Today Hertz was sold out and I had to rent from Thrifty at the airport. Our corporate provider is Hertz where I had Gold Service so I signed up on the web for the equivalent Thrifty Blue Chip service. I guess that is where similarities ended. It absolutely intrigues me that in the commodity business of auto rentals there can be such a difference in processes. To get your car is basically a 3-step process at Hertz but it takes Thrifty 9 steps.
This makes me warm and fuzzy how good enterprise applications could make a drastic difference in perceived customer value as it is the case of Hertz. Thrifty could introduce a nice web app where I could pick my car, print my rental agreement, provide credit card and check out. And that would not even be anything revolutionary but would sure make it convenient.
Here is my flow through the world of auto rentals and hopefully my last journey through Thrifty’s workflow…
Update (10/10) I just returned my rental car and to be fair the return process is as smooth with Thrifty as it is with Hertz. So as long as the front end of the process is streamlined we may have competition again…
Technorati Tags: business models, car rental, Hertz, Thrifty, value creation
The extra you pay at Hertz is not just for the car, but the streamlined process