If you’ve rented a car lately, you’d know that it’s usually not a customer experience worth sharing and if it is, it’s for all the wrong reasons.
Bland and boring at best, impersonal, inefficient and infuriating at worst, the once-clear distinctions between companies have blurred, and what was once a relationship built on trust and service is now reduced to a transaction based on the lowest possible cost. It’s a race to the bottom and from the consumer’s perspective it often feels like a grudge purchase.
It’s an industry ripe for disruption.
As a marketer and someone passionate about customer experience and brand building, I often play the ‘if I was in charge of this company for a day’ game. And I usually start with the common consumer pain points and work backwards from there.
I’ve rented hundreds of hire cars over the years and when I reflect on my most frustrating customer experiences, the inconvenience and stress of having to refuel the vehicle before returning is right up there. Of course if you don’t return the car with a full tank the car rental company charges you exorbitant fees for refuelling. I skipped the trip to the petrol station once in order to avoid missing a flight and on top of the stress of that, the car rental company charged me $5.50 a litre to fill it.
Imagine if a car rental brand saved you the time and inconvenience by simply charging a fair, average price of the day rate for refuelling? It would deliver an immediate, powerful competitive advantage by removing one of the most common pain points consumers face when renting a car.
It would certainly win my loyalty. What about you?
