On Our Toes!

Taking calls at the call center keeps me on my toes as I may be answering a call from the east coast one minute and the west coast the next.  With self storage everything is repetitious with the exception of the price.  It becomes challenging when I end a phone call about storage and then answer a call for an apartment.  I then become an apartment call center representative. 

Answering the phone for the apartments is very similar to that of answering phones for storage.  The trick to answering phones for apartments is to learn how to include the five agreements, (timeframe, location, size, security and price) with professionalism and grace.  For an example a typical storage question is, ”Do you know what size unit you need or can I help you determine that?”  Of course you do not want to say this when discussing apartments.  A more appropriate question for apartments is “How many bedrooms or bathrooms are you looking for?”  Either question you are determining size, which is one of the five agreements. 

A common phrase that we can use in the call center when answering phones for storage is that we can say that there is not a long term contract as it is done month to month.  This phrase does not work with apartments, as generally there is a lease and the lease is for 12 months unless otherwise noted.  With a storage call, we are trained to ask for a credit card reservation but this is not needed for an apartment call.  The one similarity in both calls is that I can ask the caller to come in for a site visit or an appointment to see the lay out of an apartment.  Although it is different being in an apartment call center rep, it is fun to do from time to time and offers a change of pace.

Written by Angela Perry, PhoneSmart call center trainer and business blog writer.

Thank you for visiting the PhoneSmart call center blog, where we offer and insider view of the property management industry.

Great Self Storage location in KC, MO, at 75th and Wornall by the Walgreen’s and Wendy’s. All units are inside, climate controlled and have roll up doors.

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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