Welcome: Be a change agent
by Clair Urbain, Publisher and Editor
Where are you positioned on the power curve? In the fast-paced world of equipment rental, it’s difficult to stay ahead of the service culture that often leads to reactive responses. I think it’s part of the nature of the business: the phone rings or the text comes in, and being a responsive rental house means taking quick action to meet or exceed customer needs.
While customers appreciate the can-do-at-a-moment’s-notice service, it can also position rental center leaders in a position of being too close to the action and missing out on evolving trends.
Take, for example, the increasing popularity of battery-powered equipment. Manufacturers continue to bring out new models that can outperform their engine-powered counterparts. These models often have fewer components, so they need less preventive maintenance and can be less expensive to operate. Their initial purchase price may be much higher than their gas-powered counterparts, they may very well have a lower total cost of operation over the life of the tool.
That’s an example where equipment rental leaders must look past the tried-and-true methods and research new models and ways of doing things. Mini excavators are another good example. They open job options for contractors and rental opportunities for rental centers by being able to get into tight spaces and take the grunt out of grunt work jobs that would otherwise have to be done by hand. Early on, they were met with some reservation, but over time, have become the darlings of rental fleets due to their compact portability.
The most important thing that any rental center influencer can do is to think beyond the fray of day-to-day rental business and to think about ways to truly serve customers with reliable, priced-right equipment that helps them work more profitably.
This article originally appeared in the July-August 2024 issue of Pro Contractor Rentals magazine. ©2024 Urbain Communications LLC. All rights reserved.
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