RentalMetrics

Blogging is not just about writing

Blogging is not only writing relevant items for your target market's consumption. It's about reading blogs. 

Reading blogs from the industry will often give you a different perspective than simply reading the trade publications weekly/monthly. 

But most importantly, you need to set up automated searches for blog posts, news, and comments about yourself, your company, and your competitors.  Many people haven't the slightest clue of what the Internet thinks about them.  Since that's where 99% of people go FIRST to research ideas/companies/products...you need to plug in.

Our Independent Learning Environment contains plenty of content to get you started down the road to blogging success (both reading and writing). 

New Company Video Introduction

If you have about 1 minute, perhaps you will enjoy our brief introductory video highlighting what we do and who we work with.  The video is located in the upper right navigation bar and will permanently reside there.   

I've also posted it below for your immediate consumption.  We look forward to working with you.

Red Light, Green Light

By Paul Gratton, Research Engineer

“Hey you with the stack of reports thicker than the Sunday newspaper; what are you looking at?” If you struggle to keep up with paperwork you’re not alone. It takes a lot to run a business, and keeping track of a vehicle fleet is no simple task. Trying to do it “the old fashioned way” becomes increasingly wasteful as your business grows. Time lost shuffling papers keeps you from doing what you do best – moving equipment and making money.

Losing information through mismanagement reduces efficiency, and in today’s knife-edge economy of thin margins your information management system could make the difference between profit and loss. Managing vehicles with Excel spreadsheets or with a paper system quickly creates a jungle of data, wasting time and creating confusion. There’s got to be a better way!

Takin’ it to the bank

Computers work great for automating repetitive processes. If you are constantly checking if number ‘X’ is too high or number ‘Y’ is out of tolerance you really need to set up an automated reporting system.

Automated systems and reports can be designed to bother you ONLY when necessary.

Too frequent reports or alarms only induce fatigue, keeping you from paying attention when it really matters.

Do this: Streamline your reporting system by creating simple and easy to understand programmed indicators (red light = bad, green light = good). With a quick glance at your “dashboard” you should be able to get a good idea of where you need to focus your attention.

Don’t spend your time trudging through reports generated by poorly designed ad-hoc systems. Use automated systems with smart indicators so you can focus on creating real value for your customers and profits for your company.

Innovative Ways To Convey the Message

That's me in front of a green piece of cloth.  I know...the drama!  I'm not reporting the weather (although Mom always wanted me to do that,) rather I'm creating content for the RentalMetrics Independent Learning Environment.  We leverage "Green Screen" or "Chroma key" video so we can put nifty graphics and video behind my lovely body.   

We believe that the days of purchasing rusty and dusty 1500 page reports for a buck a page is long gone.  How many pages in that research report were truly relevant to you and your project last time?  If you're like me, it wasn't enough to get excited about. 

We're delivering content that's rich and relevant and mobile. 

Look for a sample shortly in the right navigation sidebar (my mug will be replaced with a nice 60-second introduction video.)

The Frozen Tundra Job Site

This job site here in Des Moines has been stagnant for quite some time.   Now odds are no one will roll up and steal these machines.  They're in a high traffic and highly populated area of town...and you'd need a large tractor/trailer combo to take them anywhere. 

I believe these machines have been here for at least 2 maybe 3 weeks in this "frozen in time" condition.  This begs the question..."How long will your GPS tracking device operate in Hibernation or Sleep Mode?  Will the battery die off quickly in week long temps below 20?  (It's been minus 12 a few mornings lately.)

Big machines don't operate in labs or testing grounds.  Heck, they get pummeled with every kind of extreme you can imagine here:  heat, dirt, grease, freezing temps, the general category of "muck".  You name it.  And when the weather turns around here, work stops.  Will your device live up to the challenge?

Find reliable tracking/monitoring solutions that will stand up against everything you can throw at them. If you purely operate on the "buy it cheap" principal, you'll be replacing every device in the fleet at least once per year (I've seen it happen with my own eyes).  That not only costs you labor...but more importantly it costs you transport (get it back to the shop) and fleet utilization dollars ( your lifeblood).  

The Construction Equipment Rental Ecosystem

Here's a brief screencast with audio discussing the interconnectedness of the construction and equipment rental markets..along with a definition of the RentalMetrics target market.

Maximize Your Collaboration

By Paul Gratton

Here at RentalMetrics we're a team on the go. Because we're rarely all in the same room we depend heavily on collaboration software to manage our projects. The ability to track progress, share documents, and communicate via a number of platforms means we can maximize our efficiency as an organization.

Some of the features that help us the most include:

1. Being to access and change all team documents anytime, anywhere
2.  Instant notice (via email or RSS) of project or document changes
3.  Online collaborative chat, reducing cell phone and travel costs
4.  Using shared Internet favorites as our online team knowledge base  

 

Collaborative software works great for us, and it might work great for you, but before implementing any new system there are few important questions to consider:

 

1. What problem is the collaborative software fixing?
2. How will collaboration software change the way your organization communicates?
3. Who will administer/manage your collaborative environment?
4. What Return on Investment (ROI) can you expect from implementing collaboration software?

 

Takin' it to the bank

 

Do you have a "team on the go?" Collaboration software may help streamline communication in your organization. First, evaluate your needs and find the collaboration tool that best fits your organization. Be sure to understand exactly how your collaboration system will be used and what problem it will solve once implemented.

Once you've added collaboration tools to your operation don't forget to train your employees and develop a system of administration and maintenance. Also, as with any business process change, keep track of your improved efficiency and calculate ROI.

Are you using equipment tracking GPS to its potential?

Today I chatted with a friend/contact of mine at a major national equipment rental house.   We talked about the GPS equipment tracking units that had been installed on some generators of hers a while ago.  I asked lots of questions about data usage, how the units had been leveraged across the enterprise, etc. 
It was no surprise to me that answer was, "Well, we are still just checking hours to see if the unit is still running and we look at the map every now and again to see where the units are located."

Too bad.  Although the current mode is "enough"...it's not growth oriented, improvement oriented...or excellence oriented.

Even though today...your equipment rental or construction business maybe be "old school" and a bit slower to react to the industry or trends.  Sooner or later, you'll be confronted with the demand "become more efficient and responsive in this market". 

Takin' It to the Bank
If you take steps now to understand why you're buying equipment tracking, the best solution for your operation, how to extract every last red cent from their use, and how to leverage the data that comes out of the units  (by the way its to create information that the entire enterprise can make proactive business decisions) you'll be much better off down the road. 

That my friends is the view of the forest by using RentalMetrics glasses to see through the trees.

Will Economics Drive Rental Ever Higher?

Our economy does have fundamental strength.  You can tell since the Presidential candidates aren't using it as leverage against the other side.  However we've seen weaknesses appear that have brewing for quite some time.  I believe we haven't seen the worst of it yet.

But how will this affect the equipment rental market?  In an economy where the core construction market is a leading downer, will rental companies struggle?

I think we'll see the slowing that anyone on the bleeding edge of prosperity will see.  However what happens when people are uncertain?  They rent!  They don't buy.   If you look, you already see this in housing rental.  Rents are moving up and supply is tightening.  Of course there may be a larger supply pool to hold rates down these days...but the blend will provide a softer landing for the sector.

Takin' it to the bank

Use this time of lower business volume (some geographic areas are busier than ever) to review processes and technology solutions.  Plan now to really make hay when things turn around and the construction engine is firing on 8 cylinders and leaving your yard empty.  Get lean.  Get efficient.  Get tight so when the time comes to grow, you're fully fertilized, watered, and staked up.

Beware of Hidden Costs

Beware of Hidden Costs  by Paul Gratton,  Research Jedi for Rental Metrics

So, you've purchased the "Big Life-Changing Technology" (BLT) that's going to solve all your problems. Great. You take it home, plug it in and forget about it. Flash forward one year. BLT is clipping away but you've changed. Now rather than using BLT you've created a workaround, or BLT was so annoying that you no longer react to its alarms and buzzers. Also, you declined to keep up with software updates and BLT doesn't work with your Brand-New Widget. In frustration you wonder "was buying BLT really worth it?" When you think about how much money you spent on BLT just one year ago you curse BLT and the day you decided to bring BLT home.

 

BLT's may not really be all that bad. BLT may even be saving you time and money. It's just that when the over-eager salesperson sold you BLT they neglected to mention what to do after the honeymoon ended, dashing your expectations of a maintenance free marriage.

 

Take a step back. It's probable that BLT is just doing what it's told. When you bought BLT you forgot to hire a BLT administrator, schedule maintenance, or take time to reassess BLT's role in your life. No one told you you'd have to, and honestly, you were just too busy to think about it at the time.

 

Takin' it to the Bank

 

The difference between your fancy-free expectation (often inflated by sales-gopher #1) and the true cost of BLT is called " The Hidden Cost."

 

The reality of technology assets is that they need to be managed. Even if you set up a "foolproof" system your business needs change over time and that system will need to be tweaked. You can do it yourself, outsource it, or hire new staff, but don't forget to ask these questions up front and add these "Hidden Costs" when calculating ROI.