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The start point for the best source of fleet information |
A hat-trick of BusinessCar Techie Awards shows how highly we regard Ogilvie's MiFleet Showroom 2 system, but the UK top 20 leasing company continues to make improvements.
The addition that sealed the 2015 Techies prize in the Leasing & Fleet Management category was that of grey fleet management.
"We've had it in test for some time, but you've got to get grey fleet right and you can't just flick a switch," Ogilvie's sales and marketing director Nick Hardy tells BusinessCar. "We've gone through months of implementing this in a way where it's not as complicated as it can be. Fleet managers need to see everything - drivers need to log on and only see themselves."
Drivers upload insurance, VED, vehicle service and MoT documents via a secure log-in process, along with driving licence details, and areas of risk are flagged up to fleet managers.
"The system needed developing substantially to allow individual log-in and uploading of documents. The easier you make it the more likely the driver is to use it," says Hardy, who feels companies that won't pay expense claims until drivers have supplied the information get the most out of it because "drivers are dreadful at providing information".
The development of grey fleet backs up what was already an award-winning system that Hardy claims isn't bettered by anything in the sector.
"Our clients tell us there is nothing that is easier to use or more beneficial," he says of a system that is offered free of charge to customers, even if they have vehicles with other providers as well as Ogilvie.
"People would say that they would like to see all their cars in one place, but only, say, 60% are leased with Ogilvie," Hardy explains. "It can't be updated as accurately because with our vehicles we know instantly if they have had a tyre change or service, but we can put critical information on like vehicle details, renewal reminders, driver details and ultimately as much data as the client can provide us."
One way Ogilvie is looking to progress in the future is by including its customer service scores.
"The next thing planned is integrating CSI [customer service index] scoring into the system - customer service and IT are the two things that are most important to us as a business and we'd like to put the two together," says Hardy, who is looking at the CSI scores through independent research, as well as touchpoint surveys after events including car delivery, servicing and other work.
"Fleet managers only give feedback when something goes wrong so we want to say this is what drivers think," he says, commenting that a good result in the Experteye survey is "very important' to Ogilvie.
"Speak to any leasing company and they will say they provide the best service, but this proves we provide great service," says Hardy. "We are able to prove we give great service through independent results and web scores - where a third party takes opinions from our clients, not influenced by us.
"It's central to us being able to prove we're good on our words, plus it helps internally because we can see if we have any work to do in any areas."
Other technological developments Ogilvie Fleet is examining include more mobile-based operations, and whether to take MiFleet down the app route or to make it more mobile- and tablet-friendly.
"Everything we do is more mobile-orientated because that's the world we live in - we can get a website to work adequately well on a phone, but it's not ideal so let's properly app-enable it," Hardy says. "It needs a lot of investment and work and interactions with clients to see how they want it to work because it's got to be good from day one, and that's probably a year away."
The firm currently has its Drivers' Guide, which Hardy describes as a "nice little app right now that will in a few months be a great little app".
It started out as a driver aid, helping with advice and support for service booking or tyre replacement and other information, what Hardy describes as a "fairly basic driver tool", but has progressed with the latest update launched on 31 October to more location-based help including finding car parks, EV charging points and tyre centres.
"We're dreadful in this industry with delving into new technology, and we want to change that," he concludes. "Our view is to provide the best possible service in the industry and the best IT and make sure it's measured and obvious to the customer. IT is one thing the industry is dreadful at - simple things like apps are part of everyday life."
In March, Ogilvie agreed a new £100m securitisation funding arrangement with HSBC to fuel its ambitious growth plans.
"It's made a dramatic difference to us; we've taken a big sigh of relief and now we can really grow. The shackles are off and all we have to worry about is how do we want to grow, how far and how to do it profitably," explains Ogilvie sales and marketing director Nick Hardy. "You can grow by being super cheap, there's nothing clever in that, but how can we grow the business with concentration on delivery of service and top-notch IT?"
He says Ogilvie views 20,000 units as a reasonable growth ambition, from the current 13,000 level. "I'd be surprised if we didn't hit 14,000 in the next year, and over the next four years I see us naturally reaching 17,000-18,000, and from there the question from our perspective will be how desperately we want to get to 20,000,"
Hardy declares. "We won't do it under any circumstances and compromise what we do as clients have bought into us because of what we have said we can do from a service and IT perspective, so we mustn't fail them."
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