Member profile: After 20 years, initial vision proves to be a successful niche strategy
By Connie Lannan
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Member profile: After 20 years, initial vision proves to be a successful niche strategy

On April 1, 2002, Eric and Nicole Saulnier and Nicole’s sister, Taira Kirk, started Rental Depot, based in Monterey, Calif., with a specific vision for not only the type of inventory they would carry but also how to take care of their customers. Now, as they plan to celebrate their 20th anniversary, that vision has proven to be on-point as it has allowed them to create a successful niche in the market.

That way of operating was developed after Eric, who serves as the company’s COO, worked in a variety of positions for a national rental operation.

“I started at the national level through environmental compliance as that is my background. My first position was based at a large, well-run rental store. It was my first experience with equipment rental. Once the company expanded, I moved into other positions. I worked with the acquisition team, then worked on the in-house computer program and then fleet management. I was in charge of buying, selling and managing all the fleet, basically from a backhoe on down. Over my time there, I probably visited 85 to 90 different locations around the country. That gave me a good round background in rental,” he says.

When the recession hit, the national company consolidated and moved from its Monterey location. With an investor, they were able to take over that location, with Eric handling the day-to-day rental and Nicole, president, and Taira, vice president and treasurer, handling all the back-office aspects, from payroll and insurance to human resources, marketing and legal issues.

“We opened the Monterey store in 2002 in the shadow of the big tech bubble, which was not the best economy. We were able to get things rolling, though,” Eric says.

Since that beginning, “the biggest thing that has separated us is customer service. My goal is to do it better than anyone else — offer a better experience, better customer service, better-maintained machines and less downtime. That always has been my goal from Day One. The experience of how quickly our customers get in and how well they are treated, the quality of the machine, etc., that is what will get the customer to come back,” he says.

To accomplish that, the company focused “on getting the right employees and the right jobs,” he says. “We also have focused on our fleet and on dollar- and time-utilization, which most of the nationals focus on. We have seen things like small 1-ton excavators, small skid steers, walk-behind skid steers — the smaller assets — take off. What makes us different is that we don’t own anything that weighs more than 16,000 lbs. — right below a backhoe. We deliver on a 1-ton — no semis. Our yards are a little bit on the small size. Our fleet mix is a little more of a niche than most rental companies. We are really heavy on mini excavators, track skid steers, scissor lifts, small-reach forklifts and things of that nature. We purposely leave the larger assets to the nationals. Almost never have we adjusted our rates. We’ve never had an outside salesperson, either. We do things a little different. It has worked well.”

It went so well that they opened their second location in Paso Robles during September 2002.

“Everything was pretty good until 2009-2010, when the Great Recession hit. That was a big stress for us. We were able to make it through, though. We sold fleet and tightened our belts. It was difficult, but we were lucky enough,” Eric says.

They identified San Luis Obispo as a good third location. “We were ready to go forward in 2010, but then 2009 and 2010 kicked us in the teeth. After we got through that, we opened our third location in 2014,” he says.

The next big thing was to buy out their original investor. They did that in 2017.

“After 18 years in business we had gotten ourselves in a pretty good growth position. Then the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic came in the spring of 2020. We had a significant initial downturn in March, April, and May — 40 percent to 50 percent revenue range. Our Monterey store is close to the Bay Area and Monterey County was aggressive with the shutdown. That meant significant revenue decreases in that location. However, our other two stores are in a different county and did not have the shutdown requirements as in Monterey. While the downturn was significant, it wasn’t as dramatic in those stores located in San Luis County,” he says.

As when tough times had occurred before, “we tightened our belt, but we didn’t have to lay anyone off. We adjusted work schedules and cut out overtime. We worked with our employees to keep everyone safe and comfortable in the workplace. We applied for and received the PPP loan [Paycheck Protection Program] and encouraged and helped our customers to apply as well. We worked with manufacturers we have equipment loans with and were able to defer payments until we were able to access the EIDL [Economic Injury Disaster Loans],” Eric says, adding that the operation also completed ARA’s Clean. Safe. Essential. program. “I believe that made our customers feel a lot better.”

When customers received their COVID relief funds, “our Paso Robles store exploded,” he says. “We saw a big increase in our homeowner clientele. San Luis Obispo is more of a college town. It started to do well once things started opening. By the end of the year, our revenues were up 3.5 percent.”

Since then, things have been even busier. “We had a very good 2021 — up a little more than 20 percent. We are still getting our homeowner business, but it is our contractor business that is making it up now. The big spike when things really took off was March and April in 2021,” he says, adding that this year seems to be trending the same way. 

One aspect of the pandemic fallout they have not had to deal with significantly is the labor shortage. “We are good on the labor front. We have only one position out of 21 that we need to fill. We always have had good retention with very little turnover. Having reliable staff that you can trust has been essential to our success, so luckily we have not had any real issues here,” Eric says.

From the time the pandemic began, Rental Depot has been creating “a true partnership with our manufacturers. We have tried some new brands that we haven’t used in the past and have been successful with that,” he says. “We are focusing on making sure we can get the best machine at the best price and the best service. We want a representative coming in and checking up on us, helping us solve our problems and our customer needs. We added a significant amount of fleet in 2021 while business has been good. If we are going to spend that money, we want to make sure we get the best return and experience possible.”

They are grateful to have invested so heavily in equipment last year, with the supply chain issues now putting a strain on receiving equipment in a timely fashion. As they work through those issues, their priority is to make sure they are taking care of their customers.

“With us it’s always been about the customer experience. We want to get them in and out as quickly as possible, making sure they are instructed properly on how to use the machine, that the machine is loaded safely and timely so our customers can get to their jobs. We know our customers have people waiting for them at the job site. That also means offering on-time deliveries. We get a call by 8:10 a.m. if we are supposed to be there at 8 a.m. because that just doesn’t happen with us. We are here to support our customers. That is what we have done for nearly 20 years and what we will continue to do. This is what makes us different,” Eric says.

As the company marks its 20th anniversary, they are keeping their eyes on the future. “We are in three great markets that are underserved. We continue to grow the existing customer base and markets. We continue to do what we do best: give our customers superior customer service and well-maintained machines. We think we have a lot of growth in the existing markets we are in,” he says.

 

Connie Lannan

Connie LannanConnie Lannan

Connie Lannan is special projects editor for Rental Management. She helps plan, coordinate, write and edit ARA’s quarterly regional newsletters, In Your Region. She also researches, writes and edits news and feature articles for Rental Management, Rental Pulse, supplements, special reports and other special projects. Outside of work, she loves to bake for others, go for walks with her husband and volunteer for her church and causes she believes in.

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