RM Online - Thinking outside of the box is the rental pro's stock in trade

Many of you have seen this trick before, and in any case I'm not going to tease those who haven't by hiding the answer in the back of the book, because I want to get to the point, which is: Think outside of the box. So here's the solution: you simply extend the line outside the "box," which is imaginary anyway - if you don't create the box in your mind, it doesn't exist.

Now for a little discussion of that point. When consultants and motivational speakers pull this little trick on an audience, what's supposed to happen is this: people try and try and pause and try again, and squint and scratch their chins, and then the consultant or speaker rides in like the cavalry and shows the solution with great flourish and expresses the point, Think outside of the box. Everybody looks sheepish and laughs, and goes home and tries the trick out on others and tells everybody it was a great seminar because it made you think.

Now, we all know that the rental business is really the art of solving problems. When that customer walks through the front door, you don't know what the problem is going to be, but you do know that there is one or he/she wouldn't be here.

I don't have any data on this, so don't ask me to cite chapter and verse, but I'm willing to bet you that the success of the best rental operation is directly proportional to the ability of its managers to think outside the box. And I'll also bet that nowhere will you find this to be more true than in the event and party rental business.

This thought has occurred to me often in the past but it struck an especially clear chord when I was reading Robin Kring's piece on Halloween parties in the June-July issue of RM. She rattled off 101 things you could do to make a Halloween party fun, special and memorable. What problems is she solving? Boring, dull, commonplace and forgettable parties. OK, so a crummy Halloween party isn't going to ruin your life - but consider the wedding reception, the 50th anniversary and the bar mitzvah: you get one shot at them; they have to be special and memorable moments.

In the August issue each year we focus almost entirely on the event and party business, but this thinking outside the box in order to solve problems is the stock in trade of all rental people. How many times have you heard a DIY homeowner - or maybe even a contractor - describe a problem and tell you the solution he had in mind and then looked amazed and delighted when you offered your better idea? How many times have you heard a customer say, "Well, I'm sure glad I came here!"? How many times have you seen a customer leave with a machine sticking out of his trunk that was entirely different from the one he had in mind when he came in? And maybe with two or three additional tools he hadn't thought of, along with some safety items, gloves and consumables that he could have gotten at the big box down the street but picked them up at your place, instead.

But back to the party business, since it's the event and party month for Rental Management. Nobody thinks outside the box better than a top-notch event and party pro. Steven Spielberg would be a good party rental manager, I'll bet. Walt Disney, too, and George Lucas - anybody who's creative and gets excited about the business of turning dreams into memories. That's thinking outside the box.

The construction and tool people are not in the dream and memory business, but everybody who comes in wants to have something good happen as a result of renting. They all want to solve a problem, make life easier or more fun, get some special help that's not available at the category killer or the hardware store down the street.

Whatever kind of rental business you're in, when you think outside of the box, your customers will notice. They'll remember it. And they'll be back.