With no less than 3,728 vehicle rental companies in France, good vehicle rental management is essential to ensure the sustainability of your business in this competitive market. Here are 7 tips to follow in order to give your vehicle rental company a boost and a dedicated solution.
7 tips to improve your vehicle rental management
1 Challenge your vehicle rental management
Try to step back from your vehicle rental management regularly. In the world of digitisation and access to instant information, markets have never evolved so quickly. Be aware of new practices and technologies in your sector. Be even more attentive to what your successful competitors are doing.
Ask yourself the right questions: Does my business model work today? Are my results changing or stagnating? If they are evolving, in what direction? What are my short-term objectives? And in the long term?
Set yourself goals regularly and don’t forget to challenge yourself, don’t get caught up in the routine.
2 Good vehicle rental management is about numbers
Figures are a valuable source of information in vehicle rental management. Companies obsessed with numbers are often the ones with the best results. Take the time to use all the data you have about your business: income per customer, average rental period, booking fluctuations, most rented category, and many more. A vehicle can be genuinely profitable—you must control its costs and revenues in order to make a profit, whether during the vehicle’s service life or during its resale. You need to know your turnover this month, last month, the same month last year and the same month 3 years ago. Beware – you must be careful when interpreting the figures. For example, the rate of vehicle use is a very popular indicator among rental companies, but it does not necessarily equate to good profitability.
3 Know your fleet and your customers at your fingertips
Don’t let business opportunities alone dictate the creation of your fleet. Listen to your customers too. Will your customers be satisfied with a used vehicle in good condition with 30,000 km? If so, why buy a new one?
How much are your customers willing to pay and for which vehicle? The perception of a vehicle as “quirky” or “unique” may justify a higher than average price.
You must absolutely control the profitability of your fleet. Your vehicles are both your best opportunity to make money and your biggest threat to lose money.
4 Do not neglect marketing in vehicle rental management
Without targeted marketing and branding, you are just more of the same and will not stand out when it comes to the market of vehicle rental companies. Stand out, highlight what makes your company unique and make sure your customers notice it. What sets you apart from your competitors gives you the opportunity to attract new customers. The use of a CRM focused on rental business can be an excellent asset to maintain contact with your customers and build their loyalty.
5 Establish partnerships
Is your rental agency located next to a hotel? Offer them a partnership: you will recommend them to your customers and they will do the same. Print brochures to make them available to hotel guests at the reception desk. You can even go even further by offering the hotel a discount on your high season rates for its guests.
6 Be transparent with your customers
Just go to the social networking pages of some of the world’s leading vehicle rental companies to understand this advice. Your client should be aware of the different levels of insurance, procedures in case of damage or contravention. It is now possible to digitise the inventory of your vehicles on a ‘rentpad’ in order to have clear and regularly updated damage lists.
Everything must be as clear as possible, otherwise, when the vehicle returns, it is your word against your customer’s.
7 Invest in a reliable vehicle rental management tool
It is difficult to claim optimal vehicle rental management without the right tools. Carefully choose the vehicle rental software that will support you daily. Neglecting the importance of a tool such as this is to promote the risk of misuse of your fleet and strategic and operational errors. These risks can cause you to lose money and reduce customer satisfaction.
A dedicated solution: rentcar, a solid ally for vehicle rental management
As we explained in the 7th point, investing in software dedicated to vehicle rental management can be a more than judicious approach. With nearly 3,000 users in the vehicle rental management sector and more than 30 years of existence, rentcar is a proven solution. Feel free to visit myrentcar car rental system page if you would like more information and above all, feel free to request an online demonstration in order to make your own opinion on rentcar!
Get a demo
