of people working from home and we were starting to downsize in terms of administration and support staff. There are administration savings by doing things online and not getting bogged down with paper.’
Ms McCarthy adds: ‘With a call centre, you’re limited to calling between 8am and 6pm. We also have a lot of home workers and mobile staff who are not restricted in when they can do things, so with online booking they can book when they like.’
Some drivers may need persuasion to try the new technology.
‘To get the people who phone to change their habit, you have to make it very simple,’ McCarthy says. ‘They need encouragement but there is a hardcore element that say they are always on the road and are not near their PC.’s
He said: : ‘Our plan for this year is to get more people use to it. It gives you terrific visibility about what’ss going on in your business. You can see all the rentals that are taking place and you have your finger right on the pulse.’s
Ms McCarthy says online systems enable those in charge of compiling fleet reports to do so almost instantly, without having to request data from the supplier.
However, Mr Trotman has warnings for those looking for a quick fix to administration problems.
He said: ‘At the moment you can only book certain groups of cars so you’sre probably going to need a hybrid solution,’s he says.
‘There are still cases when you need to call and there is no one solution for all your users. None of the online products will answer all your problems.
‘But it is very useful. If a fleet isn’st thinking about online booking, they’sre ignoring tools in the toolbox.’s
Why online is the future for fleets
Online systems do more than just save time, they can help streamline fleet operations and identify savings, argues Stefan Rodgers
ONLINE systems have revolutionised the ongoing procurement and management of vehicle rentals by streamlining the booking process and reducing the resources needed to process transactions.
For both rental providers and fleet operators, the automation of orders, supported by access to real-time reporting and billing information, has improved customer service levels and cost control.
Flexibility has become the main emphasis across all elements of vehicle rental.
Customers are much more switched on about finding a rental solution to fit their needs, whether it is varying their vehicle selection according to use within a set hire period or how and where they collect their vehicles. This is also true for the online management side of the offering. Customers are no longer thrilled by being able to process an order online or even set agreed business rules.
Their expectations and needs are more sophisticated and consequently online solutions providers have had to raise their game and provide added value that offers more than just a clever piece of software.
Systems can now set agreed, pre-defined business rules that allow companies to always receive the best cost for each transaction according to agreed criteria, and also enable tiered access for employees throughout the business to place bookings themselves.
This ensures that control remains centrally but provides the flexibility for employees to order rental vehicles within suitable bands. This can also boost operations by using technology to strip out time-consuming manual processes and re-channel resources into the business where they can be better used.
The value that can be gained from using online services largely depends upon a fleet’s individual needs and choosing a provider that can deliver against these to deliver tangible efficiencies.
Most rental providers have comprehensive online booking facilities which offer combinations of basic functions from initial reservations through to tracking, amending orders and integrated billing.
In the past couple of years we have even seen some of these develop into wider business travel portals and offer related services such as flight, hotel and currency bookings.
Businesses that want to create true value from rental with minimum internal resourcing obviously need to consider key elements such as usability, quick response times, integration with existing software and accurate invoicing and then look beyond for the specific requirements of the hire fleet.
For example, FMG Support’s technology system, Ingenium, provides a solution that can be developed around a customer’s needs from just providing a simple and efficient booking tool through to creating a fully outsourced rental management solution linked with an extensive network of rental suppliers or a preferred network.
The greatest flexibility within rental management is achieved when advanced online systems are fully integrated within a wider rental management or outsourced solution, even combining it with a brokerage model.
Providers who can take over the management of a customers’ supplier base, handle all hire requests from one central point, control costs and deliver regular management information will help customers to boost efficiency and profitability through consolidation and consistency.
Also, from FMG Support’s perspective, as the majority of standard bookings are placed online, our contact centre can concentrate on providing a rapid, personal response to all specialist last minute requests from customers, that can make all the difference to their own performance.
Stefan Rodgers is head of product development at FMG Support
