Fostering a Good Relationship with Your Rental Facility
Contrary to our instilled desires to “find the best deal”, that is not necessarily the case when negotiating the rent for your building. In the case for most portable churches, where you are moving in and moving out every week; the best deals are not the ones with the smallest price tag.You want the final financials (how is that for alliteration) to equal an amount that makes the landlord of your establishment want to care about whether or not you are there for the ensuing years. By establishing an amount that not only helps the profitability (and therefore stability) of your rental facility, you are allowing yourself an opportunity to have a more flexible relationship.
As a company, we have worked with close to 1,000 churches. We have seen churches buy their own equipment and move in/out every week as well as the churches who negotiate to use the facilities equipment.As we said in our “How to Choose the Right Facility” article, “we do not recommend utilizing the venue’s ‘offered’ equipment. When the movie theatre manager tells you to “feel free to use our speakers”, we encourage you to seriously consider other options before committing to use a “free” piece of equipment. Remember – the movie theatre’s livelihood depends on the use of that speaker system. It takes only one false move by a well-meaning volunteer to rack up tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue for the movie theatre, and thousands of dollars from your budget for compensation. It is often a good decision to invest in your own equipment up-front, rather than run the risk of mitigating your landlord’s ability to safeguard his investment, and spend thousands of more dollars in the long run!”
If economics preclude you from purchasing a system that meets your needs, call a vendor (like PCI) to see if any clients are selling used equipment. Many times, churches we’ve worked with in the past are moving into a building, and are interested in selling their equipment.
Some churches opt to permanently install needed equipment into the venues they are renting. While this may suit your short-term needs, it may not lend itself to your future ones. A permanent install may very well limit your ministry mobility and flexibility. You want to have the equivalent of a “rolling permanent install”. You want the ability to move from room to room, from theatre to theatre without having to move permanently installed fixtures.
Negotiating Storage
Obviously, as suppliers and inventors of storage infrastructure, we prefer our method of Customized Equipment Cases and Customized Tow Trailer. This method requires little to no negotiation with your venue proprietor and gives you the utmost flexibility from the get-go. Box Truck solutions may represent more commitment or assumed liability on your landlord as they may require loading docks and / or lift gates at the facility.In some cases, you may be able to negotiate storage at your rented venue. In a school, we have seen churches store equipment in a locked room not currently in use by the school. Alternatively, the rooms located under the bleachers are often a good location for storage. In a movie theatre, you may be able to negotiate use of the area behind the screen. Be careful, however, as the movie theatre’s clean-up method may leave popcorn and other such debris all over your equipment (and/or cases).
Immediately after signing your rental agreement, establish the Route of Communication with your landlord. Ensure that cell phone numbers, email addresses and point of contact are updated regularly. Make sure that you and your team is reachable should your venue contacts need to reach you. This will go a long way in creating a great relationship between you and your property director.Establish a rule right away: You Break It, You Fix It. Make sure that you and your team claim ownership and fault for your missteps. Years ago, one of our staff members was serving as a volunteer for a tear down crew at their portable church. She accidentally crashed into a drinking fountain with a piece of equipment. The collision ended up taking the fountain right off the wall! The team called the janitor immediately and paid to have the drinking fountain fixed before the doors of the school even opened on Monday morning.
Whenever possible, find ways to show appreciation not only to your landlords, but to other key players as well. Stage managers, teachers and janitors can be key players in renting a school atmosphere. When purchasing gifts or cards for those key players, think in units of measure that your landlord understands – learn their core vocabulary. Knowing what they find relevant and enjoyable will help you come up with creative ways to honor them for their time, their patience and their graciousness.
One church in Osseo, Minnesota picks one day a year to show appreciation to their teachers by organizing and working at a Service Day twice a year. This includes everything from cleaning to landscaping to painting. The church wants to be key players in contributing to a better environment at their rental facility.
Make sure you are consistently keeping the portions of your rental area clean and organized. Have someone do a run-through at the end of each service to ensure that no equipment or debris has been left behind.Likewise, you can create a great first impression by making sure your equipment is organized in a professional manner. Bringing things in piece-meal or in a disorganized fashion does not propagate good will from teachers and movie-theatre managers. Bring your equipment into the building in a way that suggests you are careful, organized and conscientious.
Finally, always monitor the relationship you have with your contacts frequently. Check in often and regularly to ensure that expectations are managed and met on both sides.
