Car Rentals Step Up Every Aspect of the Dealership
When your guests ask you for a loaner car, what do you do?
Most dealerships pick up the phone and dial one of a half-dozen popular car rental agencies. Whether or not you charge your guests is at issue; that’s a matter for another discussion. But what if you didn’t have to call up Enterprise, Budget, or Hertz to find them a car and wait for them to show up? What if you could walk your customer over to another desk and have it done on the spot in your store?
No doubt, you’ve seen car dealerships with a rental agency on site. At the floor level, it just seems like an extra expense and a bad use of floor space. Your very own rental agency can have an impact well beyond your expectations.
It Increases Customer Satisfaction
A guest isn’t wasting time traveling to the rental agency where there’s still a rental agreement to fill out. The process is much faster when the rental is on site. There’s no confusion about drop-off locations or ‘he-said-she-said’ conversations. Potential rental problems are virtually eliminated when it’s all on site.
It Moves Aging Inventory
Are you overstocked on an outgoing model? You have your very own out: a rental fleet that can mitigate the bath you’ll take on liquidating your overstock units. Instead of losing money on a sale, you can collect rental charges on it, then resell it later down the line as a pre-owned car.
It Brings In Foot Traffic
Having a car rental company in your store or dealer group brings potential customers through your door – they just don’t know it yet. On their way to the rental desk, they pass by new models in the showroom that could catch their eye. Even if they don’t buy now, the guest becomes comfortable coming to your store. And likely, that means they’ll buy from you in the future.
You can try to set up your own non-franchise rental car company on site, but that’s not necessary. There are simple, cost-effective franchise opportunities available from most of the rental agencies in the country. Think about using it as a method to improve customer satisfaction and even drive new sales.