unning a busy rental or activity business is fun and challenging. You’re supporting a person's sense of adventure by offering activities such as a renting ski boat for their beach trip, or an RV for a weeklong trip to a national park. That’s the fun part! Managing the moving parts of a rental business such as equipment upkeep, taking reservations, and customer service can be the challenging part. However, when you have efficient processes in place, your business is armed for success.
At a recent event, an RV rental business shared a story about communicating the rental details with a customer over the phone, but didn’t have the information sent in writing. When the customer arrived to pick up their RV, they were surprised to see the additional charges for a generator and cleaning showing on the invoice. Despite the RV manager going over the charges in detail over the phone, the customer claimed they were not aware that these options were extra. The situation was uncomfortable and resulted in lost revenue for the business as they waived the charges for the misunderstanding. Plus the customer drove off in their RV a little miffed for the delay while the situation was handled. Have you had a similar issue come up with your business?
Proper customer communication is paramount in this type of business. BookingCentral’s Rental Quotes has the solution to this challenge. Learn about the benefits of Rental Quotes, and how it is a great option for your rental or activity business.
Quotes show customers the bottom line. Quotes are a great way to engage interested customers by allowing them to make an informed decision on a higher-priced activity such as renting an RV. A quote gives them all the details they need to make a decision, including preferred date, RV type, rental price and any requested add-ons. It gives them access to the information they need as they consider moving forward with the booking.
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Quotes bring quality customers. Offering RV rentals or boats means you’re entrusting your equipment to people you don’t know personally. You hope a customer will care for your property as much as you do, but of course, there’s no guarantee. However, when you send a quote to a customer, this means you’ve opened the lines of communication with them, and discussed the rental details. You know they’re interested in the rental you’re offering. The Quote feature not only provides you with insight into your potential customer prior to rental, but the customer also gets to know you and how you operate. It’s a benefit for both parties.
‍Quotes come with an expiration date. Quotes are set with a time frame to review and either accept the quote or decline it. Giving your quotes an automatic expiration date and time adds incentive for the customer to make a decision, knowing that if they wait too long, they could lose their preferred rental or activity. The onus is on the customer to make a quick decision.
Quotes enhance the customer experience. Quotes give you extra customer service “cred” since it helps ensure that you and your customer are on the same page with the rental information including price, resource type and options. When everything is laid out so clearly, it gives the customer peace of mind—which increases the likelihood they’ll choose to rent with you.
An rental shop shared with me how BookingCentral's rental quotes have helped their business: “I noticed that I have had fewer cancellations when I started using the quote feature. Customers that book with me like getting all the charges laid out clearly on the quote they receive."
Interested in learning more about how you can use Rental Quotes in your business? Reach out to our friendly sales team at BookingCentral today!
