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

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You should start your storage search sooner rather than later. This is a great time of the year to look for storage because it will busier in just a short time and units will be hard to come by. It would seem as though people think that they can call up the day they need storage and the facility will have the space they are looking for. Unfortunately the most needed storage spaces will be rented first and that could be the space that you are looking for to rent. If you do not get the space that you are looking for then you will end up paying more for a space that you do not need. That typically does not make the person looking for storage happy.

 
Every discount that you can find will put money back in your pocket. If you get a first month free promotion, you should still ask about other promotions. Sometimes a facility manager will tell all about the short term promotion they are running, but say nothing about the long term deal. The more questions that you ask the better, especially when it comes to pricing. If you can save money on a monthly basis, then you can feel assured that you have made the right choice when it comes to storage. Now in the same respect, if a facility has a great monthly cost, but is not giving away free rent, still consider them. If you are storing long term, you will have to do the math to see what the best deal is for you.

 
Every manager will tell you that they have good security. You should schedule a site visit to see for yourself how safe the site feels. Most people will talk a great talk over the phone, but when it comes to what is actually going on at the facility, that leaves something to be desired. When you walk into a facility really look hard and see how everything works. Watch the self storage manager put in the pin code, make sure the door alarms work and any other security feature is in tact before you sign the lease. You do not want any surprises when you move in.

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

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If you move in during the middle of the month, most sites will prorate your move in so that you are going to pay for the remaining days of the month. This is good because you are paying for the time that you are there and not the entire month. It does not really make sense to pay for the time that you are not storing. Prorating your move in days is very helpful to your peace of mind and also your pocket book.

If a site has 1^st of the month billing, they actually will not typically prorate the move out. If you are only there a couple of days, then that could potentially be different. Very rarely you will find that a facility will prorate the move out and you only pay for the time that you are renting. In most cases the facility will ask that you pay for the rest of the month even if you are not there. Not all believe that to be fair, but at the same time, this prevents customers from abusing the self storage facility. Leases are typically month to month so you can leave at the end of your prorated time.

Knowing how your billing works at your self storage facility is crucial. They will not send you a bill unless you ask for one. So just know that you will need to bring your account current each month on the first of the month if that is now it is set up. Before you leave, the manager will make sure that you understand the billing cycle.

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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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 of the best things that you can do for your office is host an occasional potluck.  I mean, when you let all of your workers take a break and enjoy some great food, you are going to see their morale improve rather dramatically.  They get to talk to each other and sample a ton of different foods, and you are hardly going to have to pay for a thing.  Just be sure that you stress the importance of bringing a dish, and you are going to have nearly all of the food provided for free.  Set the date on the calendar, make sure everybody knows by sending a mass email, and you are good to go.  Before you know it, your workers are going to be enjoying themselves tremendously.

Of course, if you would really like to improve their morale, then you are going to provide them with a lunch free of charge.  And really, there are several ways that you can go about doing this.  For one, you can call a catering company and have the food brought to your office.  This is going to guarantee that you are not going to lose much work time, as your workers are not going to have to leave the office to get their lunch.  IF you want to get fancy with it, though, you can take the office out on a little field trip.  You can treat them all to lunch at an actual restaurant and make an afternoon of it.  If you choose to go down this road, then you are going to find that your workers are working a lot harder from then on.  I mean, small perks can go a really, really long way when it comes to improving the overall morale of your office.

Finally, reader, you are not going to want to forget about birthday parties.  While you do not have to fund all of them on the company’s dollar, you are going to want to be sure that your workers are getting the acknowledgement that they deserve.  Send out happy birthday letters, and be sure that you are open to the idea of having a cake in the break room for that day.  A little bit of a party is going to make that worker feel special, and that is always a good thing.

Sure, some of this stuff may seem like a stretch, but if you are not giving your workers an occasional treat, then you are, simply put, a terrible boss.  You do not have to be their best friend, but you should treat them like real people.  They need some acknowledgement once and a while, and you are in charge of giving it to them.

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

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First and foremost, reader, be sure that you are not falling victim to the stalls that your customers are going to deliver.  Most of the time, you  are going to catch them in the middle of their shopping process, which means that it is going to be somewhat hard for you to get them to put the phone down and reserve with you.  This, however, does not mean that you should not be trying to get them to do precisely this.  Enumerated, here, are several of the stalls that your callers are going to use, and the ways in which you should ideally respond to them.

If you caller tells you that he or she has to wait for their significant other, then you are not going to want to be too pushy with them.  Chances are that you are going to offend them if you go too far.  Tell them, here, that your concern is the availability of your units.  You are concerned that if they do not reserve, then you are going to run out of them before they get the chance to make it in.  If they insist upon waiting for their significant other, then there is nothing else that you can do.  Try to get them onto your property for a tour as soon as possible, but do not press the issue any further.

If your customer objects to the price and insists upon calling around, you are going to want to do what you can to be sure that your price is not without its context.  If your caller seems overly concerned with how much he or she is going to be paying when they are at your property, simply explain that you have the best security features that are in the area, and that they are going to be getting a lot of valuable services in exchange for those few extra dollars that they are going to be paying.  If you can make them feel as though they are getting a bargain for their money, then you have essentially guaranteed the sale.  Truly, reader, it is just as simple as that when you really sit down and think about it.

Improving your sales skills is not exactly going to happen overnight, but that does not mean that it is not going to happen, period.  If you are ready and willing to do a little bit of research and practice your objections, then you are going to find that you are able to close many more sales, and that you are not as nervous when you are talking to a nonplussed customer.

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

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However, there are some primary responsibilities of a self storage manager . These are described below.

• The most important responsibility of a manager is to deal with the renting unit or space. He has to enhance the saleability of the warehouse. He should be planning out different types of marketing and advertising strategies to increase the popularity and reputation of the store within that locality. Providing superior client service skill, he has to convert potential customers into permanent renters. The main objective of any store owner is to have more customers and an efficient manager is the most important tool to do that.

• The self storage manager be responsible for any type of help to the customers. He has to solve or answer any problems or queries faced by the clients, in a timely and courteous way. He has to attend the telephone calls also, with a total professional attitude having an objective of converting the telephone inquiries into real life renters. He should always be aware about the service provided by other storing facilities, so that he could compete with them.

• He has to handle aggressive collection practice to maintain the standard of the company.

• He will also be responsible for entering payments, bank deposits, maintaining records and reports and looking after the office room.

Sometimes, on top of all the above duties, a self storage manager is also responsible for running the front office, keeping the facility clean, spraying insecticides, mowing the lawn, doing electrical jobs, maintaining the entry point, working on general mechanical repairs and many more. For many facilities, there are specific service providers for taking care of the lawn, the building, the electrical connections and equipments etc. However, at time of emergency, the manager is the only one, to give primary support. Unless the manager is a jack of all trades, he will not be able to manage all these together.

If you want to succeed as a self storage manager , you should have certain abilities in some specific areas. Some of these areas are telephone and online sales, merchandising and displaying the unit, tenant management, auctions, light maintenance, accounting and record keeping, security processes, computer or storing software etc. A managerial position in a reputed storing facility offers various benefits like medical, dental, vision, paid vacation, paid holidays and bonuses. However, relocation may not be available all the time. No specific education is required for the post, though the incumbent should be smart, energetic and professional.

Many such jobs are available over the internet. If you are interested to start your career in this industry, then you can search the job sites for this type of position.

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

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The responsibilities of self storage managers vary from place to place. Mainly, these are the post of administrative managers, who are responsible for looking after the daily operations of the storing facility. These managers will supervise the other employees of the warehouse. They also have the authority to hire or fire subordinates with the approval of the owner or the director. The senior managers are also responsible for managing the financial aspects of the storing facility. Sometimes, they have additional responsibility to look after the marketing and sales part of the business. Thus, the major part of the responsibilities lies on the shoulders of these managers.

There are various types of positions available for the job of self storage managers . Other than administrative managers, the most common posts are location manager, location assistant manager etc. A location manager is completely responsible for the warehouse. He should be living on site providing whole hearted service to the customers. The location assistant manager post is mainly available at the bigger sized companies. The person should be assisting the location manager by all means. Normally, the storing companies look for smart, dedicated, customer and sales oriented persons for these positions.

The self storage managers earn a lot, in terms of money and benefits. The senior positions are offered a good compensation package, along with different types of allowances. However, these positions require some amount of experience in the industry. Without any experience, you will not be eligible to apply for this post. In case of other positions, experience is not a must, but preferable. Most of the companies pay competitive salaries, commissions and bonuses for these positions. As these posts require the employees to stay onsite, the cost of renting a residence and transportation for commuting to the warehouse can be saved. This amount of savings is another great benefit earned from this profession.

Over the internet you will get to see many positions for self storage managers . To get a list of all available jobs in the storing industry, search the websites. At these job websites, you can apply online with your resume and details of work experience, if any. These job websites will send your application to the respective storing companies. Otherwise, you can also apply directly to the individual websites dedicated for specific storing companies. These storing firms advertise regularly their employment opportunities in their own website. Anyone can apply for these vacancies. If you are energetic, sincere and dedicated to your work, nothing can stop you from reaching the top position in this industry.

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

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Written by Tron Jordheim, Director of PhoneSmart, your offsite sales force. Call Center in Columbia Missouri.

Thanks for reading today’s self storage blog; the truth behind managing and selling self storage.

Your local self storage unit provider in 6401 Third St. Stock Island Key West, FL. 33040

Total Quality Assurance Services Quality Assurance Testing

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

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Welcome to the PhoneSmart call center blog, an inside view of the self storage industry.

Your local self storage unit provider in 2727 Shermer Rd. Northbrook, IL. 60062

Total Quality Assurance Services has Quality Management Services.

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

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Robin Turner, call center manager addresses a training issue of great importance to phone center operators

All of us, at one time or another have had brain freeze… other than from slush.

PhoneSmart Your Source for Lead Generation

PhoneSmart Your Offsite Sales Solution

Property Management Blog The ins and outs of Property Management

Self Storage Search Engine Finding Storage Faster

Self Storage Search Engine Storage in: New York

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

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When It is Okay Not To Be Okay

As I write this blog I want you think what the definition of a “mirror” is. When you look in the mirror what do you see? You see the same thing as you would see on the other side. In a mirror you get what you see, this way there are no surprises nor do you have to worry about seeing something that makes you look funny or something that you feel is too high class for you. The same thing works for when we are on the phones talking to our customers about storage.
Since we are a national call center, our customers are from coast to coast. Like everything else from coast to coast it changes; whether it is the cost of living, the gas prices or even the type of education that is offered. We should keep this in mind as we speak to our customers. Here at PhoneSmart it is ideal to keep the caller in their comfort zone.
In order to do this we should mirror our customers. Of course, it is hard to fake an accent such as presented in the New York, southern, or even Canadian stores but using words like “our”, “here”, and “we” will give the caller the impression that you are talking about a storage unit that is at the facility where they called; which will make them feel comfortable. It is important that the caller feels comfortable so that he or she will not be reluctant to give out personal information or even a credit card number.
To ease the caller’s suspicions or to avoid the caller being hesitant, speak their language. A person may say, “Ma’am, I have a 2 bedroom house that has a sofa, bedroom suite (pronounced suit) to store.” So in return you should say, “Okay I understand that you have … to store, is that correct sir?” pronouncing words the same that they did in their initial explanation of what is needed.

Although in the back of your mind you may want to say home instead of house or couch instead of sofa or even bedroom suite pronounced sweet, or perhaps you are not accustom to using ma’am or sir. But if they used the title with you then it is appropriate do the same with them. Does it really matter how you pronounce it? No, just as long as the caller and you are speaking the same language.

There are times that we may answer the phone and someone uses improper English and says “aint” or “fina” or even use language that is not appropriate for a professional call such as “yeah” or “uh huh”. Again it may be hard to train yourself to use improper English but if they say “yeah” then you should do so as well. Giving the caller a comfortable dialogue will ease their mind and allow them to focus on what their initial call was about… which is storage. If a caller instead tries to concentrate on how we talk or how to mirror us, it may seem as though we are talking “above” them.

My pastor once said that when giving a sermon or talking to a large group of people, you should try to find the youngest person in the audience and base your lecture to them, that way if the youngest member of the audience can understand what you are saying then the most intelligent or advance person in the group can articulate what is being said as well. That way no one in the audience has missed what is being said. This makes the same sense in storage as well, not only through calls but through your everyday life. Try to mirror the person you are speaking to this way this will eliminate the stress of how the conversation is being presented and will allow both of you to focus on what the conversation is about.

Angela

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

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I heard someone once say that the way to win over a customer is to deliver an unexpected gesture at an unexpected time.

When I hear stories from self storage managers about their “secrets of success”, they often revolve around the same theory. One store manger told me that he also stops to check on people who are moving things into their units just to see if they need anything. It takes him just a few minutes to do it.

The people are very appreciative that he cares to check on them. It builds good will. He also ends up selling additional boxes, tape and packing material this way. And he gets to see if someone is storing something that they shouldn’t be storing. The simple act of walking up to the tenant and saying, “Hi. How’s it going? Is there anything I can do or get for you that would make your move-in go a little smoother?” serves so many purposes.

I know many managers who get up from their seat and come out from behind their counters to greet people who come in the store. This is another simple and unexpected gesture that makes people feel special.

Look at your routines and identify the unexpected and well timed gestures you offer your customers. Then keep doing them. And come up with one or two more.

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

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A few days ago I wrote an entry about the lady who left her birth certificate in storage too long. I thought it was a good story because the whole ordeal helped our client catch a door that had been accidentally left unlocked at the property. The lady calling us was the inspiration for this blog entry from Wendy, our evening supervisor. Wendy go to talk to her several times that night.

Wonderful People

A lot of the calls that we take here in the evening are some very nice people! Just joking. Most are pleasant but some are not. The ones I am talking about are those not so pleasant people that call and hear my smiling voice and are still not nice!

I know it is most likely because of their present situation at that time. A lot of the calls we take late at night are people with storage bills they did not pay. They call the store when they are trying to get into their units after hours. They are over-locked and can’t get into the unit. Since the store staff is gone for the day, we get to talk to them.

One particular woman called and knew she was late on the bill. She said she had paid the bill, but could not access her unit. We don’t know if the caller is making up a story hoping that we will find a way to get them in to their units. We don’t know if they actually did pay and there was some confusion in getting their over-lock removed. Or we don’t know if they made a partial payment and the staff was not able to remove the over-lock.

Well I took the brunt of that call for the next 2-3 hours after initial contact. When I had first spoken with her she demanded to speak to someone above me. After I had told her she would need to contact the manager the following day, she got very upset. This is not unusual and we have gotten good at “taking arrows” from callers. She was leaving for a trip and needed her birth certificate to leave the country. So I passed the call on to my superior who had resolved the issue with her or so we thought.

Two hours later she called back and got to speak with another agent here. Again she demanded a supervisor. So at that point I got on the phone with her and tried as hard as I could to get through to her but it was to no avail. I got cussed out yet again. At least in the midst of her cussing she did apologize. To my surprise! Most people cuss me out and do not apologize. They often don’t admit that they had a hand in causing their current difficult situation. But anyway, I did the best I could do for her situation, which she realized towards the end of this horrid call.

So I endure to take another phone call from another person who is mad at me because she didn’t pay her bill and is now locked out, just minutes from the one I just told you all about. I smile and go on as if the next caller will be a little more pleasant.

Wendy

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

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I have found that a lot times when a client signs their stores with PhoneSmart services, they neglect to tell the store managers they have done so. A lot of times in these instances, store managers become alienated where PhoneSmart is concerned. This is not a good thing. I believe when managers became suspicious of PhoneSmart and possibly even angry with PhoneSmart, they only do so because they feel like they weren’t told because we are there to sneak in and steal their job.

It has been my experience that managers that weren’t told sometimes feel like they weren’t told because someone higher up in their organization doesn’t think they are doing their job sufficiently and just aren’t telling that manager. Again, not a good thing.

This is simply not the case. I believe PhoneSmart is a valuable tool that can and should be used to make the manager’s live easier and of course, to create rentals. We want to be an ally for the manager, not an enemy. Our clients hire us to be the manager’s ally and to help the manager rent more space. But this is not always communicated down the line.

When new stores come on our service, we do what we call a, “Manager Buddy Call” with each store manager. The purpose of this call is to introduce ourselves, check screen accuracy, go through website and voicemail instructions, and to answer any questions the manager may have at that time. We call this a, “Manager Buddy Call” because we want to be just that! We want to be the manager’s, “Buddy”. We want them to know they can count on us and we are here for them.

However, if the manager we are calling has not been informed that we are going to help them out with their roll-over calls, they sometimes feel like we are telling them what to do. Simply because they were left out of the loop.

It is my opinion that whenever a store is signed up for PhoneSmart services, one of the first things that should be done on the service purchaser’s end is to tell the manager what is going on. That way, when we call to do our “Buddy” call, the store manager is more likely to say, “Oh yea, I’ve been waiting to hear from you.” Rather than, “Why are you calling me? No one told me about this. I need to make sure this is approved before I answer any questions!”

In short, being any ally for the store manager is one of PhoneSmart’s main goals and any lack of communication on the service purchaser’s side may interfere with this goal.

Help us do our job while we help your staff do theirs.

Thanks, Liz

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

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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

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

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