With apologies to The Searchers’ ‘Sweets for my Sweet’ for that headline, though perhaps FleetPartners could use it in a marketing jingle.
We’re not playing favourites, it’s just that out of our ‘on again/off again’ lockdown world, the leasing sector has gone completely gangbusters and when we sent out the call for someone to talk to give our readers the lowdown on fleet vehicle leasing, FleetPartners was the only company who had the time to say anything.
FleetPartners not only caters to its base of BlueChip clients, they have been providing lease vehicles to small to medium sized businesses too – anything from 1 vehicle up through to over 700 vehicles.
“What we’ve effectively done,” explains FleetPartners director Dennis Kelly, “is take what we’ve learned from over 40 years looking after top-end clients and made a conscious decision to use that to help struggling SMEs who have seen tough times recently.”
This is not to say FleetPartners is losing any existing clients – far from it! Larger fleet clients are bread and butter to FleetPartners. Extending its services to SME’s however, demonstrates FleetPartners’ willingness and ability to support local enterprise.
“There would be many SME’s out there who can streamline their business through fleet optimisation as well as sourcing vehicles at the best price and “fit for purpose”,” Dennis explains, “and in the wake of what was 2020, perhaps now is the time for progressive and forward-looking change. We can help with that.”
FleetPartners has been around the industry of fleet operations long enough to have learned some lessons of its own, lessons which it happily passes on to its clients to ensure their fleet is as efficient and as effective as it could be.
“The leasing market doesn’t change as often as the vehicle market,” says Dennis, “which is good because the core principles of leasing remain constant while technology changes around them.
“A good leasing provider is able to adapt to those changes using expert knowledge gained through years of experience to ensure clients get the right independent advice and guidance from those closest to the source of information.”
Dennis alludes to the electric vehicle phenomenon by way of an example. “FleetPartners spans New Zealand and Australia, and because of the greater level of enquiry and significant uptake of EVs in New Zealand, we have taken on a ‘champion of’ status when it comes to EVs.
“EVs are a serious consideration for fleet users and may well be crossing the minds of some SME’s, given the changing state of the automotive industry. But it’s not as easy as just pooling together some cash and heading off to lease the EV brand of your choice.
“The vehicles themselves are easy to choose, especially when you run the numbers as to what you want them to do and the basics of fit-for-purpose application.
“With their reduced moving components and regenerative braking systems which minimise wear and tear, in addition to the obvious elimination of fuel costs, EVs make a lot of sense, especially since they are the vehicles of the future.
“The tricky bit comes when you start thinking infrastructure – charging locations at home, at work or even during their daily operation.
“This is an area where even lease companies admit to needing some help. We have a team of electrical engineering experts on hand who will do an assessment of the infrastructure required for those considering an electric vehicle fleet and work hand in hand with us and the client to determine if EV is the way to go for a given client.
“That will include futureproofing, as it is a little-known consideration that in a say 15 vehicle fleet, you’ll be able to use this much infrastructure, but if you expand by say, three vehicles, the same amount of infrastructure won’t be enough. It’s not as simple as it was for increasing a fleet of ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles.”
While FleetPartners can handle inquiry and implementation regarding EVs, the leasing specialist can also help when it comes to overcoming a serious problem for new vehicle acquisition in general.
“We all know there are supply challenges at present. Some companies are waiting until January to get their vehicles. Larger clients have the ability to soldier on until then, but the typical SME doesn’t have that much time to spend waiting or the muscle to.
“We have a product called EzyDrive, which effectively takes an up to three-year-old vehicle and gives it a second life as a lease vehicle. This gives our SME customers late model vehicle availability when dealerships or other lease companies can’t or may find challenging. Talk to one of our account managers about it if your vehicles need replacing and your replacement leased vehicles were held up as a result of 2020.”
FleetPartners is clearly being innovative in the leasing space, the result of focusing on building partnerships which rely on good information and a good understanding of the client’s needs.
“We have trimmed away the pain points of leasing,” says Dennis. “We’ve learned to avoid jargon and to be more transparent, but at the same time, we have made decisions internally which work best for the client, like the decision to offer either fully maintained or managed maintenance leases.
“This basically means that we handle the maintenance on the client’s behalf, providing a network of service agencies and being the reminder service which a fleet manager should really appreciate.
“We’ve done this to give the fleet manager peace of mind, since our network of service providers is audited to ensure they are doing the right thing by us and therefore by our clients.
“From the client’s perspective, the knowledge that every FleetPartners vehicle is subject to a full supply chain audit goes a long way to complying with Occupational Health and Safety compliance.”
It’s as important as selecting five-star ANCAP vehicles, if not more so, as fleet managers are accountable for their fleet, a responsibility which extends to the long-term servicing of the vehicle(s).
FleetPartners can also take out some of the mystique of telematics for small to medium businesses who might have thought this area too ‘big’ for their vehicle requirements.
“Telematics goes a long way to really improve your fleet’s potential,” explains Dennis “and it opens the doors to real fleet freedom.
“We have our own fleet insights platform called NITRO, it’s really easy to use and delivers powerful data to show how well your fleet is being optimised in terms of fuel and running efficiencies, improving driver behaviour and safety.”
“There is currently a trend in fleet downsizing,” says Dennis, “especially from larger fleets who we have helped to optimise their fleet needs. This is good news for the SME’s too, as the number of vehicles available to them, has increased due to larger fleets minimising their vehicle tyre-print.
“Many of these fleets have also gone to pool car use rather than providing salary sacrifice cars, and we have found that pool car booking systems are another tool we have available and are re-educating people with. We have just launched a new pool booking feature within NITRO which customers are finding really helpful to book and manage pool cars.”
There is one burning question which many shrewd SMEs will be asking: is it better to lease or buy?
From a business perspective, leasing makes more sense:
• It frees up cash which would normally be allocated to a depreciating asset and it can be used to invest in other parts of your business.
• Leasing a vehicle can be 100 per cent tax deductible.
• Budgeting is easy, convenient and predictable.
• You have a single billing structure which can encompass the leasing, maintenance, accident management, fuel card integration, compliance (WoFs, CoFs, registration and RUCs), FBT management and everything else.
“It’s a low-cost solution,” says Dennis, “and if it helps, think of your leasing provider as an additional line of credit for your business.”
So, for the SME who thought leasing might be a good option at one point in time, perhaps now is that time and that being the case, perhaps FleetPartners could and should be the best Partner for your Fleet. Check them out at www.fleetpartners.co.nz.
Dennis Kelly
