Nearly Half of Commercial and Fleet Vehicle Decision Makers Are Shopping for Telematics and Data Solutions

Escalent’s Fleet Advisory Hub^TM data reveal actions telematics providers must take to increase adoption and retention

Escalent, a top human behavior and analytics firm, today published the latest update to Fleet Advisory Hub^TM, the company’s commercial and fleet vehicle insights solution. The report details the attitudes and experiences of fleet decision-makers throughout the telematics sales and integration process, as well as the steps providers must take to improve adoption and retention of their services.

The new findings reveal low adoption rates for telematics and data analytics solutions among commercial and fleet vehicle decision-makers. Despite this, almost one-half of them are proactively shopping for such technologies, with many readying their businesses for integration:

• Just 15% of fleets surveyed have adopted telematics solutions—primarily large fleets leveraging economies of scale for increased return on their investment
• However, 44% of fleet decision-makers are actively shopping for telematics solutions—including 55% of those leading small fleet operations
• An incredible 90% of fleet leaders with hands-on telematics experience rated the technology as “extremely important” or “somewhat important” to managing their business
• Despite continued industry concerns related to “data overload,” fewer than one-third of operators claim to have such an experience, while more than one-third of participants feel they are managing their data effectively
• Achieving scale among providers will be critical to reducing the integration investment for cost-conscious smaller fleets, as they tend to abandon telematics platforms after seeing insufficient return on investment, rather than user experience or data overload

“Leaders of fleets big and small have made clear their preferences and expectations for telematics service offerings,” said Michael Schmall, Automotive & Mobility vice president at Escalent. “The presently low adoption rate and high interest among fleet decision-makers reflect a great opportunity for providers, but it’s critical for them to demonstrate the value of their products before and during implementation to win and keep fleets engaged.”

Telematics and data analytics providers need to seize the opportunity presented by high interest in their offerings among fleet decision-makers who have limited prior experience with such technologies. It will be critical for providers to increase exposure and experience among fleet decision-makers to show them how telematics and data analytics solutions can improve their fleet’s efficiency, effectiveness, and overall profitability through methods such as specific, tangible use cases and coaching for a data-driven management model.

In order to retain existing telematics users, providers must take a tailored approach to ensure customers are engaged and maximizing the potential benefits of their services, including catered support to help users sift through and act on critical data.

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