9 Most Frequently Asked Questions about Equipment Rental Software

The rental market is booming, and the demand for equipment rental is at an all-time high. The change in the market is mainly due to an increase in infrastructure and construction projects.

Companies competing in the market want to keep their capital outlay low but still work with the latest equipment. All these factors translate to more demand for equipment rental as it means lesser capital outlay, fewer hassles with managing the equipment, and the option to move on to better technology as it comes to the market.

The study concentrated on selecting and studying ten pieces of construction equipment that were regularly rented and used by contractors. The study focused on three phases of equipment—production, use, and end-of-life.

Given these conditions, the equipment rental market has seen a boost. But as the business grows, competition becomes intense; it results in demanding customers. Therefore, equipment rental companies must up their game to survive and thrive in this situation.

However, all is not dire, and there is help to be had in the form of equipment rental software. Today, technology has transformed the way you manage your equipment rental business. You not only have software that synchronizes with your ERP, but you also have additional factors like mobility, IoT, business intelligence, functional dashboards, and much more.

That being said, equipment rental software can require a substantial investment. At To-Increase, we have potential customers approaching us with their doubts about equipment rental software.

Over the years, we have helped our customers not only with the equipment rental software that works best for their business but also with answers to their questions. We understand that the decision to invest in equipment rental software needs to be based on well-thought out and well-informed inputs.

Given below are the most frequently asked questions and answers to them.

Frequently asked questions about equipment rental software

The rental market can be complicated, with customers’ demands evolving constantly. Unless your team and your equipment rental software are up to the challenge, you will find it challenging to maintain and grow in this market.

What can I do to ensure that my equipment rental planning is immaculate?

Imagine a scenario where you have several teams representing your equipment rental business, but they do not have access to the latest information.

For instance, your field team can often be ill-equipped to answer queries about when the equipment is to be picked up for return because they do not have all the information they need to answer questions.

Or your transportation team is blindsided because they are supposed to arrange for the equipment to be collected from one client’s site to deliver to another. Your equipment rental software can help you get a holistic view of these details with a graphical planboard. A graphical planboard can offer an overview to enable operational and transport-related planning with ease.

Is there a way I can manage package rental deals?

When companies conducting construction projects seek equipment rental, they often need more than one piece of equipment at a time. For instance, renting cement mixers would also require tippers and trucks.

The renting of an equipment package with several pieces of equipment can be complicated and require multiple entries in the system. Your equipment rental equipment software can help you put together rental kits in such a way that you can anticipate the needs of a customer and offer them packages that will work for them.

Rental kits can help ensure that your customer has all the equipment that work in tandem for a project. At the same time, it can also make operations at the back end easier.

What happens when I book one rental right after another, and the customer wants to extend the rental?

In an ideal situation, customers would return the equipment they have rented as soon as the rental period comes to an end. However, sometimes projects can extend beyond the set timelines, and this can result in customers wanting to keep the equipment for longer.

When this happens, you may have a situation where you have promised another customer the same equipment, but the earlier customer has not returned it. You cannot refuse the extension to your first customer, but at the same time, you also need to fulfill the booking you have made for the next customer.

In such a situation, your equipment rental software can help you set up, where you can rent the equipment from another subsidiary within your (holding) company, or use sub-rental functionality to rent from a third party company providing you with the requested equipment, to meet your commitments.

Can the equipment rental software help me view which equipment is high in demand and revenue and which ones are not?

Companies in the equipment rental business can vouch for the fact that not all equipment is in demand, and sometimes, even if there is immense demand, they may not earn high revenue.

Rental businesses must have the data that shows them which equipment is in high demand and the assets that fetch the highest fees. Your equipment rental software can offer you business intelligence from within the company and the industry to enable you to plan better.

With the insights you can draw from the data provided by your rental business insights, you can plan your portfolio better. It enables you to view not only the demand trends but also the amount you spend on repairs and maintenance.

How do I ensure that I do not double-book the same asset for rental?

When you have several teams working with customers (the sales and field teams), there is a real possibility of double-booking of assets.  When you have the right equipment rental software in place, your teams can view the latest updates from the system on the mobile devices of their choice.

The option for accessing the latest updated details on mobile not only reduces paperwork, but also ensures that your teams can work with the latest updates. What is more, the equipment rental software will automatically sync with your ERP to ensure that the finance and administration teams are also completely updated with the latest details.

With the mobility aspect of equipment rental software, you can ensure that errors like missed booking,  double booking of the same asset, or lost entries do not occur.

What happens when customers do not use the equipment as per the agreed terms?

When you enter into a rental agreement with the customer, you mutually agree on the location of the asset and the terms of usage. However, once the asset reaches the customer’s site, you may not have to complete access to the way the customer uses the asset.

When customers move the asset from one location to another or use it more than agreed upon, this not only affects the transportation arrangements you must make but also the wear and tear of the asset.

Rental IoT can help you track the equipment’s location and usage so that you can bill the customer for the extra usage. What is more, IoT enables you to plan your transportation and logistics better.

How do I manage the health of the equipment to ensure maximum returns?

In the equipment rental business, you must ensure that the equipment is in the best condition when you rent it out. At the same time, you also need to ensure that the need for service, repairs, and maintenance does not affect the rental potential of the equipment.

With the service and maintenance feature of your equipment rental software, you can schedule and manage maintenance to ensure maximum rental availability of the asset.

Does equipment rental software offer the means to manage transport and fleets?

Transportation and fleet management is another aspect that equipment rental companies have a challenge with. While you need to deliver rented equipment to the customers on time, on the one hand, you also want to minimize the cost.

Consequently, you will need to ensure that your trucks move with optimum loads taking the shortest possible routes. When you consider a varied and diverse equipment portfolio with customers spread across many locations, you will realize the need for transportation and fleet management as part of your equipment rental software.

What help can the equipment rental software provide to improve customer experience?

The experience you offer your equipment rental customers at every level of their buying journey can have an impact on your customer retention and repeat business. You must provide an intuitive and easy buying experience.

Rental customer engagement can help you ensure a consistent omnichannel experience. It will help if all the teams (sales, operations, transportation, field, billing, etc.) have updated information through the lead-prospect-opportunity-quote-order-work order-invoice stages.

What next?

Once you have gone through our answers to the list of curated FAQs that our prospective customers ask us, you are ready to move on to the next steps. These include:

• Making a list of stakeholders that will be part of the decision-making process to finalize the equipment rental software
• Collect their doubts and questions to address them from the above answers. Note the ones that need further clarification
• Talk to your finance and administration teams to understand the budgets available
• Ask for proposals from equipment rental software providers with a list of your requirements
• Evaluate for various aspects along with the group of stakeholders to ensure that it covers all your requirements
• Negotiate with the software provider to ensure that your equipment rental software solution package includes training and support

With these steps, you will be able to make an informed decision for the purchase of equipment rental software.