As the number of European rental companies using Second Warehouse continues to rise, the AV cross-rental company is introducing SMS messaging to ensure that no one misses out on money-making sub hire opportunities.
Launched fewer than 6 months ago, Second Warehouse simplifies and speeds up the essential process of pro AV cross rental, providing a safe, fast and monitored environment in which rental companies can sub hire gear from one another.
Within minutes, users can search for and find the equipment they need then submit a hire request, all without leaving the Second Warehouse website or progressive mobile app. Hire requests are immediately delivered via email.
Now, to ensure that Second Warehouse users never miss an opportunity to hire out their stock, potential suppliers will receive an SMS explaining that an email is waiting with a deal to be struck.
As Second Warehouse founder Stuart Kerrison explained, use of SMS will be strictly limited to hiring opportunities and critical communications such as log-in details: “Email is the principle way that we communicate with our users and that’s not going to change, but it’s really important that Second Warehouse users don’t miss the opportunity to make money because of an overenthusiastic spam filter.
“But with that said, we passionately believe in respecting the privacy of our users – Second Warehouse will only ever send an SMS to help a user hire out equipment or with information about their account. We will never use this system for marketing.” Users are also free to opt out of SMS alerts.
He added: “SMS support is being introduced to make sure that even if you miss the email, you won’t miss the deal.”
Cross-rental often referred to as sub-hire, has always been an essential part of how AV rental companies make money and find AV equipment. As a source of revenue, it has long been considered not only a powerful method of achieving quick return on investment but a lifeline for smaller businesses experiencing quieter months.
Second Warehouse simplifies that process and makes it affordable. For the supplier, the only cost is a small percentage commission, while for the hirer, the process is free. Companies are also able to select up to two ‘Preferred Users’, with whom they can trade on Second Warehouse as much as they like without any commission to pay. There are no sign-up or subscription fees.
SMS support arrives as one of a number of refinements to the Second Warehouse system, including the addition of a built-in concierge service named ‘Ask Sam’. In the unlikely event that a search fails to return all of the requested items, the user can simply tap the ‘Ask Sam’ button, thereby gaining the assistance of Second Warehouse Inventory Manager Sam Nesbitt, who will immediately take over the search.
