Maximize your rental potential
Here are four reasons to keep your rental equipment up to date, plus some additional factors to consider.
1 Safety
The newer your rental equipment, the safer it is. This directly impacts liability. No matter how well you maintain your rental gear, older equipment will not perform as well as newer items.
For example, consider BCs. Exposure to sun, salt and chlorine takes a toll on welded seams and weight-release mechanisms. No amount of maintenance can reverse its effect.
2 Image
The condition of your rental gear has a direct bearing on student confidence. Students know that items such as BCs and regulators are life-support equipment. If the gear you provide looks like it was “rode hard and put away wet,” how will this impact their confidence in your training?
3 Sales
The quality of your rental gear can also impact sales. Consider the message that unbalanced regulators and cheap, non-weight-integrated BCs send. It tells students they don’t need to own anything better than this.
Your rental gear needn’t be top of the line. It should, however, represent the minimum level of quality you would encourage students to buy. It should also reflect what is on your sales floor.
4 Profits
Not every student or customer will invest in items such as BCs and regulators. They will, however, pay good money to rent equipment that looks and performs like new. Just a few weeks’ rental can help you recover your initial investment in quality gear. After that, what you collect in rentals will be pure profit.
What else should you consider?
There are four additional factors to consider when investing in rental gear.
1 Factors that impact how long to keep your rental gear in service
Rental equipment warranties are seldom more than twelve months. They cover defects in manufacturing but not parts. The longer you hold onto rental items, the more costly they are to maintain. Eventually, they have little or no resale value.
Successful dealers seldom keep rental items in inventory for more than two to three years. As a result, there will be minimal cosmetic damage and they will be able to sell used rental items for close to or above dealer cost. By reinvesting this money in new rental gear, they have a rental inventory that perpetually pays for itself.
2 The best time to sell
For most dealers, the best time to liquidate used rental items is during slow season. This is usually after the winter holidays. Make this an annual event. It can generate cash flow when it is most needed.
3 Sell it all at once or cycle sales?
Instead of turning over rental inventory all at once, you can do it in stages. This way, you are constantly replacing the most worn equipment.
4 Outfit your rental department with little cash down
TUSA’s twelve-month rental program allows you to outfit your entire rental department at exceptional prices but spread the payments out over the entire year. This way, you better manage cash flow while enjoying the benefits of new rental equipment. It’s too good a deal to pass up.