Customer Support - The Rebel Way
Rebel Rents always believe in giving our customers the best there is, whether it be equipment they rent or customer service. One of the unfailing support we provide to our customers is equipment and product training. We believe that making training available to our customers and their employees will benefit everyone. It gives them the tools to operate the equipment safely and effectively, which eventually leads to completing their projects faster, without the hassle of delay.
The most recent customer who took advantage of this excellent service Rebel provides is Green Gems, a Temecula based landscaping company. Oscar Lopez, the Head Foreman for the company, wanted to brush up and improve their employees' equipment operating knowledge. JR Torres, the Territory Sales Manager for Temecula, saw this as a perfect opportunity to offer our unmatched customer support to Green Gems, which they willingly took advantage of.
Last Saturday, January 26th, Rebel Rents hosted its first training session for Green Gems. They covered Operational and Safety Training on the John Deere 210 Skip Loader, John Deere 310 Backhoe, and Ditch Witch RT-40. Nineteen of their employees attended the training, including the owner of Green Gems, Tim Sokolich, the Head Foreman, Oscar Lopez, and Doug Fredrickson, their Fleet Manager and Dispatch. The training was conducted in English and Spanish by John Benson, Rebel's Service Manager, assisted by JR Torres. It ran from 8:30am until about 10:30am.
Green Gems is beside themselves in appreciation for what we did for them and what it meant for their future projects. Rebel will issue each attendee with a Certificate of Completion to recognize their participation in the training.
Great job, JR and John Benson!
To visit Green Gems' website, please go to:
www.greengems.com
Relaxing Getaway
In August of 2007, Rebel launched the
Missing in Action contest which ended at the end of October. The big winner was Tom Gilroy of San Jacinto, supported heavily by Charles Dawes, San Jacinto's Assistant Manager. Part of the prize Tom won was an overnight getaway for two to his choice of a local casino. This prize he willingly and generously passed on to Charles as a thanks for his help. Charles was genuinely excited and appreciative of Tom's gesture.
Charles and his wife opted to spend their overnight getaway at the Pechanga Resort & Casino located in Temecula, checking in on a Sunday and checking out the following day. They whiled away their stay by enjoying Pechanga's Buffet, which Charles gushed about saying it was the best buffet they've ever been to. He said the food selection was enormous and the food itself delicious. They also paid a visit to the Eagle's Nest, the lounge located at the top floor with a panoramic view of the Temecula area, and shared a couple of concoctions. Of course, one cannot be at a casino and not try their luck at winning some money. Charles and his wife gambled some, and spent much time enjoying watching other people make Pechanga a much richer establishment.
Their getaway was very nice; relaxing and extremely refreshing, according to Charles. A huge thanks to Tom Gilroy for his generosity.
SHOWING APPRECIATION
Congratulations to Rebel Rents for being featured in the January 2008 Rental Management Magazine! The article focused on the most recent Customer Appreciation Day held in November at the El Cajon store.
This is a great way to finish 2007/start 2008 when Rebel's efforts of reaching out to present and future customers are highlighted in a magazine highly regarded by our peers. Whitney Carnahan of the Rental Management Magazine did a great job conveying the real message of our Customer Appreciation Days. The spread consisted of actual pictures taken during the event.
The success of the event covered was certainly a joint effort between many Rebel team members, namely: Doug Fleury, Cheryl Peck, Janine Olson, Brett Guigneaux, Mayette Geller and Jill Widtfeldt, all from Rebel's Corporate Office; at the local store level: Mike Brown, Edna Rodriguez, Greg Eubanks, Joe Negrette, and all of the team members from El Cajon.
Rebel appreciates all the hard work you contributed in making the event a success!
To view the article in full, please visit Rental Management Magazine website @
http://www.rentalmanagementmag.com/RMCategory.asp?category=15
Gold Star Winner
Congratulations to Debbie Sanchez from Corporate who won the Weekend Refreshment Drawing for the last half of 2007!
Rebel implemented the Recognition Program which allows peers to recognize just about anyone in the organization for GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND THE USUAL HIGH STANDARDS OF REBEL RENTS. A gold star is given to the person being recognized. That gold star earns the recipient cash and entry to the drawing that is held semi-annually. The prize for winning the drawing is a Weekend Getaway to their choice of any So. California hotels, spending allowance for food and gas.
Debbie's entry was earned for stepping up to the plate to help a teammate during crunch time. She will be enjoying time at the Marriott Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Palm Desert on Rebel!
Congratulations, and Way to go, Debbie!
For those who didn't win this time, we've just begun a new year and another chance to win! Keep doing your best at everything, and keep reaching for the gold!
Here Are The Lucky 7
In August of 2007, the Human Resources Department launched the Rebel Rents Wellness Program which included the Simple Steps On-Line Wellness program, a Smoking Cessation plan, Jenny Craig discounts, a Fitness Subsidy for those team members paying for and utilizing a gym membership, and partnering with 24 Hour Fitness for gym memberships at Corporate reduced rates.
The purpose of any wellness program is to encourage a healthier lifestyle by being informed and practicing healthy choices such as physical exams, regular exercise, healthy eating plans and the knowledge of individual & family history health risks. Truly everyone who participates is a winner because they will be healthier and live longer to be with their loved ones as well as helping to keep the cost of health insurance down.
The Rebel Rents Wellness Program was well received throughout the company, and in the first year about 20% of our team members participated. Not only was this program beneficial to our team members’ health, but for seven team members it was also beneficial to their pocketbooks!
The program roll out included a raffle aptly named the Lucky 7 Raffle in which everyone who participated in completing Health Risk Assessments and Healthy Living Programs or Smoking Cessation Programs, received an entry to the raffle for each completion. The 7 winners will each receive $250.00 cash. The lucky winners of the ‘Lucky 7 Raffle’ are:
· Randy Matsumoto – Encinitas
· Buddy Parraz - San Jacinto
· Cheryl Peck - Corporate
· Janine Olson - Winchester
· Ed Moreno - Encinitas
· Debbie Sanchez - Corporate
· Jill Widtfeldt – Corporate
CONGRATULATIONS to all winners! Live healthy, live long, and reap the benefits of cash!
Rebel’s goal is to expand participation to at least 50% of our team members company-wide. Watch for changes to the 2008 program where more participants will benefit!
2008 Roll Out: GO FOR THE GOLD!!!
It has been Rebel's tradition to roll out each New Year with a theme. 2008 being an Olympic year, we decided to adopt it for this year's theme. What better way to commemorate this special event than by integrating it into our yearly tradition? Each of our branches was assigned a sport within the Track & Field arena. The quote accompanying the theme is
GO FOR THE GOLD! In past years, each branch got a memento reflecting that year's theme. This year, every branch received a gold medal. This is to signify our goal of going for the best!
Last Friday, January 4th, they rolled out the 2008 theme during the first Managers Meeting. San Jacinto hosted, and the meeting was attended by all the Managers from all the branches, joined by Rick Clauss, CEO; Sharon DeSuacido, CFO; Jill Widtfeldt, Human Resources Manager; John Benson, Corporate Service Manager; and Doug Fleury, Marketing/Risk/Fleet Manager. Mayette Geller, who was unable to attend the meeting, contributed in the infusion of the ideas and putting together the final pieces of the roll out.
The meeting recapped Rebel's accomplishments and feats in 2007. Recognition plaques were distributed for various achievements. Goals and expectations were also laid out for the year 2008. Including in the roll out for 2008 are specific goals established for the whole company, in which each of the branches will partake in coming up with their individuals strategies on how to achieve. The team leaders were receptive, and thrilled with meeting the challenges of the New Year. That is what makes the Rebel Team great: they are driven, dedicated and very resilient!
Rebel WILL take the GOLD this Olympic year.
Rock Splitting Experience
Rebel takes customer service to another level, yet again.
Recently, JR Torres, the Territory Sales Manager for our North Temecula store, headed out to Menifee to help one of his customers with a very hard problem; literally. Menifee Market owner Dallal Harb needed to extract a huge boulder out of her property in order to expand her market. Of course, they didn't know just how big it was until it was completely unearthed with the use of a backhoe.
Menifee Market rented rockdrills and two hydraulic rock splitters to break it down to manageable pieces. With the help of John Benson, Rebel's Service Manager, and Joe Vullo, Rebel's Service Technician, the customer achieved their goal. But first, the Rebel team demonstrated the use of the equipment to the contractors before they allowed them to operate the equipment on their own. The immensity of the boulder required two and a half weeks before it was completely broken down to pieces small enough to be covered by dirt and flattened.
It gives Rebel great satisfaction to know that our customers are getting the attention and help they need to get their projects completed.
Thanks to JR, John Benson and Joe Vullo for their willingness to meet such needs.
Ringing in 2008
2007 is a thing of the past, sure enough. Before we move too far ahead, though, Rebel wants to give recognition to all our team members for the hard work and dedication they showed throughout the year.
We would like to especially thank the following stores: Del Rio and Winchester stores for being Vehicle Accident Free, and Encinitas for being Vehicle Accident Free and Worker Injury/Accident Free. Kudos to both Jim Hamilton and George McNulty, as well as their team members, for being successful in heeding safety procedures. They are both receiving plaques to recognize their difficult feats. CONGRATULATIONS, GENTLEMEN!
It is also worth the mention a second time how wonderful it was that you shared your most innovative thoughts with Rebel to help us in our cost savings quest. The journey isn't over, though. As we welcome the New Year, we want to continue the success of our cost savings program. So, please keep your ideas coming!
This year, Rebel will define what we stand for. We are tough and we are resilient and we are proud to be REBEL!!!
