Austin, TX – June 23, 2014 – Zilliant, an optimization company that helps businesses make better pricing and sales decisions, today announced a new simplified approach to rental rate optimization, called Rational Pricing™, that will enable equipment rental companies to improve utilization and revenue by better aligning rates with market and customer relationship dynamics. Rational Pricing will be showcased at the International Rental Exhibition on June 24 – 26 in Amsterdam, which is held in conjunction with the European Rental Association Convention (ERA) 2014.
“Zilliant has provided price optimization to leading equipment rental companies in the U.S. and Europe for years. Through this experience, we have developed a strategic approach we call Rational Pricing to help rental businesses align pricing with overall market and customer-specific strategies,” said Eric Hills, Zilliant’s chief evangelist and senior vice president of sales and marketing, who will speak on a panel at ERA with two Zilliant customers. “With Rational Pricing deployed on our MarginMax™ solution, rental companies can incent their customers to do more business with them, achieving higher utilization and revenue, while increasing rate transparency, consistency and fairness, which is a win-win for rental companies and their customers.”
Rational Pricing ensures a logical alignment across factors that influence rates, such as rental duration, geography and customer spend, then determines rational, discrete term-based rates (daily, weekly and monthly), and delivers rate guidance to sales teams in real-time through their existing quoting systems. As an example, customers who spend more and rent for longer durations reap the benefits through additional price breaks. The result is increased transparency for sales reps and customers at the branch depot to help both parties understand how to get the appropriate duration and best rate for the customer’s needs.
Cramo, Europe’s second largest rental company, has achieved the benefits of Rational Pricing using Zilliant MarginMax. As part of the program, Cramo was able to introduce a fundamentally new rate structure in Europe, shifting from opaque, continuous term-based rates to more transparent and coherent discrete term-based rates. As a result, Cramo has increased its average rental duration by more than six percent and increased business by more than 15 percent in the countries participating in its Right Price™ program. Overall, Cramo’s top-line revenue growth increased two to three percent and the company expects even more growth as more customers are brought into the program.
“Zilliant’s rate optimization application helps our sales reps strengthen their relationships with key accounts by giving them and our customers absolute confidence that they are getting the Right Price™ for each and every transaction,” said Erik Bengsston, Cramo’s executive vice president, Scandinavia.
“With Zilliant, we are able to have more rational and actionable conversations about price strategy and tactics with everyone in the business.”
The key benefits of Rational Pricing include for the equipment rental industry:
- Granular, market-aligned rates that improve revenue and utilization
- The capability to move from continuous to discrete term-based rates (daily, weekly, monthly)
- Greater price transparency for sales reps and customers, strengthening relationships
- The ability to reshape and transform the business by tying front-line rate decisions to strategic objectives
About Cramo
Cramo is Europe’s second largest rental services company specializing in construction machinery and equipment rental and rental-related services as well as the rental of modular space. Cramo operates in fifteen countries with 360 depots. With a group staff around 2.500, Cramo’s consolidated sales in 2013 was EUR 660 million. Cramo shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.
About Zilliant
Zilliant’s solutions help B2B companies solve a wide range of pricing and sales challenges, allowing them to gain more strategic control of their business performance using an innovative blend of data science and software solutions. Our innovative cloud native platform and applications, paired with an outcome-focused dedication to customer success, gives company leaders the confidence and know-how to remain competitive now and in the future. Learn more about how Zilliant helps companies reimagine pricing and sales at zilliant.com.