RentalMetrics

Article by RentalMetrics Fouder Doug Mitchell in ARA's Rental Management Magazine

I wrote an article for Rental Management Magazine that has gone live online.  The article is called, "See You On the Web:  Uploading Video Can Build Your Rental Business"

The power and effectiveness of web video is undeniable.  Whether shopping for toasters or pick up trucks online, buyers are 50% more likely to buy and buy from you if you have video explaining a product and demonstrating value. 

It doesn't take a marketing budget increase of $50k to shoot one commercial either.  We've been using "guerrilla video" tactics for over a year now to increase visibility and Internet findability.   If you don't think this is important now, you will.

Give us a call if you need guidance.  Or, visit our sister company www.createWOWmedia.com to see how they're helping small and medium sized companies WOW new customers and leave the competition scratching their collective head.

RentalMetrics ILE membership is closed

Our team has decided to limit membership in the RentalMetrics ILE to current members as we've become increasingly engulfed in projects.  If you're still interested in joining us, feel free to sign up for our free trial membership and we'll let you know when we open the ILE back up.  We want to keep flow of information up and provide new content weekly and we just can't do it with the projects we're involved with.  We plan to reopen membership and up the flow of new content in the Spring of 2009 after we've had a chance to hire additional research engineers and rental technologists.  This is the only fair thing we can do at this stage and we appreciate your continued support.

The back story
As more and more people experienced the multimedia content we produced in the ILE and the robust software platform we built to house it, inquiries came flying in from:

1. Business coaches wanting to use our software and multimedia talents to propel their business to the next level, increase their exposure globally, and create an online business that allowed them to share their brains and strategies with the world...from the comfort of their own home.
2. Consultants who were tired of traveling 150 days per year and being maxed out on income...wanting to have their seminars and sessions video taped and edited into online seminars delivered to anyone with a credit card.
3. Small businesses who wanted to offer higher value to their clients through educational programs and additional paid programs that create a recurring revenue stream, a community of loyal followers, and a platform to expand their business with no additional physical space.
4. Local companies that understand the power of video online who wanted us to create multimedia marketing materials, company intro videos, video blog posts, and custom audio for them.

The net result of those inquiries was the formation of createWOWmedia.

createWOWmedia is doing just that, creating wow for clients through the innovative deployment of video, audio, imagery, and voice over to amplify small and medium business brands.

So RentalMetrics and createWOWmedia are partnered at the hip and share many resources to deliver multimedia services to your rental business today.

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RentalMetrics 60 Second Grill - Episode 003

In this episode, we get to gnaw on some serious RedMeat.  We're talking about continued investment in training and throwing around meat metaphors galore.  Your mouth will water. 

Enterprise Confessions: Removing the Fluff from the Selling & Buying Process

When I wrote "Confessions of an Ex-Enterprise Salesperson:  What I Really Meant When I Said _________________" I didn't realize how universally the book could be applied across industries. 

Of course since RentalMetrics is focused on the Construction and Equipment Rental sectors, early feedback there was very positive.   Today Construction News has put out the news to the world that the book is still available at NO CHARGE. 

The book is a brief journey into what you might expect a salesperson to say when trying to separate your business from hard earned profits.  "Confessions" goes onto to provide the counter punch so you can ensure that expectations are clear and reality is the number one item on the agenda.

If you'd like the book you can find a download link to the right in the sidebar or simply enter your name and email in the boxes below and you'll receive it almost immediately.  If you have any questions or comments about the book, please let us know.

RentalMetrics Offers No Risk - Monthly Access to Interactive Learning Environment for Construction and Equipment Rental Industries

RentalMetrics has operated on a quarterly pricing model that includes:

• Access to our Interactive Learning Environment containing education and information to increase business health and efficiency.
• Access to our client video conference calls, open QA, and special reports.
• Access to our team for special client projects and project management.

We have had numerous inquiries however from smaller construction companies wanting to streamline operations without having to hire consultants or go with the RentalMetrics full access subscription.  Some of these companies are saying, "Just give me access to information for a small monthly investment and if I need more help, I'll upgrade."

We're not ones to argue with that great business logic. 

So, we're offering our e-learning environment at $97/mo.  No strings attached. 

We believe you'll stay around to see the new and exciting business health  courses and education offerings we provide.  Also, we think you'll love participating in our forums where other industry colleagues will share opinions and tactics to help you move the needle to the positive.

Times are tough.  But now is the time to invest in your business's health. 

For LESS THAN PRICE OF ONE TANK OF GAS in your company truck...you may just save enough money to buy another truck. 

Online Reputation Management

Online Reputation Management may be your company's first foray into social media tools and strategies.  There are many free and some pay methods to easily track what's being said about you or your firm in cyberspace.  There's a great piece in the Wall Street Journal that provides some ways to get started if you're interested.

If you don't believe this is important, ask a company whose customer service practices have been exposed (or even just discussed) online.  The power of social media tools are undeniable.  In a day, one man's quest to return a coffee maker to Starbucks a few years ago became a multi-million dollar image/brand/reputation saving exercise.  He started a website that told his story and the behavior of company representatives.  It wasn't pretty. Ooops.  If someone would have only been empowered to take back that $200 item.   

The bottom line is that even if you're a small construction company or equipment rental company in Des Moines or New York City...people are talking about you.  If you take the attitude that "Those blogger guys are just angry smelly cretins that have nothing better to do than complain"...guess again.  Popular bloggers don't get that way by being egregious jerks.  They typically provide thoughtful opinion that attracts others to comment both positive and negative.

If you want to begin the process of managing your online reputation you can contact us at RentalMetrics or simply signup for our Interactive Learning Environment for a mere $97/month with no contract or commitment to take classes in the subject on your own time...possibly while working out with your iPod.  Just let us know how we can help.

(If you're in the Des Moines metro area, watch for the West Des Moines Community Education catalog.  Yours truly will be teaching "Blogging for Business" on Wednesday evenings from 6:30PM-8:30PM at Indian Hills Jr. High School, Sept. 24 - October 15.) 

Here's the class teaser:

Blogging is a cost effective and powerful marketing tool for businesses small and large. This class will give you all the tools you need to start reading, subscribing and creating influential blogs…while becoming more findable on the web.

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You Got Served!

This week I hired and fired Qwest as my Internet Service Provider.

Perhaps it was a poor decision on my part to try Qwest after a previous debacle. Three summers ago they forgot to bury my phone line after a repair. My neighbor repeatedly ran it over with his lawnmower, and it took Qwest two weeks to come and fix it. Of course, they didn't bury the line again, and again, repeating the “mow-then-fix-it” cycle three times during my “phone-free” summer of 2005.

So what possessed me to call them for DSL service? I thought I could just make a simple phone call and they’d come and set me up with DSL. No hassle, no phone tag, no confusion. I just wanted to check my email from the luxury of my own home; is that too much to ask?

After multiple hours on hold and no straight answers about whether they needed to run a new DSL line or if/when the modem would show up I quit. No Internet service is better than the hours and cell phone minutes I wasted. Of course, to cancel my reQwest for service it took yet another phone call and 15 minutes of bouncing around on hold between inept phone reps before a voice came on the line. “We've canceled your order.” Click.

I hope you learn at least two things from this story.

1. No matter what industry you’re in, customer service is really, really important. If you treat your customers like dirt they’ll treat your name like mud. When customers have a “bad” experience they talk, they blog, they rant, and vent.  No matter how good and crafty your marketing team is, they won’t be able to defeat the defamation caused by an army of irate former customers.

Consider customer service the new PR.

2. Never, ever, ever use the telecomm company “Qwest.”

What Makes You So Special?

Image via Wikipedia

Can you answer this question in one or two sentences? What makes your company “stand out” when compared with the competition? If you’ve been twiddling your thumbs and struggling with this question for longer than a few seconds you’re not alone…read on!

First, think about a best-in-class company. What comes to mind when you think of John Deere or Caterpillar? How about Coca-Cola? Google? You know these names, right? They’ve done a great job of “branding” themselves, creating a noteworthy association between their business and VALUE.

I know what you’re thinking; “Yeah, they’re huge corporations, but I’m just a local guy with a small-fry budget.” Sure, you may be in a smaller pond, but your customers are still looking for VALUE…and when they find it they return over and over again as loyal customers. They tell their friends, family and associates where they find great satisfaction...and where they feel ripped off. You’ve got a reputation to manage, for better or for worse.  (Check out the Word of Mouth Manual Volume II for more on what people are saying about your company.)

Let’s go back to our original question. What makes you so special? Are you just another face in the crowd or do you offer something more? How do you uniquely create VALUE for your customers? Does your logo, jingle or tag line bring to mind confidence, power or customer satisfaction?

Here’s an example of what we believe makes RentalMetrics “so special.”                  

RentalMetrics provides Red Meat - tools, analysis, and insight - providing business leaders the insight to make well-informed decisions, saving their company’s time and money by maximizing Return on Investment (ROI). We do this through our unique 24/7/365 Interactive Learning Environment (ILE), delivering educational content in a variety of multimedia forms to best fit your learning style.

Web Marketing Strategy: Oudated? Non-Existent?

We talk to subscribers and businesses quite a lot about online marketing strategies.  Many rental and construction firms have "cob web" sites that resemble the first template sites that were include in MSFT Front Page back in 1998.  Look...we understand.  Your website was originally intended to:

1. Make you more findable in searches.
2. Be service brochure so people know what you do.
3. Ensure that potential clients can contact you more easily.

Not much has changed with the goals (all of which are geared towards growing your business)...but most of the strategies and methodologies have.  Many firms have fallen behind.

There's a great piece in Manage Smarter called: Is Your Web Marketing Strategy Outdated?  Author Brad Beiermann speaks to this issue.  He says:

As the U.S. continues shifts from an industrial economy to a services oriented economy, the need for businesses to leverage online Web services continues to grow. As a result, the opportunity for innovation exists in creating an experience that allows greater interactivity between a corporate Web site and the customer. Unfortunately, many companies are still behind the eight ball with static Web 1.0 sites

Many don't associate construction or equipment rental with "high tech" and "early adoption" of Internet technologies...and once we get out of the large firms in the sector, there tends to be a precipitous drop in adoption of the more modern tools of the Internet marketing trade.

We like to navigate and quantify the transformation of an "old-school" business to an online marketing powerhouse.  It does NOT mean that your business has to invest 100k in new hardware, software, or IT staff.  The transformation is simply a process that begins with education.

If this makes sense, you can get more education at no charge.  You can visit http://signup.rentalmetrics.com and select the free trial.  Once in, watch the Introduction to Marketing & Promotions video. 

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