Problems with GP45-all Regions

What are biggest problems with GP 45? An honest critique would be valuable.

The fact that the management miss leads people. Every single person that works in 45 hears that they are about to popped, they are the best employee ever, and they are a year away from 6 figures. It’s not true. Management is so focused on selling people on the opportunities that Enterprise offers that they tell everyone the same story. Once a group of people talk about what their AM, BM, or even RVP told them or don’t get the things they are promised they become disenfranchised.
The other problem is Management attempts to keep people working at a ridiculously low wage by telling them that there is no better opportunity out there. That is a lode of crap. Enterprise is a great opportunity for some people, there is no point in denying that. However some people value free time, a job that has a little prestige, or travel. What I mean is some people will value things that Enterprise simply can not give there for Enterprise is not the right job for them. Scare tactics don’t work for long. Telling employees that the people who left could not hack it or are going to fail miserably and come crawling back dose not help anyone. It just serves as an example of the region wide insecurity that is rampant in group 45 today.
The final problem is the pay. When someone is desperate for a job Enterprise looks like a life saver (we take almost anyone). After sometime however one discovers (or the job market picks up) that they are working for almost minimum wage. The promise of money is only couple of years off but it is not near enough to touch. The incentive programs offered by Enterprise are not enough make to make the MT position competitive. My suggestion would be to offer a bonus for making elite for sales, maybe not for the first month but for back to back months or something along those lines. I’m not talking about a massive bonus but something to make the job seem more competitive with the market. The way I see it the more people who make it to elite the better the company dose.
I love Enterprise but I’m not blind I know we have to change. I would welcome any serious responses to my complaints.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by Still smilin'

What are biggest problems with GP 45? An honest critique would be valuable.

This sounds like senior management looking for honest feedback. If so, I'm all for it.

I’m middle management giving honest feedback

Unfortunately not ADMIN...this is NOT senior mgt looking for feedback. This is a former middle manager (stress on former) who feels personally quite disgusted at the state of affairs of Enterprise. What used to be a "fun and friendly place to work" (that was for the ol' ERACs still around) is now an absolute nightmare of a company. I started this new thread in hopes that the current mgt will finnnnalllllyyy see that they are making fools of themselves and hopefully make the changes need for this potentially solid company. They just need to pull their heads out of their asses and admit that their way of doing business is slowly destroying their future.

ERAC must solicit help from outside sources and make the needed structural changes. It is obvious that the current talent pool is not capable and willing to admit that there is a problem. A HUGE PROBLEM!

New York Times Article About Rental Car Practices

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Travelers Feel Pressure at Car Rental Counters", by Christopher Elliott

New York Times 2004-04-06

Paul Hoppe dreads the wait for the keys at the car rental desk. The agent, he says, invariably tries to talk him into switching to a larger, more expensive vehicle and buying costly prepaid gas options and unnecessary insurance.

Mr. Hoppe, an associate professor of accounting at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, says rental companies have been ratcheting up the pressure on him. He recounted a recent experience at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car office at Los Angeles International Airport.

"They told me they didn't have my requested car size so they asked if I would upgrade," he said. "They asked if I wanted the optional insurance, and when I said no, they wanted to know which insurance I had." After a spirited argument with an agent, Mr. Hoppe said, he managed to drive away without signing up for any extras.

Christy Conrad, a spokeswoman for Enterprise, said: "It's never our intent to make our customers uncomfortable." She said that the company did not condone aggressive sales efforts like the one described by Mr. Hoppe. "However, it's in the best interests of the consumer to be well educated when it comes to insurance," she added.

Other travelers agree with Mr. Hoppe that the sales pitches are becoming more common. Rental companies, which extensively train their employees in the art of marketing high-profit options, are now instructing front-line agents to go after business customers. "Business travelers are seen as likely targets for these products," said Cathy Stephens, editor of the industry trade publication Auto Rental News.

Although many of these travelers are elusive - for example, frequent renters with a negotiated corporate rate rarely use the check-in counter - others are not. So-called unmanaged business travelers, who do not work with a travel manager and who bargain-hunt for the lowest car rates on the Internet, are seen as good prospects.

"When you decline the insurance, they pull out these Polaroids of horrific accidents that resulted in thousands of dollars in repairs," said Ed Kummel, a network administrator in Ashburn, Va. "Even when I tell them that my credit card will handle all that, they insist that it won't cover the revenues lost during repair."

The hard sell should not surprise anyone. Business travel accounts for an estimated 60 percent of car rental companies' income and is crucial for turning their fortunes around after two years of flat earnings.

The National Business Travel Association expects corporate car rental rates to increase by 2 percent this year. But that may prove to be a conservative estimate. In February, the Cendant Car Rental Group, which owns the Avis and Budget brands, raised rates $5 a day and $20 a week. The move was followed by most of its competitors.

But the real money, as far as some rental companies are concerned, is in the extras. The industry declines to disclose the profitability of add-ons like upgrades, prepaid fuel or car insurance, but it promotes them energetically.

"There are many cases of unnecessary or excessively expensive products being sold to car rental customers," said Thomas Dickerson, author of "Travel Law" (Law Journal Press, 2004). "The car rental companies will do whatever is necessary to make money. You should expect them to act in a very aggressive way to do that."

Ute Hodges, who has worked for two major car rental companies in Fort Myers, Fla., said a favorite sales pitch for a business traveler who shows up at the counter is: "It's tax deductible anyway."

She added that customers who do not understand the system can easily become victims of it. At her locations, rental agents' livelihoods depended on peddling add-on products, she said, and they were trained to do little else.

Indeed, the agents she knew received a base pay of about $7.50 an hour, making commission income vital to them. "A good rental agent averages about $50,000 a year,'' she said. "A top agent can average about $120,000 a year." Employees had to meet a certain quota or they were sent to remedial training, she said, and if their performance did not improve, they were fired.

"The car rental agencies would never admit that the agent at the counter is supposed to sell you something," she said. "Even during our training, they always told us that everything is for the benefit of the customer. But let's face it, if my commissions for one year are $50,000, and I get 10 percent of my sales, that means I made the company $500,000 in sales, above the regular rental reservation. So it's also for the benefit of the company."

Mary Jane Wells, director of marketing and technical support for the Khoury Group, which is based in Orlando, Fla., and is the largest provider of training to rental employees, disputed Ms. Hodges's assertion that agents are taught only to sell. While she acknowledged that her company's training program included some sales strategies, she said it also covered issues like policies and procedures, review of rental agreements, rental transaction policies and company standards.

Ms. Wells suggested that overemphasizing sales would hurt a car rental company. "By providing customers with superior customer service, they will increase company revenue by creating a loyal and satisfied customer who will return and rent again," she said.

Many business travelers are less concerned with how the sales tactics evolved than with the fact that they are on the receiving end. They say the strategies include telling customers that the class of car they reserved is unavailable, and forcing them either to wait for an extended period or buy an upgrade.

But most of the hard-sell stories revolve around insurance, which analysts single out as the most profitable of the options, one that can as much as double the rental cost of a car. Rental agents have become increasingly insistent that customers buy coverage, even when presented with evidence that the policy is not needed, because, for example, the renter already has coverage on a credit card or on a regular policy.

Larry Evans ran into such an employee at the Hertz counter at the Pittsburgh airport recently. "The agent asked if I wanted Hertz insurance coverage, even though my preferences state that I decline such additional coverage," said Mr. Evans, a network administrator who lives in Smyrna, Ga. He turned down the extra coverage, but the agent persisted, he says, telling him that Pennsylvania law required Hertz coverage (it does not) and warning him to drive safely.

After Mr. Evans complained to Hertz, he received an apology and a $50 voucher. The company also promised to look into Mr. Evans's rental experience. "The actions described by Mr. Evans are not condoned by Hertz," said a Hertz spokeswoman, Paula Stifter. "That's not how we do business."

Although the car rental industry has no written code of ethics, there is a general understanding that some hard-sell tactics are unacceptable, according to Marianne Sullivan, president of the Association of Car and Truck Rental Independents and Franchisees. "When the intention behind it is misleading, then there's a problem," she said.

Motorists who believe they are the targets of a dishonest sales pitch "have to speak up and ask for a manager," she added.

"If the manager doesn't do something,'' she added, "and you feel the organization isn't reputable, you should no longer rent from it."

Readers are invited to share stories about business travel experiences to businesstravel@nytimes.com.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

New York Times Article About Rental Car Practices

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Travelers Feel Pressure at Car Rental Counters", by Christopher Elliott

New York Times 2004-04-06

Paul Hoppe dreads the wait for the keys at the car rental desk. The agent, he says, invariably tries to talk him into switching to a larger, more expensive vehicle and buying costly prepaid gas options and unnecessary insurance.

Mr. Hoppe, an associate professor of accounting at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, says rental companies have been ratcheting up the pressure on him. He recounted a recent experience at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car office at Los Angeles International Airport.

"They told me they didn't have my requested car size so they asked if I would upgrade," he said. "They asked if I wanted the optional insurance, and when I said no, they wanted to know which insurance I had." After a spirited argument with an agent, Mr. Hoppe said, he managed to drive away without signing up for any extras.

Christy Conrad, a spokeswoman for Enterprise, said: "It's never our intent to make our customers uncomfortable." She said that the company did not condone aggressive sales efforts like the one described by Mr. Hoppe. "However, it's in the best interests of the consumer to be well educated when it comes to insurance," she added.

Other travelers agree with Mr. Hoppe that the sales pitches are becoming more common. Rental companies, which extensively train their employees in the art of marketing high-profit options, are now instructing front-line agents to go after business customers. "Business travelers are seen as likely targets for these products," said Cathy Stephens, editor of the industry trade publication Auto Rental News.

Although many of these travelers are elusive - for example, frequent renters with a negotiated corporate rate rarely use the check-in counter - others are not. So-called unmanaged business travelers, who do not work with a travel manager and who bargain-hunt for the lowest car rates on the Internet, are seen as good prospects.

"When you decline the insurance, they pull out these Polaroids of horrific accidents that resulted in thousands of dollars in repairs," said Ed Kummel, a network administrator in Ashburn, Va. "Even when I tell them that my credit card will handle all that, they insist that it won't cover the revenues lost during repair."

The hard sell should not surprise anyone. Business travel accounts for an estimated 60 percent of car rental companies' income and is crucial for turning their fortunes around after two years of flat earnings.

The National Business Travel Association expects corporate car rental rates to increase by 2 percent this year. But that may prove to be a conservative estimate. In February, the Cendant Car Rental Group, which owns the Avis and Budget brands, raised rates $5 a day and $20 a week. The move was followed by most of its competitors.

But the real money, as far as some rental companies are concerned, is in the extras. The industry declines to disclose the profitability of add-ons like upgrades, prepaid fuel or car insurance, but it promotes them energetically.

"There are many cases of unnecessary or excessively expensive products being sold to car rental customers," said Thomas Dickerson, author of "Travel Law" (Law Journal Press, 2004). "The car rental companies will do whatever is necessary to make money. You should expect them to act in a very aggressive way to do that."

Ute Hodges, who has worked for two major car rental companies in Fort Myers, Fla., said a favorite sales pitch for a business traveler who shows up at the counter is: "It's tax deductible anyway."

She added that customers who do not understand the system can easily become victims of it. At her locations, rental agents' livelihoods depended on peddling add-on products, she said, and they were trained to do little else.

Indeed, the agents she knew received a base pay of about $7.50 an hour, making commission income vital to them. "A good rental agent averages about $50,000 a year,'' she said. "A top agent can average about $120,000 a year." Employees had to meet a certain quota or they were sent to remedial training, she said, and if their performance did not improve, they were fired.

"The car rental agencies would never admit that the agent at the counter is supposed to sell you something," she said. "Even during our training, they always told us that everything is for the benefit of the customer. But let's face it, if my commissions for one year are $50,000, and I get 10 percent of my sales, that means I made the company $500,000 in sales, above the regular rental reservation. So it's also for the benefit of the company."

Mary Jane Wells, director of marketing and technical support for the Khoury Group, which is based in Orlando, Fla., and is the largest provider of training to rental employees, disputed Ms. Hodges's assertion that agents are taught only to sell. While she acknowledged that her company's training program included some sales strategies, she said it also covered issues like policies and procedures, review of rental agreements, rental transaction policies and company standards.

Ms. Wells suggested that overemphasizing sales would hurt a car rental company. "By providing customers with superior customer service, they will increase company revenue by creating a loyal and satisfied customer who will return and rent again," she said.

Many business travelers are less concerned with how the sales tactics evolved than with the fact that they are on the receiving end. They say the strategies include telling customers that the class of car they reserved is unavailable, and forcing them either to wait for an extended period or buy an upgrade.

But most of the hard-sell stories revolve around insurance, which analysts single out as the most profitable of the options, one that can as much as double the rental cost of a car. Rental agents have become increasingly insistent that customers buy coverage, even when presented with evidence that the policy is not needed, because, for example, the renter already has coverage on a credit card or on a regular policy.

Larry Evans ran into such an employee at the Hertz counter at the Pittsburgh airport recently. "The agent asked if I wanted Hertz insurance coverage, even though my preferences state that I decline such additional coverage," said Mr. Evans, a network administrator who lives in Smyrna, Ga. He turned down the extra coverage, but the agent persisted, he says, telling him that Pennsylvania law required Hertz coverage (it does not) and warning him to drive safely.

After Mr. Evans complained to Hertz, he received an apology and a $50 voucher. The company also promised to look into Mr. Evans's rental experience. "The actions described by Mr. Evans are not condoned by Hertz," said a Hertz spokeswoman, Paula Stifter. "That's not how we do business."

Although the car rental industry has no written code of ethics, there is a general understanding that some hard-sell tactics are unacceptable, according to Marianne Sullivan, president of the Association of Car and Truck Rental Independents and Franchisees. "When the intention behind it is misleading, then there's a problem," she said.

Motorists who believe they are the targets of a dishonest sales pitch "have to speak up and ask for a manager," she added.

"If the manager doesn't do something,'' she added, "and you feel the organization isn't reputable, you should no longer rent from it."

Readers are invited to share stories about business travel experiences to businesstravel@nytimes.com.

This is exactly what Enterprise is all about, sell up, run tight and sell waiver. People, ERAC is a sales job, nothing else, even if upper management is trying to tell you something else.

yeah erac tries to get full boat out of everyone. but keep persisiting is what drives them away. yeah money in the erac pocket if they take protection and nothing happens. but when they take it and car comes back damage they wlak away and then the car goes to the shop and erac has to pay for the repairs. in a way a good thing but then again bad.

[45 Up North]

Sure we are supposed to sell to folks. The honest sales guys like me just ask once and explain the options to the customers.

Reality check on the profitability of gas, DW, and other options though. I wish I could charge every customer for the 1/8 of a tank they shorted me in the Chevy Aveo. Or in perfect world - presell a tank of gas - that would be much easier. Then I wouldn't have to argue with a dealership customer that they drove 60 miles and should have to pay 8.00 in gas charges. ESQi would suffer then.

DW please. Profitable in perfect world. All it takes is about 5000 in damages per month in a small branch (100 or less) to get rid of the profit in DW sales. And any of you in management would know that.

As for sex, lies, and video... Yeah we do push a bit hard for the DW sales. If we want more money for each branch then we need to analize the local markets and set rate structures to be more competetive.

Who cares if the customer takes 19.99 DW on the rental if they are paying 10.00 more per day in rate. Hello??? Why open your branch up to the possibility of paying for some stupid customers mistake with a car. Charge the deductible and let the dumbass pay for the damage with his insurance. I sure as hell don't want to deal with it. I'll take higher rate on the rentals rather than sell them on something they don't necessarily need. They only need A CAR!!!!

[Popper1977]

With more and more business articles and consumer reviews addressing the optional insurance that most rental car companies offer, Enterprise is going to have to create new criteria for promotion since comsumers are becoming more aware that CDW is a scam.

Originally Posted by 45 Up North

Sure we are supposed to sell to folks. The honest sales guys like me just ask once and explain the options to the customers.

Reality check on the profitability of gas, DW, and other options though. I wish I could charge every customer for the 1/8 of a tank they shorted me in the Chevy Aveo. Or in perfect world - presell a tank of gas - that would be much easier. Then I wouldn't have to argue with a dealership customer that they drove 60 miles and should have to pay 8.00 in gas charges. ESQi would suffer then.

DW please. Profitable in perfect world. All it takes is about 5000 in damages per month in a small branch (100 or less) to get rid of the profit in DW sales. And any of you in management would know that.

As for sex, lies, and video... Yeah we do push a bit hard for the DW sales. If we want more money for each branch then we need to analize the local markets and set rate structures to be more competetive.

Who cares if the customer takes 19.99 DW on the rental if they are paying 10.00 more per day in rate. Hello??? Why open your branch up to the possibility of paying for some stupid customers mistake with a car. Charge the deductible and let the dumbass pay for the damage with his insurance. I sure as hell don't want to deal with it. I'll take higher rate on the rentals rather than sell them on something they don't necessarily need. They only need A CAR!!!!