Austin storage units located in the great State of Texas are doing well.  Some of the saturation points we have seen in other growing cities are happening here too.  We have worked with a few self storage companies who would not build in Texas anymore because so many self storage places were built during the Texas boom.  We still feel that most storage units are rented out, but some self storage places could be suffering a little, and a combination of things could be in play here, but too many of any product does not work.  Also some cities limit the number of self storage places one can open, and some of that makes sense.  Is Texas still saturated?  It is hard to say because most people in this industry do not release much information on how many storage units they have rented.  They have some reasons for this.

Austin storage units located in the great place of Texas are busy still.  The properties are still busy places for the storage managers because of all the tasks needed to be done regardless of the amount of rented spaces.  You still have to clean and do paperwork, but most of all; you have to rent storage units to make money.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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North Atlanta storage units have grinded a few locks too.  If you are cutting too many locks in a month, something might be wrong.  Some months we would only cut two or three, and that is more like it.  If you are cutting over ten locks every month, you might be doing something wrong or not enough of something if you know what we mean.  Call your customers and remind them that their self storage bill is due.  A lot of people forget to pay this bill because out of sight equals out of mind.  People do not go to their storage places on a daily basis unless you are in business and use your self storage unit as a storage place you need product from everyday.

North Atlanta storage units will cut locks.  Located in sunny Georgia, we are sure they stay pretty busy throughout the year.  Cutting locks is a function of managers and must be done correctly to be considered a good manager.  Do not mess up this process ever.  Do it right and your life will be better, believe us.  It is a very rewarding business to be in.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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South Beach Miami storage units in sunny Florida share a bond with all the other storage managers in the industry, past and presence.  There is something different about this management job compared to others a person may have had in their lives.  We are proud to have been and still are part of that kinship.  We used to go on conventions with all of us at the same time for seminars and things like that, and we always had a good time together when we all went out.  Some of those managers know how to have a good time and they have a lot of stories to tell if they have been in the storage business for a lot of years.  Some have been managers for forty years and still do it.  They just love it and it shows in that some do not get that burnout feeling others jobs may give you.  People in the self storage industry stay for a very long time, as most will tell you, who are in this industry.

South Beach Miami storage units are in sunny Florida.  Managers do not want to leave this area very much, so long time managers can be found in lots of the storage units around.  Some are of retirement age but boy can they party when they get a chance.  Now we mean good clean fun like doing a polka or square dancing.  We do not know what you were thinking anyway.  They have a lot of energy as this job keeps you on your toes a lot of the time.  WE sure did like our time as managers too.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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Aurora storage units in Illinois are filled up.  They might not be a one hundred percent full, but we know you do not need to be all the way full to make a good profit in this industry.  Some times if you can get your self storage place at least half-full, you can make a profit.  Remember, a business in the United States of America must do two things.  It must survive and make a profit.  Even non-profit business needs money for overhead costs and paying its employees.  No business can escape the ways of a free enterprise system when it comes down to sales people and how good they are.  They are the lifeblood of any business.  You have got to sell the product you are trying to sell.

Aurora storage units need good sales people too, to keep on keeping on.  Walter Payton’s place to eat keeps many people coming to this town and a casino helps too with bringing in people to spend money.  Big time entertainers come to the casino too, and it all makes for a pretty good time in the old city tonight.  One can not forget about down town Chicago too.  One will never run out of things to do there, believe us.  It will make you dizzy to shop and look around.  The prices too may make you dizzy too.  Good luck.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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I travel a lot to see our PhoneSmart clients and to attend trade shows, events and conferences. Even with web conferencing, video chat and the ease of text and email, people still like to get together in person to network, learn and socialize. As a matter of fact, we even created our own PhoneSmart event, our PhoneSmart Hawaii un-Conference, as a way to connect with more clients and friends in the industry.

I was traveling to a self storage association event recently and went to pick up my Hertz rental car from the Hertz center. As you walk in the door to the rental center you pass a row of self service kiosks, where you can check yourself in and get your car assignment. Whoever designed the rental center clearly took the time to position the kiosks so people would walk by them first. The kiosks looked inviting and gave the appearance of being easy to use.

I like using self service for some things. When I fly on American Airlines, I usually check myself in. I fly with them so much that I know all the routines and all the ins and outs. The self check-in process is easy. When I fly on an airline I use less often, I usually go to the counter and talk to a real person, just to make sure I have everything covered.

I have discovered the RedBox for DVD rentals in my local grocery store. It is a great service. My family and I decide we want to see a movie that has only been out a short time. I go online and order the movie in about a minute. It takes about 30 seconds to use the RedBox to pick up the DVD while I am grocery shopping. We enjoy the movie. I drop it off in the morning when I stop to get my morning coffee. Easy to do.

But self service is not the best for everything.

Let’s go back to my experience at the Hertz rental car location. I usually don’t rent from Hertz, so I thought I’d go to the counter and talk to the rep, just to make sure I got everything straight and got the vehicle I wanted. There was quite a line at the counter and there were several reps helping other customers. But I noticed something interesting. No one was using the self service kiosks.

I watched what was happening for a while. The reps behind the counters were all friendly and were chatting a little with each customer they helped. I watched some more. There must have been five or six people behind me, another three or four in front of me and the line was not moving very quickly. Finally one guy stepped out of line and went to the kiosk. He put his credit card or his driver’s license through the swiper. I couldn’t tell which he was using from my angle. He started using the screen. A few minutes passed and he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, turned around and got back in line.

Something in his transaction could not be handled by the kiosk. Something he needed could not be accomplished at the kiosk.

Why is it then that I and a zillion other people love using the RedBox Kiosk to rent a DVD movie, but no one renting a car that day at Hertz wanted to use the self service kiosk?

The lesson is that there are transactions that lend themselves well to self service and others that do not. Low value, uncomplicated, often repeated transactions lend themselves well to self service. This is why ATM machines and online banking do so well for the banking industry. If all the customer needs is to check an account balance, withdraw a little cash, or move funds from one account to another there is no reason to see the teller. There is no value to the customer or the business to have a personal interaction for such a simple transaction.

New purchases or infrequent transactions are not well suited for self service. Renting a storage unit is not a low value, uncomplicated, often repeated transaction. There is tremendous value to both the customer and the business by having that rental be a personal transaction. Most storage customers have never rented storage before. If they have, it may have been several years ago. New customers have questions and concerns. Dealing with these questions and concerns personally educates new customers and assures new customers about their decisions to store. This process increases the likelihood of a successful storage experience, increases the likelihood of a longer stay, and helps to generate referral and repeat business.

There is a tremendous value to new customers created when they deal with someone personally who is friendly and helpful. Most people are storing during a stressful time in their lives. They are often storing things that are near and dear to them. Studies and surveys continue to show that people like to do business with people who they like and who they feel pay proper attention to them.

There also a tremendous value to the business by having a good personal interaction with new customers. If a storage rental was worth two dollars, if would probably not be worth the time, effort and expense of creating a personal transaction. But a storage rental might easily be worth $500 or $1,000 in revenue. And as you know, the asset value of your storage property is based on a multiplier of revenue. Therefore one new rental could easily create an additional $10,000 in asset value. I would hope that you’d agree with me that a $10,000 transaction should not be left to chance. It should be handled personally and handled well.

Some storage operators think they can save payroll dollars by using a kiosk and by trying to drive new rental transactions to their websites. Yes there are people who prefer to do their research and make their buying decisions on line. And there will be some people who will use a kiosk to rent a unit. But this math does not make sense. If a new rental is worth $10,000 in asset value, an employee does not have to rent very many units to pay for their salary. I guarantee you that an employee who knows how to talk to people will outsell a kiosk or a website a hundred to one.

The attempt to make self storage a self service purchase is very short sighted and may end up costing some people their businesses. If your nearest competitor is trying to do all its new business online and with a kiosk, and you are trying to train, coach and motivate your real people to do a better job at sales and customer service, your business will beat the competitor in every measurement category you can think of. Your friendly, helpful store employee, coupled with PhoneSmart’s friendly, helpful call center reps working as back-up will out perform your automated competitor had over fist.

Why? Because people like to do business with people who are friendly and helpful. People like talking to people who know how to talk to them. So your wiser investment would be to help your staff become great at talking to people. How do you do it?

1. The realization. Realize that your most important job is talking to people. Yes all the other aspects are important. But nothing is more important than talking to people. It doesn’t matter what you are talking about…just talk to people. A customer coming in to complain is as good as a customer coming in to pay you a compliment. Talking about the weather with a customer is as good as talking about how to pack dishes do they won’t break. You should seek out conversations. When you take a payment at the counter, start a conversation. When you see a customer on the property, start a conversation. When you are talking to someone on the phone about a new rental, don’t just give information or ask for the reservation, start a conversation.
2. Listen well. A conversation only works when you listen well. Listen for your customer’s concerns. Listen for your customer’s experiences. Listen for their pain. Listen for their joy. Try to intentionally spend 70% of your conversation listening. Then talk about what you heard.
3. Ask good questions. You get people talking so you can listen to them by asking good questions. Who, what, when, where, and why are all very good friends. Use them often to find out more about what your customer is talking about. Use them to find out your customer’s feelings and state of mind.
4. Relate their experiences to you own. If you experienced something similar or knew someone who felt the same way, share that. It helps make the conversation more meaningful and genuine. Remember this conversation is not about you. It is about your customer. It is about how you understand where the customer is coming from and how that customer feels. Remember to listen 70% of the time.
5. If you have a solution relating to storage, offer it. Sometimes buying some boxes, learning how to pack better or renting a second unit will go a long way to help people get better organized, take something stressful off of their to-do lists, or just gain a little peace of mind. When you hear something in the conversation and it seems natural to offer a solution, then offer it. But be real. Buying a box will not solve every problem.

To recap, realize that talking to people is the most important part of your job. Listen carefully to what people are saying and how they are saying it. Ask some good questions to get people talking and to find out more about what they are saying. Relate their experiences to your own, so they know you understand them. When it flows naturally into the conversation, offer them a solution you provide to help them make their lives easier and better.

So the point of this whole story is to convince you that your time and money are best spent helping your people get great at talking to people. PhoneSmart is glad to help you with that. Our call center reps will do a great job talking to your callers and helping you rent more units. Our training and coaching staff will do a great job helping your people sound great and feel great when talking to your customers and your rental inquiries. You can find out more about our services at www.phone-smart.info .

If you want to talk to some really great and interesting people from the storage industry, join us June 7-11, 2011 at the PhoneSmart Hawaii Un-Conference on the beautiful Big Island. I guarantee you that people there will want to talk to you and hear about your experiences too. More information is at www.phonesmart-hawaii-unconference.com.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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You could have an awards ceremony every year where you recognize the top performers at you Crown Heights self storage locations. You can give out awards for many different things. Honor the person who gets the most storage rentals. You should also have an award for best customer service since that is a vital part of your company, as well. You should think up as many awards as you can and get plaques with their names engraved. This is a simple and cost effective away to recognize the people that make your Crown Heights self storage organization great.

You should also cater lunch from time to time. Make sure to announce when you are going to do this so the employees know that they do not need to bring their own lunch. This is a great social event for your Crown Heights self storage employees, as well. A little team unity never hurt anyone in the New York storage industry. Drama can often develop in the office over petty agreements and special events can help keep the team on the same page. At the same time, you could have dinner where everyone brings in a dish. People will feel proud when others ask their recipe for their special dish. You can also bring in donuts or bagels to show appreciation, as well.

A company picnic is always a great way to build team unity. It is nice for employees to be able to include their families so they can introduce them to all of their co workers. They have probably told their families stories from work and now they will be able to put faces to the names. You could have a cook out. You could even have a dunk tank. Some employees may enjoy seeing you go into the dunk tank a little too much, but it will be a good time for everyone. It just shows that you care about more than just storage rentals.

You should always remember that family comes first. Some of your employees may have family responsibilities from time to time and you should respect their needs. A lot of bosses get agree when people miss work for family emergencies. It should be ok for most of the time. If it is a regular thing, then you may need to say something, but do not worry too much about it otherwise. You could offer them sick pay and vacation time that they can use when they need to miss work. That way, they do not lose money while dealing with an occasional family emergency. Being a great storage property owner requires a certain level of consideration for all of your employees.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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One thing that separates one Columbia self storage salesperson from the next is completely reviewing the entire move in cost. This portion of the sales presentation can lose callers if you do not present it correctly or at the right time in the call. With experience you will gain the ability to find the right time to fit this in. Many storage salespeople will just read off all of the costs and this could end the call pretty quick. Here are some real life applications of how to tell the caller about the move in costs.

Before the price reveal, everything should be positive so do not mention anything about move in costs before you give the Columbia self storage caller the price for storage. If you have a special, you could fit the admin fee in right after that. The first month is free so there is no rent on the first month. You initial move in will have a twenty dollar admin fee to get your paperwork squared away. A couple of things are really great about how this was presented. You have a great positive statement with the first month free right before you tell the Columbia self storage about the admin fee. Some storage salespeople may say that they admin fee is on the first month. By saying it is on the initial move in, you are able to separate the admin fee from the first month so that callers will not say that the first month is not really fee. There is the rent and then there is the initial move in, two completely different things.

Tell the caller about your move in costs with confidence. If you are scared of them, then the caller will be, too. If you act like it is no big deal, then the caller will typically not bring up any objections to the move in costs. They are not a big deal because all storage companies in Missouri will have the same move in costs for the most part. Always follow a negative with a positive. The move in costs may vary a little bit from site to site, but they will be the same for the most part. Confidence is important throughout the call. If you tell the caller about the cost of your storage with confidence, then they will more than likely feel that you are offering a great deal to them. If you follow up a great monthly rate with a great special, then you should be able to get the reservation very often.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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When someone comes into your Shawnee self storage site to pay a bill, tell them all of their payment options. Most sites should allow a variety of payments. Payments can be made with credit or debit card, cash, check, or money order. Work with the customer, as well. This may be more of a message to owners as opposed to store employees, but you should accept partial payments because customers will not always be able to pay the full amount. The fact is that most people who are storing are on hard times so money is hard to come by. Running a successful business long term is all about making the customer happy. You do not want to make people angry because word of mouth is an important part of your marketing plan. The only way to have a good public image is to bend over backwards to help the customer out.

As a Shawnee self storage manager, a lot of your store visits will be for moving and storage supplies. A lot of employees in Kansas do not put as much emphasis on selling moving supplies as they do storage. This is not the right approach. As much as twenty percent of revenue can come from moving and storage supplies so you really need to focus on it. It would be the difference between breaking even and making a good profit. Make sure to place the best selling items up front so they are easy to get to. You could feature boxes and locks since they are typically the best selling items. When someone buys boxes from your, make sure to offer them tape and packing material along with it.

Some Shawnee self storage customers will visit your store to check out your business operation. A lot of employees in Kansas feel that the unit is sold when customers decide to visit. This is when you need to do your best selling. This is your chance to really show the customer why your facility is better than the rest. Showcase what your have by showing them around the property. This is when it is important to actually schedule a time when a customer calls in. You can have enough employees so that you can show them around the property and still have someone to watch the phones and the office. You do not want to miss calls when you are showing someone around the property. This will just cost you customers that may be calling in to find out prices.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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One thing that Odenton self storage property owners did wrong was to just run their business in the same way before and after the market crashed. They just went forward with the attitude of business as usual. This is a mistake. Some areas of the country were not hit too hard so this may have been a decent strategy. However, in places where to economy was hit pretty hard, the customer demands shifted a lot. When the economy was rolling right along, the demand for high quality storage units was pretty high. Sure, a lot of people were looking for units that were as cheap as possible. You will always have these customers because people will need storage when they fall on hard times. A lot of companies tried to stay away from this type of customer because it was easier to deal with customers who had plenty of money. They would just design a high tech, state of the art Odenton self storage facility and wait for the money to come rolling in. This worked when the economy was good, but it is not viable during a recession.

In the business world, it is all about the customer. If the customer wants high quality, give them high quality. If the customer wants low cost storage, then give them what they want. Some companies fail because they try to tell the customer what they wait. For example, if the site is in a nicer area in Maryland then you probably should not go overboard with security features. Obviously, install the basics, but you do not need to go overboard. The Odenton self storage market will change from time to time and you should be the first company to react to these changes. The company to change with the times will be successful and everyone else will just be chasing them.

The economy has not completely improved to pre recession levels, but there is not the same fear that there was a couple of years ago. This would be a great idea for an approach for storage. There will always be companies that will be cheaper than you so do not try to compete with them. Their site is not safe or dirty and they will not be around for the long term. There will always be sites that would have better quality than you, as well. You should position yourself right in the middle and really push the value. You should offer quality storage units, but price them so that the average person can benefit from it. There are many more people in the middle class than the upper or lower class, so it would effective to try to set up a facility for them.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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Some people in Kansas who are looking for storage will have fallen on hard times. They may be losing their home, business, or both. They also may be going through the death of someone very close to them. You may want to lower the excitement level a little bit. Also, make sure to listen to the caller so that you do not have an inappropriate response. It could cost you a sale. Some managers have even made this mistake. They ask the caller how their day is going just out of habit. The caller says that their mother died and they say great, what size do you think you need. Great is not the right response, obviously. If the manager had been listening, they would not have made this mistake.

With callers in these bad situations, they may be looking for the best that the Leawood Self Storage industry has to offer in terms of price. You should not preach too much about how great your facility is. Push quality, but do not overdo it. They will think that you are an upscale facility and that is not what they are looking for. You should focus on how low your rates are and a good special if you have one to offer.

There are callers that do not care about price, as much. This is the time to really sell what sets you apart from the rest of the Leawood Self Storage facilities. A lot of people need a place to put their RVs. This would be the time to push amenities. They will be looking for a few different things. If your facility is completely paved, then you should really push that fact. A lot of companies in Kansas have areas of their facility that are gravel. Also, they will be looking for dumping stations and wash bays. These are features that will save them a lot of time if you have them at your facility. It is all about the caller in the Leawood Self Storage business. Find out why the caller needs storage and you will have already won half the battle. You will know what to focus on in order to sell them on your facility.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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Find your target market. As they say, you cannot be all things to all people. This is very true in the storage world. You cannot attract every single type of customer. You need to really focus on one target market and set your facility up to best serve their needs. In order to this, you should do a little research on the area around your Gambrills self storage property. This will give you a little indication of some great kind of customers to market to. If there is a college or university around your facility, you may want to really go after the college students. It is a huge part of the storage market. Students will need storage a lot when they leave for the summer. Some of them live across the country and it is just not feasible to take their things back and forth every summer and winter. Also, students will be in between leases a lot, as well. This will be another time that they will most likely benefit from a storage unit.

If you are going to rent to students, you need to find a way to reach them. You need to advertise your Gambrills self storage in a variety of ways and set up some programs to get the customer into the store. Television, radio, and the newspaper may not be the best way to attract college students. Social networking would be a low cost, and effective way, to advertise to college students. You would also benefit from featuring specials around campus at the right time of the year. Your busiest times will be in December, April, and May. If your focus is on college students, you may do half of your business in those months.

Some programs that you could set up to get customers to your Gambrills self storage facility would be referral programs or special discounts for students. The referrals work because your renters would bring in new renters every year. You would have to impress them, of course, but that just comes down to customer service. Treat customers right and you will continue to grow year after year just from word of mouth advertising alone. Mix in some great marketing in other areas and you will be successful now and for a long time to come. A lot of Maryland storage owners get content after a while and stop growing. You must continue to grow if your business is going to be successful in the long term. A great marketing approach may just be what your business needs more than anything thing this year so make that your focus sooner rather than later.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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The first thing that you can do, here, is make sure that you are not giving yourself away from the very start of your conversation with your customer.  In other words, you do not want to come across as a cold, hard salesperson.  To the contrary, you are going to want to make them feel as though you are their friend, and that you are simply trying to help them solve one of their problems by selling them your product.  If you come across as wanting to get into their wallet, then you are not going to make the sale that you are looking to make.  Really, it is just as simple as that.

Second of all, you are going to want to be sure that you sound nice and happy to be on the phone with your caller.  If they do not think that you are happy to help them, then they are not going to end up trusting you enough to spend any money.  And no, I am not advocating that you inspire false confidence in your callers.  I am merely saying that if you want them to trust you, you have to earn it.  Show them that you care, and show them that you are willing to help them find a solution to their problem.  If you can do that, they you are not going to run into many problems when the time comes to ask them for their credit card.

Moving on, here, you are going to want to be sure that you are giving them the best deal that you can.  When they see that you are ready and willing to fight for them when it comes to the cost of your product, they are going to begin to trust you quite a bit more.  It is when you beat around the bush and do not offer them you special until the last minute that you begin to make them angry at you.  And trust me, you do not want to let your conversation get to that point.  The minute that you do, you know that you have lost them for good.

At the end of the day, reader, you are going to make sales the same way that you make friends.  You are going to have to be somewhat persistent, but not off putting.  You are going to need to control conversations without bulldozing.  You are going to have to be able to deliver information strategically.  That much being said, though, if you are ready and willing to do it, then you are not going to run into any problems when it comes to boosting your sales figures.

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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Self storage management is all about optimally utilizing the resources in hand regarding self storing. Self warehousing industry provides lots of facilities for customer satisfaction by taking his responsibility of proper store space of his valuables and possessions. As such, there is a need for organized running of this industry. Companies dealing in this business, therefore, have to abide by stringent rules and regulations and also have to keep records. Thus, many things depend on the proper running of the self warehousing company. It has to decide about the self storing rates that must be economical so that most of the people can afford the service. It is explicit about its own terms and conditions simultaneously so that business can be carried out without any hazards.

The self warehousing facility offers a unit of appropriate size to the individual with free access to his belongings. Self storage management ensures that the prices of these rented spaces are flexible and can be changed according to the need of a situation. Often a real estate rental deposit is taken at the beginning which is usually refundable. It constantly works upon things that can increase the level of customer satisfaction, like tight security of the goods at store rooms, discounts on services, short term or long term opportunity of keeping items, and many more. Provisions are kept for proper packaging of goods and even renting of trucks for transport. Mobile storing is another service where it gives its client time to unpack his belongings and settle down in his new home.

Self storage management understands the need for advertisement and features to be highlighted upon to be in the competition. Different self warehousing companies have varied ways of presenting themselves before the customers. To boost its productivity it applies latest technology in its operation. Company websites are being created to reach out to more people at the same time while software is used for their smooth working.  Often it allows its client to go for insurance cover of his possessions as a part of the facilities being doled out. The company’s skilled men offer valuable information and suggestions to its clients besides guiding them through formal procedures. Many matters while shifting and re-location cannot be discerned without the help of these professional experts.

Self storage management , thus, works for the client. It is advised that before selecting the genuine self storing company that meets almost all the demands of a person, he carefully compares services provided and their quotes so that money invested can reap greater returns, and hence, cannot be cheated into false negotiations.

Portable Mini Storage

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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The firms that provide chambers for storing items take several different measures for ensuring security to the items stored in them. This is because more than any other aspect the clients are more concerned about security of the items that they had placed in the storehouses. The self storage management of a firm takes the responsibility of handing over the items stored in the storehouses in the same condition in which they were brought to the warehouse. The storehouse operators endeavor to provide security in different areas. There are some major security measures that are commonly taken by all storehouses.

One of the basic measures that the storehouse operators take is to provide personal identification numbers to their all their clients so that no imposters can access their storehouses under their names. Another major security feature is that of having an electronic gate system. The clients are allowed to enter the premises of the storehouses only after they identify themselves at the gates through an electronic code or a biometric identification system. The self storage management also carefully monitors the movement of the clients, the storehouse staff, visitors and any other persons. They use a closed circuit television for the purpose. This television shows the movements of each and every person in a given area of the premises of the storehouse. The movements can be recorded for any future reference.

Generally the storehouse operators allow the storehouses to be accessed for twenty four hours and all the seven days of a week. Some firms have time stipulations. They allow the clients to visit the storehouses only during some hours allotted to them. For example, let us say, six a.m. to five p.m. in the evening. If someone wants to access the storehouses beyond the stipulated time period he has to request the self storage management for permission. Some storehouses allow the clients to access the storehouses several times a day. But each time the clients have to undergo the entire procedure of identifying themselves at the gates if they go out of the premises after entering them once.

Another security measure that is taken by the management of the storing companies is to provide insurance for the items that are kept in the storehouses. The insurance amount is usually one to one and a half dollars per week for thousand pounds weight. One can also take a separate insurance cover for his items if he wants to. People generally take insurance against natural calamities and mishaps such as fire, floods, earthquake, burglary. The self storage management advises the clients on the protection their belongings can be placed under when covered by an appropriate insurance scheme.

Self Storage Business

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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Welcome to our self storage blog a diary of the self-storage industry

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Self Storage Search Engine Finding Storage Faster

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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Web lead generation…

How does it work?

PhoneSmart Your Offsite Sales Solution

Secret Shopping Blog Your inside peek

Self Storage Search Engine Self Storage in Wyoming

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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PhoneSmart Your Offsite Sales Solution

Secret Shopping Blog Your inside peek

StorageMart: Texas Find Storage Near You

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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Found money. .

Bye for now, Tron

PhoneSmart Your Offsite Sales Solution

Secret Shopping Blog Your inside peek

Self Storage Search Engine Finding Storage Faster

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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Some of you are using caller ID systems. Some of you are moving to VOIP services that include caller id and call tracking systems. Here is a note about the missed calls report I just got from a new client with my response.

Tron,

These calls were set to forward to our PhoneSmart line and show up on our phone providers report as “missed calls” – I’m not sure what that means — did you receive them you can match the times the calls came in …. let me know.
Thanks,

Hello ,

Normally the systems that track missed calls register every call sent to us as “missed” since it was not answered at the property.

This is a great report for you to have. Once you are staffed to where you can really mine your phone contacts, you can compare this list of missed calls ( they were forwarded to us) to the leads/reservations and messages we send you.

There are usually about 10% of rental inquiries that do not leave us any information. There is also a small percentage of people who will hang up during the transfer and answer process that we do not get to talk to.

You can identify which callers from your missed call report did not get to talk to us or chose not to leave a message. Some you will recognize as current tenants and they will appreciate a follow-up call from your staff. Others will be people you don’t recognize and then you can call them and tell them , “Hi, I saw you on my caller ID and I just wanted to make sure you got the help you were looking for”. People love a good follow-up call.

Our parent company StorageMart has been using a caller ID +/+ system from Client Discovery for a year at all its locations and they are renting to an average of one person a month per store by combing through the caller id info and matching it to PhoneSmart leads/rezes and messages.

Tron

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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One of the hidden values we bring to the self storage industry is the analysis we do on phone call and rental activity. It is essential to us to be able to anticipate call volume for staffing purposes. Running a call center is all about right-sizing your staff. We also need to be able to track our results to see how our training and selling approaches are working and how consumers are behaving. Our approaches and consumer behavior influence each other to a very great degree. Since this is the busy season, we need to pay particular attention.

June is off to a very good start compared to last year. The first ten days of June gave us better call volume than last year and the demand wave stayed higher than last year. We also saw good rental demand. Our ratio of credit card reservations for the first part of June was as strong as last year. This is a good sign, as credit card “action” has been slower than last year up until now. Many clients have reported to me that they have found their second quarter of ’05 to be weaker than ’04 in net rentals and total move-ins. This indicates that “something is up”.

There were many people being deployed in military actions last year. Home sales were booming and a softness in the economy may have been causing life changing and career changing events for people. This year, home sales continue to stay strong, yet the storage business seems a little soft. So the fact that this June is looking better than last year’s June and the fact that June is looking better than other months of this year, in comparison, has got to be positive.

Of course we are also experiencing the anti-climax of the “middle of the month syndrome”, when we get lots of current tennant calls and fewer rental calls than we had towards the end of May and the beginnning of June. The rush of heavy rental demand at the end of the month in busy season is balanced off by the dissapointment the middle of the month brings. But the end of June is coming along with 4th of July weekend, so don’t fret. The new customers will be flooding your stores and our phone lines again.

bye for now,

Tron

Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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