Nexus Vehicle Management wants to give its vehicle rental customers the Apple experience when it launches its new-look platform next month. The system update aims to deliver a much more user-friendly feel than its predecessor and offer customers the potential to achieve an even quicker booking time for short-term hire vehicles.

“At the moment you can a book a car with us in 60 seconds,” said David Brennan, chief executive officer at Nexus.

“We’re trying to give customers that three-click experience to make the process even quicker.”

The vehicle rental broker is keen to re-affirm its place in the market and make the technology it has developed in-house, such as its Iris platform, a major differentiator.

“Customers are used to that Apple or Amazon experience; our software, while being very powerful, didn’t look or feel like that,” said Brennan.

“We now have a new version that will come out in November, which looks and feels superb, and it’s also much quicker at delivering what the customer wants.”

The former LeasePlan managing director has spent the past six months assessing the Yorkshire-based business since becoming its CEO in April.

He has visited major customers, met with suppliers and spoken to staff before putting his stamp on the company’s operations and its strategic direction.

Brennan said: “My view of strategy is you’ve got to know where you are now, where are you trying to get to and what’s the plan when you get there. If you’re not quite sure where you are, it leads to a lack of clarity in your direction.”

He believes the business was trying to be too many things to too many people.

“I think we were diversifying too fast,” said Brennan. “New ideas and new products are all good, but we are a small market-share company in a very big market and we’ve got huge growth room in our core segment.”

Changes have followed. Adapted Vehicle Hire, which provides specially-adapted vehicles to the disabled market, has been brought under the Nexus brand and there is a renewed focus on five market segments in the UK.

Leasing companies, end-user fleets, car manufacturers, credit hire companies and adapted vehicles for the disabled sector are its key customers. An increased focus on its current customer base is also a priority.

Brennan said he wants to give them a ‘share of wallet growth’ by providing them with the very best technology and best market insight.

“We can grow into more segments over time and we can also look at geography, but right now we’re going to keep going in our core markets and make sure we look after those customers properly,” he added.

Nexus provides access to around 500,000 rental vehicles in more than 1,750 rental locations, yet its vehicles account for less than 2% of the market.

It provides an excellent opportunity for the business to maintain its recent double-digit growth and increase its market share.

A three-year technology plan aims to ensure a market-leading platform while a series of service level agreements  (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) agreed with suppliers hopes to further improve a 98% customer satisfaction rating.

Brennan said Nexus’s Iris platform has been enhanced to allow suppliers to manage their own development, based on the KPIs and SLAs set by the company.

Suppliers can log in to the platform and view their scores in real-time, providing them with a picture of their performance based on a number of factors, including how well delivery terms have been met, how disputes with customers have been managed and how they continue to improve
their service.

The system aims to provide a structured view of any areas requiring development and allows the suppliers to make changes specific to this. It also allows for the benchmarking of suppliers according to the market in which they operate.

Nexus has used its technology to create a process that proactively develops its suppliers rather than acting reactively. Communication and collaboration within the supply chain is key and the system allows real-time interaction with suppliers, providing them with complete visibility on how they can deliver a quality service to the end user every time, said Brennan.

He concluded: “It gives me confidence to say to our customers and prospects ‘we’re not just providing you with vehicle rental. We’re managing that service and improving that service’.” 

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