There is a Shepherd feature whereby a company can forgo the services of a courier to deliver goods they have sold. This was covered in a blog over the summer. However, Shepherd has just launched a new feature that might, at first glance, seem the same. It is not.
Instead, this focuses on allowing companies that offer equipment rental to “piggy back” their in-house delivery service on the Shepherd app, despite having no impact on the equipment record, or the service orders associated with it, and therefore outside the remit of Shepherd’s core function. This blog gives you a brief introduction to this new feature.
Tracking your Rentals without extra complexity
In this case, Shepherd’s feature simply gives you the option to track equipment if you, yourself, offer a delivery service. The difference is that the person delivering need not be someone on your maintenance, or rental management teams. They need not even be part of the system. But, they use your vehicle, and deliver your rental to the site.
Why is this detail significant? Because, being an EAM, Shepherd will normally track an asset wherever it goes, from one location, and category such as inventory in the warehouse, to being assigned to a site, or technician. In this instance, the asset is being tracked, but does not need to be assigned to the driver, meaning the driver does not need to be part of the system. This driver may not even be logging time.
Automatic contract and billing updates
But what Shepherd does is update the rental contract based on what is happening. Is a machine being delivered to initiate a rental service that has been agreed? Then rental billing commences. Is the unit being collected once a contract is concluded? Then the contract is closed and billing ended. Perhaps the contract continues, but a machine is swapped for a new unit, or a refurbished one. Whatever the business operation, Shepherd will update the contract status accordingly, and in doing so, also update NetSuite.
The information that is recorded, therefore, is what is delivered, when, and where. The “by whom” of it all is not part of this process. With that rentals billed by the day will start accruing rental times. The driver doesn’t need to be aware of this. Indeed, likely has no idea of the processes taking place behind the scenes, when they scan that delivery or get a signature from the recipient. The system will be feeding into NetSuite, the accounting system, and billing while, at the delivery address, climb back into the cab, belt up and drive off.
Ultimately, a rental company’s policy regarding how their assets reach their customers is entirely their remit. They may opt for a delivery company. They may even opt for customer collections. But if the choice that suits them is in-house driver delivery, the Shepherd can support it. They won’t need to know who is delivering to allow for that step in their processes.
Small touches, big convenience
Indeed, Shepherd does not only concern itself with the big problems. A customer’s minor headaches are also worthy of attention and if helping alleviate those is also within Shepherd’s power, there is potential for a solution to be devised. If the big hurdles are clear to you, but you’d like to learn more about the little touches that bridge the gap between good service and great, get in touch today and arrange a demo.
