Leasing companies are facing rising expectations from fleet customers at a time when freebie services are increasingly eating into profits for many.

Among the new demands is fixed pricing over a set term, according to ALD managing director Keith Allen. He believes this is impossible to agree to.

“Some tenders even tell you want the target rental is,” Allen told Fleet News. “Expectations are very high and getting higher at the top end of the market in terms of cost and delivery of service and this is filtering down to smaller fleets.

“But customers have to appreciate that our businesses have to make a return. Transparency is key – and there’s more of it now,” he added.

Allen believes the industry needs to take a stand against ‘freebie services’ such as consultancy on health and safety issues and, more recently, salary sacrifice.

“We are very good at giving service and offering innovation that we give away. In another industry we would charge for it but we do it for nothing because we have the ability to earn money over time,” he said.

“We haven’t the confidence to charge up front. Why? Because someone else would come in and do it all for nothing.

“As an industry I thing we give good service, we invest in technology and we go that extra mile but we don’t get the payback that we deserve.”

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