Under Fire

I have been in the self storage industry for a little over 6 months. I have taken a lot of calls and talked to hundreds of different types of people. All of them have a different reason for calling. I have had to deal with angry, frustrated, distraught, and many other types of callers that contact our call center. I have also talked with many managers along the way. I have learned that technology can sometimes be frustrating.

Technology has come a long way in this business. We have evolved from regular storage units to climate controlled. There are now companies that bring the unit to your home. We also have software to allow the managers to update their screens and alert the call center of how many units are left on site. However, there are sometimes hang ups in the communication.

I received a call one day from a manage who couldn’t update their screen and they were frustrated because they had changed the screen the night before. The computer would not do what they wanted. How many times have we tried to figure out things and it turned out to be some little thing we overlooked. This was a big issue for a huge client and emotions were high.

I was under fire and could have lost control. At that time I was in the role of customer service specialist. It was my job to find a solution for this manager and help calm the situation. With the help of my team members I was able to get the manager the instructions he needed to update his site. The important thing to remember when dealing with clients or the actual customers is that in both situations you are still serving as a customer service rep.