rentals in six weeks through this system with a less than 5% rate of error and without a single rental night,” Edwards said. “It’s just unheard of, and when I say without a rental night, that doesn’t mean we don’t have some sort of informational event or whatever we need to do to help with the recruiting process — such as a petting zoo. We just don’t have this labor intensive, and frankly expensive, process of bringing on an army of temporary employees and sending them out into the night with a bunch of instruments at schools scat- tered all over the state.” FINE-TUNING THE SHIPPING EXPERIENCE Edwards said one of the biggest focuses for Marshall Music was improving the shipping process. It uses a shipping software called ShipWorks that works in tandem with its POS provider to get the orders put into UPS or a postal service program. “In most cases, parents can opt for a free shipping method,” he said. “And, in some cases, when the directors we work with have been specific in that they don’t want the par- ents shipping it to their home because they don’t want the child to get their hands on the instrument before they know how to put it together, that experience is customized by school. But, in most situations, parents can choose to either have the instrument shipped to their home or shipped to one of our stores that’s closest to their home. We typically use UPS as we found [it] to be the most expedient.” One area that Edwards said the Marshall Music team is continuing to improve on is the tracking process. “A lot of parents wait until the last minute and then they’re asking where the instrument is because their student needs it that week, so we’re working on creating an up-to-the minute tracking system that shares with them information like, ‘the rental is en route’ or ‘the rental is being processed,’” he explained. “We want to give them more than just a tracking number with the estimated delivery date. So, we’re still looking at ways to make that system even better and make it easier for our team, as well. I’m thinking that this may be the last year of fine-tuning that process.” THE ONLINE ADVANTAGE When it comes customer response, Edwards said it has been nearly 100% positive. “For almost all parents, it’s the first time they’re being led through this music rental process,” he said. “Now, in one way that’s kind of good because they haven’t really ex- perienced it another way. On the other hand, there is a direct comparison between our online
system and Amazon. And that’s why we have to strive for continuous improvement. But, for especially those parents electing to have it shipped to their door within our service network, they love it just because if you rent that instrument online by 5 p.m. today, you’ll have it on your doorstep tomorrow without paying for express shipping.” Edwards added that today’s parents are busy and accustomed to using the internet to simplify daily tasks. Completing their child’s rental online allows them to do so at their convenience. “Oftentimes with parents there’s a bit of procrastination,” he said. “They have a million things to contend with, and they’re busy. If they can have their rental right now and rent it on their own time, they truly do appreciate that. We’ve gotten really, really positive feedback from parents in regards to the timeliness.” Edwards added that just because the process is being completed online, doesn’t mean that his team isn’t able to connect with parents and students like they would if it was com- pleted in-person. “Parents are always able to call us and speak to a team member at any time about the online process,” he explained. “That’s not automated. If they want to say, ‘Hey, I rented this flute yesterday, and I’m just won- dering if they’ll be here by tomorrow because we’re going out of town,’ we can give them that answer. We can put their mind at ease.” Edwards added that parents who are sensi- tive about handing over their personal infor- mation — such as their credit card details or their social security number — appreciate the ability to use a secure online portal instead. “Early on, we got an understanding of the heightened sensitivity the parents had with personal information,” he said. “With the old system, we were asking folks to write their credit card number or social security number down on a paper contract and hand it over to some stranger. By going online, we’ve leveled up their security.” Overall, Edwards said adopting a 100% online rental process has been a blessing. “I’m so excited about being able to continue to offer these innovative services to our customers to create change and help our team not be so overwhelmed during the back-to-school season,” Edwards said. “It’s something we’re extremely proud of, honestly. It has been an adventure for us that the whole team embraces, and we just look forward to it. It may sound silly to say, but by being able to do rent- als this way, we kind of look forward to it each fall.” MI
GOING DIGITAL
Jimmy Edwards, president of Marshall Music, shares three big benefits of shifting all school rentals online. 1. IMPROVING THE STAFF EXPERIENCE. “I think the biggest one is that sometimes even in the heat of battle, we’re going, ‘Wow, you know, we’re not working until midnight every night.’ And that’s a great feeling to know that you’re still accom- plishing the goal, but you don’t have your staff being worked to death. The ease on our team has been a huge thing for me.” 2. SPENDING LESS ON RESOURCES. “There is a bottom-line effect to doing rentals online. We’re spending less on resources, especially in fuel. We aren’t sending out two dozen company vehicles every single night all over the state. So, that in itself offers some savings for the company. Plus, we don’t have to hire a ton of seasonal temp workers.” 3. ENHANCING SECURITY FOR PARENTS. “During the first few years that we started doing online rentals, we got a clear un- derstanding of the heightened sensitivity parents have with their personal informa- tion. With the old system, at a busy rental night, we’re asking folks to write their credit card number or social security number down on a paper contract and hand it over to some stranger. With online rentals, I think folks have appreciated being able to use a secure online portal instead.” MI
40 I MUSIC INC. I JUNE 2024
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