Creative Business Transformation > Customer Experience

DIGITAL TOOLBELT

VMLY&R, Kansas City / UNITED RENTALS / 2020

Awards:

Bronze Cannes Lions
CampaignCampaign(opens in a new tab)
Case Film

Overview

Credits

Overview

Why is this work relevant for Creative Business Transformation?

The construction industry is an analog, relationship-based business. Annual growth is usually in the single digits. Margins are small. It hasn’t evolved in decades. By creating “Digital Toolbelt,” a predictive and intuitive data-fueled app, we took worksite equipment management out of the analog dark ages and drove a 66% increase in revenue for United Rentals.

Background

Managing a fleet of construction equipment is the single biggest headache for site managers and foremen in the industry. Idle equipment and poorly managed fleets account for 30% profit loss in all construction jobs. And because construction is still mostly analog, you can only see the equipment in front of you, and not the ones sitting idle, eating profits. This was a major problem for United Rentals, America’s largest equipment rental provider, because you want your customers to make money off of your equipment, not lose it.

Strategy & Process

Construction site managers view their fleet like a bench of talent. When the equipment is idle, broken or not working, it’s bleeding profits dry – sometimes by thousands of dollar per hour. And idle equipment creates an idle workforce causing more hemorrhaging. This costs the North American construction industry $1.2 Billion every year. It’s a huge problem in an industry with razor thin margins and no modern way to get it under control.

We employed our Customer Experience approach to answer: “How might we enable construction site managers to make money off their equipment. Not lose it?” For site managers, technology can’t be a major investment or risk and must fit seamlessly into their work lives.

To transform the way work gets done, we had to transform ecommerce to work better for our customers. Amazingly, none of the leading equipment rental companies relied on ecommerce. Unlike traditional retail, it’s too difficult to forecast inventory, ensure availability and govern price variances.

If digital tools were actual tools, they’d make the job easier every time they were in your hand. We understood their work. their problems. their culture. And “Digital Toolbelt” was born.

Experience & Implementation

As the construction rental category leader, United Rentals has the footprint and reputation to transform the way work gets done.

More than a rental tool, Digital Toolbelt is a decision-making hub for the moments when things don’t go as planned on the jobsite. United Rentals has more telematics data on more equipment than any other rental company. We use this on-machine data to provide unprecedented insight empowering our customers to better manage their fleet.

Our streamlined reservation process simplifies eCommerce. Price comparisons help save money and keep budgets intact. Fleet management and digital pickup features meant that only the right equipment was on-site at the right time. Predictive maintenance monitoring helped identify issues before progress slowed or it became a danger. If an issue was flagged, United Rentals could replace equipment on-site in just hours, saving the customer and the jobsite time and money. Lastly, for those moments where customers wanted to hear a friendly voice, we had specialists on standby to answer questions over the phone or via live chat, ensuring we didn’t lose the personal interaction customers expected.

Control over every piece of equipment on every job site helps them manage every dollar of their rental cash flow.

Business Results & Impact

In the first year alone, Digital Toolbelt increased fleet efficiency by 30%. And because their customers saw more profit, United rentals had a 66% increase in digital rental revenue. By inserting ecommerce into a previously analog industry, Digital Toolbelt drove a 54% conversion from old-school analog renters to digital rental loyalists.

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