{"id":19974,"date":"2016-11-29T23:29:40","date_gmt":"2016-11-29T23:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/por-development.local\/?p=19974"},"modified":"2016-11-29T23:29:40","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T23:29:40","slug":"data-drives-rental-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.point-of-rental.com\/au\/data-drives-rental-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Data Drives The Future of Rental"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: The following article was featured in the November\/December issue of Pro Contractor Rentals<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Data. Sophisticated rental stores demand it, and even those who haven\u2019t felt the need for it until recently are recognizing they need it to stay competitive. Contractors can be sitting at home at 10 p.m., preparing for their next contract, wondering: \u201cWhat do I have on rent? What equipment is on this job site? How much is this costing? What\u2019s the availability on that machine?\u201d They don\u2019t want to wait until tomorrow to be able to submit a bid. And they want to know where they\u2019re maximizing their machine use on job sites and which equipment they should probably return until they\u2019re ready for it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where rental companies are headed in 2016 \u2013 thousands have already started the conversion to rental software; those that have converted are working on maximizing its effectiveness. Their feedback will help guide future updates. Here’s how:<\/p>\n

Step 1: Enter Your Data<\/h4>\n

The data captured by a rental management system is seamless and easy to access – when there\u2019s a problem, issue, or question, you\u2019re not digging through a stack of paperwork, hoping<\/em> to find maybe a slip of paper that didn\u2019t get entered. You\u2019re not sending a customer the wrong invoice because a couple of papers got stuck together and one didn\u2019t get processed. You\u2019re clicking on a few tables and seeing all the information you need to know.<\/p>\n

When the system is used properly, employees document each step in the rental process in real-time, so they don\u2019t have to keep track of papers or remember to stop by a computer and enter data later. Since it\u2019s in the system immediately, it allows other employees to get an accurate look at what equipment is available, where it is, etc. all from any system-enabled device. With integrations like telematics, employees can go further: They can see whether equipment has maintenance due, how many hours machines are logging, where equipment is \u2013 any data tracking equipment and ensuring it\u2019s taken care of. This reduces errors, increases efficiency, and helps employees feel more invested in the business, as they\u2019re responsible for entering their own transactions.<\/p>\n

Often, people running businesses don\u2019t think that their employees can handle the responsibility. Every week, our training staff has conversations with business owners saying \u201cyou don\u2019t know my employees in the back.\u201d However, you\u2019d be surprised at what your employees could do for you if you put the right tools in their hands. When you have a system set up and each person knows what they\u2019re responsible for, it\u2019s easy to see where the ball is being dropped, so to speak, and correct any issues immediately.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s really no excuse to not enter transactions. When working with something like Rental Expert\u2019s Mobile Workforce<\/a>, which allows you to assign appropriate levels of access to employees and manage your inventory and equipment from a tablet or cell phone, the \u201cpaperwork\u201d is never more than an arm\u2019s reach away. Salespeople can complete contracts out on the lot or on site. Delivery crews can mark items as delivered, picked up, or even take condition photos if something has been damaged. And all that information is automatically updated within the system, meaning everyone else with access to the system can see each update.<\/p>\n

Step 2: Protect Your Data<\/h4>\n

Of course, when you\u2019re entering all the information into one sleek, intelligent system, you need to protect that system. We\u2019ve had customers whose computers got hacked and infected with ransomware<\/a> who hadn\u2019t run consistent backups, and something that could\u2019ve been fixed in a few hours with a recent backup has taken several months to fix as we try to piece together the history from the files they could find.<\/p>\n

Employers also need to consider the levels of access employees are given and implement procedures for granting and revoking system access. There\u2019s no reason that your warehouse crew needs access to accounting functions, for example. Keeping employees\u2019 access in their areas of responsibility will reduce opportunities for errors. That, along with procedures for revoking access, will also protect you from potential damage caused by disgruntled former employees \u2013 just like with your warehouse, you definitely don\u2019t want someone who isn\u2019t working for you to have access to your system.<\/p>\n

Our products make it easy to assign levels of responsibility, run backups, and ensure your data is protected from many threats, but business owners need to take care of information security within their business as well.<\/p>\n

Mobile Workforce and another one of our products, Rental Essentials<\/a>, are Point of Rental\u2019s responses to our customers\u2019 need to access their business\u2019s data anytime, anywhere. The industry is quickly moving that way, and we\u2019re always working to keep ahead of the curve \u2013 our customers want to access their information no matter where they are; they don\u2019t want to be tied to a desktop.<\/p>\n

Step 3: Analyze And Act On Your Data<\/h4>\n

The desire for data doesn\u2019t stop with rental stores. End users are looking for a lot of the same functionality that rental stores have now, and their desire will increase as availability becomes more common. Within our software, we already have customer portals, which allow customers to see their current contracts and what they have out. We already have utilization reports, which tell rental stores which items are being rented at what rates, what kinds of return on investment they\u2019re getting on a per-product basis\u2026but their customers are becoming interested in obtaining that information as well.<\/p>\n

The largest rental organizations are already offering these reports; in order to be competitive, rental software will soon help small- and medium-sized rental businesses compete by enabling them to offer the same technological features as the \u201cbig guys\u201d while providing the smaller-store customer service that people love.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an exciting time to be in the construction rental industry \u2013 we\u2019re all becoming more data-driven and exploring ways to be more efficient and productive than ever. Smart rental software can play a big role in getting you the data you need to make the best decisions for your business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: The following article was featured in the November\/December issue of Pro Contractor Rentals.\u00a0 Data. Sophisticated rental stores demand it, and even those who haven\u2019t felt the need for it until recently are recognizing they need it to stay competitive. Contractors can be sitting at home at 10 p.m., preparing for their next contract, wondering: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":14357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,55],"tags":[395,396,315,397,398,399,400,378,359],"class_list":["post-19974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","category-rental-industry","tag-cloud-data","tag-data","tag-greg-bennett","tag-magazine-articles","tag-mobile-workforce","tag-pro-contractor-rentals","tag-protecting-data","tag-rental-essentials","tag-rental-industry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t