Market Pressure, Pricing, and the Fork in the Road

Had a good conversation this morning with another operator in the community. We’re both dealing with the same external reality:

A large national rental company (recent IPO) has dropped two locations into our local market. Close proximity. Aggressive pricing. A lot of iron hitting the street.

Some rentals are being lost. Local market dynamics are changing. No denying any of that.

Where the conversation got interesting was how differently we view what comes next.

One approach is to chase price i.e. lower rates to protect utilization, keep machines turning, and “stay competitive.”

The other approach is to hold pricing, double down on differentiation, and make it painfully clear why someone should rent from us instead.

That difference isn’t about optimism vs pessimism. It’s about how we define the threat.

I do see the national chains affecting the market. I just don’t see them as an existential threat unless my only lever is price.

If the only way I can win a rental is by being cheaper than a company with:

cheaper capital
national buying power
shareholder pressure to chase utilization

…then I’ve already lost. I just haven’t admitted it yet. Their pockets are too deep for me to win that fight.

To be clear: I’m not saying price never matters. It does. But racing to the bottom tends to solve one short-term problem by creating several long-term ones:

thinner margins
higher wear and abuse
worse customers
less cash to reinvest
more stress, not less
a slow and excruciating death by 1000 cuts (or 1000 less than profitable rentals)

From my seat, the better question isn’t “How do I match their price?” It’s “What problem do I solve that they can’t or simply won’t?”

Reliability. Speed. Local knowledge. Trust. Flexibility. Relationships. The stuff that doesn’t show up on a rate sheet but provides huge value to the right customers.

This path is definitely not as easy as adjusting prices. There will need to be a lot of intentional actions taken for a long time. There will be continued missed rentals and lost customers. But the reward, when successful, will be a moat that lower rates can't cross, and a customer base that values us as more than a commodity rental yard.

I’m genuinely curious how others have handled this in their markets:

Have you held pricing when national chains moved in and disrupted pricing in this way? What happened?
Have you ever chased lower prices to protect utilization? Did it work long-term?
What differentiators have actually moved the needle for you?
Have you ever held higher prices or even raised prices while leaning into the "soft" value? What happened there?

No right answers here, just real ones. Drop your experience below.

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