There are many things you need to consider when starting an equipment rental business. You will want to think about all the different types of rentals and their costs, what type of insurance you might need, as well as how much space you’ll need for storage. One thing not often thought about is how important it is that your customers love renting from you! This post will help guide you through some best practices that will turn your business into a success story as a new equipment rental store owner.
The first step to ensure your customers have the best experience possible with renting from you is by ensuring they can easily find out everything they want to know about renting from your company on one website or ad. You want to make sure they have access to information about the different types of rentals you can provide, how much rental charges are for each type and how long they last, information on your rental inventory, and what insurance options you offer as well.
When it comes to renting equipment, your first step should be:
1. Make sure your equipment is in good shape and up to date.
You don’t want to rent a broken item out and cause a bad customer experience. Your equipment is your number one tool in providing an awesome service to your customers! If you have old items, beat up or faulty, consider upgrading them. And make sure all the equipment is ready for use before you put it into service. This is even more critical if you are renting items like medical equipment. Make sure your customers always have the best experience possible with you! Your equipment rental business will thank you for it! Remember, when your customers are happy with how easy renting from you was, they’ll tell their friends about it!
And that’s what we want, isn’t it?
2. Have a professional website that makes it easy for people to find what they need
It is important to have a website that offers rental information in an easy format. When someone wants to rent equipment, they normally search for rental businesses near them on Google.com or Bing.com. They will typically look for rental businesses in their city or town and the surrounding areas if they are not too far from your rental location.
For example, if I am in rental search mode and searching for rental businesses in Durham, NC (where I live), I would put “Durham rental equipment” or “Rental businesses Durham” into Google. You can see from the image below what results you’d get.
As you can see above, 14 rental equipment businesses in Durham have websites. You might notice some of these rental companies don’t have incredibly awesome websites, but for rental businesses, they do an alright job.
As a rental business owner, you want to make sure not only does your website look professional and provides rental information in an easy format so people can find exactly what rental equipment they are looking for, but you also want to make sure your website is easily found on the internet. If people can’t find your rental website easily, then it doesn’t matter how professional it is.
3. Offer competitive rates on rentals that are affordable
One of the most important things to do as an equipment rental business owner is to make sure your equipment rental rates are affordable. When people rent equipment, they want it to be affordable for them and cost-effective for you! If you have equipment that costs too much to rent out, but you’re not charging enough to cover the equipment cost AND your time and effort in operating the equipment rental business, then you might want to consider charging a higher rate for equipment rental.
To charge a competitive equipment rental rate, there are some equipment costs that should be accounted for when calculating equipment rentals. You need to include equipment costs along with labor costs when conducting your equipment calculations.
4. Provide excellent customer service
Make customers feel like they’re the most important person now, no matter how busy you are
Making the customer feel their needs comes first and taking care of customer complaints will make customer satisfaction go way up! It’s important to remember that mistakes happen–it is a part of being human. Customers can be forgiving if you admit your mistake, apologize sincerely, and explain how it happened and what you are doing to prevent it from happening again.
Make customers feel like they are your number one priority, and you will easily retain customers! You must make customer service a top priority to grow a successful equipment rental company!
The most effective way to show customer appreciation is to thank the customer before they leave, whether it is after renting equipment or servicing equipment.
Get customer feedback – customers are more likely to be understanding if they know that their customer service complaints are being heard and addressed constructively by the equipment rental business owner. When it comes down to customer satisfaction, PLEASE remember that customer retention is a lot easier than customer acquisition.
5. Use social media to promote your business
Share photos of your rental items in use, and connect with potential customers online
Use social media to connect with customers and potential customers! It is a great way for people to find you as a rental business!
A social networking site like Instagram that encourages social interaction, photos, and video sharing can be an extremely powerful marketing tool for your equipment rental business. Social media also allows people to connect with you on a more social level, as opposed to just saying “hello” at an equipment rental social gathering! It allows you to connect with customers and potential customers through social media. You are also maintaining your online presence through this.
Final Thoughts
These are best practices that seem simple, but if you’re not following them, then there’s a good chance people will find another vendor to rent from.! And if you’re not sure what type of equipment rental business is right for you, or if all this seems overwhelming and like too much work, we’ll be happy to offer advice at any time. Join our Facebook group, where there’s always a constant stream of new ideas and helpful tips from experts just like us – come join us today!
I would be so mad if I got rented a broken item. I need to find a rental service with good customer experience then. A company with bad reviews would be obvious then.