How we work with with Your Transport Company

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Transport companies often have questions about how Rentautobus works and how our site can provide new business. You might be reading this thinking “Rentautowhat? How does this help my business? And what do I have to do?” Rentautobus provides a free service and it's easy to get started. Rentautobus can't provide a frothy cappuccino that provides a caffeine compliment to your browsing, so instead, we're going to be really succinct in explaining how our transport portal and directory works for you. 

Quotes and reservations for coach hire and transfer services

The core of our portal is about partners and clients requesting transport quotes and purchasing transport services. At the most basic level we provide a free service for you to list your company details in our transport and rental directory. We call these our "passive" transport partners. It"s free marketing (woohoo!) and there"s no catch, so come along for the ride. By upgrading to being an "active" transport partner (for free of course) you can also directly respond to quote requests from clients.

Rentautobus currently works in 5 different countries and has generated tons of money in revenue for transport companies. So hopefully you think it"s worth reading on. 

The difference between our ‘Active’ and ‘Passive ’ transport companies 

Rentautobus partners with different transport partners, such as minibus and coach rental companies, airport transfer providers, car with driver services, taxi companies, and other chauffeured transport services. Any of these transport companies can choose to be an ‘active" or "passive" partner. This will also depend on the availability of other active members in their working area.

Profile view of coach hire comapny MIR from Barcelona, Spain

The above image shows the profile page of MIR, an active partner from Barcelona. It shows fleet pictures, client ratings, and a link to their website.

Passive transport partners – Listing your transport company on our private hire transport directory

The Rentautobus transport directory allows transport companies to publish their details and link directly to their own website. See for example the public company profile of the bus and coach hire operator Autocares Mir in Barcelona.

This is a free service. Your transport company can detail information like fleet details, working area, logo, and an overview of services provides. You can add photos to your profile and provide information in one to five languages.

Follow this link to create a profile and register your transport company and transfer services now.

Active transport partners – Receiving quote requests from new customers and making direct contact with new clients

Active transport companies can respond to clients" requests for quotations. Through the Rentautobus portal they can receive quote requests, send quotes, communicate with clients, accept reservations, and confirm bookings. Payments are received directly by the local transport company. Rentautobus does not interfere in payments between transport providers and clients.

Clients can receive up to a maximum of 5 five quotes for every trip request they make. We don"t want to bombard clients with dozens of competing quotes. And we don"t want to waste your time. So to ensure quality and fair competition, we limit the number of active transport operators per city.

Continue here to become an active and registered transport company in our directory.

Other services to minibus, coach, and other transport rental companies

Customer service

Rentautobus provides dedicated support to all its passive and active transport partners. Passive transport members get free access to our customer services department, translations of their company information, and the answers to all the questions you might have about Rentautobus. But, as we said before, we don"t do coffee and biscuits, so don"t phone up and ask for two espressos.

Active transport members receive additional support. Rentautobus provides translations in five different languages. So you can receive quotes from customers you might otherwise been unable to communicate with. Our website and customer service currently works in English, Spanish, Dutch, Catalan and German. But we also work with companies and clients that have a different native language.

Rentautobus assists both transport companies and clients throughout the whole booking process. So we help with things like clarifications, changes to client travel plans, reservations, telephoning clients in their own language, and ensuring all queries get a punctual reply.

Five star ratings from coach hire and transfer clients

Clients who use Rentautobus to book coach or minibus hire, airport transfers, or car with driver service, are asked to leave feedback about the service they have received. These 5 star ratings are published on the profile pages of the transport companies. As you"re well aware, feedback from clients is an increasing essential part of a client"s decision making. This rating system ensures you are rewarded and promoted for providing an excellent service.  Not afraid to receive ratings about your service? Register your transport service via this link!

See the example image below of the previous mentioned coach hire company MIR from Barcelona.

Client ratings received by coach company MIR

See also the example of the reviews received by Autocarres Torres Bus’ of Madrid’ and Elegant Bus in Madrid.

Clients pay directly to the transport company

We don’t receive money or take payments from any users of our website. Invoicing and payments can be complicated and everyone works a little differently. So we take a back seat and allow the transport company to take control. So you are in charge of invoicing and getting paid directly by the client. However, the Rentautobus platform helps ensure clarity about requests, quotes, translated invoices, and keeping easy track of all communications. 

Affiliate links

You can also get paid for directing clients you can’t serve to Rentautobus.

However hard you might try, no transport company can work in every geographical area. What about Mumbai? Or Cape Town? Or China? (image coach hire or taxi service in Amsterdam, Madrid or Rome)

By placing a link in the ‘partners section’ of your website you can refer visitors who are searching for a specific service you do not provide. This affiliate link to Rentautobus can be used by both "active’ and ‘passive" transport companies.

We’ll provide you with a url plus unique tracking code so you can check which clients have moved from your website to Rentautobus. And, of course, for those visitors that were referred by your website, we’ll share the commission we make on their booking. The amount of referred visitors, bookings, and payable commissions, can be tracked in real time by using the "affiliate" tab on your Rentautobus profile.

How we make money

Here"s the juicy part. Seen as we don"t charge the transport companies, and we evidently don"t make money on coffee, we have to make money somehow, right? Rentautobus makes money by charging a small percentage commission on all transport services booked through the site.

This amount is always visible for the transport company. You"ll see it before sending any quote and it can always be viewed in the ‘send quotes’ and ‘reservations’ tab of your account. So there"s no nasty surprises. Just a clear and transparent amount that can be worked into your quote.

Once a trip has been booked and completed via our platform, we’ll send a commission invoice to the transport provider.

Great Stuff! How do I get started?

Getting started with Rentautobus is really simple. To get listed in our transport directory just fill out your details on this form. As we"ve said, Rentautobus is all about ensuring quality for clients and customers. So we"ll take a couple of days to check up on your details and activate your account.

If you have any questions you can contact our customer service team. We speak and write in English, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Catalan. We can also read and understand e-mails written in Italian but will reply in English or Spanish.