Fleet Managers Best Tactics for Customer Loyalty

Garnering Loyalty Through Robust Fleet Payment

We are living in a culture where it is simply not good enough to offer a remarkable service or sell an outstanding product. Business environments have changed and customers along with employees and partners/contractors are requiring more of an engagement. They want to be involved and they want to be acknowledged for their specific needs. That holds true to the trucking industry. From outside, it might seem like the trucking and transportation industry is serving many, but a guaranteed delivery it is not enough. Fleet managers all over the country are consistently looking at better ways to retain drivers, customers and vendors. Loyalty within every audience is a challenge but a critical one to overcome and they are addressing with one thing in mind — a personalized and easy experience.

Whether it is the customer experience or the employee/driver experience, fleet managers are aware that relationships are everything and to exceed expectations to maintain a positive engagement with every customer, vendor or driver in order to make business sustainable and strong.

It All Starts With Fleet Payment

Collecting a check every week or waiting to get paid within 30 days is a thing of the past – especially in an industry where the competitive landscape is vast. Payment is expected to be consistent, transparent and fast, sometimes even in real-time. Business can be lost on as little as one missed payment or a confusing process. However, if payment is seamless, dependable and accurate, relationships are developed, and loyalty is cultivated. Fleet payment company EFS helps to keep the payment process streamlined providing employees, drivers and contractors immediate access to fund. Dependable and simplified programs like these are critical in order for loyalty to follow. Loyalty is not always about points earned. Fleet payment is often provided through powerful fleet cards that might earn you points and discounts but offer even more by giving the card user access to cash fast.

One example that fleet managers are beginning to rely on is the EFS SmartFunds Card. The EFS SmartFundscard is a multi-purse card that combines both “limit” and “declining balance” transactions within the EFS truck stop network conveniently on the same card. The SmartFunds card allows fleet managers to securely manage company purchases and driver pay or contractor settlement conveniently on one card. The card enables a streamlined administrative process while providing employees and contractors immediate access to their payroll or settlement funds without waiting for a check.

It is clear that cards like these not only make fleet management more efficient, they also offer the kind of perks that keep employees happy and loyal.

Data Driving Customization for Even More Loyalty

Data captured from AI (Artificial Intelligence) and other digital solutions will help build on your customer behavior in order to cater to their specific requirements. These solutions can connect data to reveal trends and enables personalized customer service while providing actionable insights to find and fix customer experience struggles as well as a company’s own challenges. By offering the right digital solutions, you can drive customer loyalty and increase revenue. EFS is helping fleet managers leverage an abundance of data to better control and manage fuel as well as tap into the marketplace to benchmark volume against peer groups. The programs go a long way in driving your own growth and your customer’s loyalty.

1. Fuel Audit and Reconciliation: Online Fuel Audit and Reconciliation tool for fuel management leverages big data to provide KPI tracking and purchase reporting, along with real-time and historical pricing analysis to take control of and better manage the company fuel spend. These powerful fuel management tools provide robust real-time reporting and analysis that helps fleet managers save valuable time auditing and reconciling fuel spend.

Better driving habits will also reduce fuel consumption. Giving drivers feedback on their own fuel consumption should reinforce lessons in fuel economy. The EFS fuel audit tool provides a streamlined way to access fuel consumption metrics quickly through performing real-time and historical pricing analysis while verifying individual transactions. With KPI tracking and purchase reporting, fleet managers can provide drivers with the kind of accurate, actionable feedback that leads to more fuel-efficient driving habits.

The advantages include:

• Daily Fuel Reconciliation
• Fuel Price Verification
• Individual Transaction Verification
• Executive Management Reporting
• Mobile Fuel Price Discovery and Optimization Tools

2. Big Data Decision Engine: Evaluate how capacity is doing in the marketplace and benchmark volume against peer groups. The EFS Carrier TrendSource^SM leverages big data to show customers how freight volumes are trending, and in turn, how that correlates to their volume. This data analytics tool provides portfolio analysis to benchmark against peer groups, create actionable insights, and emphasize data visualization and dashboards to easily spot trends and exceptions across a wide variety of performance metrics. 

The advantages include:

• Realize added security around purchase validations
• Know how you’re performing relative to your peers
• Make more informed decisions around fuel spend
• Ensure you are receiving your negotiated discounts

 It is clear that customer loyalty is a holistic process that touches on every aspect of the business from how payment is made to how data is used for a better experience. All relationships are built on trust, dependability and personalization. As long as fleet managers focus on the engagement and the customer experience in an authentic way, relationships will be strong and loyalty even stronger.

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