The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced in June it would commit $1 million to green building research. The money will be used to investigate change mitigation, the business practicalities of green building and more.

What does this mean for the property management industry? More options. Maybe the next time you and your contractors are discussing development, green building design will be a major topic of discussion.

No one can really argue against working for the environment, however convincing owners and investors that green design is worth the initial cost can be difficult. The key is convincing project leaders, who focus on staying within budget, that green buildings can, in fact, make the money back over time in energy and other savings. The money committed by the USGBC will help discover just how far green designs can stretch a dollar.

Green buildings also offer the luxury of lifestyle benefits many large cities lose as high-rise buildings go up. Foliage and water often play an intricate part in green practices. The relaxing ambiance of Mother Nature will draw tenants to green living.

The money pledged by the USGBC will help developers in the property management industry move towards more efficient green practices in construction, renovation and operations, which will bring improvement to our health and environment on a larger scale.

Written by Sarah Little, TQA Account Executive

Thanks for reading our property management blog. We offer sales training and quality assurance to the property management industry.

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If you’re a movie star, you may believe in the phrase, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. However, in the property management industry you know nothing could be farther from the truth.

How many vendor decisions were swayed one way or the other by a word-of-mouth experience you heard from some one else? Most businesses look at the integrity of a vendor and even their tenants before signing the dotted line.

So how do you overcome bad publicity, or bad word-of-mouth? You stop it before it starts. If your client, tenants or even vendor has a bad experience with you, do what you can to rectify the situation. It’s my belief that when your customer is unhappy and you go out of your way to make them happy, they’ll value your service all the more. To a reasonable extent, we all know things don’t go as planned, so some error is understandable. Owning up to it, apologizing and then fixing the problem is the best way to ensure you maintain a positive image.

Written by: Sarah Little

Thanks for reading our property management blog and inside view of the self storage and property management industries.

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I have written a few mystery or secret shop blogs from the aspect of a shopper.  I have put myself in the position of the person who is being shopped and this is how I feel about being shopped.

It is nice to know I’m being shopped while the shop is being conducted because then I am able to turn up the juice and be on my p’s and q’s with the customer.  Unfortunately, it is not easy to tell when I am being a shopped. Therefore, with customers I am as professional as I can be and always greet them with a smile, whether it is in person or over the phone. My voice is upbeat and filled with eagerness to help the customer. I do not make my customers feel as though they are disturbing me.  I treat each caller of mine as if they were going to spend a million dollars with the company that I am representing.  I am patient and calm and make them feel as though they are the most important person, and at that time they are.  Also, with all of my customers I am friendly and helpful at all times. With each customer I always try to offer assistance or a solution even if it is something that I can not solve immediately.  I try to offer a solution of some sort.  This way the customer will feel as though I have done or made a suggestion to help them. 

Although it may not be in my area of expertise, I still try to accommodate to the customers needs by making a suggestion or even helping the customer to the best of my ability.  At the end of each call, I remind the customer of my name and that I am here to assist them in any way. Before giving my name to the caller I do make certain that the customer does not have any other questions or if I can further my assistance to them.  By doing these simple things while I am with a customer I am sure to pass any and all mystery shop evaluation with flying colors!!  This should be done with each and every customer. 

Written by Angela Perry

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog. We go behind the scenes of the secret shopping industry.

PhoneSmart is your offsite sales force and call center in Columbia, Missouri.

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If you’d like to be a guest blogger, send your entry for consideration to Sarah Little, Blog Editor.

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When was the last time you had a sales training session with your self storage managers or property managers? With the many daily tasks they have, sales training sometimes keeps being put off until tomorrow; this could be the biggest mistake you make in your property management business. After all, new customers and sales are what keep you in the green. If your managers aren’t equipped to overcome a customer’s concern, then the customer will walk out the door with that concern (and not a key to your self storage/ apartment unit).

PhoneSmart is the perfect reason why you don’t have to put it off any longer. We can train your sales team and create an ongoing monitoring/ coaching program to keep your sales team in tip-top shape. Call us today and ask for Tron Jordheim, PhoneSmart Director.

Written by Sarah Little, TQA Executive

Thanks for reading our property management blog and journal of the property management industry.

PhoneSmart is your offsite sales force and call center in Columbia, Missouri.

Rent self storage at P.O. Box 1213, Skippack, PA 19474

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Self Storage Owner — Where Self Storage Owners meet Self Storage Customers

If you’d like to be a guest blogger, send your entry for consideration to Sarah Little, Blog Editor.

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Hi, I need to hire some movers. How much does your moving service cost?

At first glance, it seems obvious that this person is in need of some movers. But when you take a closer look there are some holes to the story. Why do they need movers? When are the moving? Where are the moving? Are they moving everything they own or just a few things? Will they leave some of their belongings behind? Will they need to move again soon or is this move permanent for a while? The questions could become endless.

It’s important to realize that in sales, How much does this TV/Car/Laptop/House/Self Storage Unit cost only means that the customer doesn’t really know the right questions to ask. It’s up to the salesperson to determine which model, size, etc suites them best.

So when a prospect calls your facility and says, How much are your boxes? You should tell them and then say, do you have a place to store those boxes or would a storage unit be more convenient for you?

Written by Sarah Little, TQA Executive and Blog Editor.

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog. We offer sales training and quality assurance to the self storage world.

PhoneSmart is your offsite sales force and call center in Columbia, Missouri.

Rent a storage unit at 5407 Locust Ln, Harrisburg, PA 17109

Find your next car storage, boat storage  or self storage at your StorageConcierge – Your premier national and local self storage search engine and free quote provider.

If you’d like to be a guest blogger, send your entry for consideration to Sarah Little.

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It’s the beginning of a new month, that means we start our secret shopping cycle all over again. This month is promising a lot of growth for the TQA. I’d like to credit all that growth to myself, but it’s probably more honest to say that the temperature in the self storage market is pressuring owners to capture every prospective renter.

Self storage owner/operators need to find a way to out-sell their competitor. The best plan of attack is to begin PhoneSmart’s comprehensive sales training. We’ve broken the mold on secret shopping and have begun offering sales training management.

This comprehensive package is much like an all-inclusive stay at a resort in that we take care of everything from hiring, to training, to monitoring, to coaching and evaluating your employees’ sales performance.

It’s the newest self storage and property management trend we’ve seen at PhoneSmart. Corporations see the need for consistency and accuracy throughout their sales team. They understand the value each customer has and they realize that PhoneSmart maximizes each prospect to their fullest potential.

If you find yourself out of time at the end of the day or dreading the task of keeping up with the endless training any sales team requires, then point your index finger and dial our number!

Written by Sarah Little, TQA Executive

PhoneSmart is your offsite sales force and call center in Columbia, Missouri.

Thanks for reading our property management blog and inside look at the self storage and property management trends.

Rent self storage at 925 Old Trail Rd, Etter, PA 17319

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If you’d like to be a guest blogger, send your entry for consideration to Sarah Little.

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It’s Independence Day! While most, if not all, self storage facility offices are closed today, the PhoneSmart call center is up and running- ready to take your missed phone calls and turn them into rentals. There are always a few self storage emergencies that demand people get storage right away. While they may not be able to get into the office today, PhoneSmart’s job is to get those customers committed to your facility so that tomorrow morning they’ll come in bright and early to rent that unit.

Just think, while the guy down the road is closed today and renting zero units, you can give your managers the day off without losing customers. PhoneSmart’s call center services makes good business sense. Your managers have a long list of to-do’s. The only thing on our list is selling self storage.

Written by Sarah Little, TQA Executive and Blog Editor

Thanks for reading our property management blog. We pull back the curtain on the self storage and property management industry.

PhoneSmart is your offsite sales force and call center in Columbia, Missouri.

Rent storage at 1376 Switzgable Dr, Brodheadsville, PA 18322

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If you’d like to be a guest blogger, send your entry for consideration to Sarah Little.

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The largest part of my job, other than blogging, is staying in contact with our sales training and secret shopping prospects. At any given time, I may be juggling 4 to 6 different client start-ups. In my experience, the self storage industry moves relatively slowly at making decisions and it can take anywhere from four months to a year before some clients make the decision to sign the contract and start their shops. By the time we set their shops up I have gotten to know the contact pretty well. This longer process makes it easy for me to build good rapport with the prospects and I am able to get to know their individual company needs.

I certainly understand that there are meetings to discuss the best options and also budgets that must be approved. But sometimes I ask myself what sales training they’re receiving during the six months it may take them to decide. That’s six months of missing opportunities, six months of letting rentals slip through your fingers, six months of time that could’ve been spent improving.

However, once all the i’s have been dotted and t’s have been crossed and we start the secret shopping process, our clients are satisfied and sometimes shocked at the high level we conduct our shops versus some of our competitors. It’s no doubt that PhoneSmart leads the self storage industry in sales training and secret shopping. As a matter of fact, we have been perfecting a new prototype of secret shopping. We are super excited about the possibilities it has and are sure it will revolutionize what you think of the words secret shopping. Keep an eye out for more on this awesome new service.

Written by Sarah Little, TQA Executive

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog; we offer sales training and quality assurance to the self storage industry.

PhoneSmart is your offsite sales force and call center in Columbia, Missouri.

Rent self storage at 80 S. Kensico Ave, White Plains, NY 10601

Find your next car storage, boat storage or self storage at your StorageConcierge – Your premier national and local self storage search engine and free quote provider.

If you’d like to be a guest blogger, send your entry for consideration to Sarah Little, Blog Editor.

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Curb appeal- we hear this word thrown around by real estate gurus all the time. This little phrase goes farther than buying or selling a home. In any service industry, curb appeal has a lot to do with how many customers turn around in your driveway versus walk in your door.

For me, this is especially true when I’m dining out. If the restaurant floors are filthy, the bathroom stinks and the plates have a crusty film from the last customer’s dinner- I’m out of there! These things don’t take blueprinted renovation plans. They’re easily fixed with a little elbow grease and the place will be presentable again.

In self storage and property management, it might be just as profitable to throw on a new coat of paint as it would to tear down the wall and start over. If you find your grounds in need of some sprucing up, don’t hire the bulldozer just yet; try spreading some grass seed or planting a few decorative shrubs or flowers.

Presentation means a lot to a family looking for an apartment to rent. Do they feel like they can relax? If there’s a huge eyesore of a dumpster, build a privacy fence around it or put it in a discreet place. Make sure there is no litter on the property and keep the office clean.

Self storage is very much the same. Tenants don’t want to wonder if the guy next door is going to be sifting through Grandma’s spoon collection. Make your property feel like a secure place. Don’t let the fence start falling down and keep litter off the lawn. Making sure your office is clean will also show the customer that you take pride in the store. They’ll feel more secure leaving their treasures with you.

Written by: Sarah Little, TQA Executive and Blog Editor

Thanks for reading our property management blog and behind-the-scenes look at the property management industry.

PhoneSmart is your offsite sales force and call center in Columbia, Missouri.

Rent storage at 184-02 Jamaica Ave, Hollis, NY 11423

Find your next car storage, boat storage or self storage at your StorageConcierge – Your premier national and local self storage search engine and free quote provider.

If you’d like to be a guest blogger, send your entry for consideration to Sarah Little.

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Since having my second baby, I have been working from home a few days a week. Honestly, it is our way of offsetting the extra cost of more childcare and we spend a lot less in gas, it makes up for the extra diapers and formula we have to buy. I enjoy being able to work from home. However, a few problems have presented themselves. The biggest one is that I’m not on the office network, so any files on my desktop at work have to be emailed to me. I’ve solved that by keeping a briefcase, rather than a normal folder icon, on my computer and laptop. I can upload and update each one so I’m not constantly emailing my files back and forth.

Another issue, well really it’s more of an inconvenience, is that I haven’t transferred all of my contacts to my laptop. Yesterday I went to Best Buy and looked at some PDA or cell phone options that might help me keep my schedule and contacts more organized. They were all more expensive than I had hoped, so I left the store empty-handed.

I didn’t want to extend my current cell phone contract another two years just to save some money and I didn’t want to fork out the retail price of the phone either. The PDA options were pretty bleak. There were only 3 choices. The cheapest one looked like just that, the cheapest one. And the other two were more expensive than the cell phone/ organizer combination. So that threw those options out the door too.

Really, I could just take the time to transfer them all to my new email account, but I have more important work to do.

Convenience really is what drives us, isn’t it? I’m sure I’ll break down and make one of those purchases. Hopefully I can hold out until there’s a sale. Perhaps I’ll camp outside again for the day after Thanksgiving sales. Convenience does have a price and most consumers will end up willing to pay for it.

Written by Sarah Little

Thanks for reading our property management blog and inside view of the self storage industry.

PhoneSmart is your offsite sales force and call center in Columbia, Missouri.

Want to be our next guest blogger? Send your 200-400 word entry for consideration to Sarah Little.

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