In many companies fleet costs trail only wages and salaries as a corporate expense. Controlling expenses has always been a goal of corporate management, but today, the pressure is greater than ever and shows no signs of slackening in the future. That puts a premium on every fleet operation to trim costs without diminishing the value of its service or function. This may even be more true of fleet because of its “contribution” to expenses; moreover, in many cases, top management does not fully understand fleet operations, including its costs and contribution. Too often, fleet is seen as a “perk” or ancillary to the mission (and bottom line) of the company. Worse, fleet may be seen as an extravagant nuisance (setting aside executive fleet cars, of course).
Sophisticated fleet managers know that the key to success in their job is to minimize costs and maximize value. But there is another component to achieving recognition for these efforts and winning the “battle of the budget” — that is, surviving, and indeed thriving, under the intense scrutiny by upper management that is standard operating procedure in today’s corporate environment.
More than just getting the fundamentals of fleet management right, it is necessary– today, more than ever– to effectively present to upper management. This can be exceedingly stressful for many fleet managers, but it is an essential part of the job. With today’s increasingly slick media, presentations need to be attractive, concise, focused, and attention grabbing. “The ability to explain the importance of your department, its function in the company structure, and even your own accomplishments, is critical to success in business,” writes Donald W. Dunphy, a communications assistant at NAFA.
Dunphy has prepared a two-part series entitled, “How to Present to Upper Management.” Part One ran in the November/December issue of Fleet Solutions, and NAFA has generously released it to the wider public. It’s an outstanding guide to preparing and giving a presentation, and we are delighted to be able to provide you a link to this outstanding article.
