Bobcat teamed up with Bobcat dealers in the United Kingdom in 2022 to pilot the BobCARE Planned Maintenance program, working with parts, service, sales, and finance teams to ensure customer retention and increased uptime.

The program quickly became a success following the training conducted with the dealership sales team in the UK last September, but one business sector has performed in BobCARE beyond previous expectations: rental companies.

Due to rising costs of ownership through inflation and lower prices from competitors, rental company owners have been squeezed with lower and lower margins in recent years. Following a conversation between Corbin Braithwaite, Bobcats UK & EIRE Service Manager, and the owner of Halt Hire, Simon Whitfield (Northeast England) it became clear that BobCARE is a perfect tool for reducing monthly costs, whilst ensuring maximum uptime for the company and renting customers:

Corbin Braithwaite: “Simon, what benefits do you see from the recent dealer made with Lloyd Ltd?”

Simon Whitfield: “Thanks to BobCARE, Protection Plus, Machine IQ, and the Agility finance program, presented to me through Dan Beaney (Lloyd Ltd Construction Salesman), I am now spending less every month while increasing the residual value of machines.”

“It also means I don’t have unexpected service costs anymore, and get peace of mind knowing that wherever my machines are in the country, a trained Bobcat technician from any authorized Bobcat dealership will be servicing it for me, meaning that the machine will always be in optimal working condition, increasing my uptime and keeping my customers happy! It’s a no-brainer.”

Corbin Braithwaite: “And what was it about BobCARE that initially interested you?”

Simon Whitfield: “Initially the cost, and the inflation proofing, as a large rental company with only Bobcat machines I know how much we spend on servicing a year, and with BobCARE it was obvious we were going to make a big saving whilst keeping costs low for the next 5 years.”

Corbin Braithwaite: “So what made you take the 5-year offerings? I understand historically you have always had a 3-year turnaround?”

Simon Whitfield: “With the possibility to lock in costs for longer, and the machines being fully serviced and maintained by the Bobcat dealers, I can trust that the machines will be in great health for those 5 years, and through the financing with BobCARE I know the machine will have a higher residual value and better resale value even after 5 years.”

Another large rental company in the UK taking advantage of the benefits of BobCARE is Dorset Plant Hire, and Corbin Braithwaite also took some time to speak with the owner, Luke George:

Corbin Braithwaite: “Hi Luke, following your discussion with Richard Young (TVE Hire and Sales Salesman) and Cliff Perks (TVE Hire and Sales PSSR) what made you take the BobCARE offering with your new and future Bobcat machinery?”

Luke George: “Hi Corbin, for me, it was not an option but a necessity in the rental business. We have 3 engineers that look after a lot of small plants and this is very time-consuming, so managing that as well as regular service work across a large area of the country is time-consuming and not cost-effective.”

Corbin Braithwaite: “So you see BobCARE as a tool to free up your employees by relying on the dealer network of Bobcat to support your business?”

Luke George: “Yes, it means the machines are serviced on time and it protects our business by ensuring the machines are correctly serviced by trained techs so we can be confident that machines will not be stood down for long periods of time due to preventable failures. And we also understand this ensures our warranty is still valid for a 5-year period we have moved our fleet onto.”

So, as we can see firsthand from customers, BobCARE is supporting large rental companies across the region in line with other Bobcat aftermarket products such as Protection Plus and Machine IQ whilst leveraging the financial campaigns currently on offer.

Thank you to both TVE Hire and Sales & Lloyd Ltd. for their efforts in breaking into this sector with aftermarket solutions through their dynamic sales teams that create a full dealer approach to customer satisfaction and retention of Bobcat products.