4 ways technology hinders your fleet management business

Dan Edwards
3/28/2021
4 ways technology hinders your fleet management business

To stay ahead of the competition, your fleet management business needs effective technology.

The challenge is, like many companies, your business likely has outgrown your technology – especially if you manage your fleet leases in a system that doesn’t integrate.

If your team members work tirelessly to create technology workarounds and improvements, they might experience their share of headaches and frustrations. At Crowe, we’ve helped companies like yours implement business applications to decrease the stress and frustrations of outdated technology. Here are four problems we frequently observe and how you can address them.

1. Segregated systems

Managing and calculating fleet lease agreements can be painful when the finance team has to import and export or reenter information between accounting and lease management platforms.

A better approach is unifying the entire organization using a centralized business application with tools for a more efficient and smarter fleet management business. You can better serve your customers when you can track the details for your fleet assets in the same system with your lease contracts along with customer information. You can get a complete view of your fleet management business and the information you need – fast.

Rather than dealing with frustrating workarounds, give your finance team instant access to a business application with built-in lease management tools, including revenue schedules, payment schedules, and the capability to forecast cash collections by fleet lease or aggregated across a group of assets. Your team also will be able to track multiple fleet lease relationships under a single contract, including important dates and location incidents for leased fleet assets. Having one centralized system to access these crucial leasing functions can increase efficiency and accuracy overnight.

Insights in your inbox
Never miss an opportunity to grow and improve your fleet management business. Stay on top of business insights by opting in to our communications for Microsoft.

2. Lack of visibility

Accessing real-time data is critical as your team works collaboratively on a variety of tasks like forecasting lease revenue, accessing orders, and viewing inventory – all important to your fleet management business.

The challenge is that older systems either can’t access real-time information or can’t display it in a way that is helpful to your business outcomes.

Identify a business application that provides real-time data and accurate forecasting to the entire organization. While your sales, operations, and finance teams work together across multiple locations, your customers are benefiting too. Sales teams that can quickly access fleet availability can give customers accurate information – all because of real-time visibility.

3. Manual entry and errors

Working with antiquated systems can be a problem for your bottom line and the morale of your employees because it requires manual entry that is prone to errors. 

Advanced technology increases efficiency and cost-saving measures across the entire organization. Manual processes such as setting asset maintenance reminders and optimizing inventory levels and movement take time and require accuracy. With automation, you can gain time and reduce errors. 

You want employees to add value to your fleet management business without getting lost in the monotony of manual entry. With advanced technology, they are empowered to provide better service to customers and critical business information to leadership and to work on other valuable tasks to have a positive impact on the organization. 

4. Outdated functionality

Growing expectations from customers for instant information puts additional stress on your team members to meet their business needs. You need technology to enhance your growing fleet management business, but many systems fall short. 

As the market grows, investing in a smart business application will allow you to analyze and forecast with greater precision – empowering you to make smarter decisions. Plus, should you acquire another business, you can integrate its data into your business, since your technology, data, and functionality are all centralized and stored in the cloud. 

Don’t let technology hold you back

Thinking about changing your current systems can be overwhelming, but continuing to use outdated systems is probably not your best option. Empower your team to collaborate effectively, access data instantly, reduce redundant entry and errors, and adapt to change with the right tools.

Contact us today

Learn how we can help you drive success in your fleet management business.
Dan Edwards
Dan Edwards
Managing Director, Consulting