How to choose the right machinery provider

You’ve figured out that your worksite needs a forklift or access equipment and you’re looking for a provider to hire or buy from. Knowing that can feel like the easy part if you’ve had a history of being messed around by service providers in the past. But, if you can narrow down a quality provider, your experience from beginning to end can be seamless and positive. So, how do you find the right machinery provider for your needs? Here are our tips on how to find it.

Do due diligence to find out a business’s reputation

There’s no greater quality recommendation than real people who have used a service provider and have feedback. There was a time when this had to be done literally through word of mouth; hitting up your industry mates for their experiences, good and bad. These days though, there’s a whole pool of places to pull from. Jump on social media accounts to see how people are reacting to them. Granted, people are more likely to have something to say after a poor experience than a good one, but you can still gauge a general vibe of positive or negative.

This goes for reviews too, either on Google My Business or platforms like ProductReview. Look at how the businesses respond. Are they leaving bad feedback hanging? Are the same people continuing to comment because they’re not being responded to? No business is going to have 100% happy customer experience 100% of the time (there are unavoidable and unforeseen situations, like last year’s craziness, that can put a spanner in the works), but you can see how they handle customer service by how they respond.

Follow your first impression gut-instinct

If you’re trying to sort out the smooth running of your worksite, you’re likely too time poor to take a deep dive into communication with multiple machine service providers. But it is a good idea to make at least one human point of contact, either face to face or, more likely, on the phone, to gauge a feeling on how they are to work with.

Of course, someone’s general tone of voice and demeanor can win or lose you. But there are other factors, such as:

• How many people did you have to talk to before you got what you were after?
• What was their response time?
• How transparent were they about their costs and procedures?
• Did they make you feel like they were there to help you? Or that you were a bother?

How you are treated on first contact is a great indicator of how things will go on, so take note and don’t waste your time with anyone who isn’t valuing yours.

Do research on your overall costings

Typically when you ask about the cost of a hire machine, you’ll either get a bit of a non-response, or you’ll get the initial hire cost. This is absolutely fine to receive, but then you need to hone in on what you’ll be in for down the track.

Ask questions like:

• Does this cost include insurance if something happens?
• Are there any additional fees?
• How much is operator hire?
• Do I need to pay extra, or go somewhere else, for spare parts?

These added costs can have you paying a lot more than an inclusive cost set up that is slightly higher upfront.

At All Lift Forklifts, for example, our hire rates include servicing, both parts & labour. In addition, we offer competitive operator hire which includes an operator, forklift & transport. Our rates are incredibly competitive in the hire industry.

When looking for a machine service provider, there are a bunch of factors to consider for what can be a big investment. Don’t take choosing your provider lightly. A good one can ensure the safety of your worksite, the quality of the job done, saving money in the long run and creating a completely positive experience from beginning to end. A bad one can create the opposite.

Call us today to chat about how we can provide top notch machines with quality service to match.