How to Book Equipment in 3 Simple Steps

Change your gear reservation workflow TODAY

First off, I need to get real with you. If you don’t change your equipment reservation workflow today, you are going to FAIL. Not fail at life (let’s not get dramatic), but fail at managing your gear efficiently. Well, you might start aging prematurely from stress.

You don't want to be stuck in this mundane manual work forever, do you?

Hi, I’m Oswaldo, averting doom scenarios one step at a time.

Efficient reservation process in 3, 2, 1…

Perhaps you already have a process for checking out gear that you're incredibly proud of, but you’re lacking a system for people to book gear. That’s why I will show you how to book gear in 3 simple steps. Keep reading until the end because I’ve got a surprise for you that will BLOW. YOUR. MIND. 🤯

Not much of a reader? Just watch the video instead:

Step 1: Who, what, when?

The first step is to identify who needs what gear. For smaller companies with an open gear cage, these details might be sorted out in the typical ‘Monday morning meetings’. However, for companies with closed gear rooms, we recommend using Google Forms. ☝🏼

Trying to figure out via email who needs what gear when is too much of a hassle and wasted time on manual work. Plus, it will get out of hand very quickly (RE: Re: Re: sigh…).

Need more help with this? Read our blog post or watch the video below for tips & tricks:

Step 2: Check the gear’s availability

Once you have an overview of who needs what equipment, check the availability of the gear. Where to find this information? If you’re not using equipment management software that contains all your gear’s data, you can create an equipment inventory list. If you don't have a standard equipment list yet, this blog post and video can help you get started:

Make sure you have columns for reservations so you can track who has booked the gear and for what period of time. To determine what gear is needed, use the filtering option and search for the specific gear you need to book.

If the equipment is available during your desired time, fill in the columns to make a reservation. If it's not, you can filter by category to find similar available options. Once you've made a selection, you may need to exchange a few emails to confirm the updated list of equipment to be booked.

Step 3: Confirm with a calendar invite

The final step is confirming with your colleague or student that the equipment is ready for pickup. You can do this using Google Calendar or whatever calendar system you're using. Simply send a calendar invite to the person who will be picking up the equipment.

The title could be 'checkout' followed by the person's name, for example. In the description, list the equipment they will be checking out. That way, they are reminded of the checkout time and know exactly what equipment is reserved for them.

Simplify your reservation workflow with Cheqroom

Dear friends, I have to be honest. But it needs to be said: this workflow has one major flaw…. 🥴

It gets the work done, sure, but that’s not real life. In reality, your colleagues, freelancers, students, producers, or anyone who needs to book equipment won’t be able to see this spreadsheet you’ve created. And you definitely shouldn’t share your spreadsheet with everyone, as that will get messy before you get the time to say ‘oh-oh’. Plus, there won’t be any accountability and traceability. In other words, you’d have to handle it all by yourself.

But… is that what you really want to do in life? Spending countless hours scheduling gear for others? Endless back-and-forth emailing? Chasing down missing equipment? I don’t think so!

This is why you should let a software do that work for you. 💁🏻

Simplify your reservation workflow with an equipment management software like Cheqroom, where instead of taking 3 to 100 steps, you only need to complete one.

In Cheqroom, you create a reservation, select the loan period, location, and gear you wish to book. You’ll be able to instantly see what's available and the condition of the gear. Now, here’s the best part: users can manage the reservations themselves! Thanks to our cool feature, ‘Equipment Access,’ admins have control over what users can view and access. Plus, Cheqroom will automatically send them email or text reminders about due dates, checkout times, or any other details you've customized.

Need more convincing? Here are 5 reasons to trade Spreadsheets for a more effective software tool like Cheqroom.

Piqued your interest in what equipment management software can do? Check out the video below for more info, or request a demo straight away. Catch you on the flip side! 😏