Based on the online shopping experience, the bespoke software helps users select their ideal leased vehicle online through a simple step-by-step process. Users can type in their key criteria such as brand, budget and specification. A detailed comparison service also helps users find the best possible deal and the system also provides automatic rental calculations, which are tax-optimised according to the point in the financial year.

The new software has been specifically implemented to allow Network franchisees to effectively handle and deliver up to 600,000 customer quotes each year and replaces existing systems, which were manually-intensive and delivered limited management information. By bringing all quotes produced by franchisees into one system with real-time data, Network will be able to identify and act upon trends towards certain vehicle specifications or pricings.

Jo Elms, brand director, Network, said: ‘Sunrise has been a revelation for our franchisees so far and has hugely simplified the way they develop customer quotes. The system has been the result of a huge amount of hard work by our various teams, and they should be rightly proud of the finished product.

‘We are looking forward to passing on the benefits of using this system to help our small fleet customers select the best possible deal for their needs. Finely tuning our service to this extent has been a long-held goal and we are sure the new interface will help our franchisees deliver an even more straightforward and comprehensive service to our customers.’

The investment in Sunrise is part of LeasePlan Corporation’s focus on growing its small fleet operation around the world.  800 staff at 100 Network franchisees have already gone through training on the Sunrise system, with additional sessions to follow for new joiners throughout 2013. The ongoing training activities will include “classroom”sessions, online refresher tests and web-based learning modules.