9 Benefits of an Equipment Rental Software Solution

The equipment rental segment has come into its own with many companies renting equipment rather than making an outright purchase.

With the burgeoning demand and cutthroat competition, equipment rental companies can find it increasingly difficult to manage their operations, meet customer demands, keep their bottom line healthy and still stay ahead of the competition.
What is the solution? A full-featured rental equipment software solution could be the way forward. However, it can be an expensive and painstaking process to select, purchase, implement, deploy, and use. An ideal first step would be to understand the benefits equipment rental software can offer you before taking the next steps.

Here are nine benefits you can attain from a cloud-based full-featured equipment rental solution:

1. Complete overview

Siloed information and lack of coordination can result in confusion that affects everything from operations, service, maintenance, transportation, logistics to customer care.

A unified rental solution helps ensure that all the information is updated and offers customized views to the different stakeholders in the business. For example, scheduling of deliveries to clients becomes more manageable with a complete overview and ensures better coordination at all levels.

2. Better planning

Data, information, and insights are the backbone of any company. With the added business insights feature , your equipment rental solution can support you at not only operational level planning but also at the strategic level. You will be in a position to anticipate needs within the company and upcoming trends at the industry-level to plan better.

Insights from within the company can help you look at trends that have happened in the past (for example, more demand for cranes during the holiday season) and plan your rates accordingly. Data around the service and maintenance of your equipment can help you schedule preventive maintenance during slack periods to maximize the rental periods to increase revenue. Trends related to the industry can help you learn what your competitors are doing, which will help you weed out the less-productive equipment from your portfolio and focus on more lucrative equipment.

3. Streamline operations

Operations in an equipment rental company means you need to manage several aspects like the location of the asset, routes, skilled personnel, service, and maintenance, among other elements.

Your rental solution can offer you a graphical planboard  to help you view and manage all the operational aspects.

4. Cost savings

Balancing customer delight with expenses can be a tough act in the rental business, but something that has become essential in today’s competitive business environment. With the right rental solution, you can plan better, streamline operations to minimize equipment downtime, cut down on transportation and maintenance costs to help improve the bottom-line.

5. Improved revenue

With features like IoT (Internet of Things), modern equipment rental solutions can alert you on the movement of the equipment and usage beyond the terms in the rental agreement. These two factors can help you plan your logistics better and bill customers for their extra usage. IoT can also be useful in planning service and maintenance.

6. Increased customer satisfaction

A centralized rental solution allows your customer-facing teams to access records of repeat customers so that they can offer discounts and customized deals to improve customer satisfaction.

Mobility  is another aspect of your equipment rental solution that enables your field staff to bill accurately and on-time for better customer interactions.

7. Balanced portfolio

An equipment rental solution that has a centralized and updated information base can help you get reports and insights on the equipment that has the highest demand, the equipment that has long-term (steady income but less profit) and short-term (better profit but sporadic income) renting potential and the ones that can command a higher rate.

With these insights you can balance your portfolio with the right mix of high-fee,  high-demand, long-term and short-term rental assets.

8. Information update

The mobility aspect of a rental solution ensures that all the information that your business collects at different touchpoints is consolidated in a single place. Decision-making becomes easier and there are no misses because the information was not updated on time.

The decreased reliance on paperwork can also ease the pressure on your on-ground staff. For instance, field staff can access any specific requests from a particular customer for the delivery or configuration of an asset or billing requests without a lag.

9. Unified data view

Many companies face the problem of siloed information because their rental solution does not synchronize with their ERP. But today, you have equipment rental solutions that sync automatically with the ERP to offer you a unified data view. When your equipment rental software solution syncs automatically with your ERP, both operational and financial data is updated. This reduces rework and inaccurate reporting.

What you need to do next

At To-Increase, we offer DynaRent, an equipment rental software solution that has numerous features that you can leverage to enjoy the benefits mentioned above. However, investing in an equipment rental software solution is a decision that will have long-term implications on your business in terms of investment.

Here are some of the steps you need to take:

• Look at what customer expectations are from your equipment rental company
• Discuss with your IT and operations team to list out their requirements
• Identify solution providers that can provide you a software solution to meet your needs
• Schedule demos and discussions with the shortlisted solution providers
• Check reviews, case studies, and testimonials from existing customers