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  • The Art of the Self Storage Phone Call
    By jeff on January 21, 2011 | No Comments  Comments

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    A lot would claim that being great at Southcrest Estates storage sales is an art. There is a science to the process, though. Through proper practice, you can develop a great sales call and will see the sales start flying in. Remember to try different things. For most salespeople, it is difficult to give the same storage pitch day after day. What works for one month may not work for you next month. Because of this, you may want to find a way to mix things up. Some people may prefer to say things in a different way. There is a lot to be said about saying the same thing over and over in a mildly different way. It can be the difference between average results and achieving greatness.

    It could be just changing how you approach the Southcrest Estates storage calls. Try to focus on acting slightly differently. There are only a handful of approaches that you can have. This month, you should try to be as calm as possible on your storage calls. As always, make sure that you are enunciating your words very clearly. This is a key in phone communication. The caller needs to understand what you are saying so make sure that you are speaking clearly when you talk with them. A calm demeanor can be effective because there will be no pressure on the caller. They will be relaxed and should be more receptive towards hearing what you have to say. This will give you the opportunity to explain why you offer the best experience in the Southcrest Estates storage area.

    With a calm approach, you really need to be assumptive when asking for appointments and reservations. This is key. When you speak calmly, it does make it easier for the Southcrest Estates storage caller to say no to you. Do not ask them if they want to reserve. Tell them that you are going to reserve the space for them. Some may find it helpful to say lets do this before announcing what you will do. This would imply that you and the caller are in this together and you are trying to help them out. They will not feel like you are just trying to sell them something even though you are. Have confidence in your Southcrest Estates storage units. You should feel like you are the best in Ontario or anywhere.

    One of the dangers in speaking calmly is that they may not hear everything that you are saying because they are not paying attention. The best way to combat this is to keep the caller involved in the conversation. Everyone in Ontario likes to talk about themselves. Everyone in the world likes to have someone listen to them. To get them talking you will need to ask a lot of questions. You could ask them what they are storing or when they need the space. You could ask them what they are looking for in a storage facility. Ask them quick questions that will provide you with information and will get them talking. This is when open ended questions really will come in handy and prove very useful. Closed ended questions are going to come into play later in the call when you are trying to get them to commit to coming in and renting with you.

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  • Selling Storage After the Price Reveal
    By jeff on January 12, 2011 | No Comments  Comments

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    The storage call can be complex and mystifying to some. You can simplify it by breaking it down into parts. There are seven key steps to follow in the perfect Six Points storage call. All of them are important. Think of it like a building. Without a good foundation, the building would not stand and would just collapse. If you build the structure with cheap materials as fast as you can, a strong wind could blow the building over. Without a good roof over your building, a storm could flood and ruin the building. Each step is important. You have just revealed the price and it is time to move on to the next step.

    After you reveal what the price is, you do not want to just leave silence in the air. The Six Points storage caller may say thank you and hang up. You want to immediately transfer to the reservation or ask for some info. This will be a good way for the customer to say yes without even knowing it. After the price, you could ask when they wanted to come in. Do not leave it open ended. A lot of managers in Ontario will leave it opened ended. The caller will say that they are shopping around and will call back if you leave it open ended like that. Give them an either or. Ask them if they would like to come in today or would tomorrow work better. This will give them an option, but each choice is a good option for you. They will usually just pick one.

    Once they agree which day would be good you should have some type of positive affirmation. Just say great and ask them what time would work best. Once again, do not leave this open ended. Ask if morning or afternoon would work better or give them two different times. If they answer this, this will give you unspoken permission to ask the Six Points storage caller their information. You will want to get their name and a good contact number. Do not ask permission. Just say let me get your name so that I know who you are when you come in. Just in case, you should get a good contact number. Most everyone in Ontario will give you their info and this point.

    This is a good time to go through a brief recap. You should verify a few things with the Six Points storage customer. This will ensure accuracy when they come in to see the site. You should verify the size and type of space that they want. You should also verify the price so that there is no confusion later. You can then go through what it would take to get set up. There may be an admin fee at most Six Points storage locations. This will cover any set up costs for them. Let them know it is necessary and is only applied to the first month. If you have not given the special away by this point in the call, this would be a good time to throw it out there. They will need a lock and tell them about any insurance plans that you may offer. You do not want to go into too much detail about insurance until they get there, though.

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  • Selling Self Storage and the Price Reveal
    By jeff on January 4, 2011 | No Comments  Comments

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    To become good at selling Scarborough storage is a learning process. If you are new to the industry, it may be a little daunting. You just want to make sure that you stay patient. The goal should not be to be the best in Ontario right away. The goal should be to get better each and every day. Try to find something that you can improve on. Also, you will need to gain knowledge. You will need to gain the knowledge and then apply it. Some people may want to help out the new salesman but most people want to talk with someone who knows what they are talking about. There are many articles on information that you will need to know in the world of storage. This article will focus on phone sales.

    A phone sales Scarborough storage call can be broken down into steps. You will need to have a positive greeting. This will set the tone for the call. You need to find out what they want. You need to acknowledge that you are able to help them with their request. After that, set the agenda for the call. Let them know why you are asking questions. This will keep the caller from getting anxious and let them know why you are not just quoting prices right away.

    After you find out what they need, make a recommendation. If they want a different size storage or type than you recommended, let them have their way. The Scarborough storage customer is always right and it is all about them. Next, you will need to quote them a price. Speak with confidence at this point in the call if at no other time. The price may be high for you, but speak with confidence and let them know that this is a great rate for the Ontario area. This will mean a lot. It will let the customer know that you know what the rates are in the area. They may be shopping around and this may make them stop and take notice of what you have to offer. A lot of people that are shopping around are looking for an excuse to not have to shop around. They are just calling around because someone else wanted them to. After all, there are many Scarborough storage properties so that could be a very long, boring process.

    After the price reveal, you can either give away the special or you may choose to save it for the close. You just have to kind of read the customer. It is harder to do this over the phone than in person so you will really have to pay attention. It may be helpful to close your eyes so that you are able to focus on the call better. Make sure to speak slowly during this portion of the call because there is a lot of important information. If they are calling a lot of Scarborough storage properties, they may be tuning you out to some degree so speak slowly but in an entertaining way. You could try to change your tone of voice and pitch. Do not speak monotone because you will put them to sleep. Some sellers like to speak low for a moment and then get excited about a price or special to give it greater impact.

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  • Operating a Successful Storage Facility
    By jeff on December 29, 2010 | No Comments  Comments

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    Marketing can be easy. It is as hard as you make it. If you are operating a facility in the Pickering storage industry, you may be making a few mistakes from a marketing standpoint. You want to make sure that you realize who your target market is. You may want to look at renting to the customers who are looking to find the lowest possible price in Ontario or you may want to shoot for quality. There are high end renters, but they are not always going to fill up your storage units. The problem with going with the lowest priced storage is that you facility will have quality issues. You will have to deal with complaints and some situations that are unpleasant. The best thing would be to probably shoot for a site in between the two. However, there is a way to make money at all three levels.

    Marketing is much more than just advertising. However, advertising your Pickering storage property is very important. Twenty years ago, the options were pretty simple. You could advertise on Ontario radio or television. You could also advertise in the phonebook, magazines, or the newspaper. The best advertising will be word of mouth, but that could take a while. You need to supplement that will other channels of advertising. Also, without a channel of advertising, you may never have the initial customers to spur word or mouth advertising. You need to get an initial customer base. You will also need to impress the customers that you have.

    In order to make customers happy, you may need to do some things that you do not want to do as a Pickering storage manager. You may need to waive a lot fee once in a while. You may need to offer a discount on the rent if the customer has a bad experience. For example, the customer is locked out due to a malfunction in the system. This would be a time that some money off may save the customer. You do not want to lose customers due to things like this. They will tell a lot of people about the bad experience the next time they talk with them. Referrals are an important part of the business. You may want to set up some type of Pickering storage referral program.

    In todays world, you will need to explore some other channels of advertising. The internet may be the most cost effective way to advertise. You may see a better return on your investment. You will also need to understand the social networking aspects of the internet or hire someone who does. It is not enough to just put an ad in the phonebook like it used to be. The point is to get the word out as to why you have the best Pickering storage property.

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  • Effective Self Storage Management
    By jeff on November 30, 2010 | No Comments  Comments

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    There are a couple of different approaches that you can have to be the best in the Milton storage industry. You can be successful with both. You should evaluate the different approaches and decide with style would benefit you the most. As a storage owner, it all falls on you. If your Milton storage company is not doing things the right way, then that is your fault. The process is actually pretty simple.

    The first approach is the classic approach to management. You can rule your company with an iron fist. It is the fear management style. Your employees will do their jobs because they are scared of you or they are scared of losing their jobs. This may be effective because we are in a down economy so the job probably means a lot to the employee. You will need to make sure that you have someone who is a shoulder to cry on as a right hand man. You will then just play a good cop, bad cop scenario. Your Milton storage company may run smoothly this way.

    The problem with this approach is that employees will tend to do things the right way when you are around, but do not when you are not. This is a bad problem because they obviously are performing their jobs for the wrong reason. They should be focused on why they are doing things in the first place. They are there for the Milton storage customer. The customer is all that matters when you are trying to build a successful company. You should try to explain this to the employees and you should see positive results.

    The worst approach you can make is to try to be friends with the employees. There are many Milton storage owners that make this mistake. It is the complete opposite problem as above. If the employees consider you a friend, that may be good for your self esteem but they will not respect the fact that you can discipline or fire them. They need to know that you mean business, but they need to respect you. When a boss who tries to be the employees friend tries to discipline them, the results are usually not good. They may talk back which means that they do not respect you. You need to draw that line.

    Many Ontario storage owners do things the right way. They are involved and passionate. They separate themselves with the employees but handle things in positive way. Employees may not like it when they are disciplined, but they will understand why they are being disciplines. This will require you to explain the right way to do things and why you demand it. If you are passionate about the job, then they will pick up on that. Your employees are a reflection of you, after all. This is not easy. You will need to wake up everyday and be motivated to your job as an Ontario storage owner. A lot of owners have trouble keeping their focus. One month they are focused on attracting new customers and the next month it is something else. Make sure to try not to micro manage everything that the employees do and focus on the big picture. Know what you are focused on and stick to the basics.

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  • Quality Customer Service in a Self Storage Environmen...
    By jeff on November 25, 2010 | No Comments  Comments

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    Your employees and mangers are the communication of your Milliken storage company message to the customer. Thus it is vital that they are doing the right thing when you are around or not. You can verify this by hiring a company to do secret shopping. If you find that your employees are doing the things the wrong way, it may be you who is to blame. As a Milliken storage owner, it is up to you to make sure that they know the right way to do things. A lot of owners will discipline employees when their actions may have been preventable with proper training.

    For a lot of people, it is not what to do but why. Employees need to know why they are doing something in order to consistently do it. The management style of fear may not be the best approach. You cannot be a soft owner, but there is a time and place to put your foot down. Telling employees to do their job or they will not have one is not going to yield consistently positive results. There is a better way. A little education can go a long way. It is important for them to do things a certain way to attract and retain Milliken storage customers and it is important for them to know why.

    The whole process starts with the greeting. This applies to not only phone calls, but also customers that walk into your store. When a current Milliken storage customer comes in to pay a bill, they should have a positive experience. As soon as someone sets foot in your store, they should be greeted warmly and acknowledged. Think about it. A lot of big time successful companies hire people to stand by the entrance to do just this so it must work. It does work and it does mean something. It is pretty simple. When someone walks into your store, just say hello and ask them if you can help them. This will result in a positive customer experience. You need to have a lot more positive than negative experiences or your company will not be around for long. There is much more competition in Ontario than there used to be.

    Every Milliken storage owner may already know this, but they do not have a system in place to ensure that this is taking place. It is all about communicating the message to your employees. You need to be a people person or hire someone who is in order to get the message through. If a customer likes the manager, then they are more likely to rent. If the manager likes and respects you, then they are going to be more receptive to what you are telling them. Teenagers who do not like their parents do not put much stock in the advice that their parents may have for them. It kind of works the same way even though it a completely different type of relationship. However, it does show the importance of having a family atmosphere in your company. This will help make you better at handling customers than the other Ontario storage facilities. There are other articles that further explain the importance of a family atmosphere in more detail. They also explain how to achieve this goal.

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  • Greet Every Self Storage Customer With a Smile
    By jeff on November 17, 2010 | No Comments  Comments

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    You probably spend a lot of time and money making sure that your Marywood Meadow storage facility has a good image in the community. This is tough because most customers will not tell their neighbors right away about every good experience that they have. However, they will rush out to tell everyone about a bad experience that they have. Some problems are unavoidable, but most are preventable. Most problems stem from bad customer service from your manager or employee. Either way, it all falls on the manager which actually falls on you. It is necessary to let your managers know just how important good customer service is.

    You can have seminars if you like. You could call each manager weekly to see how things are going. Whatever you do, just do something. A lot Marywood Meadow storage do not do anything in terms of preaching the company message. You need to check in to see how they are doing certain things. The last thing your company needs is a rebel, someone who does things their own way. It all starts with how they greet customers. When the phone rings, they should answer the phone in a certain way. It should be upbeat and include three basic things. It should have your Marywood Meadow storage name, their name, and an offering of assistance.

    You should check in to see how they are answering the phone. You could hire secret shoppers to see how they are presenting your company to the public. This is not a witch hunt. You are not trying to find out who is doing things wrong to fire them. After all, turnover is something that could cost your Marywood Meadow storage a lot of money. The training alone can send some companies out of the black and into the red. You are simply trying to find ways for your company to improve. If someone is doing something wrong, help them to get better. If someone does a good job, jump in and be the first to pat them on the back.

    Many people are just looking for recognition that they are doing a good job. A lot of your employees dedicate themselves to your job and it is a slap in the face to reward an employee that does not care just the same as they are. If someone is doing a good job representing your Marywood Meadow storage company, then you should reward them accordingly. Some owners in Ontario may feel that is fair and equal to reward everyone the same when you are able to give a raise. However, this neither fair nor equal and may anger some of your more dedicated employees. This is a bad situation. Of course, this would require that you have a finger on the pulse of your company. This will mean that you need to be a proactive manager so that you know who is responsible for the success of your company. You cannot play favorites. A lot of storage companies in Ontario make this mistake and is easily avoidable. The manager and the employees of the storage are your marketing department when a customer walks in the door. That is the only thing about your company that matters when a customer is considering doing business with your storage company.

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  • Manage Your Self Storage Facility Efficiently
    By jeff on November 11, 2010 | No Comments  Comments

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    A lot of Markham storage owners make everything way too complicated. It is not that difficult to run a successful storage company. You just need to make more money than you spend. You just need to add more customers than you lose. There are many things that can make you lose a good customer. Some of them are inevitable and you should not spend any time beating yourself up over it. Unfortunately, there are a lot of storage customers in Ontario that are lost that are very preventable. The main thing that can cost your company customers is rude employees.

    When you do your hiring, you will want to make sure that you get just the right candidates. It would be wise to offer a little better pay than the average Markham storage facility so that you attract the right people. You want to find managers that are committed to the job and see it as a career opportunity. It should be more than a job to them. If they are personally invested in the job, then they are more likely to take necessary actions to present your company in a positive light when talking with customers. The turnover for managers should be very low. That is why it is vital to find career oriented managers and you cannot accomplish this by offering cheap wages. A lot of Markham storage owners may feel that they cannot afford to pay their managers anymore, but they really cannot afford not to. A happy employee will make ten times the money that a disgruntled employee will make.

    The little things are important when managing a store correctly. One of the keys is showing up on time. There are a lot of people that you may hire that are not very punctual. There may not be a more important thing than finding an employee that is on time everyday. Not eighty or ninety percent of the time, but one hundred percent of the time. You have store hours for a reason. It is hard to think of any companies that are successful that do not open on time. A retail store could not get away with this and your Markham storage company will not be able to either.

    There are many reasons that opening time are important, but just to touch on a few. Moving into a storage unit takes a lot of planning on the part of your customer. It is hard to plan when you do not know the when the manager will decide to show up. Even if they are great Markham storage salespeople, it is unacceptable for them to show up late. For example, someone may have rented a truck that needs to be returned at a specific time. They also have hired movers to help. The movers get paid regardless. Also, they are trying to move in before they have to be at work. If the manager is late, then they are in a very bad spot. They may even decide to visit another facility as Ontario has quite a few that could probably match the quality that you are offering. Competition is stiff so you better make sure that each customer feels important. Another simpler example is someone who is showing up to look at a few units. They will not wait long before they go somewhere else.

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  • Developing Your Storage Company’s Image
    By jeff on November 1, 2010 | No Comments  Comments

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    Developing a company image is a process that takes a lot of time and money. Well, developing a good strategy, that is. Developing a bad image is pretty easy. All you have to do is to treat your Maple storage customers poorly. Before long, you will not be bothered by those customers anymore because they will be gone. A lot of time and money is spent on getting new customers, but a lot of Maple storage companies do not focus on the customers that they have. It is important to make sure that your current customers are happy with the service that you provide.

    There may have been a time when you did not have to treat your customers with much respect. After all, there were not that many Maple storage companies. Now there are many options is Ontario so you need to differentiate yourself from your competitors. This starts at the top of your organization. You need to preach customer service every waking moment in order to get everyone on the same page. This is how it works. Think of the passion that you want your employees to have towards customer service. Now multiply that times ten. The reason that you have to do this is simple. The further down the company ladder that you go, the more the message is going to get watered down. That is why you have to go the extra mile to get the message throughout the company.

    This is something that you must speak about everyday of your business life. It is not something that you can just focus on when the quarterly reports come in. It would be helpful to focus on this when you are developing your company mission statement. Make sure that your mission statement defines your company now and in the future. It also needs to explain how you plan to take your Maple storage company from point A to point B. Before long, you will reap the rewards and you will see your company profits grow consistently each quarter. The whole process is actually pretty simple. Add more customers than you lose and the math will take care of itself. As simple as this sounds, it is amazing how much more focused Maple storage companies are on getting new customers than doing the necessary things to keep their current ones.

    To some this may seem very basic. Business is really all about doing the basics, though. So many companies in Ontario, in storage and in other fields, do not do the basics. As a small company, it comes very naturally. For example, a one store company that has just started up treats every phone call like an opportunity and will bend over backwards to help out the current customers in any way that they possibly can. After the company expands and more stores open, this seems to stop. You find something that works and then you quit doing it. Dance with the girl that brought you. If it aint broke, dont fix it. There are sayings describing what you should do. It is nothing fancy. Just do the little things better than your competitors and you will get to where you want to be faster than they will. There are other articles that talk about what some of those basics are and how to identify your weaknesses.

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  • Spending Your Storage Facility’s Ad Budget Effe...
    By jeff on October 29, 2010 | No Comments  Comments

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    When you are looking to advertise your Malvern storage facility you will need to determine the best channels. The better that you do at this stage of the process, the more efficiently you will spend your money. If you advertise on channels that very few people in Ontario will see, you will waste money unnecessarily. You may want to consider hiring a marketing consultant company to get the most bang for your back. Of course, this would only apply to Malvern storage companies that have multiple facilities to get enough return to warrant the investment in such an endeavor.

    The classics still apply. You will want to get an ad for the phonebook. It does not have to be anything too fancy, but you may want to consider taking out a full page ad. It is amazing how many extra people you will get to call your facility because you have the biggest ad. It is not clear what the exact philosophy is behind this, but it works. If something works, there is no need to second guess it. Finally, you will want to attach an attractive special to the ad. Many people shopping for Malvern storage will be attracted by a free truck or free months worth of rent.

    Another good place to place an ad would be on a billboard. There are some places that this is more productive. To this day, people will still base important buying decisions based on what is familiar. The fear of the unknown will stop people in Ontario renting faster than just about anything. Do not be the Malvern storage company that nobody knows about. You need to make sure to put the billboard in a high traffic area. Some people will see this ad everyday. You need to put something that will describe your company effectively. Make sure to spend a lot of time figuring out the best way to create your companys message in a simple statement. There are other articles that focus on how to create an effective slogan.

    Television and radio are an effective channel of advertising for your Malvern storage company. Make sure that you understand the cost and the benefit before you commit to this endeavor. It can be very costly to advertise on these two channels so you will want to make sure that it is done right. This is another instance where it may be helpful to bring in outside help to ensure that the advertising is effective. Once again, you want to make sure that you have a direct, effective communication of why your storage facility is different.

    These are traditionally the options that you will find for advertising. The newer forms would include everything that has come about because of the internet. Social networking sites have proven to be a very effective way to advertise and they are going to cost a lot less in most case. That is the way it is for now. This could change in the future as more and more companies are advertising in this way. You just need to decide what is right for your storage company. It also depends what level your company is at. You may not be quite ready for the big time, but just stay focused and keep building a good reputation by taking care of your customers.

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