In the rental business, a lot rides on your sales efforts. The people you have on the front line, talking to your customers about the equipment and services you have to offer, are in a unique position to make or break your bottom line, so it's important to make sure they have the best tools available at their fingertips.
Fortunately, today's business management software has come a long way in terms of capabilities and user friendliness. We asked leading software suppliers what they thought about this topic. Following is an excerpt from that discussion.
Rental: What opportunities are currently being missed by rental company sales professionals?
Matt Hopp, general manager, InTempo Software: One mistake sales professionals across all industries make is to sell products, rather than helping people solve challenges. A salesperson should be a coach, not an order-taker. For example, if somebody calls and asks to rent a scissor lift, a salesperson should ask some more questions to learn about the job. There might be situations when, for example, a boom lift could be used instead, and at a lower price. If you can help a customer finish a job faster or more efficiently, it pays off in terms of loyalty. We have one customer who built a very successful heavy construction rental business and recently sold it off. The secret to his success was not the equipment he rented, which could also be found at nearby competitive stores. It was his ability to build trusted relationships with customers that led to extraordinary growth. Put the right rental software in the hands of service-obsessed salespeople, and the possibilities are boundless.
Tim Levron, vice president, Corporate Services: Sales professionals require access to data beyond the typical customer relationship management (CRM) reporting available to them, including:
- Up-to-date equipment availability from their rental yards;
- Existing jobsite information, along with any equipment currently supplied, utilization, repair history, etc.;
- Lead time for parts or special orders requested;
- Alternative equipment suggestions when requested equipment is not available.
Patrice Boivin, president, Orion Software: Sales professionals need to be at the center of rental solutions. When they receive customer queries through the company’s website, by email or by phone, they need to be able to offer quick responses so the customers know it’s the right place to get fast and good service the next time they're looking for assistance. This starts with mobile applications that provide real-time availability and prices with a CRM connected to the website and the office.
Rental: How can a comprehensive management software system help?
Levron, Corporate Services: A solution that combines all key features in one place is essential for the smooth delivery of these features to the users, as well as providing a business-level definition of the work process required to maintain the data.
Boivin, Orion: A CRM software that manages opportunities with a quoting solution is the key. Rental businesses are based on trust and reliability, so having your sales professionals following up with their clients with availability and pricing information in a timely manner is the foundation for a long-term relationship.
Hopp, InTempo Software: There are two primary areas of focus for salespeople when it comes to rental software. First, sales needs to know in real time what equipment is ready to rent, and what rates should be set. If a summer storm is coming and you only have one generator left, you won’t want to offer any discounts. On the other hand, if equipment is sitting in the yard underutilized, you might want to cut the price. Rental software puts the power in the hands of sales professionals by giving them the information they need to make the most profitable decisions. Second, salespeople need to know as much information as possible about their customers. If somebody calls in to rent an expensive piece of equipment, sales should be able to determine whether that customer is in good financial standing based on credit history and A/R aging. They should also be able to proactively market to customers who have not rented from the business in several months, or analyze whether new clients are ROI-positive after any special pricing. With InTempo’s advanced reporting tool and rate structure/billing options, sales reps can make the right decisions for each customer. Our mobile app brings salespeople closer to their clients than ever before by putting rates and availability and customer information at their fingertips, whether they are on the road, at the jobsite, or at home.
Rental: What obstacles exist to sales professionals adopting more automated methods?
Boivin, Orion: The problem with most CRM is that they don’t offer availability and pricing in the quoting system. It’s a good tool to follow up on opportunities, but it lacks an essential part of why sales rental professionals are there - to help their customers get the right equipment.
Hopp, InTempo Software: Many sales professionals are accustomed to the “old school” process, where the salesperson would go to a jobsite, talk to the foreman, and jot down the equipment needed - say, six scissor lifts - on a piece of paper. Then the salesperson would take it back to the office and hand the paper to the counterperson. The counterperson would then break the news that no scissor lifts are available for the specified dates. Rinse, repeat. In the “new world,” salespeople can use a mobile app like InTempo’s while at the jobsite to pull up to check availability for equipment. Then they can create an opportunity on the spot, which can be turned into a reservation. The reservation then gets kicked off to the office and now you can have somebody look for the equipment if it’s not in the yard. It not only saves an extra trip to the jobsite to explain why you don’t have the lift, but it allows sales to provide a much better customer experience - and creates fewer headaches for all involved. The app needs to make this process significantly easier than the prior way of doing things in order to be adopted by salespeople. If sales isn’t embracing the technology, the crux of the issue is likely with ease of use or effectiveness of the software - not with salespeople.
Levron, Corporate Services: Problems can arise due to lack of company support of mobile platform availability, user privileges to data traditionally restricted from sales, and the reliability of data if its not enforced from a defined work process.
Rental: How much of a learning curve is there? Are some professionals simply not going to get up to speed?
Hopp, InTempo Software: Our goal was to make a mobile app so seamless that even the most hardened professional can pick it up and use it off the bat without much, or any, training. It’s incumbent on the software company to reduce the learning curve. If you create a product that is too difficult to learn, salespeople will rightfully get frustrated. If it’s not easier than what they’re doing today, or if all of the features they need are not all available in the application, they’re not going to use it. The burden is on the software company to remove the learning curve.
Levron, Corporate Services: One of the essential aspects of a good equipment rental solution is to meet the user’s capabilities where they are along the process, but to also give them the opportunity to adopt better practices as time, money and training allow.
Boivin, Orion: If the solution provides the information they need to serve their clients, they will be motivated to learn fast. The best information is often the information that is summarized enough to give quick answers, and powerful enough to provide the required data. A graphical representation of equipment availability is a key element of a good and user-friendly CRM.
Rental: How can the rental customer’s experience change with the adoption of optimized sales methods/practices?
Levron, Corporate Services: A customer is more confident and willing to better utilize a rental company for their needs based on how the sales team is able to deliver information on pricing, availability and service more efficiently and accurately than their competitors.
Boivin, Orion: It’s a completely streamlined experience. Combined with a web portal where customers can order and view all their transactions, the sales process can be transformed radically. Customers can transact themselves with an electronic portal while the salesman is there to assist when appropriate. This way, they can handle more customers and focus on value-added activities. In today’s world, customers want to save time. If you offer them simple tools, they will select your company as their main source for years. Over the next years, many customers will select their rental provider based on the electronic tools they provide, the same way Amazon became the main source for the consumer sales market.
Hopp, InTempo Software: Amazon’s 1-Click Ordering is a perfect example of how a customer’s experience changes with the right sales methods. I am willing to pay a premium for Amazon products because I know I can buy it with minimal effort, it will be delivered in two days, and I won’t have to struggle with the company in the event of a return. I am a loyal Amazon customer because they make it so easy for me to do business with them. The idea is the same with rental - provide an experience that can’t be beat, and your customers will call you each and every time they need to rent. When evaluating software vendors, it’s easy to get wrapped up in comparing features. But one of the most effective ways to gauge which software will be best for you is to imagine the outcome of the software on the customer experience. Can salespeople get all the data they need, when and where they need it? And - in this day and age - can customers perform certain tasks without getting sales involved, such as pulling rental, sales and account information from a portal?
Rental: Is there a direct effect on the bottom line?
Boivin, Orion: Many studies are demonstrating that a disciplined follow up of opportunities with a good CRM and accurate information is generating a very significant increase in revenues. A disciplined sales process helps develop a trusting relationship with customers, so it’s definitely not something to neglect. It’s your reputation, and an assurance that your company will deliver what you say you will deliver.
Levron, Corporate Services: The sales team is usually the first impression a customer will have with a company, so the quality and quantity of sales is directly linked to their ability to perform. Having product and service data available in a timely and accurate manner gives those sales team an edge in performance, as well as an image of how the rental company is likely to serve them in the other departments.
Hopp, InTempo Software: Getting the right technology in the hands of the right people has never been as crucial as it is today. It’s a symbiotic relationship; investing in both best-of-breed software and talented sales professionals can separate your business from the rest of the pack.
