Maybe this means that PRM investors have been asking questions and are demanding answers as to why Metz & company contends things are going great at Rentals.com; However, the numbers tell a completely different story. A change at the top is long overdue. Fact - revenue and listings are down considerably contrary to what Rentals is telling the dumb masses. (A word to investors - in the next conference call please ask Metx & company to quantify those results and numbers they keep throwing out there!) You can almost see the defining moment - the acqusition of Rentalhouses.com and the mass exitious of the RentClicks’ top executives and upper level management (Jason Warren, Jonathan Hartley, David Borden, Tim Cummings, Matt Curlee, Jim Carroll, Michael Paxton & their entire customer service & IT staff). At the time these key people left, Steve Huey name was in the hat to be president along with his management team at Rentalhouses. Huey & company did about as well leading Rentals as they did with Rentalhouses. At best, Rentalhouses was a company on the verge of extenction with nothing more than a few months left for survival. Was Steve Huey the self proclaimed great CEO with vision & fortitude which brought Rentalhouses out of the toilet or was he a product of being in the right place at the right time? Those who have worked closely with him under his reign know the real story. I think Steve Huey has dealt Rentals the same fate unless Clymer makes some major changes. The current management team was plugged in order to fill voids for a limited time. They did not have the skills or experience necessary to take the company to the next level. It’s by no fault of their own that listings and revenue have continued to decline significantly - even in a today’s market where a record number of rentals have flooded the market and vacancy rates are on the rise. For a reference point, simply remove the apartment listings feed into Rentals by the Apartmentgiuse.com & take a look at Orlando, Charlotte, Denver, Colorado Springs, Tampa, Jacksonville, every major city in Texas, Memphis, Minneapolis - if you took a snapshot of where these cities were 1-2 years ago to where they are today there is reason for concern if you are Clymer. There is no reason why Rentals should not have taken control of the industry and dominated the marketplace by now. The local papers have seen a huge increase in people advertising rentals not to mention local MLS - you would think Rentals would see an even bigger increase - it’s been just the opposite. The finger should be pointed at the top for not putting these individuals back into roles in which they can handle & excel and adding seasoned sales management professionals with revelant industry experience. Good sales reps don’t necessarily make good managers or leaders. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has noticed the plethora of website issues at Rentals. Not one significant member of the former RentClicks IT team is employed by Rentals. Jason Pitts - The last of the Mohicans just left. I’m sure the department is plagued by a staff of Rentalhouses or a staff appointed by their former leader.
It’s all about direction, leadership, and focusing on core business. All of which is severly lacking. If they want to succeed they must make some major changes and replace the under performing executives and management staff currently in place. If they truly wanted to restore their proweress, they should beg those who left the company to come back and restore the philosophies, level of professionalism, and upward direction that has been missing ever since they left. I’m sure most would not consider a return. If they were smart (and they are!), they would be working together to make a comeback of their own when time and contracts allow for such.

In a nutshell, I wish Jamie Clymer the best of luck. This is a good move by Rentals and should be the first sign of a mojor reorganization to come. There’s not one player in the indusrty that has/had the time, resources, and funding that Primedia has with their Rentals.com product. There’s not one company out there that even comes close yet they are being out played by other with a lot less resources and available talent. How could you have/had all of the ingredients to be a blockbuster success only to hear excuses from your management team as to why the results are not there? If we start hearing a bunch of new names and seeing fresh faces on the Renatls management team, then they should be a force to be reckoned with…if not, we’ll continue to see a major shift of listings and SEO by Rentalhomesplus and the new kid coming on the block - Rentalhomepros. Rentalhomepros has a terrible url but what a teriffic gameplan by the way. If they come up with a way to execute & the $ to attract the sales talent, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

By anonymous on Jan 26, 2008