VIEW FROM THE REPAIR BENCH I BY STEVE FRANCE How to Structure Rental Incentives
T he fall rush is the most profitable time for rental-based stores, and having every instrument ready is critical to financial success. Yet, many stores finish rental season with stock still waiting to be fixed because their techs are incentivized this way. An owner once told me, “I’m your biggest customer, so I’m going to get the best rate.” I immediately understood that, if I wanted to earn more, I shouldn’t work on store instruments. Instead, I should work for customers who paid more, like directors, because I earned more. I wasn’t trying to be ungrateful, I could just do math. If one task earns more than another, I focus on it.
It’s tempting to follow an in- centive with a “have the rentals ready by Aug. 15 or the bonus goes away” mentality, but this always backfires. Instead, structure your incentive to pay the highest bonus amount by Aug.15, then decreas- ing over the next few weeks. A bonus is still motivating them to push through, but you’ve weighted the incentive to have inventory ready when you need it. HOW TO STRUCTURE INCENTIVES There are several ways to struc- ture incentives. Consider doing so by the unit rather than a per- cent of the fleet. It’s easier to conceptualize and track each unit rather than calculating a per- centage. Besides, as your rental inventory increases, a percent based incentive lessens, and you want to keep motivation up. Cre- ate a plan offering a bonus for every instrument prepped and ready. A $5 bonus for every unit completed by Aug. 15. If you have 400 rentals, that’s a $2,000 bonus, or 20% of your first month’s rental income if each rental is $25 per month. Your next tier could be 90% of the $5, or $4.50 and so on. Your plan should incentivize early completion, but keep motivat- ing them through the season. Repair techs are difficult to find, expensive to train and essential to your rental business. Take care of their financial needs to keep them around and have instruments ready to rent. Ignore their financial moti- vation and lose the earning potential of your hard-earned rental fleet. MI Steve France is a veteran instrument repair technician and educator based in St. George, Utah. He operates Premium Music Products and provides advanced train- ing through his Repair Masterclass.
When later I owned my own store, I understood the value each rental had and knew my priorities when in the shop. Every rental return was my No. 1 task that day because it was no longer earning and it needed to be. Ask yourself: Do your repair techs understand their role in this financial game? Technicians are intelligent. You can use big words (pictures and graphs do help), and they must under- stand their role in your rental business. Help them see the financial impact of empty shelves at the end of rental season, the yearly value of each instrument, the number of rental months to reach break even, the actual costs to return and refurbish an instrument. Show them how each hits your bottom line. The more your technicians understand the business, the more effective they’ll be for you.
They also need you to understand their in- centives. When a store owner fails to recognize this rarity, and instead disincentivizes their staff to work for them by paying them less to work on store stock, it’s no wonder why techs don’t stick around or, at the least, don’t have your rental fleet ready when you need it. When an owner says, “I can’t afford to pay more for rental returns,” it shows a lack of un-
“On average, a rental return costs $82 before it’s ready to be rented again.”
derstanding for their own business. The owner has failed to see the value of a rental versus the cost of repair. On average, a rental return costs $82 before it’s ready to be rented again (reach out if you want supporting data). On Aug. 25, what are you willing to pay to have the next 25 flutes ready for tonight’s rental versus buying new ones? The wise will gladly pay the $82 to have everything ready. Paying an amount equal to your technicians earning potential on customer repairs is the first step in incentivizing the readiness of a rental fleet. The second is ensuring they understand their role in your rental business. A potential third step is shifting a portion of what hits your bottom line into their wallet. As a tech, I’m honored that my skills made you money — and I’m happier when it earns us both some.
24 I MUSIC INC. I APRIL 2026
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