CSI RENTALS
By Mike Wilcox I Photos by Adam Sherwin
Say you’re a photographer. Say you’re waiting to board a plane in an airport for a flight to New York at the end of a long day of shooting. You have another long day of shooting ahead of you in the Big Apple. You’re exhausted… It’s 11 PM and the most sleep you’re going to get is on that plane. Then you get a text from your assistant—he botched the equipment rental. You have a shoot in a few hours and nothing to shoot with. That assistant can say goodbye to his job. And you can say goodbye to your sleep. What are you going to do? You don’t have much time to arrange everything for your 8 AM call. As with many problems nowadays, you whip out your iPhone, looking for answers. You stumble across the CSI Rentals App. Not only do they have everything that you need for the shoot, but it’s also all offered in a convenient package. Great! Now, you need to rent a truck to move the aforementioned equipment. Wait, the convenient package is literally a package, as in “packed in a truck,” not just a financial, money saving package? All you have to do is pick up the keys? Yep… and it’s all ready for you before your 8 AM call time. That’s like being in shape without the pain of working out! Looks like you’ll be dozing a mile high after all… Sleep well.
Partners George Hertz and Jacob Drezdner are the owners and masterminds behind the bar-setting customer service CSI Rentals offers. I had a chance to sit down and speak with them in their Midtown Manhattan location.
So CSI…what’s the story?
GH: My partner, Jacob, and I have been working together for over twenty years. My personal experience in the photography industry goes back about forty years. Jacob and I took over a rental department of another major store. Our different expertise really developed and made it successful. We ran it for a little over nineteen years, up to about two and a half years ago. In order to continue with our dedicated customer service and our ideas about equipment and service, it was time for the birth of CSI Rentals.
What does CSI stand for?
GH: Camera, Strobes, and Imaging. And that includes maintenance, having the latest technology always available, being the first to produce and test new products. But customer service is priority number one. We strive to give our customers everything they need so that they can go on knowing they have the support of their rental house.
How has the industry changed, and how has CSI changed within it?
GH: At first, we were strong in strobes and DSLR’s but weren’t as strong in continuous light and video. As people started working more and more with video, we adapted our business, not abandoning our commitment to photography, but expanding cautiously. We don’t want to over-expand ourselves, but we want to invest and grow as the industry does and as our customers have more requirements.
How many locations do you have for equipment rental?
GH: This [Manhattan location] is the main and really only location for equipment rental. We do have satellite places for convenience. We have a partner in Brooklyn, 3rd Ward. Our customers can pick up and drop off equipment there, and they have late hours. They also have studio space and support the new generation [of upcoming photographers] by providing classes and equipment usage.
You have a new iPhone App. When was it launched?
JD: It’s more than an App. We have a very well designed website that provides all information and online equipment rental, and we have designed a mobile website that provides the same things the regular website does. We went to the mobile site before developing the App, because the App is limited to only iPhone users, but some people have Blackberrys, and nearly all of today’s photographers are mobile. The mobile site and App are, for now, the first and only of their kind.
Are there any limits to either of these?
JD: The only option the regular website has that isn’t supported on the mobile site or App is the video option.
What kind of service does the mobile site and App provide?
JD: You can reserve everything you need for a shoot in one place and get one invoice. You can reserve your DSLRs, video, strobes, lighting, and even expendables like tape or seamless paper.
When did these launch? How have they been received?
JD: The mobile site launched a few months ago and people love it. The regular website loaded slowly on any mobile phone; it’s a mobile world and we have to serve it! Don’t get us wrong, if someone wants to call to place an order, we’re happy to take it. But with the way society and technology are moving, we have to offer this service.
What were the steps in developing the mobile site and App?
JD: Both the site and App were conceived and built by photographers. To begin with, we included a suggestion box on our regular site. We listened to all the suggestions from the end-users and worked with them. Both were built by scratch and by photographers. They know what they need, so we worked with them and let them develop what they wanted.
How long did it take to develop these things?
JD: The mobile site took about two months; it was a bit of reworking the already built site. The App was much faster.
So is this an attempt to diversify yourself? At the end of the day, equipment is equipment…
JD: I always say that anybody can rent equipment. It’s the equipment maintenance and quality, and customer service that are most important. This is a service industry, and though we may run out of an item, we don’t run out of customer service. For example, we offer pre-loaded trucks. We can help rent a truck, pack and load it, and all the assistant has to do is come by and pick up the keys. Or we can deliver the van to your location. We have picked people up at the airport. One thing we have learned over the years is that service is key. All of this can be arranged from the mobile site or App.
GH: As far as I know, we are the only active owners of a rental house who don’t sit in an office. We work on every aspect of the business, we are constantly in the store… I wouldn’t delegate any work to anybody that I wouldn’t do myself. We don’t close our doors at six and say it’s after hours. The service does not stop at closing time. We will always bend over backward; if we don’t have it, we’ll get it. Whether we make money or not [on the order], it’s about satisfying the customer’s needs. It doesn’t stop in New York; if you’re in LA or Miami—or wherever it may be—our service extends there. If you do not have the credit to rent anywhere in these cities, we will rent on your behalf with our affiliates.
What are your plans for expansion in the future?
GH: I can see us supplementing a studio. Trying to fill in all needs for photographers and finding an affordable studio space is difficult unless you’re a famous photographer. Whatever we do, we need to make it convenient and easy for people to rent and work.
CSI Rentals: www.csirentals.com Adam Sherwin: www.adamsherwin.com
