INDUSTRY UPDATE ARA WINS ANSI MEMORANDUM FIGHT FOR MEWPS The American Rental Association (ARA) has won two separate appeals before the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Board of Standards Review, ultimately forcing the A92 committee to remove all reference and requirements for a Manual of Responsibility (MoR) to be placed on mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs). This means that owners of MEWPs do not have to
maintain any MoR past or present on any MEWP going forward. “This is a huge victory for the equipment and event rental industry,” says John McClelland, ARA vice president for government affairs and chief economist, as well as the ARA’s main representative on the A92 committee. “Eliminating the MoR requirement will save our industry millions of dollars going forward. In addition, our appeals have established a precedent making it clear that no ANSI committee can make such a requirement without running afoul of ANSI’s commercial terms.” The ANSI A92 Committee published its standards for MEWPs on Aug. 12, 2020. The suite of standards has been in development since 2010, but they have been delayed due to appeals filed by ARA over the inclusion of an MoR that was initially required to be placed and maintained on each machine. ARA successfully argued that the MoR was a violation of ANSI’s commercial terms because it was a copyrighted document that was only available from the Scaffolding Access Industry Association (SAIA), which also is the secretariat of the A92 committee. For more, visit forconstructionpros.com/21627325.
UNITED RENTALS CREATES LEARNING PLATFORM FOR SALES DEVELOPMENT United Rentals has created an innovative learning platform to roll out sales training consistently throughout North America that has led to reduced onboarding time, decreased turnover, and increased sales rep effectiveness. United Rentals created a custom sales development initiative using the Brainshark sales readiness platform, United Rentals’ Sales Development Program. The program is focused on not only the equipment United Rental offers, but also the importance of the key messages associated with the company and its offerings. “United Rentals provides a comprehensive Sales Development Program to help new sales reps learn the construction and equipment rental business. We teach and mentor on the best ways to sell and provide solutions for customers, as well as about our product advantages and differentiating features. We’re passionate about helping our people grow professionally and embrace teamwork in everything they do,” said Jeff Cummings, director of sales development at United Rentals. The United Rentals Sales Development Program trains sales reps on four main pillars: • Equipment industry knowledge
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Sales methodology and how the company goes to market • Sales strategy and how it competes • Sales tools, both internal and external Cummings and his team found that having all the training and content available in digestible pieces – nothing was too long or in-depth – was critical to the program’s success. Within Brainshark, United Rentals broke larger concepts into micro training to make it easier for sales reps to review and retain. To read more, visit forconstructionpros.com/21627975.
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9/10/21 6:09 PM