Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for forklift dealers.
A checklist built from how forklift dealers work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Machine register by serial number
- Enquiries and quotations
- Hire contracts and off-hire checks
- Service jobs and technician dispatch
- Spares, batteries and chargers
- Warranty claims to the manufacturer
- Invoices and customer accounts
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners and managers
- For sales
- For the workshop and technicians
- For the parts counter
- For accounts
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Quotations open, won and lost
- Trucks on hire and due back
- Service jobs by status and technician
- Parts, tyres and batteries issued to each job
- Warranty claims raised and credited
- Used stock by age and reconditioning cost
- Dues by customer, oldest first
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- Payment gateway
- Accounting software export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does it handle both sales and hire?
- Can we track hour meters and plan services from them?
- Can it track batteries and chargers?
- Can we build manufacturer warranty claims from it?
- Can technicians use it at the customer’s site?
- Can it record safety inspection dates?
- Can existing trucks and contracts be loaded?
- Who owns the data?
- What does it cost?
- Does it track trucks by GPS?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- The truck has no single record
- Hire units go unbilled
- Service visits are reactive
- Spares and batteries are hard to match
- Warranty claims lose their evidence
Prefer to talk it through? See the forklift dealers page.