One of the defining characteristics of great business people is their ability to anticipate their company’s needs before those needs become obvious. These great business people use a variety of inside and outside sources of “intel” to make informed judgements which propel their rental companies further and faster than their competitors.
It is so important to be proactive and not just react. It's almost normal for most rental businesses to be in “reaction” instead of “anticipation” mode. In professional sports like baseball, the players on the field are taught how to “read” the ball as it is pitched and approaches the plate. The fielders are also analyzing the batter. The fielders are not standing flat-footed. They are in a crouched position and are ready to spring into action as they anticipate the likely direction that the hit ball will go. This information was gathered by the fielders in split seconds and is based on a number of factors that they have been taught to analyze and to act upon. Otherwise, they would be like elementary school children that wait to see where the ball lands and then start the chase to retrieve it.
In the rental business there are so many sources for quality information to anticipate the best direction for asset management. Analyzing your current and past financials as well as the data that can be mined from your computer system are just a few of the valuable tools that lead to superior planning. A highly experienced rental business consultant can help with the process and the training to have your company become far more proactive. Of course, your extensive knowledge of your customers, employees and the other parts of your business will be extremely useful in the process.
Trend analysis and other analyses help one to make informed decisions dealing with a wide range of assets. Just a few of these decisions are: what rental equipment to purchase or dispose of; what should your fleet size be in the months and years to come; what should the company goals be for the assets you will have in the future; what will the direct costs, as well as the indirect costs, be to invest in these assets; and many more decisions that need to be made.
Anticipate and act
It is fairly normal for many employees to wait until something happens before they react. It's not realistic to expect that employees are going to be in the habit of anticipating the needs of your business. They need to be taught to be proactive. It's highly unlikely any of your employees received this type of training anywhere before they came to work for you. As you know, your most important asset is your staff.
Supervisors and other leaders in rental companies also need to be trained to “anticipate” and not just “react." Planning ahead is not a part of every equipment rental company’s culture. Even though training is certainly one of the keys, another part of the solution is to have an improved system for analyzing and planning. It mih sound simple but it does take a concerted effort to analyze the situation and then to implement the proper solutions. But many of the challenges and opportunities repeat themselves. It certainly can be maddening to observe the same fires flaring up over and over again. Often, there is far too much fire fighting and not enough pro-activity. Through specialized training, performance reviews, incentives and properly designed job descriptions, managers will become responsible for making sure certain controllable problems simply don’t occur and opportunities are identified and acted upon.
Some companies are lucky to be in the right place at the right time. However, sustained long-term growth and profitability are dramatically enhanced by those who are forward-thinking in their approach to asset management. So, don’t let your company be caught flat footed. Make the investment of time and resources to create a stronger culture of anticipation and proactivity.
