Rental Inquiry & Quotes

Rental Inquiry & Quotes is generally handled by the Rental Desk (i.e. Sales).

Handling Rental Inquiry

A potential client contacts us and wants to know how much it will cost to rent equipment. We will need to generate a quote to answer their query.

This is the minimal information we need at this point before we can proceed:

• Client Contact Info: Name, email, telephone
• Dates of rental: Pick-up date, usage dats, return date
• Type of project: Feature, Commercial or Student Production
• List of Equipment

This is probably easier to gather via email than over the phone. The next step is to create a new Opportunity in CurrentRMS

Create Quotation

• Navigate to Opportunities Screen
• Create New Quotation

Enter Opportunity Details

• Enter an Opportunity name: Typically <Main Item> - <Contact Name>
• Organization should be TEMP CUSTOMER at this stage. If it becomes an actual order, we will update this field with the real organization.
• The start date should be the day client will pick-up
• The end date should be the day the client returns the equipment.
• Adjust the Days field to what will be quoted:
• 1 Day Week-End on Student Productions
• 3 Day Week on Commercial projects
• Custom duration for longer projects
• Set the dates under Scheduling section
• Delivery: Client pick-up date in the 1st column only
• In-Use: 1st day of use to last day of use
• Pickup: Date equipment is to return in the 2nd column only.
• If the client is coming to get the equipment, select Customer Collecting & Returning
• If we are delivering the equipment, in the venue section, select the appropriate venue where the delivery will happen.
• Note that if we deliver, the TIME in the delivery & pickup fields is important and should be set according to the estimated delivery time.
• If the venue does not exist, we need to add it as per Capturing Venue Information.
• Once the details are entered, select Create Quotation.
• Proceed to the Opportunity Order Detail Form to enter the details of the order.

Here is a sample Add Quotation Screen:

Fill Out Opportunity Form

The opportunity form is where all information on an opportunity is collected. For the purpose of creating a quote, the main area we use is the Items section.

There are two main ways to add items for a quotation: Using the Picker or the add a new opportunity item.

The picker is useful when different items with common text need to be added. For example, multiple 12x12 rags. You can type 12x12 and all the 12x12 will show up and you can add the specific quantities.

The add a new item is useful if you know the name of the item you are adding or if you need to add a text item (like a delivery charge).

The method you use is simply a matter of preference.

When adding kits, you need to pay particular attention to the optional items that might or might not go out on a particular job. As an example, the EU7000 & EU6500 generators both have optional items like the 30A to Edisson Dual & Single Box and the 220V bates connector. Typically, one of those is sent out with a kit, but not all of the accessories.

Once all the items have been populated, you can send the quote.

Sending A Quote

Once all the items have been added to the quote, we need to send it to our potential client.

The various forms we use are under the Print section on the right-hand side of the screen. To generate a quote, we use the JML Quote entries.

• JML Quote – NO DAYS contains the total rental cost for each line items, but no per day costs (page 15-1)
• JML Quote – Details contains the daily cost for each item in addition to the total cost (page 15-2)

The one to use depends on the client and situation and if you want to show the daily rate or not.

When you select the quote link, you get a quote page with 3 different buttons:

To send the quote to the prospective client, select Create a discussion.

This will open up the add a discussion dialog.

Add an appropriate email subject such as “JML Quote for XYZ”

We have some pre-defined templates we use as a starting point. These are available from the template pull-down box.

You should start with either 1 – Quote Email – Packet or 2 – Quote Email – Student.

The template is substantially similar in content and describes in broad terms what the client needs to fill out once they want to proceed with the order.

The Packet is for commercial projects and contains a link to a PDF with account information sheet the client needs to fill out in addition to the rental agreement.

The Student template contains a link to an Online Form tailored for student projects. The form contains contact information for the Director, Producer, DP and the individual renting equipment. The 2nd page contains the agreement and signature block. Link to Online Form

You can edit the text and make it appropriate to the situation.

Once the body of the email is ready, you need to select a contact to send the quote to.

In the participants section, select Add a new Participant and select the appropriate contact for this quote. If the contact does not exist in the system, open a new tab and Add New Contact. You can then come back here and add the participant.

Once you are satisfied and the contact has been added, select Create Discussion to send the email.

All emails back and forth are tracked in the main opportunity screen, under the discussion section. Note that you have to refresh the browser page for a new Discussion to show up.

In addition, under the email, you can see when one of the recipients has read the email with a link to details.

If the prospect won't continue with a rental, you need to follow the Closing Opportunity process.