Equipment Rental Companies
Can Take Something From This



A STORY ABOUT MISSED OPPORTUNITIES


THE BACK STORY
While trying to get my sign business off the ground, I found an opportunity to take on a flexible second job to make ends meet.  Kinda by accident, I ran across a company that offers movers on demand; like the Uber of movers (to use an overused comparison).  The movers are just people with pickup trucks who can use a cell phone app to connect with people needing help moving their belongings.  Like Uber, you can swipe to accept the jobs you see open on the app.  Jobs range from movers needed immediately or in just a couple hours to movers needed weeks from now.  Since I had a truck and some available time during the week, I thought I would give it a try.

It's actually pretty cool.  The onboarding process is all online.  Among other things, training involves basic information on moving safety, general customer service guidelines, and their business policies.  As a mover, they require some simple equipment be carried with you at all times.  This is everything from moving blankets and straps to handtrucks and a tool box with basic tools for taking apart furniture that won't fit through doorways.  You provide all this stuff on your own. It takes a little investment, but not bad, really.

I used to say "friends don't make friends help move," because I hated it.  However, I quickly began to like moving people's stuff.  It's funny how introducing money changes one's perspective.  One of my favorite aspects of the job was I could deliver great customer service and impress people with my ability to get the job done, at times only by myself.  Sometimes the app pairs you with a partner or the customer will assist depending on how they set it up through the app.  You can see all these details and more beforehand.

THE STORY
One day, I accepted a move for a customer who was having his home renovated.  Part of this renovation was changing out appliances.  One of the appliance retailers delivered his wine fridge to his main floor right in the middle of the renovation. In a very inconvenient spot it sat in a box until the customer hired a mover on demand to put it where he needed.  The service allows for labor only jobs like this that don't even require moving from one address to another.


When I arrived to the house, I had a solid tire medium duty handtruck and some straps which I thought would be sufficient.  Better yet, would have been a proper refrigerator dolly, because the move description failed to mention his wine fridge was over 7 feet tall and weighed as much as a Buick (easily over 600 lbs).  Fortunately, the work crew at his house included a general contractor and two or three drywallers.  The handful of us were able to get the wine fridge down a flight of stairs and staged in the hallway as instructed by the customer.  Even with the team of people, it was a very dicey operation.  We risked damaging hardwood stairs, newly finished walls, and our backs.  Thankfully, no body died.  It was a good day.

WHAT GOES DOWN, MUST GO UP
Fast forward a number of weeks, and I get a call from the support team of the on-demand mover company.  The support tech said they could really use my help, because that same customer needed help moving the wine fridge to its final destination, and he also requested me by name.  Remembering how cumbersome this wine fridge was, I wasn't keen on the idea.  But I thought I owed it to a customer who took the effort to request me specifically.  Plus, the stairs part was over, so how hard could it be?

When I arrived for the second time, the customer explained the fridge is ready to go back up the stairs to the main level.  My jaw dropped in disbelief.  Had he described his plan on the first visit, I would have begged him to reconsider taking it downstairs in the first place.  However, here we are.  What went down must go back up.  The customer and I tried with the help of one other person for about twenty minutes before we all agreed we were not getting the fridge back up the stairs.  He'd have to call the appliance company to send people out who were trained for such things and had the right equipment.  This is a real bummer for a guy like me, because I don't like to leave jobs unfinished.  Worse yet, I hate to disappoint a customer.

IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN
A very short time after this experience, I was browsing online at moving tips and tricks.  I cam across a video about a tool called a power stair climbing dolly by PowerMate.  Well, I'll be damned.  That would have been the perfect solution.  What I also found out is these dollies can be rented from many equipment rental companies.  Seriously.  Every large rental company has them available and really inexpensively, too.  I could have been a hero.  I could have left with my pride intact.  Above all, I could have made a customer happy and even gotten paid.


A LESSON IN ALL OF THIS

THIS BRINGS ME TO THE POINT OF MY STORY
Nearly every day, I see various equipment rental company pickup trucks buzzing around town with a logo displayed on the door.  I know the companies exist and I know they rent equipment.  So why didn't I come to them for the power stair climbing dolly?

It's a lot to do with perception.  At job sites I see manlifts and generators.  I see dozers and telehandlers.  In the back of equipment rental company trucks, I see things like concrete mixers and welding units.  Since I don't use this kind of equipment, the company isn't connecting with me very deeply.  Yes, I recognize the brand, but I assume only construction tradespeople are their customers.  However, with 100% certainty if I had known equipment rental companies rented power stair climbing dollies, I would have been a customer that day.

SOLUTIONS TO CONSIDER
So, as a marketing professional at one of these rental companies, what can you do to connect with people like me; a member of the general public?  ... a guy with occasional needs for rental equipment, and who knows other people with occasional needs.  You use social media, but that's more likely to reach your employees, their families, and your existing customers.  You could use static billboards or transit ads on buses, but those are expensive and short lived.  What about wrapping your pickup trucks?  Sure, though that would be initially expensive and you can't adjust your message without spending a lot of money to completely replace it.  Not to mention the other pitfalls of a wrap.

If you've ever given them any thought, you've probably quickly discounted the use of mobile billboards for a number of reasons.  Most would take up the bed of your trucks, look obnoxiosly large, and are a hassle to change the signage.  To be blunt, most are ugly and inconvenient.  That all ended when Bedfin introduced its X-Series mobile billboard.  Bedfin mounts on your bedrails in as little as 15 minutes without the need for drilling or other modification to your truck.  The size is compact, attractive, and yet attention grabbing.  Best of all, changing the sign takes less than 30 seconds and requires no tools.

Just as you have a sense of duty to reach your customers and help them in their times of need - I find it my duty to help you advertise effectively and grow your business.  By extension, I am then helping your customers - guys like me.  I know you will grow your business with Bedfin.  I also know, if I knew your company had a power stair climbing dolly, I would have been a customer that day.  What else do you have that I don't know about?  Please show me.  Show everyone on the road with a Bedfin.