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Executive Post: Called to account Colin Tall, Managing Director of the Lambeth-based independent Hire4Lower, is exasperated by his attempts to open direct accounts with power tool manufacturers. The recent Executive Hire Show, held at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry was without doubt the most exciting tool hire exhibition I have attended in years. The number of exhibitors and the range of new products displayed suggest our industry is strong and that the event will go from strength to strength. Well done to everyone involved. I have only one bugbear, and would be interested to hear the views of my independent colleagues in the industry. It relates to the attitude of the ‘big three’ tool manufacturers, namely Makita, Bosch and Hitachi in their dealings (or not) with companies like mine. As a single branch independent, what separates us from national hirers is our ability to offer a truly personal service and react quickly. However, this is often hampered by supply problems due to the manufacturers’ dealer networks, which fail to keep adequate stocks of machines and/or spares, and fail to react accordingly. We can find ourselves waiting days for machines, and weeks for spares or warranty repairs. In recent years I have pointed these problems out to various sales directors/managers from these manufacturers, and frankly they couldn’t care less. Prior to attending the Show, I invited representatives from these three companies to meet us with a view to opening direct accounts. Two of them didn’t even return our calls. The other only attended after we chased them up three times, and then spent our meeting, it appeared, trying to find any reason at all not to give us an account. The salesman told me they were quite happy only selling to a select few and that we would have to take a minimum quantity each month for re-sale. When it was clear we could meet all the necessary criteria, he went off to “speak with his sales director”. After failing to have the courtesy to come back to me, I chased the company again at the Show, and was told next day that we couldn’t have an account. Despite contacting both other manufacturers at the Show and leaving business cards again, I have as yet heard nothing. Unfair disadvantage This both upsets and surprises me. We cannot all be as big as the nationals, nor would we want to be. However, this puts independents at an unfair disadvantage in a competitive industry. Apart from enjoying better buying terms, the nationals can order spares direct and avoid downtime on kit for peak utilisation. The suggestion by manufacturers that to have a direct account you must fit in with their ‘dealer networks’ and be selling to end users is also debatable. Certainly, in my most recent experience of working for a national hirer (A-Plant from 1998 to 2003), my branch accounted for nearly 50% of sales in the South, yet we rarely sold any power tools to end users or account customers. Any purchases that were made were simply for hire stock. The hire industry must be one of, if not the biggest, purchaser of power tools in this country. I think it is unfair and unacceptable that manufacturers treat small independents with such contempt. If they don’t wish to trade directly with us, why bother exhibiting in the first place? Presuming my experiences are not unique, I would think that the manufacturer that takes the lead in changing this ‘monopoly’, and has the foresight to start treating hire companies correctly, will see an immediate boost in market share. Our current fleet consists of machines from several suppliers, as it normally depends on what is available from dealers. Dealing direct with one company would promote brand loyalty and, no doubt, other independents would react in the same way. So the gauntlet is down – which manufacturer wants to begin properly serving the industry that keeps you in business? Or, which one wants to reply with a truly plausible explanation for retaining your ‘closed shop’ attitude – if you can be bothered, that is? • • PS: Since writing this letter, Bosch has been in touch, so fair play to them. It is not clear whether this will ultimately result in an account being opened, although I am told at this stage “it shouldn’t be a problem”. Watch this space! Executive Hire News › Archives › March 2007 › Executive Post › Called to account
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