Avis 2010 Annual Report Download - page 16

Table of Contents
We place a strong emphasis on vehicle maintenance for customer safety and customer satisfaction reasons, as well as because quick and proper
repairs are critical to fleet utilization. To accomplish this task we employ a fully-certified National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence
(“ASE”) technician instructor at our headquarters. This instructor has developed a specialized training program for our 338 technicians who
operate in approximately 85 maintenance and damage repair centers for both Avis and Budget in the United States. We use advanced diagnostic
equipment, including General Motors’ Global Diagnostic System, Ford’s Integrated Diagnostic System, Chrysler’s wiTECH scan tool and
Hyundai’s Global Diagnostic System. Our technician training department also prepares its own technical service bulletins that can be retrieved
electronically at all of our repair locations. Approximately 84% of our technicians are ASE-certified.
Customer Service
We believe our commitment to delivering a consistently high level of customer service across all of our brands is a critical element of our
success and strategy. In 2010, we initiated our Customer Led, Service Driven ™ program, through which we intend to examine our customers’
service preferences and satisfaction levels, with a focus on improving the overall customer experience through the use of our customer
relationship management system and enhanced employee training. We track customer satisfaction levels by sending daily location-specific
surveys to recent customers. In 2010, we received over 500,000 responses to our online customer satisfaction survey (the Voice of the Customer
Survey). The Voice of the Customer Survey asks customers to evaluate their overall satisfaction with their rental experience, among other things.
Results are analyzed generally and by location to help further enhance our service levels to our customers. Management receives Voice of the
Customer statistics and customer feedback daily via an on-line portal. In addition, we utilize a toll-free “800” number and a dedicated customer
service e-mail address to allow customers of both Avis and Budget to report problems directly to our customer relations department. Location
associates and managers also receive training and are empowered to resolve most customer issues at the location level. We prepare weekly and
monthly reports on the types and number of complaints received for use by location management in conjunction with the customer satisfaction
reports as feedback regarding customer service delivery.
Environmental Initiatives
Over the past several years, we have launched a number of initiatives to manage the environmental aspects of our business. We have focused on
and expect to continue to focus on the environmental profile of our car rental fleet, as measured using the United States Environmental
Protection Agency (“EPA”) SmartWay Certification program. Many of the 2010 model year rental cars in our fleet met the standards for EPA
SmartWay Certification. We also offer gas/electric hybrid cars for rent and flex fuel cars for rent for those seeking to minimize environmental
impact through use of E-85 ethanol fuel, where available. We also offer a significant number of vehicles equipped for electronic toll collection,
which published research indicates, reduces hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions as well as emissions of nitrogen oxides through
reduced wait times at toll booths.
We are creating formal Environmental Management Systems (EMS) for key airport locations in accordance with ISO 14001 international
standards. We use these standards to quantify the various environmental aspects of our business operations, and to manage these aspects,
reducing our impact when and where practicable. For example, new car washes installed at our Avis and Budget facilities now recycle and reuse
at least 80% of their wastewater.
We also offer corporate customers a carbon footprint calculator designed to work with our data warehouse and compute the emissions from their
rental car use. We then offer our corporate customers a program to help them reduce their carbon impact, including through driver education, and
the opportunity to use carbon offset credits aimed at making their rental car use carbon neutral. We have an alliance with Carbonfund.org, a
leading non-profit provider of carbon offset credits, to enable both renters and corporate customers to offset the emissions from their rental car
use.
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