Market Opportunities • RENTAL
He goes to the ARA “The Rental Show” each year to look for new items and also serves as region 6 director for the association. “This is a do-not-miss in our industry. You will see anything and everything. Last year, there were 66 first-time exhibi- tors. That’s 66 brand new opportuni- ties to add something to my business.” One of his latest additions was scaffolding, which he says was rented the day it was added to his inventory. He added more scaffolding, which rented the next week and is out for weeks at a time. “I’m an equipment junkie. I like things that are different. Years ago we started renting dump trailers. People have driven 50 miles to rent those trail- ers. We also rent an electric excavator. We’ve been in six states with that.”
Tom Hubbell is vice president of market- ing and communica- tions for the American Rental Assn.
Grow Equipment Sales Rental can be a lead-in to sales. “You have the opportunity not only to rent equipment but to sell ancil- lary goods, such as safety gloves and glasses,” says Hubbell of ARA. Watton of Southeastern Equipment says about 70% of its equipment inven- tory that’s for sale is available for rental. “It’s a fan- tastic way for the end user to pay for a demo, and
it’s a fantastic way for people to see what your company is all about. We wouldn’t hesitate to put something in our rental fleet to fill the need of a good customer.”
Farmers Implement offers a pur- chase incentive to landscaping compa- nies that rent snow removal equipment. “Landscapers can rent a skid load- er for 6 months at a set dollar amount and then 85% of that rental price could go toward a purchase at the end of the season. It definitely boosts sales in the spring,” Kresse says. When a propane supplier in his
Home Rental Center & Sales, Marshalltown, Iowa, offers more than 1,200 catego- ries of rental equipment and items for construction, home repair and special events.
area went out of business, Vajgrt added a propane filling station as part of his rental offerings.
“The original station was for filling bottles, 20-pound barbecue cylinders, 100-pound cylinders for construction equipment and 33-pound forklift cylin- ders. We got phone calls from motor home owners and added a filling station that was accessible to these customers,”
Vajgrt says. “We sell propane every day.” Marketing Rental
Marketing strategies vary based on the dealership’s emphasis on rental. Watton of Southeastern Equipment says they include rental on the web- site and in company mailers, but mainly rely on their salespeople.
continued on pg 16 Total U.S. Equipment Rental Revenue
50,000 45,000
40,000 35,000
30,000 25,000
20,000 15,000
10,000 5,000 0
1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017
Annual rental industry revenues are expected to reach $33.6 billion in 2013, a 7.3% increase from 2012, according to data from the American Rental Assn. and research firm IHS Global Insight. The data measures rental revenue for party and event, gen- eral tool and construction and industrial equipment.
RURAL LIFESTYLE DEALER SUMMER 2013 13
Party and Event General Tool
Construction and Industrial Equipment
IHS GII Forecast
Revenue (Million US$)
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