Often when we think of GPS, we think of driving our vehicles with sat-nav units that simply get us from A to B, but that really is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what GPS technology can offer your hire business. From better customer service and improved employee safety, to time and cost savings, the benefits of GPS tracking are endless.
Making your hire business agile
One of your main priorities to ensure that your rental business remains competitive is to be proactive rather than reactive. Using GPS technology, you can become a more agile business that can make decisions with insight and precision.
If you hire equipment for events or to large construction sites, you’ll know it can be a tough task, not only find the remote location in the first place, but it can be equally as challenging to track down the equipment upon collection. With GPS technology, you can pinpoint the site location as well as find your equipment to collect. This saves your workers lots of time and reduces the risk of equipment being lost or left behind.
In addition, as we know, business doesn’t stop while your workers are out in the field. Therefore, when new requests come in and jobs are created, your staff in the back office can look at the availability of workers on the road and see their location. Using this, they can allocate new jobs to the appropriate person based on their GPS location, increasing worker efficiency and improving the response time for each job.
Protection of staff and assets in the field
With a lot going on the outside of your business, one thing you definitely want to be sure of is that both your staff and your assets are safe. With GPS tracking on mobile devices, field workers can share their exact location and make emergency calls so that you can spring into action if they were to need your support. So that’s your staff taken care of, but what about your equipment?
Whilst your equipment is out on hire, you can still keep track of its exact location which is important should your expensive assets be stolen. Equally, if you have agreed not to charge your client for weekend usage, then you really want to make sure that your equipment isn’t being used during those unauthorised hours. If you find you’re the contract has been breached, you can then react accordingly.
Clear driver accountability
Whilst workers are out in the field, GPS tracking means that you can monitor their behaviour when out on the road. Drivers are then encouraged to make sure they are driving safely and remaining within the speed limit at all times. GPS also means you can track their location in real-time, making it easier to amend and allocate jobs, whilst also ensuring that your workers are being productive and efficient. This also helps you provide the best customer service, as you can keep your clients updated with their allotted time window and keep them notified if a worker is running late. All of this combined ensures that your transport is as economical and environmentally friendly as possible, whilst providing great service.
Ultimately, integrating your rental management software with GPS tracking technology gives you an increased level of protection; protection of your equipment and assets, protection of your staff, protection of your bottom line and protection of your customers. With detailed location data available at the touch of a button, it significantly improves customer interaction and enables you to provide a level of service to help distinguish you from your competitors.