What Makes a Great Hire Controller?

I started in the hire industry as a driver.

From there I became a Hire Controller, then Assistant Manager, Transport Manager, Depot Manager and eventually moved into the software side of the industry.

Looking back at all of those roles, I still think Hire Controller is one of the most important jobs in a hire business.

And probably one of the most underestimated.

A good Hire Controller doesn't just answer the phone and put orders into a system.

A great Hire Controller can make the difference between a depot that runs well and one that spends its entire day firefighting.

Know your gear

This might sound obvious, but you need to know what you're hiring.

You don't necessarily need to know every technical specification of every machine, but you should understand what the equipment does, what it's used for and what questions you need to ask.

When a customer calls, they don't always know exactly what they need.

Sometimes they'll ask for the wrong thing.

A good Hire Controller takes the order.

A great Hire Controller has a conversation.

What are you actually trying to do?

Where is it going?

How long do you need it?

How are you getting it there?

Is there access?

Do you need anything else with it?

Sometimes the five-minute conversation before you create the contract saves everyone an enormous headache later.

Know what's happening in your yard

When I worked in hire, I always wanted to know what was happening around the depot.

What's coming back today?

What's going out tomorrow?

What's broken?

What's in the workshop?

What's been promised to a customer?

What's sitting in the yard doing nothing?

You can have the best rental management system in the world, but there's still huge value in knowing your fleet.

The really good Hire Controllers I've worked with almost have a sixth sense for it.

Ask them for something and they'll immediately say:

"We've got one coming back from Smith's this afternoon. Let me see if I can turn it around for you."

That's hire.

Don't just say no

Customer asks for a machine.

You haven't got one.

"Sorry, we're fully hired."

Easy.

But that's not particularly helpful.

Can you substitute it?

Can another branch supply it?

Is something coming back?

Can you cross-hire it?

Can you offer something slightly different that will still do the job?

Can you move another booking around?

Sometimes the answer genuinely is no.

But a great Hire Controller doesn't start with no.

They start with:

"Let me see what I can do."

Understand transport

You can have all the equipment in the world available, but if you can't get it to the customer when you've promised it, you've still got a problem.

One of the biggest lessons I learned working in hire was how closely the hire desk and transport need to work together.

Don't promise 7am delivery without knowing whether that's actually possible.

Don't book six deliveries for the same time and assume transport will somehow figure it out.

And please don't wait until 4:55pm to tell the transport manager about the machine that absolutely has to be on site at 7am tomorrow.

I may still have some scars from that one.

Think one step ahead

The best Hire Controllers don't just think about the order in front of them.

They're thinking about what happens next.

If this machine goes out for four weeks, what does that do to the bookings behind it?

If this equipment comes back Friday afternoon, can it realistically go back out Saturday morning?

Does it need cleaning?

Does it need servicing?

Is it damaged?

Is there another customer already waiting for it?

Hire is basically a giant moving puzzle.

Equipment goes out. Equipment comes back. Jobs change. Customers extend hires. Machines break down. Deliveries get delayed.

A great Hire Controller is constantly moving the pieces.

Build relationships

People buy from people.

It's a cliché, but in hire it's absolutely true.

Some of the best customer relationships I've seen weren't built by salespeople.

They were built by the person answering the phone every morning.

Customers remember the person who helped them when they were stuck.

They remember who found them a machine at the last minute.

They remember who called them back.

And they definitely remember who said they'd call back and didn't.

You don't need to be best friends with every customer.

Just do what you say you're going to do.

That goes a surprisingly long way.

Have some commercial awareness

Being helpful doesn't mean giving everything away.

A Hire Controller needs to understand that they're working for a business.

Rates matter.

Transport charges matter.

Damage matters.

Missing equipment matters.

Utilisation matters.

Giving someone a discount might make them happy today, but constantly knocking money off because someone asks isn't good customer service.

Sometimes you need to hold your ground.

And sometimes you need to know when keeping a good customer happy is worth more than arguing over $20.

Knowing the difference comes with experience.

Stay calm when everything goes wrong

Because it will.

Usually all at once.

The truck has broken down.

A machine has failed on site.

Three customers are waiting at the counter.

Someone hasn't returned the excavator you promised to somebody else.

The phone is ringing.

The workshop wants an answer.

A salesperson has just walked in and promised a customer something you don't have.

And it's 4:30pm on a Friday.

Welcome to hire.

You can teach someone how to create a contract.

You can teach them how to use the software.

It's much harder to teach someone how to stay calm when ten things are happening at once.

The best Hire Controllers I've worked with don't panic.

They prioritise.

They communicate.

And they get on with it.

Don't hide behind the system

Technology has changed massively since I first worked on a hire desk.

And that's a good thing.

Modern rental systems can tell us far more about our equipment, customers, bookings and availability than we had access to years ago.

But the system shouldn't stop you thinking.

If the computer says you've got three available, make sure you really have three available.

If something doesn't look right, question it.

Pick up the phone.

Walk into the yard.

Talk to the workshop.

Speak to transport.

A computer screen can tell you a lot.

It can't tell you everything.

So what makes a great Hire Controller?

For me, it's not one thing.

It's product knowledge.

Commercial awareness.

Organisation.

Communication.

Customer service.

Problem solving.

And probably a fairly high tolerance for chaos.

But more than anything, it's ownership.

Great Hire Controllers take ownership of what happens on their desk.

They don't just take an order and move on to the next phone call.

They think about whether the equipment is available, whether it can get there, whether it's the right equipment, whether the price makes sense and whether the customer is actually going to get what they've been promised.

That's why I've always thought the title Hire Controller is actually pretty accurate.

You're not there just to take hires.

You're there to control the desk.

And when you've got a great one, they're worth their weight in gold.