RM Online - What you need to know about pneumatic tools

Insurance companies, OSHA guidelines and evolutionary designs are breathing life into pneumatic tool rentals, sometimes deflating sources of revenue for stores that lag behind the times.

"You are missing some great opportunities these days if you don't carry a complete line of tools for this market," says Peter Bigwood, president of Atlas Copco Berema, West Springfield, Mass.

"Breakers and hammers hadn't changed for many years until just recently. Manufacturers have been taking out clean pieces of paper and coming up with better products."

Bigwood says the direction product design is taking is toward more operator-friendly machines that dampen the shock of vibration. Tools that are safer, lighter and ergonomically designed have greater appeal to a wider market - including the weekend warrior-homeowner, intent on getting a redecorating job done on an available Saturday.

Compliance with OSHA and EPA guidelines is an important factor in pneumatic tool design. "Ergonomics appears to be a prime motivation in manufacturers' minds these days," says Harry Gilmore, president of Harper Air Tool Co., Los Angeles.

Requirements that are put in place to protect professional contractors can be used as a marketing point for amateurs. Picture the homeowner who has never used a pneumatic tool and comes into the rental store to figure out how to get an old sidewalk out. You suggest a pneumatic breaker and the customer immediately thinks of a beefy guy hanging onto a wild, thudding jackhammer. The weekend amateur can't picture himself in that role.

So you step in and tell him how manufacturers have tamed these things down and made them easier for the average person to handle. You don't have to be a linebacker to wrestle the modern breaker into submission.

Renting pneumatic hammers and breakers today requires an understanding on the part of rental counter and yard personnel of just how much the product and the market have changed. There's a big market for this equipment, and it's growing.

How do you make the most of the opportunity?

"You can begin marketing by differentiating yourself from Joe Rental down the street," says Bigwood. "You can carry newer equipment - make your store stand out as a provider of state-of-the-art tools that are easy for everyone to operate.

"Municipalities and utilities, more and more, are requiring ergonomic tools on the job," says Bigwood. "Sure, these tools will cost more, but customers will pay a little extra to rent them if you explain the benefits behind the new features."

Bigwood suggests a marketing program that stresses a comparison-contrast structure: "I'd grab the customer by putting a display together that features the four power sources. Hydraulic is going to be your most powerful. Pneumatic is close behind. Gas and electric follow. You can't beat the power-to-weight ratio and the cost of operating pneumatic tools. That's what you have to show.

"If I had a breaker on display, I'd give the customer visuals, like slabs of concrete, showing the thickness each type can handle," says Bigwood.

"Then I'd bundle the pneumatic breaker with the correct-size compressor, hose, add-ons and the steel that goes with the tool. A 185-cubic-foot-per-minute compressor will handle the vast majority of pneumatic tools.

"Another thing we've noticed is that you need to keep the steel that goes with your breakers and hammers sharp. You'll get the full rental anyway - why not make the job easier for the customer?

"You also should color-code the steel used on the different tools so that you know what you're getting back," warns Bigwood. "Customers might replace your quality steel with a cheap substitute if you don't have some kind of coding on them."

Pneumatic-tool displays can include eye protection, hose, silencing attachments - silencers can reduce noise on some breakers up to 50 percent - and gloves; some gloves are designed to absorb shock.

"Store owners often forget about the help we can give them," says John Stahl, sales and marketing coordinator for JET Equipment & Tools, Auburn, Wash. His company manufactures a wide range of pneumatic products including clay and trench diggers, rock drills, chipping hammers, sand rammers and paving breakers.

Many suppliers offer rental dealers excellent resources for marketing support.

JET, for instance, like many others, has a co-op advertising program by which rental dealers can get the supplier to share in the cost of local promotions, such as on-site events, open houses, newspaper, radio or television advertisements, or efforts to reach farther out into the trade area, such as exhibits or demonstrations at trade shows, fairs, home shows or home-improvement events.

Companies with co-op advertising programs can supply product literature, flyers, line art for ads, photos, counter cards, posters, banners, radio and TV scripts, information outlines and guidelines for radio talk-show appearances - and more. Some, like JET, will supply artwork over the Internet or provide it on CD-ROMs.

The same, basic compare-contrast approach can be used to promote pneumatic fasteners, too, says Mark Boutelle, senior marketing manager at Paslode, Vernon Hills, Ill.

"When you're trying to sell a rental contract, point out the time it takes to nail with a hammer vs. a pneumatic nailer," says Boutelle. "Pneumatic tools will save on labor, increase productivity and even give a better finished job, no matter if you are a contractor or a one-day renter."

Boutelle says ease-of-handling makes pneumatic nailers ideal for both the construction market and the DIY home-restorer. A few basic approaches can be used to reach both customer segments.

"Pneumatic nailers and staplers are very simple to operate," says Boutelle. "All you do is hook up the air supply, load the tool, turn on the compressor and away you go.

"For nailers, find out what three or four sizes of nails and what types of tools are big in your part of the country. There are three basic types of nails - clipped-head (D-head), full-head or coil. Each takes a different type of gun. Display them with your compressors, hose and safety and protective equipment."

Besides eye and hand protection, add-ons for a pneumatic-fastener display can include hose, compressors, nails, staples and accessories.

"Framing is the biggest market for our products," Boutelle says, "but there are lots of other uses."

Listen for these catchwords: framing, floor and roof decking, remodeling and fencing. When the customer says one of them, you know you are in position to rent a pneumatic tool.