A Q&A with Santa, and Fleet Manager Mrs Claus, of North Pole Inc
Small business owners are feeling more confident than they have done for years and it's clear to see why.
Economic conditions are easing pressure which is creating employment opportunities, pay increases, and access to finance from the banks to reinvest in areas of business. Low inflation has contributed to the bottom line with very few businesses reporting an increase in costs, which is putting more money into consumers' pockets.
Yet, although there's a lot of good news for small businesses; issues with cash flow still cause concern. It's important that given the external economic situation, smaller companies are creating opportunities for growth internally.
We understand how important it is for a small businesses to receive their payments on time. If the monies you're expecting don't hit your bank when planned it can create issues for everyone within your organisation. There are many different reasons why cash flow problems occur, but these problems are less likely to arise if customers are getting a brilliant service from you. Why? Because they'll be more inclined to pay you when you ask if they're receiving a great service, and this is where Telematics can help.
It doesn't matter if a business has a fleet of five vehicles or a thousand because a Telematics system can assist businesses to get the most from their mobile workforce.
Having information in areas such as delivery times and location of goods is powerful and appreciated by your customers. Being able to respond to customer queries quickly and with pinpoint accuracy gives your clients assurance that you're the right people to work with.
Philip Dadd, a Managing Director at Bristol security firm Standfast, who operates 11 vehicles, told us how Telematics has taken customer satisfaction to new levels.
"One of the biggest benefits we've seen from vehicle tracking is the ability to enhance customer service levels. We're now able to respond quickly and efficiently to customer??enquires,??give them exact arrival times and send customers detailed reports outlining the time an engineer has spent on a job. Our customers are more satisfied than ever before."
The ability to instantly locate your vehicles and be able to relay that information back to your customers is a brilliant tool but it's not just positive customer service that can benefit cash flow; it's also about the reduction of costs.
Better control of overtime payments, vehicle maintenance and fuel costs are all benefits that vehicle tracking offers. Peter Haig, Director at Cosmo Ceramics, a successful family run business explains how Telematics has been a positive step for his organisation.
"We've significantly increased productivity levels and saved considerable amounts of time and money by boosting fleet efficiencies."
"It was clear that that by being able to see every movement of our fleet, vehicle tracking would allow us to offer a much more efficient, accurate and reliable service to our customers and from a management point of view, we've the instant communication element with drivers has significantly reduced fleet downtime."
Even with the improving fiscal environment there really is no room in the small business world to not manage costs. Larry Forgham, Director at Otter South West Ltd was aware of this before he introduced telematics into the five vehicles in his Plumbing business. He stressed the amount his telematics system from Navman Wireless had saved on fuel whilst mentioning the improvement of customer service.
"The system has proved to be a fantastic tool, we can now fit more jobs into each working day, which has also improved our service to customers whilst making significant cost savings. I would estimate that we will save ??7,000 on fuel alone by the end of the year".
Our solutions gives small businesses much more than just tracking. They are designed to give you more control over your vehicles, drivers and the important jobs they do for your business. Managing cash flow is just one area where they can play a key role.