RM Online - Opportunities are everywhere - you just have to go after them

Earlier this year I predicted that we would see the major growth in our industry in the event and party rental segment. Now I'd like to expand that thought and say that we need to be aware of all other market opportunities for growth that may present themselves to us.

Retail sales items are a prime example. Many of us have not chosen this course, but there is opportunity in sales - those accessory items that complement the rental business, things like hammers and gloves, not faucets and plumbing supplies. The last-minute items that people forgot. Ask if there's anything else they need.

Tool people should be selling safety glasses, gloves and ear plugs with the rental of an electric jackhammer or a tile stripper. People may need drop cloths when they come in to pick up an airless paint sprayer or an electric drywall outfit. Don't forget to mention that you have other things they will need when they call to ask if you rent this or that. In the summer, market your tents and canopies to plumbing and utility companies that have people out working in the hot sun.

The customer should be able to pick up some things at the local rental store just as easily as at the local convenience store. The MBA program is trying to help us fill the need for some of these retail items.

Tool stores can look to the industrial market for more rentals - manufacturing plants, assembly plants, warehouses and apartment complexes have maintenance people who take care of the physical plant, and they often have a need for tools. Sometimes those companies have events like health fairs, for which they need tables, chairs and canopies.

Remember that you aren't competing against just the big boxes or other rental stores, but also the handyman companies that are out there looking to do the work themselves.

Market opportunities are wide open if you're willing to go after them. Take a break today and think of one or two types of customers you should be renting to but aren't. Make it a goal to pick up one of them by the end of the year. What do you have in your inventory that they can make use of and haven't thought of themselves?

Think of how a new item or an existing piece of equipment can generate new rentals. Skid-steer loaders, for example - there are dozens of attachments that equip those machines for multiple uses and expand the customer base that you can serve, if you look for the opportunities and pursue them. Look at your inventory creatively: how can you use it to increase the volume of business you are doing with your regular customers and what might attract new customers?

Think about targeting the ethnic market in your area. Here in Phoenix, it's Hispanic and Asian. In a place like New York, there are people from dozens of cultures who might be attracted to your store if you could reach out to them with advertising in their own language, or if you had a counterperson who could speak to them.

Market opportunities are everywhere. It just takes some thought and sensitivity to the potential customer's need.

The A.R.A. promotional efforts are steadily advancing the awareness of the rental concept in the marketplace, but please pitch in and add your voice to the message. Do some outside advertising, direct mail or telemarketing, or just drop off a catalog at a prospective customer's office, in person.