In any business, you are immediately in a better position if you have the means to predict what the trends are going to be. The logic is simple; if you have an inkling, even if broadly, what the upcoming trends are going to be, then your business can prepare for it. The rental industry is no different. If anything, the organizations in the rental industry need to be on top of trends even more. The competition is stiff, margins are narrow, customers are demanding, and pricing strategies need to keep up with all these factors while still maintaining a healthy bottom-line.
You need to make sure that your rental fleet is efficient, with rental deals being completed at the best possible rates. At the same time, you want to have complete insight into the operations aspect of your fleet. These could include maintenance, repairs, depreciation, and damage. While these factors are known to those in the rental industry, they are often in a blind spot when it comes to realizing how much it affects their business. Which is the reason, organizations in the rental industry need to keep up with the trends in the industry.
What aspects do you need to look out for in equipment rental software solutions?
There are three main factors that are important in the rental industry—yield, reaction speed, and optimal utilization. When your business can capture these three factors, you can mitigate the factors that occur due to uncertainty and focus on growth.
Price or yield management: The concept of yield management is a pricing strategy, that can be traced back to the airlines and hospitality industry. To manage yield, the basic premise is to be able to understand, anticipate, and influence the behavior of customers to come up with an effective pricing strategy. Once you can predict market demands, you can work to provide customers with optimal offers which will fulfill their needs and add to your profitability. A system or solution that offers you a view of your assets and provides you with the basis of planning can be an asset in this situation.
Speed of reaction and strategy: This factor is self-explanatory in the sense that it refers to the agility to with which you can react to the changes in the market. For example, if you can offer your regular rental customers with the option to reserve certain rental items online, this will add to their convenience and let you charge a bit extra. The reaction speed and the way you plan for such needs is another factor that would depend on the kind of market trends and predictions you at your disposal.
Maximize the rate of utilization: The utilization rate of an asset is the proportion of the hours that an asset is rented, and the hours left during a segment of time. For this to happen, you need clear insight into the capacity usage of the equipment in your portfolio. It is only with this insight and overview can you ensure that the utilization rate is maximized. While this data is almost always available, you need to ensure that it timely and accurate for it to be used.
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