A new website, Dry Hire Online (DHO) aims to change the game when it comes to dry and wet hire of earthmoving machinery - and it says early results are encouraging.
A new website, Dry Hire Online (DHO) aims to change the game
when it comes to dry and wet hire of earthmoving machinery – and it
says early results are encouraging.
The website claims to be the largest of its kind in Australia,
responsible for matching idle machines with businesses that need
them, quickly and easily.
DHO Managing Director Andrew Newsham says the idea for the
website came to him several years ago when his boss would call all
his contacts to locate a machine that it needed urgently.
“When no one could help, our project ran behind schedule and
cost the company in lost productivity and revenue,” he says.
“From there I developed a lot of prototypes before even getting
close to turning it into code.”
“Once I was confident I had a product that would meet market
needs – a user-driven system to speed up finding machines where you
need them, when you need them, I created Dry Hire Online.”
Newsham says DHO has filled the gap as a central online site
that included all different machine owners, therefore allowing
users to source equipment for various jobs eg mining, civil
construction, gas, roads, landscaping and domestic.
“What makes us different is that each machine gets its own
profile so, essentially, for the price of one overall company ad,
you can have 80 individual machine ads,” he says.
“By creating this niche in the market place, we have attracted
single machine owners right through to bigger players such as
D&M plant Hire, Orionstone, Jim’s Diggers, McFayden Group and
Complete Hire New South Wales.”
Newsham says the site has been live since early July and the
response has exceeded their expectations.
“Customers tell us they appreciate the simplicity of our
user-based site,” he says.
“In the last four months we have more than 400 machines listed
on our site from every state in Australia, including our friends in
Tassie.”
Newsham adds that the website does not take cuts or commissions,
therefore allowing their listing pricing to be upfront and
transparent.
According to Newsham, the site has recorded strong traffic so
far and receives calls daily from people wanting dry/wet hire
machinery.
“Last month we had 20,000 views, 1,600 unique browsers, a long
average dwell time of people viewing our machines-averaging 7
minutes per visit,” he says.
“This is above average website performance statistics which
highlights the unique value DHO is bringing. Stats are one thing,
money in the door is another- fortunately we have both.”
Sean Richardson from All Over Plant Hire was one of DHO’s first
customers with 18 machines, all fitted with global positioning
systems from his fleet of 78 machines.
“It’s a really easy website to use. Loading my machines was
quicker than I thought it would be,” he says.
“Since joining DHO in September, I’ve received four
construction/civil leads as well as the opportunity to tender for a
Golding contract worth $1.1 million, an Abigroup project
($1.5million) and a Lynfield job worth $100k.”
Jonker Plant Hire
National Operations Manager Chris Jonker is another happy
customer.
“I’m extremely impressed with the commitment of the team at Dry
hire Online to providing a great service,” he says.
Jonker says DHO’s ability to provide real-time feedback on each
machine listing is invaluable.
“We can see how many times each machine has been viewed, who has
clicked on our URL or phone number, and who has made a query via
their website,” he says.
“It’s a great way for us to create relationships and more
importantly to provide businesses what they want, when they want
it.”
Jonker adds that since registering with DHO in October last
year, they have received over 10 leads as well as the opportunity
to tender for two significant contracts worth around $1.3
million.
“This is new business we wouldn’t otherwise have received, so
online is starting to add a valuable dimension to the industry,” he
says.