Hurry up, the plane is leaving.

That's one of the Sunstate Equipment mottos. But what do airplanes have to do with equipment rental? The answer is simple.

Some years ago, Southwest Airlines adopted this slogan. The company figured out it could be more profitable if it shortened the turnaround time between flights, thus getting more flights per day per plane. It's the same concept in rental. Sunstate Equipment, Phoenix-based multi-regional rental company, determined it could maximize efficiency and profitability by turning a piece of equipment around quicker after it came off rent. The company established a goal that from the time equipment hits the yard when it is returned, to the time it's back on the ready line, checked, serviced and washed, no more than four hours should pass.

Can Sunstate always meet that goal? Not every time, but it comes close.

“Sometimes you get overloaded with equipment and it takes longer than that,” says Chris Watts, president and chief operating officer. “And sometimes a machine needs parts or service. But we'll run through the basic functions on each machine and check all the fluids and all the inspection points that need to be looked at without fail.” And more often than not, the four-hour goal is achieved, making the company more efficient and boosting utilization by having more units available for rent.

If ever there was a company that constantly strives for improvement, it is Sunstate Equipment. Of course most companies work to be more efficient and improve operations if they want to stay in business, especially in these recessionary times, but few do it with the passion of Sunstate, through good times and bad.

It all starts with Sunstate's hard-working chairman and founder Mike Watts, who is always working on some new pilot or test program to improve aspects of the company's performance. Watts, still going strong in his early 60s, is never satisfied, and has a long list of initiatives in mind to improve the company's efficiency and performance. The restless Watts, who doesn't like to sit through lengthy meetings, while hands on and involved with a wide range of projects, concentrates on the big picture and confidently delegates authority to his staff. His top management, including CEO Benno Jurgemeyer, a 17-year Sunstate veteran; son Chris Watts, president and COO; director of sales Larry Cox; chief financial officer Garth Price; regional managers and others, are empowered to think creatively, make decisions and constantly look for ways to do things better.

Sunstate Equipment was born in 1977, when Mike Watts, who had worked in sales for several years at Phoenix-area rental company Apache Rentals, worked out a deal to acquire single-location Phoenix rental center Beldon Rentals. To have grown from a single location, grossing about $200,000 a year in rental revenue, to its current status — 58 locations, nearly $250 million in 2006 revenue (estimated by RER), and ranked No. 12 on the RER 100 listing of largest North American rental companies based on rental volume — is strong evidence of Sunstate's conscientious efforts to provide the best possible service to its customers. Its constant analysis of its procedures and practices and willingness to change has added to a culture that emphasizes putting the customer and the company before individual goals.

Evidence of that is Sunstate's philosophy regarding compensation of sales staff. Unlike the overwhelming majority of rental companies, Sunstate doesn't compensate its sales staff based on commission, but rather on salary. Watts and other managers cite good reasons for this practice, not the least of which is the emphasis on working for the good of the company rather than personal goals.

“That evolved when I worked back at Apache,” says Watts. “I had sales reps on commission and they would spend a fair amount of time at the end of each day in the office verifying and getting assurance that they were going to get credit for items that went out on rent. That is unproductive time.”

At Sunstate, sales reps are part of the overall company effort. Sales reps are expected to join associations and occasionally attend dinners with contractor groups after hours. They are also expected to, at the end of the day, call in to dispatch and say, “I'm in this part of town and headed your way, can I pick up anything for you?”

“It assists us if he can pick up a light tower or generator to save us a pickup and while he's there, talk to the customer,” says Watts. “If somebody is on commission, there is less willingness. Also, when on commission, they are less willing to present to the customer the fact that we've got pumps or 3 kW generators or any other smaller items that they might need from time to time that give us a greater return on investment than the big stuff.”

Watts points out that Sunstate sales reps are compensated as well or better than most rental industry commissioned sales reps, and salaried reps are still eligible for bonuses based on what they produce. However, working on a salary basis, Watts says, brings about a subtle change in attitude where the salesmen's approach to a customer is based more on “how can I get more business for the company?” rather than “how can I make more money?”