Not cold till they are freezing

Welcome to the self storage blog, PhoneSmart’s diary of the self storage business.

One of the StorageMart managers faxed me over the notes on the reservation form from a rental he just wrote. Sometimes we assume that if people don’t rent from us right away, we will lose them. I always tell people you have to stay on top of leads like white on rice until they either rent from you or tell you they don’t need storage. Of course it needs to be done in a caring, respectful and professional manner.

The reservation was made on June 19th without any particular clues as to the customer’s needs or priorities. Just a name and a phone number. The first note from the manager on the sheet said “Called 6-20 11:00 am. Got Nextel customer unavailable message”. The next note was from 3:08 on the same day. Same result. Customer unavailable.

The next note was from 6-22. It said, “Customer called to cancel. Her military unit will not be transferred. No longer needs storage.”

The next note was from 6-24. It reads, “She called back and just got orders to deploy and WILL need the unit.”

The last note was from 6-25 and showed “Rented” and the lease number.

Yes fate stepped in and caused this person to need the unit after all. But she could have rented anywhere. But I bet she rented here, because she liked the people she talked to on the phone the first time she called, she appreciated that the store showed up on her caller ID, trying to follow-up, and she liked the way the store manager treated her on the phone when she talked to him in person.

However, without all the pieces of this puzzle, she may have rented somewhere else. Make sure your rental efforts keep tabs on prospects until they rent from you.

bye for now,
Tron

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

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