Renting Copiers, Fax Machines, and Printers Part 4
By Larry McGinnis

Part Four: Selling and Prospecting for Rental Customers

The placement of copier, fax, and printer rentals is essential if you’re to establish a good rental base. All of the planning in the world and all of the rules won’t mean a thing if we don't sell the rentals and get the placements. I've found, through the years, that it’s easy to sell a rental once you get the prospect to call you. So, the most important part of selling the rental is getting the prospect.

The best way to find rental prospects is to advertise in the Yellow Pages of your local phone book or, in some cases, local phone books. However, there’s always lead time between the time you decide to enter the rental market and the introduction of a new phone book. I’ll deal with other methods of prospecting a little later, but first the phone book.

RULE #6: TOO MUCH ADVERTISING CAN PUT YOU OUT OF BUSINESS.

I’ve seen rental businesses that failed simply because they put more ads in the Yellow Pages than were necessary or the ads were too large. I’ve tried both large display ads and small column ads, and a simple 1-inch column ad works better, not just as well, but better. Column ads are inserted alphabetically. Display ads are positioned by the number of years the business has advertised in the phone book. With a display ad, a new business will be tucked away in the back of the section. So, in a column ad, the closer your company name is to “A" the better. You’ll get a great deal of resistance to putting a column ad in the phone book. The salesperson will try to talk you into a display ad, but it’s very important to resist. I use as many books as necessary to cover the marketing area, but use only area telephone service providers’ Yellow Pages. Using other books will only cost you money and won’t increase your rental placements.

I mentioned earlier that you’ll have a gap in time between the time you place your ad and when the book actually hits the streets. Don't let this slow you down, start renting today. You can start by converting some of your sales leads into rentals.

Here‘s the basic sales presentation:

RENTING IS AFFORDABLE—“The low cost of our rental plan allows your business to conserve capital. Often, the rental costs less than the cost of maintaining an older machine.  Renting from us is a true business expense and can provide a tax savings.”

RENTING IS FLEXIBLE—“Machines can be rented for a few months or a few years, depending on your need. If your needs change, the machine can be changed with just a phone call.”

RENTING IS RELIABLE—“A rental machine is covered for all service and parts. Renting keeps us on our toes. If the machine or the service fails to meet your expectations, the service can be canceled.”

Simple, if you learn it and you start presenting renting to your prospects, you’ll be amazed at how often you lock the competition out of the deal simply because you’re talking about renting and not selling. Be an advocate of renting. The benefits to the customer for renting are many and great, but you must be convinced of this fact yourself. Learn the points listed above and sell them.

Some of the best rental customers I have for copiers, fax, and printers are construction companies. Construction companies come into your market area to build every conceivable project, and each one needs a copier and a fax machine. Find out what projects are coming into your area, and get in touch with the general contractor to find out who the subcontractors will be. Send a brochure to them, and follow up with a phone call.

A good source of short-term rentals is conventions and conferences. Visit your local hotel or conference center, and let them know that you rent copiers and fax machines for short time periods.

One of the best places to find rental customers is new business listings. In most states, a new business must publish a fictitious name statement in a general circulation newspaper. Send a brochure to them, and try to get the phone number for a follow-up call.

Any time a prospect complains about the cost of service or the downtime on a copier or fax machine offer to rent the company a machine that includes service, parts, and most operating supplies. You’ll be surprised at how fast you pick up customers.

When you receive a phone call, be sure to get the necessary information so you can offer the customer the proper rental machine. Ask these questions: What type of business are you in? Approximately, how many copies will you be making per month? Do you need an automatic document feeder? Do you need a sorter? Do you need automatic duplexing? Will you be making any two-sided copies? Do you need reduction and enlargement?

Continue with these questions: Do you have any special delivery needs? For example, are your offices upstairs without an elevator?

Once the customer’s answers have directed you to the proper machine, offer only that machine. For example, “I think we can help you with your needs. We have an XYZ copier with an automatic document feed and a 20-bin sorter with full duplexing.” Or, “This machine will copy at a rate of 32 copies per minute. It has a reversing document feeder that will turn the original over and automatically print both sides.”

Don’t oversell the machine. Establish that the machine will do the job, and then start presenting the benefits of the rental. Then simply state the price and terms of the rental, “We have a two-month minimum rental. After two months, the rental becomes a month-to-month rental." Quote the price including the first month’s rental, the last month’s rental, and the installation charge, plus taxes if required. If no objections are offered, ask when it would be convenient to deliver the equipment. The above is a basic rental presentation, but it’s always an interchange with the prospect--most of the presentation is made through answering questions and any objections.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Larry McGinnis brings over 30 years of experience to the office machine business. His company, TEC-AID, markets a service department management program called ServiceTrak and a sales aid program called SalesBuilder Plus. He can be reached by calling 866/983-2243 or check out his Website at tec-aid.com.