The iPad generation is well and truly here to stay. However hard you try, it’s likely technology touches each part of your life, and it’s a challenge for businesses to keep up with how fast everything is changing.
While some companies might introduce a single new idea, top five UK leasing company Arval completely overhauled its entire service offering last year, which led to it picking up the Innovation Award in the 2014 BusinessCar Techie Awards.
The company disposed of its fuel card business Allstar to FleetCor in late 2011, which helped pave the way for investment in preparation for growth, including migrating to a new IT system last year, as well as launching Smart Experience.
Smart Experience is made up of online tools, mobile apps, tablet-ready dashboards and social networks to provide the information fleet managers and drivers need on any device at any time.
Fleet management services Connect and Fleet View were launched first and these were followed by new driver apps, video reviews and a social media campaign.
The BNP Paribas-owned company launched Smart Experience in March 2014 to make its fleet services compatible and seamless across smartphones, tablets and desktops.
It’s a top-to-bottom approach to make the company relevant to the way managers and drivers are interacting with services every day.
The suite of services is one of the reasons behind Arval pushing through a 100,000-vehicle risk fleet milestone towards the end of last year, with an increase of 1000 units a month during 2014, and on to a 6% market share in the leasing industry.
Robert Pieczka, the company’s marketing and insurance director, says: “Technology is changing the way people access information. Our customers’ needs werechanging rapidly and we needed to react to that.”
The extra services through Smart Experience are free for Arval’s customers and illustrate how much fleets expect of their leasing company.
It is no longer acceptable to just provide transport and leasing; companies need to provide additional support services to differentiate and improve levels of service.
Pieczka says Arval closely monitored overall trends in the market for smartphone and tablet use for accessing websites and services and that prompted the plan to overhaul the accessibility of its fleet management software.
When tablet penetration went over 50% in the UK, Pieczka knew the company needed to react.
He says: “We wanted to create something simple, and there’s a huge amount of time pressure on fleet mangers or on staff taking on the duties of a fleet manager.”
Smart Experience is intended to be an evolving project, which continues to launch new digital services and react to the way fleets are working in the digital age.
On track
Arval tracks and analyses the way its services are being used, and while the desktop is still the lead platform in terms of how fleets are managing their vehicles, tablet use is catching up. The leasing company expects smartphone and tablet use to eventually overtake the desktop, mirroring what has already happened with overall web-browsing in the UK.
Pieczka says: “We have designed the way information is provided through Fleet View to give a high level of metrics for managers to view.
“But it’s modular, so you can grant permissions and access to the finance teams, HR or procurement, and give them different levels of access.
“There is a trend for the fleet manager’s role to be taken on by different members of staff in an organisation, so we wanted to design Fleet View to give an easy-to-read overview for anyone that might have access.”
Benoit Dilly, Arval UK managing director, says: “Our customers are embracing Smart Experience positively. It helps benefit fleet managers and their drivers, and I think it’s worked to give fleets a much more positive image of us overall.”
To assess the difference the company is making to fleets in terms of the quality of its offering, Arval uses the Net Promoter Score system, which is based around whether clients would recommend their service. However, while the company was not able to share figures on customer service improvement, it asserted that the growth it saw last year is proof that the Smart Experience is having a positive impact on the business.
Mobile+
The Mobile+ element of Smart Experience is specifically aimed at drivers. The app is available to download on iPhone and Android devices and provides information and documentation in one place. It includes live maps for the closest service and maintenance sites as well as fuel forecourts and average prices.
Drivers can book a service and access their specific fleet’s driving-at-work guidance and any other documents their manager wants them to have to hand. The mobile app also give drivers a handy countdown for when their contract runs out on their lease, as well as telephone numbers they need so they don’t have to scrabble around in the event of a bump or scrape.
Drive Challenge
Okay, so ‘gamification’ sounds very Silicon Valley and a bit pretentious, but the idea is that it’s possible to make boring, everyday work tasks fun by making them into a game.
Arval introduced the free Drive Challenge through Mobile+ to help improve driving efficiency. The mobile app needs to be switched on before a driver starts their vehicle, and then can be left alone.
The app tracks driving style through a GPS signal, measuring speed, acceleration and braking to highlight areas for improvement. Drivers can access the amount of points they have received for each trip when they’re not behind the wheel, and it’s possible to unlock rewards for the best, with a live leaderboard highlighting the most efficient staff in the business. Some cars already feature in-built technology like this, such as Renault’s R-Link telematics system, but using an app means all drivers in the company can get involved as a group.
Fleet View
Fleet View forms the core of Smart Experience and it provides fleet managers with access to information about their fleet. It displays the most useful vehicle-related information at a glance, which Arval says can help improve efficiency for fleets because fleet managers are not having to pick through spreadsheets.
Customers can also get a detailed breakdown of information on their fleet and individual vehicles, an overview of their costs, a view of vehicle usage, and CO2-related metrics. Access to Fleet View can be modular, which means different people can be given a log-in that restricts or opens certain features.
Connect
Connect is an online resource for fleet managers and drivers that contains a range of information and tools. It’s put together a bit like a consumer website and includes access to video reviews of new cars (conducted by a third party) and industry news to keep customers updated.
Businesses can also use a delivery calendar to keep track of vehicles due to arrive, as well as a garage locator to find available service and maintenance sites.
There’s also an area that lets users manage up to six months’ worth of invoices. The Connect service includes a centralised location for useful documents such as fair wear-and-tear guides. Finally, fleets can connect directly to Fleet View through the Connect website.
Social Media
Arval launched a joint YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In presence as part of its Smart Experience. Pieczka says that, from the feedback the firm was receiving, there was an increasing desire from customers to engage through social media.
Arval has gone from a standing start of zero ‘likes’ on its Facebook page to more than 10,000 in less than a year. The firm’s YouTube channel includes videos on corporate social responsibility and news updates, while its Twitter account is used to send out useful links, news stories or to interact with customers.
