Dreamer Sandra Bate Bates International's Extraordinary Founder

When you scan through the list of RV industry pioneers it's unlikely that the name Sandra Bate will appear, but for nearly 30 years this extraordinary business woman has been carving out her own niche in the RV rental market. Under her leadership, Bates International, Inc., was the first company to franchise rental services, the first to tie in with airline reservations systems, and among the first to have a vision for how the Internet could enhance the RV rental business. Sandra Bate is a dreamer and she dreams of innovative ways to facilitate the dreams of those who want to experience the RV lifestyle by renting an RV. This dreamer has always possessed an entrepreneurial vision and is not easily deterred from her mission. And that spirit was evident in how the company started, taking a negative and turning it into a positive. While other companies in the industry were either going out of business or hanging on by a thread during the gasoline crisis in 1973, it was this circumstance that gave birth to Bates Motorhome Rental Network and later Bates International, Inc. In an interview at the Bates headquarters in Las Vegas, Sandra told RV News, "My partner Bill Bate had bought a beautiful motorhome. The motor-home was purchased to use as an office, but it was too big to negotiate the streets and parking areas of Los Angeles. It ended up sitting at the curb. We thought maybe we ought to rent it out. "We placed an ad in the paper and the phones started ringing and just kept ringing. We couldn't keep up with the demand. So then I started thinking . . . my father had a motorhome and we had friends with motorhomes. We started talking to people about putting their motorhomes in the rental fleet and they all loved the idea." Sandra convinced them by explaining they could offset their payments with the rental income, and since it was a business they could also gain some tax advantages. "It worked out real well," she continued. "When we started the business, we operated it from home in Los Angeles." .Before this Sandra was a student and had met Bill Bate who was a life and disability insurance broker in Los Angeles. "I got my insurance license with the intent to work with Bill in the insurance industry, " she said, "but I never had a chance to use that knowledge because this all happened at the same time. So I've never really worked other than for myself." Also, at this time fly-n-drive vacations were popular and a real boost to airline and car rental companies' businesses. Sandra saw another opportunity. Sandra said, "We got in touch with American Airlines and they sent their marketing director for the fly-n- drive program out to visit us." Sandra laughed as she recalled holding the meeting with American Airline's big wig in the living room of her home. But apparently those surroundings didn't hinder the meeting since a program was put together between the two companies. "We started generating a lot of business because of that program," Sandra said. "And we were getting calls from all over the country. We thought it would be nice if we could offer rental services at locations besides Southern California." And that idea was a major step in developing Bates into a franchise company. While franchising was still years away, it was a significant step that started the journey. Sandra said, "Prior to franchising we started licensing people and companies to use our name, and they became part of the Bates rental network." All these efforts were not going unnoticed. In addition to receiving an award from Inc magazine in recognition of innovative marketing ideas, Entrepreneur magazine featured Sandra in an article about the company. Sandra said, "A couple of years later the editors of Entrepreneur included the article in a book entitled, "184 Businesses Anyone Can Start and Make a Lot of Money." I was unaware of the book until someone who had read it contacted us and wanted to know if we could teach him how to start an RV rental company. "That's when the idea really started to evolve about building a franchise company." Today, Bates International has about 20 franchise owners and licensees in the network with approximately 500 rental units in the fleet. Currently, the network spans both the U.S and Canada and now Sandra is looking at programs to include even more countries in the program. The business was eventually moved from California to Las Vegas, NV. Sandra said with a toll-free telephone number it really didn't matter where the company was located as long as the service could be provided. And while the company has evolved into a franchise company, Sandra hasn't gotten out of the RV rental business. Sandra said, "We own the Las Vegas franchise, but it's a separate business with its own management. We are not really involved with the hands-on portion of the business except for handling the bookings and scheduling the motorhomes." Keeping the rental fleet current and expanding the number of units in the fleet is an ongoing challenge for the company. And that's one of the reasons why she assisted Bill Bate as he developed the "investor program." She explained, "That's something a little bit separate and different. We are appealing to people to buy motorhomes and put them in strategic locations throughout the country and Canada so we have those units available for rental. The investors love the program because their investment is secured by equipment they have purchased and they get tremendous tax write-offs." Until recently, Sandra said this was a challenging part of the business, since to purchase new RVs they were forced to go through RV dealers and pay full retail price. "It was hard to convince our investors to buy pre-owned units but it was necessary because it was too expensive to buy several new units at retail." But Sandra and Bill persevered and finally showed some RV manufacturers the advantages of making units available at dealer or fleet prices. As a matter of fact, at Bates' recent annual convention of franchise owners, Damon Corporation unveiled a new proprietary rental unit that will carry the Bates logo.

The ability to buy units at dealer cost has enhanced investor interest. Sandra said, "Through the RV rental program investors get to buy below retail price. So when the vehicle is sold at the end of the term, say, six months to a year, they're able to make a nice return on their investment." Sandra said these changes are significant. "Before, manufacturers didn't really take the RV rental business seriously. But since they've changed this policy, manufacturers are selling fleets of motorhomes instead of one at a time through a dealer. That's why investors are so happy; we're helping them make a lot of money." Another way Bates builds the fleet is by working with RV owners. "Often people that already own motorhomes are sometimes upside down in ownership because they owe more for the unit than what its worth. So they are looking for a way to make money to pay down the note on the motorhome. Through our program they let us rent it out, and they are able to have that money to pay down debt as well as earn tax advantages from it." Consumers who rent from Bates find that the types of units are widely diverse. Each location can add on any type of RV they want - motorhomes, travel trailers, tent campers or fifth-wheels. Sandra and Bill Bate, co-founders and partners, Bates International, Inc.

Not just anyone can be a franchise owner or a licensee. Bates sets a high standard and requires anyone involved in the Bates network to meet those standards. Sandra said, "First, you've got to be reputable. Once an application is received we'll check them out. And we also interview them -- we don't want someone who just likes the idea of being in RV rentals, but doesn't want to do the work to make it successful. When you're in business, any business, for yourself, you have to be motivated." Sandra said she was quite surprised by some of the people they've attracted and who have purchased the Bates franchise. She continued, "Sometimes it's people you'd least expect to get into the RV business -- engineers or other professional people." And some of these new franchisees are very serious about the RV rental business. Sandra said, "I was just talking to one of our franchisees who has a vision for what he would like to do. He is thinking about investing several million dollars to move his business to another level and have 50 to 100 motorhomes to rent. It's very ambitious, but when someone wants to do that, it obviously makes it better for the entire network." The cost of the franchise ranges up to about $35,000, depending on location. What the franchise owner gets in return is everything it takes to start the rental business. It includes Bates custom designed international reservations software, operations manuals, a quarterly newsletter, inclusion in Bates' extensive web site (www.batesintl.com) as well as the rights to use Bates' trademarked name, logo and on-going training. With a Bates franchise comes more than a shingle to hang in front of the business; it includes all the years of experience Sandra, Bill and Michael Williams, vice president of operations bring, plus access to the many innovative programs they have set up over the years. One of those programs she pioneered was the tie-in with the airline reservations system. She said, "When we first got involved with Amadeus, the airline reservation computer system, which is located in Madrid, Spain, it turned out to be a tremendous boost to our business � all they do is deal with travelers. And while we were getting a lot of reservations from the travel agencies, it wasn't something they really pushed. But the travel agency business has changed dramatically since airlines have changed their method of commissioning ticket sales by agencies. As a result, a lot of agencies are folding up. Agencies realized in order to survive they needed to develop other types of businesses such as RV rentals. The 10% commission on a motorhome rental could be very significant because our average rental is 2 weeks at an average of $1,000 a week. That's a $200 commission compared to $20 for booking an airline ticket. If the agency is real ambitious they could make a decent living by just booking RV rentals. Why not upgrade their customer from a fly-drive car package to a fly-drive motorhome package? For a long time the airline reservation system represented the single most important element in rental bookings -- about 40%." But the Internet has changed that balance. Sandra estimates the Internet now brings in 55 to 65% of their business. When you mention the Internet to Sandra you can see the enthusiasm in her eyes. Sandra was a pioneer here too and was among the first RV industry executives to recognize the impact that the Internet could have on business, and especially the RV rental business. She said, "I love the Internet because that is truly a way to make money while you're sleeping. When we arrive at work in the morning, we have reservation requests, franchise information requests and a variety of other inquiries about RV rentals. It's real exciting. I know that it's been a tremendous boost for our business." She also believes that the Internet will become even more important in the future, not only because worldwide, more and more people are gaining Internet access, but also because it is becoming increasingly important as a business-to-business communications tool.

The popular Bates web site is also an added benefit for franchisees. When a potential renter visits the site from anywhere in the world, they can get up-to-date rate information at a variety of locations which makes closing the deal much easier. Before the Internet, International customers for example, had to depend on mail or faxes to complete a transaction, but now it can all be handled within hours if not minutes. Bates is also commissioning a new program that will incorporate their reservation system into an inventory management program so unit availability by location will enable Bates to meet the needs of the potential renter in a much shorter period of time. Pictured with Sandra is Michael K. Willams, vice president of operations. Williams has been with Bates off-and on since the company was founded in 1973, and is an integral part of the business, according to Sandra. Sandra said, "We are also planning to incorporate a real-time communication system into our Internet site that will give us the ability to meet online with all of our franchisees at one time. Communication is so important, but now the only time we can talk to everyone as a group is during our annual convention. We are able to communicate through our newsletter and over the telephone, but we really need to stay in closer contact. With this new Internet program we will have the ability to meet periodically through scheduled meetings, plus bring everyone together should the need arise to discuss any pressing issues with little advance notice. And we will also be able to offer real-time on line training through the web site as well. "Technology is the most important aspect of our business right now as far as growth is concerned," Sandra said. It doesn't take a fortune to become a Bates franchise owner. Besides the franchise fee, the new RV rental company will need to have inventory to rent, plus a way to service the units. Sandra said, "They wouldn't want to start off with less than 5 units, but 10 would be better." Operating a successful rental company requires a lot of customer care, and one of the nice aspects of the Bates franchise program is that it is designed to give the franchisee the flexibility to meet the customer needs in his or her particular market. That flexibility also extends to the types of rental units a franchisee believes will meet the needs of his or her marketing area. That means one location may have only motorhomes while another could add towables into the product mix. But it all finally boils down to providing service to those wanting to rent RVs. Sandra said, "We're very service oriented. People who rent from our network are very lucky to have people like our franchisees who really love what they are doing and seem to love the people too. There are so many examples of going beyond what might be expected. They go to Canada and pick up a motorhome and they're given a basket of goodies -- fresh jam and maybe fresh baked bread. And this is all a gift to them. "And in Vancouver they give a package of things that the renter might have forgotten at home -- little starter things they put into the motorhome for them. So each location tries to do something special to make that experience stand out. What that has done for us is brought back repeat business. It helps everyone in the network, and I believe that if there is anything that I want people to know it's that we really care about our customers. "The bottom line . . . when you get involved in this type of program and with these kinds of people, if you're successful then everyone else becomes more successful." Sandra Bate has led the way not only in her company's success, but to many of those who have teamed up with her in the RV rental business, whether motorhome investors or franchisees. There's something unique about Sandra � and it's more than just being one of the few women top executives in this industry; nor is it that she actually started the business as a teenager. The difference is her enthusiasm and passion not only about what's she's accomplished so far, but also about the possibilities of pioneering new ideas in the future. She said, "Its pretty exciting to think that you can dream and see your dreams develop into reality."

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