GPS Tracking Near Me – One of Many Considerations
One of the things many clients are considering when they start looking at vendors of GPS tracking technology is a physical location. It is always great to support businesses in your local community, but location is not everything it used to be. A company may have its official headquarters in your hometown, but support employees may be outsourced to a foreign country. Sales could be working from home anywhere in the country or even outside of it. These days an address is just an address.
When searching for GPS tracking near me online, there are so many paid advertisers that any local fleet tracking providers for business vehicle tracking may be several pages in. Most of the results are for consumer products. Quite frankly, Wal-Mart, Amazon and Best Buy are probably not the best choices for supporting a business fleet with a tracking solution.
Finding the Fleet Experts
So how can you find the fleet experts providing GPS tracking near me? Searching for Fleet Management is going to filter out a lot of the consumer products. Adding your industry to the search query will reveal companies that specialize in what you do. Asking friends, business acquaintances, even your competitors and then looking at the reviews for the companies they recommend is another good strategy. Your local Chamber of Commerce may be a good place to look for vendors that are active in your local area as well.
Now that you have found some providers of GPS tracking near me, you need to determine who are the true fleet experts. How long have they been in business specifically supporting fleet technology? Are they familiar with your industry? Do they have their own support staff or is it contracted to a third party? These are all good questions to ask.
What to Avoid
The cellular providers are all jumping in the GPS tracking game these days as well, but most lack true fleet expertise. They just want to sell you a data plan for anything and everything they can by bundling your services. Beware of the many hidden and mystery fees that are mentioned in fine print in their terms document, but don’t appear on your quote. That alone can increase your quoted cost by 20% or more.
Can I Try the Vendor and Technology First?
Most reputable vendors offer a trial, but even so, not all trials are equal. Some trials are in fact a promise to refund if you are not happy and may have limiting conditions. Many are an opportunity for you to try the technology, but not structured to assist you in your evaluation. Best in class vendors will offer a structured pilot for small fleets and a guided evaluation process for larger fleets.
Fleetistics Solution Evaluation Process is a good example of a comprehensive trial. Not only do you experience interaction with the technology, but also our Training and Support Departments. We crunch the numbers with you to find where your fleet needs improvement, implement strategies to affect that improvement, and measure your return on investment when that improvement is achieved.
Final Thoughts
Which brings me to one final area to evaluate. ALWAYS research after sale support resources. The vendors that pop up when searching GPS tracking near me may be close enough to go get in their face when you need help, but are they available for real support when needed? Is the person that you are close to, the person that can provide the help you need or are you sent to a different department, or 3rd party support provider that is not a fleet specialist at all?
By leveraging technology like webinars, an advanced support ticketing system built into your user interface, one on one screen sharing and by employing highly trained staff with in-depth knowledge of fleet operations, Fleetistics staff is available to assist from wherever they are to solve your problem or answer your question in a timely and professional manner.
