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Today, the phrase Yellow Pages is used worldwide, and refers both to the printed form as well as to online business directories.  According to Wikipedia, the Yellow Pages came to be in 1883, when a printer ran out of white paper while printing the telephone directory and used yellow paper instead.  Directories appearing on the Internet are officially known as IYP, Internet Yellow Pages.

As a phone rep with the PhoneSmart Call Center lately I have been doing marketing surveys for one of our self storage clients about self storage rates.  One of the questions is, did you use the print Yellow Pages while searching for storage?  100% of the people I have spoken to all have said, No!

I am amazed!  I’ve always assumed everyone uses the printed version of the Yellow Pages to find any kind of business or service.  When I was young that was basically our only option!

Then I got to thinking about it and I guess it makes sense.  Generations X and Y have all grown up with the Internet and cell phones.  It is natural for them to jump on the computer to Google an address or to call 411 for a telephone number.  And my age group, the Baby Boomers, can no longer see the fine print in the Yellow Pages.

So even though everyone still knows what a telephone book is, it is extremely important for all property management and self storage owners to make sure their phone number appears in both the print and virtual forms of the Yellow Pages!

Written by Ann Sheehan, Call Center Representative.

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I live in what some would call a college town. We have 3 college campuses in town and several other smaller private schools also. With the annual influx of more than 25,000 college students each fall, the town fills up fast. While some of the colleges require that freshmen live on campus they eventually will move off campus and want their own home or apartment. Because of this our town has many property management companies that cater to the college student. Usually these properties are close to a campus, are affordable and may offer specific amenities that will attract a younger population. Multiple bedrooms with individual leases are very popular right now. You don’t have to worry about your roommate paying their part of the rent each month as the leases are written separately. Some property management companies will even offer a roommate matching service, where if you would like to share an apartment but don’t have a friend in mind they will match like roommates together. This is a good way to save money, as a two-bedroom apartment is often as cheap as a one bedroom.

Our college town also has plenty of self storage companies. It’s pretty nifty that landlords will sometimes require a 12 month lease, knowing full well that a lot of college students are only in residence 8-9 months.Self storagecompanies in our town fill up after spring session with college rentals. When the smaller self storage units are gone, the students will get together with friends and rent larger units and share the rent. If you want to start a property management company or a self storage business, look for untapped college towns; they are a gold mine waiting to be tapped.

Written by Natalie Thomas, TQAS executive.

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I take a lot of phone calls as a sales rep for the PhoneSmart Call Center. Needless to say, every now and then I make a few blunders. Granted it is easier to save face when I make a fool out of myself over the telephone than it is in person, but it is embarrassing none this less. Here are just a few examples of some of my recent blunders.

• A woman’s last name was different on her credit card than the surname she gave me to reserve a self storage unit. She explained to me that it was her maiden name on the credit card. I said Congratulations on getting married! Seems she was in the process of getting divorced.
• I try to build rapport with my self storage customers by asking some generic questions. A young shopper told me he needed to park a car for about a year. Thinking he was going to study abroad or travel, I asked him where he was going. He replied, To Jail.
• A woman was rather irate and was rambling on and on. I asked her if she spoke Spanish, since PhoneSmart has several Spanish speaking reps that could better assist her Even more annoyed with me, she replied in broken English, No. Do you speak Japanese?
• A man was explaining to me that he needed to park another company vehicle with us. I thought he said the name of the business was Sterling’s Plow, so I assumed he worked for a snow plowing company.   I was building rapport with him by talking about the upcoming winter season and all of the work they will have plowing the snow off of parking lots. Seems the company’s name is Schering Plough, a well known pharmaceutical company.

I’m just trying to be friendly! Open mouth, insert foot, oops.

Written by Ann Sheehan, Call Center Representative

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Spring forward, Fall back is an infamous adage we all learn as children, and all dread as adults. Late autumn is when Daylight Saving Time comes to an end and we must set our timepieces back one hour. Though we do get an extra hour of sleep for that one night, it seems we lose an hour of sunlight. In reality, we just have to get up an hour earlier to find it!

Traditionally, this event has always occurred the last weekend in October. This posed a dangerous problem with children trick or treating on Halloween. This year, thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, everyone (except residents of Arizona) will adjust their clocks back one hour on or before Sunday November 4th at 2:00am. It is also highly recommended that the batteries in smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors be changed at this time.  

Even though we may feel somewhat lethargic and lazy this time of year, it is no reason to let our foul mood affect our sales performance while trying to give a self storage quote. In fact, this is a great time of year to try out new sales techniques! And keep in mind, that grumpy person on the telephone is probably also suffering from the winter blues. Or, they may be your Secret Shopper! So always give each and every one of your calls your best, no matter what time of year it may be!

And remember, in 2007 we Fall Back on November 4th!
 

Written by Ann Sheehan, PhoneSmart Call Center Sales Rep

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At the PhoneSmart Contact Center, phone reps always try to familiarize themselves with the customers we are speaking to on the telephone. Oftentimes we use cheat sheets to help us accomplish this task. Over the years we have answered for a few Canadian self storage locations to help callers with self storage quote. These were located mostly in the Toronto area, so we were able to communicate fairly well with the callers. Lately PhoneSmart has acquired a new client with storage facilities located all over Canada – which means our reps are scurrying about trying to learn some of the Canuck jargon. Along with the fact that there are six Time Zones, here are just a few other things we have on our Canadian Cheat Sheets:

Province Abbreviations
      QC  Quebec
      ON  Ontario
  SK  Saskatchewan
      AB  Alberta
BC  British Columbia

American Words              Canadian Equivalent
     State                                     Province
   Zip Code                              Postal Code
   Electricity                                 Hydro
  The letter Z                                Zed
   Ummmm                                    Eh?

     Measurements
American         Canadian

       Imperial (yards)   Metric (meters)
         Fahrenheit           Celsius 

Holidays
Canada observes most of the same holidays as the U.S., with a few exceptions.
Good Friday
Easter Monday
Victoria Day (the last Monday on or before May 24)
Canada Day (July 1)
Civic Day (1st Monday in August)
Thanksgiving (Second Monday in October)
Remembrance Day (November 11)
Boxing Day (December 26)

Compiled by Ann Sheehan, PhoneSmart sales representative

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Do you read storage, secret shopping or property management blogs on a regular basis? If so, you are probably interested in the self storage, mystery shopping or property management industries. These are fun businesses to learn, and many people are getting involved. Not only can you own your own self storage business, but you can also get involved by simply renting a unit. Either way, there are many benefits that you may be able to realize as you get more involved with the industry.

The nice thing about a self storage, secret shopping or property management blog is that you will learn a lot. But what exactly should you be looking for? The answer to this question depends a lot on how you are involved with the self storage industry. For instance, do you simply rent a unit? If so, you will be more interested in a blog that offers details from a consumer point of view. But on the other side of things, maybe you are a self storage business owner. If this is the case, you will want to find blogs that touch on the management and mystery shopping side of things.

There is a lot of good information online, and if you search, you will be able to learn a lot about the self storage, secret shopping or property management industry. The blogs that are available give details on everything from renting a unit to running an entire self storage business. This should make it easy for you to find a blog regardless of how you are involved. And once you find a good one, the information will continue to roll in!

Written by guest blogger.

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Machiavelli has been known to me in a different content, mainly politics. The Prince is one of the most read pieces of literature in political science. I never thought of “Machiavellian concept” as a business concept.

Here is an example out of recent personal experience: a recently acquired client was in dire need of some supplies which were hard to come by. Due to some existing agreements and some arm twisting of manufacturers we were able to provide a swift delivery of the goods. Here is where the moral and legal component comes in. Should we bill the client for our existing logistical competence? The client needed the hardware but so did almost everyone else in the same industry. Should they pay for our “contacts”? Doesn’t the concept of “what ever it takes” dictate that we should be able to make money no matter what? From a legal stand point: Is this similar to insight trading?

There are many other similar moral and legal obstacles that may prevent a manager to describe themselves as Machiavellian at all the time. I would suggest that Machiavellian concept is a theory that may only apply at some particular situations. Thus Machiavelli is a piece of a greater puzzle i.e. successful management.

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