Fleet decision-makers charged with selecting a fleet provider should ensure their supplier knows their business inside out and back to front, says Samantha Roff, managing director at Venson Automotive Solutions.

Samantha Roff, MD at Venson Automotive Solutions

As a vehicle fleet grows, partnering with a fleet management company becomes an obvious step. Businesses benefit from a fleet management provider’s infrastructure and resources, and these elements all add value and improve fleet productiveness. Undoubtedly, all this greatly aids the day-to-day operations of a growing fleet. One thing that trumps these services, however, when considering a new fleet provider is how well they get to know their prospective customer’s business.

A fundamental priority for fleets, both small and large, will always be controlling costs and demonstrating value for money – after all, fleet professionals must justify fleet spend at senior management level. Effective cost control, however, is impossible without a fleet management provider really getting under the skin of their customer’s company. Understanding what’s happening in their business and industry is the only sure-fire way to help them achieve their financial objectives. It allows fleet providers to offer relevant and timely advice, enabling them to future-proof a customer’s fleet, as well as proactively manage their day-to-day operational challenges.

Going solo

A fleet provider can only truly get to know every aspect of a business if it is the sole fleet management provider. A sole supply contract helps ensure continuity and consistency of service delivery. In contrast, a fleet operator managing multiple providers faces increased administrative time and potential challenges managing driver issues and the day-to-day operations of the fleet.

Understanding a customer’s business is critical in transitioning to cleaner, greener vehicles too. Without in-depth company knowledge, a fleet provider cannot be clear on the operational requirements of each vehicle, the whole-life cost, lead times and tax implications for the employee and employer. Only through knowing operational requirements can a fleet provider really decide whether an ICE, EV or hybrid is best suited to a fleet. Of course, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach – the key is to identify which fleet vehicles lend themselves to what vehicle technology.

Indeed, when transitioning to new vehicle technologies, working with a fleet provider that comprehends an organisation’s cost pressures can open doors.

Keeping it simple

Hand-in-hand with getting to know a customer is getting to know the service they need and expect. Over the years, entrants to the market have tried to position salary sacrifice as something overly complicated or made it appear to be a new product, but salary sacrifice is contract hire. It’s the employer–driver relationship and contractual documentation that is different.

A company car is governed by employment contract and company car policy whereas salary sacrifice is governed by additional documentation. Great fleet providers have ready-to-issue free salary sacrifice documentation that employers can use when implementing the product. Whether a driver has a company car or a salary sacrifice vehicle, it does not matter; the services required are all identical.

Delivering customer service that takes ownership

Keeping communication simple between customer and fleet provider is also fundamental for effective fleet management. Customer service is about getting through to someone in a reasonable time and speaking to someone willing to own a problem and get a resolution as quickly as possible. That’s why good fleet providers support their customers with a specific account team that deals directly with the fleet manager or the person responsible for overseeing fleet drivers and the drivers themselves.