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
