MBA Launches RV Rental School
The Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, NV, was the site for the first MBA Insurance RV Rental School. The two-day school was held in February. The school was sponsored by MBA Insurance and co-sponsored by Fleetwood RV and American Modern Insur-ance. A second school was held in March in Atlanta, GA. According to Bert Alanko, president, MBA Insurance, the Las Vegas school was sold out with 22 dealerships, 28 dealership personnel plus Bob Parish of Deutsche Financial Services and Kody Newland of American Modern Insurance plus the Fleetwood's rental division marketing team: John Ables, Rich-ard Fish and Bob Rogers. Alanko said, "The school was a rousing success according to the dealers that we spoke with during the day and at the Sat-urday evening cocktail party. We overheard Don Trumbly and John Crasper of Romania's RV Center say that they felt as though they were almost 'stealing' all of this information. They could not believe that all of these forms, guidelines and general information were being given to them. Don said that the legal fees alone to duplicate all of this would be 'staggering' and even then one would not come out with the same quality of information that only first hand experience provides." The instructors for the two -day course were Scott Krenek, Krenek Van and RV Leasing, Coloma, MI, and Joe Altman, Altman's Winnebago, Carson CA. Alanko said, "Together these two rental operators (instructors) three years in the RV rental business and their experience showed in the quality of instruction and the enthusiasm of the attendees. "Scott and Joe touched on all aspects of the RV rental business. The brochure listed nineteen topics including advertising, fleeting make up, scheduling, rental customer walk through, how to identify a quality renter, to list a few. But, a great deal of time was dedicated to the application and contract process; the absolute necessity to do the proper job in these areas. It was stressed that a good thorough job done up front reduces the dealer's ROA, Return On Aggravation. It was stressed over and over again that rentals can be a good and profitable business if done the correct way." Pricing is always a hot topic. Alanko added, "Scott and Joe have different pricing approaches. Both explained their philosophy and dealers were shown the value of each approach. It is basically: do what is right for your market, but whatever you do you have to get $1.00 per mile or more or you are going backwards." Dealers were treated to a mountain of information. They were also provided with the 300 page MBA Rental Operation Manual, one for each dealership. Forms, applications, contracts and procedure lists were all handed out to the attendees. On the second day, Chris Rice of ADS, demonstrated Rent-Ware, his rental software, to the class. Alanko said, "Chris' software is available through MBA Insurance and is, according to Rice, extremely user friendly."
Bert Alanko and Sue Caldwell of MBA said that they could not have been more pleased with the turn out, the quality of instruction and the facility. Alanko added, "There are a few things that we will improve upon next time but for the most part everything turned out great." The most important part, Alanko felt, was that Scott and Joe did such a fantastic job. Caldwell said, "The post school evaluation forms gave the boys a 'standing ovation." Alanko said, "Rental operations instruction is very important to the success of a new business and to the RV rental industry as a whole. One might wonder why two dealers who have been successful in the rental business and have had to learn most of what they know the hard way would be willing to teach other dealers, some maybe even competitors, the business. Simply put, knowledgeable competition is good competition. "The better trained the rental dealers are the better it is for the whole industry. Both Scott and Joe feel it does no good to understand the proper pricing structure needed for a profit and watch the uninformed operator down the street under cutting your price, taking good business away, but making no profit on it. It gives the industry a bad image for sloppy dealers to be out there fumbling around, providing poor service and product. So it just makes sense to try to improve the industry." Both Bert and Sue feel that this type of schooling is very important, that is the reason why they decided to put on these schools. Sue said, "Year after year we see dealers that we know should be doing well in the rental business drop out because they say that they can not make money renting. We know after just a few questions that the reason they made no money is that they were not prepared to be in the rental business to start with. Just having a couple of vehicles out on the lot with a 'Rent Me' sign does not make you a rental dealer." Bert added, "We always advise that if you are not going to make it a business then don't get into the business of renting. Save yourself the aggravation, time and money. Do something else. If you decide to get into the rental business take the time to try to do it properly by first finding out what to do and how to do it. Ask the questions, investigate, do your homework. "Getting into rentals should be seen as a major undertaking -- you need the time, space and the personnel all committed to making a 'business.' Don't let it be just a couple of units that you can't unload, left over from last year, thrown into a rental operation. Because we feel so strongly about this, that is why we put on the school, and that's why Fleetwood and American Modern Insurance co-sponsor the effort. "The dealers that we spoke with were pleased at the quality and depth of instruction. Everyone indicated that it was time well spent," said Alanko. The most important part Alanko felt was that Scott and Joe did such a fantastic job. Caldwell said, "The post school evaluation forms gave them a 'standing ovation.'"
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