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Written by Kay Johnson PhoneSmart call center blog editor, and business blog writer.

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

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Welcome to the PhoneSmart blog, an insider diary of the self-storage industry.

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.

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Welcome to the slef storage blog, our self storage diary. Today’s self storage blog comes from Angela, one of our sales reps. She has been taking self storage calls for a long time in our call center and has talked to people all over North America.

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

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Welcome to the Self storage blog, our window into the world of self storage.

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.

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Welcome to the self storage blog, PhoneSmart’s diary of our day to day experiences in the world of self storage.

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

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Don’t Shoot the Messenger

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

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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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