There aren’t many feelings that are worse than renting a camera or e-bike and discovering the battery is dead. This can ruin your customer’s entire day and prevent them from doing a photoshoot or going on an adventure. So, what can you do to ensure that your batteries are always charged and customers are left satisfied and ready to achieve their goals?
The best way to be sure you’re handing out equipment with fully-charged batteries is to set up a flawless system. This blog post will guide you through the methods you can use to create a system where incoming batteries are managed, fully-charged batteries are ready to hand out, and you can track the condition of your batteries, so you’re never caught out again.
Setting up the system
The consequences of handing out a product with a dead battery can be disastrous for your customers. However, most rental businesses don’t have a system in place for ensuring they always hand out fully-charged batteries. This becomes particularly dangerous when products are rented out multiple times a day and you don’t have time to check every battery.
That’s why having a system for charging your batteries is essential for giving customers a great experience. It doesn’t have to be complicated and it can even be as simple as having a set of shelves that serve as a charging station for your batteries. You can start with as little as two shelves that serve the purpose of an inbox and outbox respectively. The system works as follows:
- When a customer returns a product and it is put back in storage, the battery is removed and placed on the “inbox” shelf. This is where you will store your chargers, so you can immediately charge your batteries.
- Once a battery is full-charged, you can place it on the “outbox” shelf where all your batteries that are ready to go will live. Then, the next time a battery is needed, you can be confident you have a full-charged one ready.
The genius of this system is that you don’t always need to be checking batteries to make sure they’re charged. It becomes a rolling system where you replace fully-charged batteries every time a customer returns their products. This allows you to keep on top of your batteries without adding any extra workload to your or your team’s daily tasks.
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Going a step further
If you want to take this system to the next level, you can incorporate it into your equipment preparation. For example, if you rent out camera bundles and you want to ensure the batteries are charged but don’t want to wait to prepare the bundle. In this case, you can tag your gear and batteries with colored stickers or tags.
This signifies to the person who hands it out to the customer that they need to collect the battery from your charging station. When they do, they will find a freshly charged battery instead of frantically running around trying to find one, making the customer wait. This saves on the time spent on customer pickups and leaves them feeling satisfied with their experience.
Ensuring batteries are charged
This system may seem simple, but it has proven to be a lifesaver for many rental businesses. It reduces time spent gathering gear for customers while ensuring they don’t run into problems during their rental period. Furthermore, it makes it easier to track battery cycles and know when a battery is aging and needs to be replaced.
