[EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW] United Rentals Aims for World Class Customer Service With UR One Platform

Rental interviews Chris Hummel, CMO of United Rentals, about its UR One digital platform which aims to change the way customers experience equipment rental.

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Chris Hummel United Rentals Cmo

United Rentals Inc. was recently selected as the winner of the 2018 Acquia Engage Award for Leader of the Pack: Commerce. The award recognizes the United Rentals UR One platform for its unified digital experience that enables companies to manage their equipment needs across a jobsite. United Rentals shares the award with its digital marketing agency partner VML.

The UR One platform at unitedrentals.com is a cutting-edge digital experience for renters of construction, industrial and specialty equipment. Companies can easily evaluate, price and procure rental equipment and services, manage preventive maintenance and optimize utilization to control costs. The site is on track to realize year-over-year rental revenue growth of over 40% in 2018, underpinned by a significant increase in new customers. 

United Rentals is the first equipment rental equipment company to provide a fully integrated, modern digital customer checkout process. The site offers customers a one-stop, consistent experience with personalized content, including customized calls-to-action that guide renters through the rental process. 

Rental was able to catch up with Chris Hummel, CMO at United Rentals, to learn more about what this means. Following is an excerpt from that discussion.

Rental: What is UR One and who does it serve?

Chris Hummel, CMO at United Rentals: We’ve been investing in digital for quite some time, and historically, we’ve built separate websites for different things like safety training or used equipment sales. We had our corporate website, and Total Control, our fleet management application we provide to customers so they can find their equipment via GPS, check utilization and manage their bills.

Two and a half years ago, we launched the industry’s first e-commerce system where you could get a confirmed reservation online, any time of day. Previously, we had online ordering capability, but it needed a certain amount of “human putty” to work. We’ve taken that layer out.

When we started this e-commerce track, we realized quickly what our customers want are three things: One is a consistent online experience, regardless of what they’re looking for. So instead of six disparate sites, we’ve now consolidated everything into our corporate website. When you go to UnitedRentals.com, UR One is not something you download or install, you just start interacting, almost like Amazon. Once you log in, you get access to all kinds of information personal to you, such as pricing, billing, contracts, projects. It’s just one consistent experience.

The second thing customers want is a simple, streamlined process, so we needed to remove the friction within the order process, the training process, when customers call to pick up or repair, all of those touchpoints.

Third, by having everything in one place, we’ve been able to really start pushing value-added capabilities, so customers can work with us to improve their own processes. We’ve had our Total Control application working to help customers find their equipment, manage it, determine how much is on rent, and more. Now we’ve added benchmarking. Not only can you identify your own utilization, you can see how it compares with the broader universe of United Rentals customers to help determine best practices.

Rental: So contractors working with United Rentals can just go to your website and see their personal history?

Hummel: Yes, the site retains billing accounts, project locations, frequently rented equipment. At PF Chang’s, they can tell you the last thing you ordered so you can just do it again. We want to do the same thing, and we can.

Rental: Is United Rentals the only company doing this?

Hummel: Everyone is trying to offer a digital channel to give customers access to information, but nobody else is currently able to do a confirmed reservation online. We’re really using UR One as a lever to maximize the value we can provide to customers, driving our ultimate goal which is to improve the productivity and safety of our customers.

Rental: What is your vision for the near and long term?

Hummel: We’re still pursuing all three of the objectives I mentioned. For example, we launched “wayfinders” to improve usage and adoption of our platform. They’re not pop ups, but instead are little flags that direct visitors. Those kinds of navigation elements will continue to be defined. Meanwhile, users are learning the behavior of the system, that’s key. In terms of the transaction, training capabilities are going through an upgrade, and we’re layering in more Total Control capabilities. Of course we have a long-term vision, but we’re also playing it day to day, incorporating new capabilities every couple of weeks.

Rental: What has been the reception from customers?

Hummel: At United Rentals, our whole DNA is based on being of service to customers. What has been most gratifying are two things: Last year we generated 10,000 news customers that came through UR One. These are people who hadn’t done business with us in the past. Second, in coming back to the award we just won, it’s easy to get myopic and only compare ourselves against our peers. But we want to be more than just best in class, we want to be world class. This award says we’re leading in industries other than equipment rental and construction, which are industries that are not usually at the forefront of technology adoption. This award is saying we actually are at the forefront. We are the bridge to bringing technology to our customers.

Rental: Do you see the rest of the industry jumping on board? Where do you see smaller companies fitting in?

Hummel: Digital capability is no longer a “what if,” it’s a must have. With our scale and resources, we can continue to push the envelope. There’s a lot of money going into construction technology, and integration is becoming more important. We recently launched an SAP integration to help customers know exactly where their PO stands. That type of integration is going to continue.

We think it’s a good sign in general for the equipment rental industry that more and more of us are becoming more engaged digitally. We have an obligation and an interest in driving that forward.

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