The fleet management business has been hit hard on several fronts with the coming of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19). In the chaos of controlling the spread of the virus and keeping the employees protected, it has been an enormous challenge to keep the fleet management business alive, let alone profitable. They have been affected not just monetarily but also on logistical and operation levels.
13 Best Strategies to Grow Fleet Management Business Post-COVID-19 Era
1. Make A Strategy Unique To Your Business
However, even if your fleet business is not performing too well right now, it will not always be the case. Now is a great time to review your operations and create a meticulously laid-out plan to grow your fleet management business post-COVID-19. Here is the only guide you will need to convert today's low into tomorrow's high.
2. Review And Control The Costs
Cost-cutting has to be a critical part of your post-COVID-19 plan as budgets are tight now more than ever. Take the time to review your expenses associated with fleet management and cut back on business travel, hiring, non-essential training, and delayed vehicle purchases.
Vehicle telematics is an excellent way to highlight both apparent and hidden costs.
3. What Can You Do With Fleet Management Systems?
Using state-of-the-art fleet management tools can help the business review and control costs more effectively. It can also reduce insurance premiums for your fleet as many insurance providers offer discounts for utilizing vehicle telematics technology. You can use your vehicle telematics to:
- Track the Vehicle's Condition
- Inspect Fuel Usage
- Assess Maintenance Records
- Evaluate Vehicle Usage
4. 'Right-Size' Your Fleet
The situation ahead of this calamity can be unpredictable. Hence, it is imperative to 'right-size' your fleet. Consider the overall size of your fleet and dispose of vehicles that are old, low, or under-utilized. A dedicated fleet reserve fund is vital to replace the assets as necessary when operations are resumed in full swing post-COVID-19.
5. How Do You Decide That?
Having smart fleet management solutions allows you to successfully track service records, route performance, hours of service, engine diagnostics, usage of fuel, etc. for each vehicle in your fleet. It equips you with enough information to decide which vehicles you want to keep and dispose of depending on how much they have cost your business.
6. Analyze Your Fleet's Performance
For growing your fleet management business in the post-COVID-19 world, it is necessary to analyze the performance of your fleet over some time. It helps you highlight the progress of the fleet over time in achieving the key performance indicators (KPIs) that you may have set. The right vehicle telematics technology provides you with real-time analytics of your fleet. You can also implement several effective strategies to give a boost to your real-time asset-tracking business.
7. Convert Adversity Into Opportunity
You can use this downtime to evaluate your telematics tools and set up more KPIs according to your organization's specific requirements after COVID-19. Take the following actions to make the best out of your vehicle telematics software:
- Evaluate trends going two years back and draw from reliable predictions.
- Track your fuel cards for any suspicious transactions.
- Create smart alerts for the maintenance of the vehicles.
- Check that the sensors are entirely operational and explore more functionalities to reduce costs and improve services when you bounce back.
8. Revisit Management Roadmaps
Utilize this time to revisit your fleet management roadmap for the next five to ten years. That is essential to ensure that your business has a strategic plan to deal with the spiraling economy and orderly eradicate avoidable wastage by taking proactive initiatives to improve processes.
9. Make Changes To Organizational Policies
You should also make necessary changes to the employee work instructions and policy documents so that they are aware of contingency plans and know exactly how to handle any unforeseen situation. Vehicle telematics grants you deep insights into your fleet's performance during the pandemic.
You can come up with strategies and policy changes that can reduce costs and keep drivers safe in the post-COVID-19 era. Don't forget to check with the government and health authorities before drafting your final policies and roadmap.
10. Enhance Customer Experience
Many small fleets and organizations depend on customer reviews and referrals for repeat business. Vehicle telematics makes it possible for customers to leave a review and the drivers to request one after the job is complete. You should take the time to evaluate these comments and reviews to gauge the overall performance of your fleet management business.
11. How Does Telematics Technology Help?
You can also compare your business's performance over the years using telematics technology, thus giving you more in-depth insights and aiding your decision regarding what needs to be done to polish it up. If you are serious about enhancing customer experience post-COVID, you should also reach out to the unhappy reviewers and understand how you can make your services better.
12. Plan For Unforeseen Events
Proactively planning for surprises is the biggest lesson that the coronavirus outbreak has given to most businesses worldwide. Fleet management companies should expect unforeseen situations and delays due to the pandemic that can easily follow in the post-COVID-19 world. For example, acquiring licenses, titles, and vehicles will become problematic for fleet managers.
13. Focus On Tackling New Challenges
Consider new expenses such as cleaning and sanitization costs after using the vehicle and plan the sanitation methods so that prolonged downtime in the service can be avoided. The data collected by vehicle telematics like Samsara can help empower drivers to improve their efficiency by giving them real-time feedback.
COMMENTS