eFuel cards and fleet solutions

SUMMARY

As fleet managers switch on to the possibility of online reporting, fuel card providers need to make sure they are one step ahead or they stand tolose significant market share by the end of 2004. Many are making the move, but need to consolidate the offering they have before moving on. Thisreport provides simple guidelines to aid customer satisfaction with less investment.

SCOPE OF THE REPORT

• Survey of 100 managers of fleets and commercial road vehicles across 7 countries in Europe.
• Survey of senior fuel card executives from leading oil companies and fuel card companies in Europe.
• The survey included fleet managers responsible for a wide range of fleet types and sizes, ranging from 10 vehicles through to over 10,000.

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

Some 41% of fleet managers would not switch to another fuel card provider if they were offered a better price, but did not have an online offeringand, of those that would leave, 38% of them would need a saving of 6% or above.

Some 20% of the reporting functions are never used by the majorityof customers and there is no need for major additional monetary investment, simply time and care to realize what the customer wants. In many casescustomers would be happy with a limited service with the option to take more, even if they have to pay for it.

End users want to feel they aregetting value from a service. Less than 20% of all customers said that the online offering had had a major impact on any aspect of their job, withonly 3% believing it has had a major impact to help identify the causes of increased fuel costs, yet all feel there is great potential for usingonline information.

KEY REASONS TO BUY THIS REPORT

• Improve customer satisfaction in your online offering by identifying customers' key needs and addressing problem areas.
• Focus online investments on services most valued by customers.
• Improve customer acquisition and retention rates, by creating the right core offering with flexible additional services.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

Use of Online Services

Customer Benefits and Meeting Expectations

Additional services and changes required from the supplier

Action points

CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION

What is this report about?

Who is the target reader?

How to use this report

CHAPTER 3 USE OF ONLINE SERVICES

Introduction

Key findings

Use of Online Services

Interest and use of online services

Key criteria other than online services that would influence fleet managers' decisions

Network Coverage

Security

Reporting and Support

Accessibility

Price

What would turn you off online?

Key offerings that fleet managers could do without

Improving the value of the online offering

Conclusions

CHAPTER 4 CUSTOMER BENEFITS AND MEETING EXPECTATIONS

Introduction

Key findings

How does the online offering compare against expectations?

The main benefits of the online offering for the customer

What impact has the online offering had on customer satisfaction

The worst aspect of the online offering - fundamental issues that need to be addressed

If one aspect of the online offering were to be improved, what should it be?

Implementing improvements

Key steps for improving the impact of online data

Conclusions

CHAPTER 5 ADDITIONAL SERVICES AND CHANGES REQUIRED FROM THE PROVIDER

Introduction

Key findings

What customers have said about their offering to date

Operational Services

Reporting

Online offering

Account Management

How fleet managers would like to see things change in the future

Operational Services

Reporting

Online offering

Account Management

What further online reporting services would you like?

What further online account management services would you like?

What could providers offer in the future in addition to the current reporting services?

Load brokerage services

What value can be found in a \'dashboard' facility where key measures of a business are summarised as traffic lights?

Conclusions

CHAPTER 6 ACTION POINTS

Introduction

Key findings

Action point 1 - Focus on getting the basic services right

Action point 2 - Account managers are key to customer satisfaction

Action point 3 - Security is an important area for investment

Action point 4 – Maintain strong communication with customers

Conclusions

CHAPTER 7 APPENDIX

Supplementary data

The survey

Research methodology

Further reading

SPP writing team

How to contact experts in your industry

List of Tables

Table 1: How often do you/would you use the following online services?

Table 2: How does the online offering compare against your expectations?

Table 3: Do/would you prefer to create reports and queries yourself (as opposed to having the answer provided for you by an accountmanager/support team)?

Table 4: Do you use online fuel card services?

Table 5: How often do you/would you use the following online services?

Table 6: What other types of information available on the internet do you frequently use?

Table 7: Which of the following online services do you make use of?

Table 8: Would you switch to another fuel card provider if they offered a better fuel price but did not have an online offering?

Table 9: How does the online offering compare against your expectations?

Table 10: To what degree has the online offering helped you to...?

Table 11: Do/would you prefer to create reports and queries yourself (as opposed to having the answer provided for you by an accountmanager/support team)?

Table 12: Smart cards may be offered by oil companies in order to improve security and provide new services. How important are the following toyou?

Table 13: Do you currently use any load brokerage services?

Table 14: eFuel Cards survey, 2003

List of Figures

Figure 1: Would you switch to another fuel card provider if they offered a better fuel price but did not have an online offering?

Figure 2: To what degree has the online offering helped you to...?

Figure 3: Smart Cards may be offered by oil companies in order to improve security and provide new services. How important are the following toyou?

Figure 4: How does the online offering compare against your expectations?

Figure 5: To what degree has the online offering helped you to...?

Figure 6: Number of Vehicles in the Fleet