Spring 2013 Hardlines Strategies

STORE PROGRAMS

Buy Quality Tools Every day a rental tool is sitting in your store is a day it’s not making money for you. It makes a lot of sense to have quality tools that can hold up to the strain of continual use and abuse rent- ers are likely to inflict, all while having very few breakdowns. The only way to accomplish that is to buy quality tools. “Don’t skimp and buy cheap,” says Witt, “always buy rental quality equip- ment.” That’s one of the reasons he and retailers like him buy their rental equip- ment from MTA. MTA has heavy-duty equipment designed for the rigors of rental. While the upfront investment in the rental drill or pressure washer, for example, is more than it is for similar items you’ll sell off the shelf, tools made for rental will be more reliable and will pay for them- selves quickly.

will just pick two or three tools that complement items they already sell. We’re very flexible to start at whatever level you want to start. It’s not a cookie- cutter approach.” Get Complete Training When Frank Dinges started exploring the rental category, he visited other retail- ers with rental and asked lots of ques- tions. He also attended an MTA training seminar. Training classes from MTA, held at its corporate offices in Whites Creek, Tenn., give you everything you need to know to get started in rental and help you avoid some of the common mistakes that can cost you a lot of money down the road. In addition to learning how to run the rental business, you’ll need to learn how to use each piece of equipment. One great way to learn is to take it home and try it out for yourself. Encourage your employees to take each piece of new equipment for a test run, too. Keep instruction manuals handy so employees can refer to them quickly. If you rent to a lot of do-it-yourselfers, be prepared to give customers complete tutorials on how to use the machines they’re going to rent. Be prepared to take phone calls from customers who have a machine at home but need additional guidance using it. Remember, it’s in your best interest to do whatever you can to keep your customers from getting frus- trated and damaging a machine. Diversify Your Selection When you use the rental program from Blish-Mize and MTA, you have access to a diverse selection of products so you can stock what your customers want. Bryan Witt, of Gregory Lumber in Gregory, S.D., got into rental eight years ago because the nearest rental yard was 30 miles away and he saw a lot of his custom- ers driving out of town to do business. He started renting just a few tools and expand- ed as he listened to what his customers wanted. “Our policy is if we get three or four requests for a product, we’ll try to get it,” he says. “It’s a lot easier having all of

the equipment and accessories I need in one place. I don’t have to keep track of separate vendors, and anything I buy from MTA I can bill through Blish-Mize.” As Witt listened to his customers, he also learned they would rent more than just tools. He recently started party rental, which includes tables and chairs for 200 people and an enclosed trailer to haul them. Party rentals can also include bounce houses, popcorn machines and cotton can- dy machines. The more diverse your rental selection, the more diverse of an audience you will draw, which means a lot of new customers may discover your store. Some years, certain items will be more popular than others. “For a while, floor sanders were popular and we rented our compactor a lot last year when paver pati- os were popular. It just depends on what the trend of the times is,” Dinges says.

When you use the rental program from Blish-Mize and MTA, you have access to a diverse selection of products so you can stock what your customers want.

Bryan Witt’s rental selection is diverse. While he rents some large items, like construction equipment, he also rents smaller power tools and party equipment.

12 Spring 2013 • Hardlines Strategies