Equipment hire questions, answered
Straight answers to the questions UK equipment hire companies ask us about Salesforce, from quoting and off-hires to connecting Syrinx or InspHire, using AI, and getting your MD to say yes. Each answer is short enough to read here. Follow the link for the full version.
Your hire system: Syrinx, InspHire and Salesforce
Does Salesforce work for equipment hire companies?
Yes, if it's set up around how hire actually works. Out of the box, Salesforce is a general sales CRM. For a hire company it needs building around quotes, availability, on-hire and off-hire, and connecting to the rental management system that already runs the yard.
Full answer →Does Salesforce work with Syrinx (Point of Rental)?
Yes. Syrinx keeps running the yard: assets, contracts and invoicing. Salesforce sits alongside it as the commercial front end for quoting, availability and customer management, with the two systems kept in step by middleware.
Full answer →Are Syrinx and Point of Rental the same system?
Yes. Syrinx is the name Point of Rental uses for its hire management system in the UK and Ireland. If your business runs either name, the same integration answers apply.
Full answer →What's the difference between SalesForceSync and a full Salesforce integration?
Point of Rental's SalesForceSync keeps records in step (customers, contacts, contracts and call logs) so nobody types the same customer in twice. A full integration goes further and puts that data to work inside the sale, for example checking live stock while a quote is being built.
Full answer →Does Salesforce work with InspHire?
Not natively. InspHire lists GoldMine as its CRM partner, not Salesforce. The two can still be connected with middleware: InspHire keeps running the yard, and Salesforce becomes the commercial front end for quoting, availability and customers.
Full answer →InspHire already has its own CRM. Why would we need Salesforce too?
inspHire CRM and Vecta are good at showing what's happening: pipeline, follow-ups, revenue by customer. Neither works inside the sale itself, for example by checking live stock while a quote is built or protecting margin before it goes out. Salesforce, built for hire, is where that happens.
Full answer →Do we need to replace our rental management system to use Salesforce?
No. Your rental management system keeps doing what it already does: assets, contracts, invoicing and the operational record of the yard. Salesforce sits alongside it as the commercial front end, connected rather than replacing anything.
Full answer: Syrinx·InspHireWhat data flows between Salesforce and a rental management system?
Typically customer and contact records, hire contracts, availability and stock positions, and invoice data, kept in step in both directions. A quote built in Salesforce reflects what the hire system actually has, and nobody re-keys a confirmed contract.
Full answer: Syrinx·InspHireDoes an on-premise InspHire installation affect the integration?
It can. Some InspHire installations still run on-premise rather than in the cloud, and that affects how close to real time the connection with Salesforce can be. It's one of the first things worth checking for your specific setup.
Full answer →Quoting
How can a hire desk quote faster?
By putting live availability, rate cards and each customer's pricing in one place, so the hire desk isn't ringing round or digging through spreadsheets while the customer waits. Slow quotes lose hires you never hear about: the customer simply books elsewhere.
Full answer →How do we stop hire quotes going cold?
Give every open quote an owner and a follow-up date, and have the system prompt the chase instead of relying on someone remembering. Quotes go cold when nobody is clearly responsible for them, not because the price was wrong.
Full answer →Availability and off-hire
How can we quote without ringing the yard to check what's free?
Give the hire desk a live view of availability across depots, drawn from the hire system, so they can answer the customer on the first call. If the hire desk doesn't trust the availability they see, they'll keep ringing the yard anyway.
Full answer →How do we stop losing money on missed off-hire charges?
Track every off-hire request from the moment it arrives, including the ones that come in by email, and keep a clear view of what's due back and when. Missed off-hire charges are rarely one big loss. They're lots of small ones nobody spots.
Full answer →Running the business
How can a hire company MD see the numbers without waiting for month-end?
With live reporting on quotes, utilisation and revenue across every depot, drawn from the systems the business already uses rather than a month-end spreadsheet. The MD sees what's happening this week, while there's still time to act on it.
Full answer →What happens to a hire business if the person who knows everything leaves?
Customer history, pricing deals and depot know-how leave with them, unless that knowledge already lives in a shared system. The fix is getting it out of one person's head and into a system the whole hire desk uses every day.
Full answer →AI
Is our hire business ready for AI?
It depends on four things: enough volume of the same task to be worth automating, consistency in how it's done, solid data foundations, and clear rules on where human judgement stays. AI works best on repetitive hire desk paperwork, not on decisions that need experience.
Full answer →·Take the 2-minute AI Readiness CheckCost and getting sign-off
How much does it cost to set up Salesforce for a hire company?
Cloudtal's Hire QuickStart sets Salesforce up for equipment hire at a fixed price, including a quote builder with your hire rate cards and duration discounts. Salesforce licences are paid separately. The current price and what's included are on the QuickStart page.
Full answer →How do I get my MD to approve a CRM project?
Put a number on what the current process costs (slow quotes, missed off-hires, time lost to re-keying) and be ready for the objections before they come up. MDs approve a clear business case, not a list of features.
Full answer →·Use the Business Case BuilderPrefer to work it out yourself?
Three free tools. No email needed.