Thrifty Car Rental
Customer Success Story:
Northeast Rent A Car Systems, Inc. (DBA: Thrifty Car Rental),
Locations:
Lawrence, Lowell, Westford, Woburn, MA ,
TSD Products:
TSD RENTAL Management Software (Via The Internet), Credit Card Processing, Quickbooks Accounting Interface, Thrifty Reservation Link, TimeClock, 100% Local Market Business with 30% repeat business. Currently averaging 85% utilization.
The Start of Something Big
Northeast Rent A Car Systems, Inc. was created in September 2004 with the merger of two companies - Delkard, Inc. owned by Dan and Sue Haskard, and Pisano Rentals, owned by Frank and Barbara Pisano. Dan Haskard has a long history in the car rental industry, joining Thrifty Car Rentals as a Licensee in Lawrence and Lowell Massachusetts in 1988, and growing his fleet from 20 cars to 300 in peak seasons. Dan became a customer of TSD with the TSD CONTROLLER Legacy product and converted to TSD RENTAL Management Software in 2003. Frank and Barbara Pisano purchased the Thrifty Lowell location from the Haskards in 2003 and began using TSD RENTAL Management Software at that time. In September 2004, citing a need for growth, Delkard, Inc. merged with Pisano Rentals to form Northeast Rent A Car Systems, Inc.
Taking ADVANTAGE of Technology
Recognizing the need for shared information, these new partners elected to utilize TSD's ASP Advantage option for their rental automation software. The TSD ASP (Application Service Provider) Advantage allows rental agents to access TSD RENTAL Management Software over the internet, without the risk, investment and responsibilities associated with developing and maintaining internal servers. With the TSD ASP Advantage, all applications and data are housed in TSD's Data Warehouse, which provides a comprehensive array of security monitoring, firewall and redundancy features to ensure that your system and your business data are always available and easily accessed with local workstations and a high speed internet connection. “TSD's ASP Advantage has been one of the best moves we have made,” Dan stated recently. “I don't have to worry about doing back-ups, or upgrading my hardware as we grow. I no longer have racks of hardware in my office and I have 24 hour critical support with TSD.”
Planning for Success
Barbara Pisano coordinates all Marketing and local sales to Corporate Accounts and credits the software's Sales reports and Source of Business Analysis in tracking the results of Marketing promotions and determining future marketing direction. Barbara reports that the software is very easy to learn, and requires that each rental agent track the source of business in TSD RENTAL, adding notes with contact information for the customer's employer. This provides the information she needs to follow up with a call to inquire about corporate interest. If the company is interested, Barbara enters their information in the Corporate Hub section of the software, capturing data regarding customized requirements and negotiated rates.
A Helping Hand
Community outreach is very important to the owners here, who have participated in local programs with the Boys & Girls Club of Lowell. In the spring of 2004, they focused on a program to restock library shelves, and to build her list of contacts Barbara used the Corporate Hub information in TSD RENTAL. Their campaign included phone calls to all corporate contacts, radio and newspaper ads advertising this program and their locations as collection points. In three months, the entire library was filled with books.
Strategy for Growth
In the first four months of the merger, Northeast Rent A Car Systems, Inc. expanded from two locations to four, and doubled their fleet. Dan and Barbara describe their strategy for growth as “Developing a Local Corporate Niche”, and accomplish this by meeting individual corporate needs such as unlimited mileage, specific car types, vehicle delivery and alternate drop off locations. “Without TSD RENTAL Management Software, we wouldn't have been able to grow as quickly as we have.”
Call or Email TSD today for a live online demonstration!
800-743-1200 • sales@tsdweb.com