New trends in equipment rental call for flexible, future-ready software

Equipment-driven rental companies are looking at great opportunities in a rental-driven marketplace. The challenge is to be ready to take on new trends in equipment rental. Trends that reflect you’re in tune with what today’s customers want. This holds true whether you’re dealing with straightforward tool/equipment rental scenarios. Or complex, multi-site projects with machinery, manpower, transport, maintenance and the like.

Customers will want you if you can combine quality and lots of options. Especially for long and short term rentals, with new trends in equipment rental. You can also get maximum usage for equipment and improve cash flow if you expand on time-based, time and materials, fixed price, and consumption models.

A few examples

• Pay per use, even if folded into a complicated rental and service agreement.
• Pay per minute—the equivalent of the most basic cell phone agreement—there’s no reason it can’t work even for heavy equipment!
• Subscription-based “purchase,” where the customer really is renting based on a periodic fee, without the end goal of “owning” equipment or services.
• Self-service maintenance with “on call” options to request your technicians.
• Equipment sharing—right now, the trend is for cars and bike stations that make rental and return easy as a card swipe and drop-off, with immediate availability for the next customer.

That’s a short list. You’re really in an ideal position in the marketplace, because today’s customer increasingly doesn’t want to purchase outright. With lots of rental options, they benefit from always having the latest innovations for products and services. They can conserve or get more from their cash or credit outlay. For better or worse, they can be as fickle or loyal to offerings as they want.

But back to the challenge

Are you flexible enough to handle flexible equipment rental options? It boils down to having a rental management solution that ensures your ERP system doesn’t grind to a halt when dealing with a dizzying array of options, combinations, and flavors for rental demands. With the right rental solution and technologies you can:

• Configure a rich array of rental options that can be combined and tailored quickly to meet new trends and customer-specific needs.
• Quickly define and execute payment calculations that gather together all variables, and give both customers and your back office accurate, streamlined invoicing—from complex agreements to POS transactions—in the right formats.
• Ensure you maintain precise control over availability for all your equipment and parts, across multiple locations, so that you can deliver products and service with speed and accuracy.
• Sustain high-quality offerings with 360-degree, always current insight into usage, predictive and corrective maintenance needs, and more across equipment lifecycles.

Market trends for equipment rental and services will keep changing, and today’s consumer fad will be tomorrow’s commercial demand. Also read our article about the Competitive Advantage for Rental Companies -- Interested in learning more? Visit www.highsoftware.com to learn about DynaRent for Dynamics AX or contact us at info@highsoftware.com