Car rental software | CarPro Systems

Why do you need car rental software?

Whether you hold 1 location or 1000, car rental software and fleet management software are essential to managing your business. Many firms give these to the car rental industry – but how are they different and how can they support your growth?

We work with many different car rental platforms and this post highlights some of the things we’ve learned along the way.

NOTE: I’m going to focus on the benefits to your direct booking business rather than benefits through broker channels.

Beyond simple car rental software programs

In the 1980s your technology strategy was simple. You prepared a floppy disk including a car rental program, fixed it on your network and used it to run your car rental business. Things have changed – now your bases are always attached and so are your customers. Online has become a powerful booking channel (either direct or through brokers) and live pricing and immediate reservations are a must.

How can you give these with minimum answer time and continue to do so as your company scales? A cloud-based car rental software that leverages the cloud will help your business growth, reduce processing times and lower your operating costs. Do you already understand the benefits of cloud computing for your business?

Car rental management is changing

In an enterprise that becomes more ambitious every year, you need to find new ways to sell your product and retain your customers. It’s not quite to focus on fleet efficiency, you need to focus on improving your customer’s involvement at every stage. How are you different from your competitors? Why should clients choose to book a car with you – are you simply competing on price?

Your customers are changing

Your customers are frequently using mobile phones, tablets and other smart devices to meet their travel requirements – including renting vehicles.

Do you give the ability for your clients to access rental information on the go and view interactive location maps? Can they book easily on smartphones

Older car rental software may meet your primary car rental management wants – but does it let you to deliver the experience your clients demand?

Choose a rental platform with an API

There are several car rental booking systems out there but the best things will give you with an API (they might call it an XML interface or web service). Why is this important? It means that you are in full control of your customer experience. Your car rental software/fleet management software will control the core of your business but you’re free to create any user interface that you want – this might include:

• Fully active websites that work beyond mobile and tablets
• Smartphone apps
• Mobile check-in tools to reduce waiting time at the desk
• Touchscreen kiosks
• Web portals for agencies and travel administrators

If your reservation method doesn’t give an API, you’re tied to whatever user-interface they give.

Car rental software lets you do better marketing

If you prefer a solid car rental program with an API, you have more power over how your brand is represented and the ability to improve your customers’ experience. A website that is optimized for growth and SEO is crucial to growing your direct business – but you need the core foundations to support this.

The bottom line

We don’t give basic reservation systems – it’s not our business. We work with car rental organisations that already have a reservation system with an API; this is a conscious decision that means we don’t work with everyone that contacts us.

I’m not going to steer you down a specific path – but if you’re evaluating car rental booking platforms, ask them about their API and what it allows you to do.

On the flip-side, if you previously have a booking platform: are you leveraging everything that the API allows?

CarPro platforms can work with any car rental software.

CarPro increases your revenue Which would you like to tackle first?