RM Online - Customer service is an attitude that you convey to the customer

The president's column this month is a reminder for all of us rental store operators, manufacturers and reps that we always need to pay attention to customer service. If we don't, someone else will.

People always talk about first impressions a customer gets when he or she enters your store or receives a piece of new equipment or calls for information. It's true: first impressions count plenty. They can make you or break you. So you need to stay on your toes, always, every day.

Think about how the phones are answered. Have you ever called a business and talked to someone who sounded like he really didn't care? What kind of impression did that make with you?

Think about what it's like driving into your parking lot. Make sure customers see that everything is clean when they drive in.

Think about how people are greeted when they enter your store. Have that focal point item inside so when they walk into your building, they see something that grabs their attention.

Be sure of what impressions you're creating. People have called you or they're in your store because they needed some help. But that's only part of the story - the need was the thing that initiated what could be a long relationship with that customer, if you do it right. You can build "share of customer" if you work at it.

Here's another issue to consider: how you receive and deal with customers, whether in your store or on their own property or job site, or how your delivery driver treats them - and your inventory - will encourage them to take care of your rental items.

Have you ever rented a car and gotten a bad feeling when it became clear to you that the person collecting your information did not have the best attitude and seemed to not even want to be at work? Or let's say you drive the car out of the rental lot and hit a huge pothole in the road. It jars your teeth. You exclaim, "Damn!" and then "Oh, well, it's just a rental!" You're not a couldn't-care-less person, but something in the back of your mind tells you, almost subliminally, that if the rental company didn't care enough about its cars to fix the potholes in the lot, why should you care?

When people receive bad service or dirty equipment or equipment with parts missing, they are likely to abuse it and not care about it. If you don't care, why should they?

I've found that when you work courteously and positively with a customer from the start of a transaction, any problems that may come up will be easier to deal with. When a customer gets a clean, properly working item, most of the time that customer will take care of it.

I know, this is not always the way it works - we've all had our share of people who just seem to be out to destroy our inventory - but still, it says the right things about your company when you display a good attitude and treat people courteously, from their initial phone call right through to the end of the transaction - and beyond: the right treatment brings them back.

How often do you go out in the truck with a salesperson or a delivery driver to see how they deal with your customers? Manufacturers send company people out with their field reps to see how things really are and make corrections. Maybe we rental people should be doing more of that, too.