Discounts

For discounts and negotations its important to think about the situation as a problem that you and the producer must solve.

Subrentals

The goal is really to get people to end up with the best gear they can get for the price they have. We don't want to push our gear onto people, we want to make the budget work and often times the best solution to that is using our gear.

Sometimes people may come to you with an order that is primarily subrentals. At this point you should primarily stick with their items that they requested, the only substitutions you can offer immediately are ones that you would consider an upgrade or a direct replacement. These should just be made as suggestions to the client. If they are just subrentals then proceed to the next step.

Once you find out if you can make these swaps or not, send them a full price quote. If subrentals are primarily the order, feel free to let the gaffer know that you are having to source things from elsewhere and ask what their budget is and that this will impact their gaffer commission. Let them know that the subrentals are x dollar ammount of the total order. The goal with this is you are looking for them to give you a budget number that they are trying to hit.

If they are looking for a large discount, ask the subrental vendor for a similar discount plus 20%. We know some subrental vendors will do large discounts if we just ask, so sometimes discounting subrentals is a perfectly fine option. Minimum margin we are looking for from subrentals is 10%. Past that requires approval in slack.

If you are unable to get the discount needed, ask them if they can do substitutions - This should only be done after it is decided that they need a discount.

If a subrental is definitely going to happen and its a long term project or a cheap item, look into purchasing these items - This can only be done with a sales vendor with a strong return policy (most likely BH). Its very possible the job goes away and you'll be stuck with this gear. Careful with this one, requires approval in slack.

If you are at an impasse and can't get them the price they want, you may want to tell them its mostly subrentals, they should consider another vendor.

Discounting Orders

When you are making quotes for clients they may request discounts of varying degrees. Discounts should only be made using the percentage discount, do not use the total discount as it can cause problems when adding additional items. Anything more than 20% that will need to be approved by Ryan or Matt and can be discussed in the #discounts channel in Slack.

Do not attempt to circumvent any rules setup in Rentalworks. They are put in place to prevent us from losing money.

Do not discount items by changing the D/W, only use a percentage discount. This makes the discounts very clear and lets them know how much of a deal they are getting.

Returning Customers

We are more hesitant to give discounts to returning gaffers because we know they will be less likely to shop around, they are our chance to get full price for items.

With a Budget Number

When they come to you with a set budget that they are trying to hit, you can discount it 10% without asking for anything. Above 10% discount to hit their budget and you should ask them for something in return, removal of sub-rentals, payment upfront, etc.

New Customer

If they are a new customer, begin with 10% off. Use the other 10% to try and negotiate something to your advantage again, payment upfront, reducing sub-rentals, reducing equipment, etc.

Subrented items

May be discounted 10%, since we only get 20% off on them anything more would lead to a loss and should be avoided. Anything further needs to be approved in slack.

Competing With Other Rental Houses

A lot of times clients will send their gear list requests to multiple rental houses looking for the best deal. This can be difficult to know if they are shopping around or not, but the sign you will most clearly see is when another vendor requests something specialty for the same dates.

• Call the Client and Let Them Know

The best thing to do is to be honest and try and save them time. Let them know its getting a bit tough because everyone is trying to request the same item from the same vendors.

• Ask for a Number

Ask them if there is a number they would be happy with doing the deal at.

Do not agree to any discounts over 20% on the phone, anything over 20% must be approved in slack.