Everybody’s Business

TIME FOR REVIEW

This month’s issue of Rental includes our annual Renter’s Review feature, where someone on staff “secretly” visits a rental store nearby to rent out a piece of equipment.

This year, Group Publisher Sean Dunphy had the honor— he rented out a pressure washer for a project he had cooking at his house. Overall, he said the experience was so simple and relatively inexpensive that he wondered why anyone in a similar situation would opt to buy the piece of equipment. You can find the full story on p. 12.

In prepping to put together the story, I took a deep dive into previous Renter’s Review stories. Reading about past editors’ experiences renting out equipment got me thinking about what our readers can glean from what those rental stores did well and what they didn’t do so well, so I put together a list of “lessons learned” from some of our most popular ones.

Are there any lessons you have learned throughout your experience in the rental equipment industry? Is there anything you would recommend other rental stores start doing to enhance their customer experience? What have you found to be successful?

While we’re on the topic of the customer experience, this issue includes several articles to help you serve your customers in the best way possible.

Our business management department focuses on equipment rental software that’s making it easier for customers to book equipment (p. 16), our general tool department lays out three questions that’ll help prompt your contractor customers choose the right trencher for the job (p. 21), our Rental Snapshot profile highlights Tom Brown Jr., vice president of operations and sales of Rental Solutions and Events in Sykesville, Md., who shares his successes and challenges within the industry (p. 28), and finally, in our Eye on Rental column, Dick Detmer explains how the continuous education of employees leads to happier and safer customers (p. 34).

Keep an eye out for our next issue of Rental, which will include our new and improved Editor’s Choice Award, and in the meantime, feel free to reach out with questions, story ideas and press releases via email at swebb@ acbusinessmedia.com or via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahwebb-1ba8b2109/.

@ MonsterZtudio-stock.adobe.com PRODUCT ■ NEWS ■ INSIGHT www.ForConstructionPros.com/RENTAL

Published by AC Business Media

201 N. Main Street, 5th Fl Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 (800) 538-5544

www.ACBusinessMedia.com

Publication Staff

Publisher ................................................................... Sean Dunphy sdunphy@ACBusinessMedia.com Editor ..........................................................................Sarah Webb swebb@ACbusinessMedia.com

Senior Production Manager........................................Cindy Rusch Art Director................................................................... Willard Kill

Audience Development Manager .................................Angela Franks

Advertising Sales (800) 538-5544

Kris Flitcroft.................................kflitcroft@ACBusinessMedia.com

Sean Dunphy ..............................sdunphy@ACBusinessMedia.com Nikki Lawson .............................. nlawson@ACBusinessMedia.com

Megan Perleberg .........................mperleberg@ACBusinessMedia.com Tadashi Soma................................... tsoma@ACBusinessMedia.com

Circulation & Subscriptions

PO Box 3605, | Northbrook, IL 60065-3605, Phone: (877) 201-3915 | Fax: (847) 291-4816 circ.rpn@omeda.com List Rental

Sr. Account Manager ..........................................Bart Piccirillo | Data Axle (518) 339 4511 | bart.piccirillo@infogroup.com

Reprints

Megan Perleberg, mperleberg@ACBusinessMedia.com

AC Business Media

Chief Executive Officer............................................... Ron Spink Chief Financial Officer........................................JoAnn Breuchel Chief Digital Officer ............................................ Kris Heineman Chief Revenue Officer ........................................ Amy Schwandt VP ofOperations & IT ............................................. Nick Raether VP Audience Development ................................. Ronda Hughes Director, Demand generation & Education ................. Jim Bagan GM Online & Marketing Services...................Bethany Chambers Content Director ................................................. Marina Mayer

Published and copyrighted 2022 by AC Business Media. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

SUBSCRIPTION POLICY: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the U.S. to rental centers, equipment distributors, and other businesses with rental departments. To subscribe please visit www.ForConstructionPros.com. Publisher reserves the right to reject nonqualified subscribers.

One year subscriptions for nonqualified individuals: U.S. $35.00; Canada and Mexico $60.00; and $85.00 all other countries (payable in U.S. funds, drawn on U.S. bank). Single issues available (prepaid only) $10.00 each.

Rental (ISSN 2375-9925, Print | ISSN 2471-7657, online | USPS 686-370) is published eight times per year: January/February, March, April, May, June/July, August/September, October/November and December by AC Business Media, 201 N. Main Street, 5th Fl., Fort Atkinson, WI 53538. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Atkinson, WI and additional entry offices. POSTMASTER: Please send change of address to Rental, PO Box 3605, Northbrook, IL 60065-3605. Printed in the USA. Vol. 43, Issue 5, June/July 2022