How Wondle helps growing vehicle rental businesses with damage.

How Wondle helps small and mid-size Vehicle Rental Businesses.

The provision of rental vehicles has travelled a long way from being the preserve of a handful of global rental behemoths. Of course, large multi-national organisations still exist and still dominate the short-term hire market. Still, the number of vendors able to supply mid and long-term rental vehicles has grown significantly in the last few years. 

 The restricted supply of new vehicles has only accelerated this trend, and we have seen these fleets grow. One of the critical growth areas has been through leasing brokers who have traditionally targeted business and personal contract hire. It’s an unsurprising development for two reasons.  

Firstly, the UK broker community has built up a significant customer base of mobility users; in a 2022 survey by the BVRLA on the broker market, it was estimated that brokers are responsible for supplying over 400,000 vehicles to customers, a significant proportion of the UK leasing marketplace.  This proximity to so many customers presents a clear opportunity to widen the service provision to other mobility products such as long and medium-term rental. 

Additionally, the operational impact of long and medium-term rental is significantly lower than a daily rental operation which requires a much more intensive model due to its quick turnaround model.  This relative ease of operation allows Leasing brokers to pivot to rental quickly.  But this is not to say that operating a long-term rental fleet is without its challenges, and at the top of the list of challenges is damage.

Damage to rental vehicles can potentially sour relationships and/or damage the profit and loss account of a small rental operation. The major problems faced by the rental operations that approach Wondle are as follows.

1. Objective evidence of the vehicle's condition upon delivery without costly or lengthy inspections and handovers.
2. Understanding the vehicle's condition before its return so the following user can be informed of the condition, or optionally, repairs organised without damaging the utilisation.
3. A precise record of the vehicle condition at the point of termination with a clear explanation of changes since delivery.
4. Allows customers to gain an indication of the cost of damage penalties to reduce queries when final damage invoices are received.
5. Ability to compare the condition against the return conditions of the OEM or finance provider that funds the rental vehicles. To enable decisions around repair or return.

All of these problems, which can account for hundreds of lost hours, thousands of pounds worth of goodwill payments and damaged relationships, can be solved quickly and cheaply with Wondle’s damage solution platform.  Furthermore, as Wondle was built for use by consumers, not vehicle experts, customers find using Wondle effortless and rewarding, building loyalty towards your business.

How to give your customers the best vehicle rental experience.

It will come as no surprise that customers don’t like damage either.  Our research shows that it is a source of concern and that half of all consumers think the end-of-contract transaction could be handled better than it is. They have concerns about being treated fairly, being billed for damage already on the vehicle, being overcharged for repairs or damage occurring after the vehicle has been collected.  

When you provide your customers with a tool that protects them from these things happening, you are making a strong statement about your business culture and approach to customer retention.  Customers recognise these efforts and reward this extra mile with loyalty and repeat business.

How does it make for a better car and van rental operation?

The Wondle damage platform provides levels of visibility which simply could not be achieved before without making the business economically unviable. The key benefits are as follows.

1. Unambiguous documentation at the point of delivery and collection removes misunderstandings and lengthy customer disputes about damage.
2. Engineering quality imagery of the vehicle and any damage provide solid evidence for discussions for all parties.
3. Early warning of vehicle condition to allow new clients to understand damage levels on their incoming vehicle or enable remedial work to be organised in advance, reducing loss of use costs.  
4.  If the vehicle is due back to the funder, this early warning allows for comparing repair before return versus funder damage penalties. Again, this protects and maximises unit margins.
5. Powerful reporting provides data to inform pricing for different customers and use cases. For example, allowing laser targeting of pricing for your customers depending on their operational impact on your business.
6. Provision of a Nationwide, guaranteed repair service fully integrated into the platform. If required, this can be offered to customers, adding choice and allowing the return of a fully repaired vehicle ready to re-rent. (T&C’s apply).

This package of benefits can be delivered to a rental business in a matter of days, with no installation, no apps for customers to download and is now native to some broker platforms such as Automotus, with easy integrations possible to other software.

The bottom line is that being able to reduce costs, automate manual tasks and speed up customer processes provides a competitive advantage to your business in a challenging environment. You can serve customers better and increase margins.  When combined with a fast and effortless set-up, simple contracts and low pricing, the case to start is compelling.

Speak to one of the Wondle team today to discuss your needs.  There is a pricing plan to suit every size of operation, so act today and experience the Wondle promise that “Damage does not have to be Damaging’.