When your business revolves around online rentals and/or sales, the time and effort you put into the Internet can mean life or death for your brand.
With that in mind, what are you doing to outdistance the competition on the worldwide web?
In today’s world of technology, what renting and selling to consumers online is oftentimes a goldmine waiting to happen for your brand.
The question becomes, how good of a marketing game are you putting forth?
Renting the Best Items at the Best Deals
In order for consumers to want to make you their go-to place of business, you need to be sure your marketing game is spot-on.
So, how do you go about that?
The best ways include:
- Customer service – First and foremost, the level and degree to which you make each and every customer feel special is critical. For example, you know that many consumers are using the Internet these days for their browsing and renting/buying needs, shying away from in-store transactions. When a consumer will consider looking for rental tools online, be sure that your brand outdoes the competition time and time again. Whether a current or potential customer needs to rent or buy underwater lift bags, underwater tools, heavy lift air bags or hundreds of other tools to get the job or jobs done, you want to be the one they turn to for their job site needs. Doing so means making sure you provide them with unmatched customer service via answering all their questions, solving any issues and/or fixing any problems, and giving them a call to action to rent or buy from you again sooner rather than later;
- Products must be top-notch – The rental tools you put online have to be the latest and best that a customer can get today and not tomorrow (especially those tasked with completing quality jobs in a necessary amount of time). Review your stock of rental tools regularly to make sure they are what the majority of customers are in need of in their respective industries. Take stock of your inventory on a regular basis, looking to see if your items are up to par with what the competition is offering;
- Sales should always be a calling card – In a day and age when many consumers (and a fair amount of businesses for that matter) are struggling, offering rental and buying deals is essential. Yes, you might feel like you are not going to make enough money by always cutting prices on this rental tool or that rental tool, but many consumers/businesses are searching for deals. Renting and/or selling a number of items online at discounted prices might seem to some like a losing proposition (simply due to the fact you are cutting prices), but always remember that massive numbers of rentals and/or sales can more than make up for the lower prices you let the items go at. When you team the right tools with the right sale prices, you can strike gold in a short amount of time;
- Get feedback from customers – Another important facet of best knowing how to market products and services online is to know where your customers are coming from, especially with their rental and buying mindsets. Doing online surveys after each successful rental or purchase can be of great benefit to your business. Question them on what they did and possibly did not like about their rental or buying experience with your company. If they are strictly using online forms during the rental or buying experience and then proceeding to check out, were there any hitches in process? If so, what were they and how can you correct those issues moving forward? Also look to see if they were able to reach customer service help when needed. Your online setup should include a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section, giving consumers the ability to answer any number of questions they may have during the process. Lastly, when renting out tools and/or other items, make the return process as easy as possible. Whether they need to return an item because of an error or it isn’t working, don’t make customers jump through hoops to get it back to you. The same holds true when the item worked fine and they need to send the rental back. The less work the customer has to do getting the items back to you, the better for your business.