'Get a sponsor to help win board approval of fleet initiatives'

Fleet decision-makers can help get buy-in from the board for new initiatives by trying to get a ‘sponsor’ to promote the idea.

Denise Hawkins (pictured), fleet and insurance manager at ABM, told delegates at December’s virtual Fleet200 meeting: “I have my goal and look to see who is going to be my partner within the board to see who can push that within their agenda.

“We all know that it’s sometimes quite hard to get the opportunity to speak to the board and put you views across there, but if you have someone who is with you along the journey I find that helps.

“Even if cost saving isn’t your goal, having specific savings in a proposal is definitely useful as everybody loves a cost saving.”

"...data really can become your friend to trigger improvements and innovation when combined and analysed all together.”

Hawkins told delegates that whether a fleet decision-maker is looking at making changes, improvements or finding innovations, it all boils down to data.

“We have data coming in from everywhere: from telematics, fuel usage, service history, mileage reports, tyre history and accident reports,” she added.

“You can create individual reports on accident history, for example, to send to board members, or speeding reports used for reprimanding or following up on training needs of staff.

“You may be looking at your mileage reporting to adjust your contracts.

“There is just so much coming through and data really can become your friend to trigger improvements and innovation when combined and analysed all together.”

However, having access to this amount of information has a downside: it is easy to feel swamped by facts and figures.

“You’re not going to be alone with sometimes feeling like you’re drowning in the amounts of information you have,” says Hawkins.

Hawkins uses the software included in Microsoft Office Enterprise to collate ABM’s data.