ARA Article Showing Appreciation 1-08

Showing appreciation

BY WHITNEY CARNAHAN


Whitney Carnahan is features editor for Rental Management, Moline, Ill. She can be reached at (800) 334-2177, ext. 283, or e-mail whitney.carnahan@ararental.org.
Rebel Rents in Temecula, Calif., holds a customer appreciation day once every quarter, rotating between the company’s different California locations, but last November’s event in El Cajon had special meaning.
"The store recently underwent a major renovation and expansion, a project that took nearly a year to finish. We wanted to show off the new and improved look," said Mayette Geller, marketing assistant for Rebel Rents.
More than 150 customers attended the three-hour event on Nov. 14, enjoying a barbecue lunch, vendor displays and the chance to meet and greet the company’s sales managers. Vendors included Multiquip, TT Technologies, Bil-Jax, Ditch Witch, Hammerco, Direct Edge and Bosch.
Geller said planning the open house/customer appreciation event took a few months. "For a couple of days during the week before the event, all our territory sales managers from the different stores gathered at the location where we were having the event and made contact with local businesses. They handed out presentation folders including our event flier and personally invited them," she said.
"The store’s team members also worked hard reaching out to the community by making phone calls and faxing the invitations out to businesses that could potentially use our services, as well as to the local governmental offices. We also mailed copies of the invitations with our monthly invoices to our charge customers," she said.
Having the appreciation days helps bring exposure to the business, she said. "The biggest benefit would be that it allows us to strengthen our bonds with our existing customers while recruiting more business and new customers."
Also, Geller said, it offers a chance for the company staff to bond. "It boosts the morale of the location, making everyone feel that they are a part of the team and the big picture. The event allows the store’s team members to meet all the territory sales managers from different locations, as well as many corporate staff members who they would not meet normally."
Besides El Cajon, Rebel Rents has California locations in Temecula, Encinitas, Escondido, Mira Loma, Santa Ana and San Jacinto

ARA President's Image Award 2007

Members will be honored for their volunteerism, dedication at The Rental Show
Numerous ARA members will be recognized during The Rental Show for their contributions to the association and the rental industry. Here is a list of the award recipients.

President’s Image Award

This is a store award that celebrates a commitment to improving the rental industry through a remodeling, rebuilding or renovation project. Awards are given during the regional lunches.

Region One — Larry Green, Rentals Unlimited, Stoughton, Mass.
Region Three — George Ghanem, Creative Events and Rentals, Fort Myers, Fla.
Region Four — Ralph Kastner Jr., Tuff Equipment Rentals, Slidell, La.
Region Four — Don O’Neal, Rental One, Granbury, Texas
Region Four — Steve Berner, Rabern Rentals, Amarillo, Texas
Region Five — Bart Nye, Prime Time Party Rental, Dayton, Ohio
Region Six — William Saunders, Bledsoe Rentals, Olathe, Kan.
Region Eight — Sherry Bellet, Bullet Rental and Sales, Klamath Falls, Ore.
Region Nine — Mike Brown, Rebel Rents, El Cajon, Calif.
Region Nine — Mike Hobbick, ComRent West, Pomona, Calif.
Region 10 — Doron Broadfoot, The Rent-It Store, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Cana

ARA Article - December 2007 CARB Supplement - Ready for compliance

December CARB Supplement 2007 - Ready for compliance

Ready for compliance

BY Connie Lannan

Connie Lannan is marketing manager for the operations division of the American Rental Association, Moline, Ill. She can be reached at (800) 334-2177, ext. 228, or e-mail connie.lannan@ararental.org.

After attending the California Air Resources Board (CARB) workshop in San Diego, Doug Fleury, risk/marketing manager for Rebel Rents in Temecula, Calif., came back to work with the materials he gathered at the workshop and developed his own book consisting of all of the documents, forms and procedures needed for Rebel Rents employees and customers to adhere to the policies.
Fleury shared his book with John McClelland, ARA’s vice president of government affairs, to make sure he had all areas covered. Then he and another colleague met with employees at the company’s nine branch locations to explain how CARB’s Portable Equipment Registration Program (PERP) will impact their stores.
From developing customer reminder stickers and adding message alerts to the rental agreement to having the necessary documents included with each rental unit, creating a spreadsheet that outlines the requirements for each piece of equipment and writing policies and procedures that relate specifically to this issue, Fleury was able to pass the information he learned on to his employees. "[The workshop] certainly helped me define my company policies and procedures," he says.