The new customer who wants three breakers
Saturday morning. A new customer walks in wanting two petrol breakers and a plate compactor, paying cash deposit, with a van outside. Your house rules say new customers need photo ID and proof of address, and high-value hires need more. The counter has a queue and a photocopier that jams. The staff member looks at a driving licence, writes 'DL seen' on the form and gets on with it.
Most of the time that is fine. Occasionally the tools do not come back, and when you look at the form there is nothing on it you could act on.
Why new customer checks are inconsistent
- The rules live in the manager's head or a laminated sheet behind the counter.
- Different staff apply them differently, especially on busy mornings.
- Photocopies of ID are kept in a folder, which raises its own questions about how personal data is stored.
- There is no link between the ID seen and the value or type of items being hired.
- Repeat customers are checked again because the first check was not recorded usefully.
The problem is not that staff are careless. It is that the check is a paper task squeezed into the worst moment of the day.
What a weak check costs
Tools that are hired and never returned, with too little on file to follow up. Longer queues when staff do try to check properly. Genuine customers annoyed at being asked for the same documents on every visit. And personal data sitting in a filing cabinet, which is something your data protection adviser would rather you did not do.
A check that happens before the queue
- New customers can pre-register on your website before they come in, entering their details and choosing what they plan to hire.
- Your rules decide what is needed: for example, which items or hire values need extra documents, and whether card or cash deposits change anything.
- Where you use an identity checking service, the customer's details are passed to it and the result is recorded. Where you do not, the counter is shown exactly what to look at.
- At the counter, the staff member sees a short checklist for that customer and that hire, and ticks what was seen, rather than photocopying.
- Hires that fall outside your rules, such as a first hire of several high-value items on a cash deposit, are flagged for the manager before the tools leave.
- Once checked, the customer is marked as verified, so repeat visits are quick.
What checks you require and how you store the results are your decisions, made with your insurer and data protection adviser. The system applies them consistently.
Checks matched to the hire
| Customer and hire | Example rule you might set |
|---|---|
| Known trade account | No check, account terms apply |
| Returning DIY customer, verified | Confirm details are unchanged |
| New DIY customer, low-value tool | Photo ID and address |
| New customer, high-value items | Extra document or manager approval |
| Cash deposit on high-value items | Manager approval |
These are examples of the kind of rules depots set, not a recommendation. Your own rules go in.
Quicker for good customers, firmer for risky hires
The queue moves because most of the typing happened before the customer arrived. Staff apply the same rules on a Saturday as on a quiet Tuesday. Returning customers are recognised. And when a hire does go wrong, you have a clear record of what was checked.
Is your new-customer check up to it?
- Different staff check new customers differently.
- You keep photocopies of ID in a folder.
- Tools have gone missing with little on file about the hirer.
- Regular customers are asked for ID every time.