» Customer Service

Ending every sales call with the appropriate information will leave a positive impact on the self storage caller. Here are some items that you should include at the end of your sales presentation.

1. If you have not already given your name, tell the caller instead of them having to ask
2. Let the caller know what your office hours are so they will know when to come by
3. Ask the caller if they have any additional questions, and let them know to call you if they think of any questions after the call has ended
4. Thank the caller, and end with your self storage company’s name.

Even if the caller was not listening to your every word, they will remember if you were friendly and helpful. That first and last impression on the phone will stay with them and be part of the reason that they choose which self storage company to rent from. By doing your part at the end of the call, you can make sure that the caller has a good picture of your self storage facility. The end of the call is just as important as the beginning and the middle of your sales presentation, make sure that you end on the high note for great customer service.

Written by Natalie Thomas, TQAS agent.

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People are in need of storage for different reasons. Whether they need car storage to actually park their car, furniture storage to store some antique furniture so it doesn’t get damaged, or when they do some remodeling to their house. It is important and good customer services to know what the caller’s storage needs are.

During different times of the year, the caller’s storage needs might change. In the winter, they might be in need of a storage space due not wanting some of their belongings to get to cold. This would be an advantage for those facilities that have climate control. During the spring/summer months, you might hear many home remodeling storage needs. 

Many people out there do not think of calling a storage facility when they need to do some remodeling. They can get their belongings completely out of the house so they possibly won’t be damaged. Some local storage options offer a free truck or a mobile vault to suit the caller’s needs.

So depending on the time of year, the caller’s needs will change. Be aware of this and be able to create some value around why they should store at your facility. With your ability to identify why their needs and accommodate them, your facility will reach capacity.

Joel Little, Experienced Sales Manager.

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It’s Thursday morning, five days before Christmas, and Poof! the PhoneSmart lights all go out!  The weather is foggy outside, but it’s not storming.  What is going on?

Some people hunted for flashlights, some called emergency numbers, and others went outside.  Standing outside we saw that the lights were out in the entire neighborhood, and then we saw the fire engines rolling by.

Soon thereafter we heard a whirring noise.  Our emergency generator had kicked in.  Our lights were out, but the computers and telephones were still working.

So it was time for the phone reps to go back to work.  We could see our computer screens just fine, but it was difficult to see necessary numbers on our telephones.  We improvised by having a designated flashlight-holder; anytime a phone rang, she came by and shined the light on our phone.  We contacted our director Tron and asked him to stop and purchase more flashlights.

The computer guys scrambled around to find box fans.  I was amazed at how quickly the server room got hot!  The computer things were all cranking away, but the air conditioner went out.  Luckily, December in Mid-Missouri is pretty chilly, so they were able to open a window and use fans to blow the cool air around.

In the kitchen and the bathroom we lit jar candles to help see in the complete darkness.  The pleasant scents helped with the ambience.

And wouldn’t you know it?  As soon as Tron walked in the door with more flashlights, the lights came back on.  It seems someone hit a telephone pole.  The power company was able to get things restored in about an hour, but PhoneSmart was not deterred.  We were able give free storage quotes and rent storage units for our clients within minutes!!

Written by Ann Sheehan

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Consideration. It is just a few days until the Christmas Holidays and the stores, streets and Internet are buzzing with business. Hopefully, you can slow down and appreciate family and friends and not get too caught up in the bustling season. Have consideration for others, turn down or turn off your cell phone ringer, hold the door for another, drop some change in the red kettles and smile. If you go through your day oblivious to others feelings, then you might be too wrapped up in your own world. It is an easy thing to fix so do not worry, just make a few adjustments to make your attitude better.

What can you do to be more considerate in your self storage business? Remember that every customer, no matter how they are dressed or how they look has feelings and is a real person. Treat your self storage customers like you would like to be treated when you go somewhere. Besides keeping your self storage property clean and tidy, make sure your customers feel safe. Ask them about how they feel about your property. You might be surprised at the answers they give. Consider others, then concentrate on yourself, it will make you feel better.

Written by Natalie Thomas, TQAS agent.

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Have you ever telephoned a business and been put on hold?  And then you got that hum-drum, monotonous, boring music?  Or even worse, you had to listen to some pre-recorded sales pitch yelling at you?  But you knew you HAD to hang on and put up with the annoyance, or you would loose your place in the dreaded telephone queue?  And the only alternative was to call back, and start the whole process all over again?  Of course you’ve experienced this, we all have.  That is just a part of life now in America in the 21st Century.

Once again, our PhoneSmart Director Tron Jordheim has come up with an outside the box solution.  Instead of the customary Hold Music/Elevator Music that we all hear while waiting on hold for a self storage quote, he has recently installed a fun repertoire including Knock Knock and other jokes for those folks that have to wait for a self storage representative.  Even if a person waiting for self storage finds these jokes to be childish or maybe even annoying, at least the caller is probably paying attention, and that is the ultimate goal!
 
Here’s just a sampling of Tron’s wit:

Knock Knock
(Who’s There?)
Norma Lee
(Norma Lee who?)
Normally, I ring the bell!!
 
Knock Knock
(Who’s there?)
Ben
(Ben Who?)
Been knocking so long my knuckles hurt!
 
Why did the cookie go to the doctor?
Because he felt crumby!!
 
Knock Knock
(Who’s There?)
Althea
(Althea who?)
I’ll thee ya soon!

Compiled By Ann Sheehan, PhoneSmart Call Center Representative

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Today’s daily tip: ask the self storage caller at the end of the call if they have any questions before the call is over. Why? Well if you have done a good job letting the caller know about features, benefits, additional fees and asked qualifying questions then the caller should not have any doubt about renting there. But, sometimes sales people have a tendency to go on and on and not be listening to the caller and when you ask then at the end of the call if they have any questions it gives them a chance to clarify anything that was talked about on the phone. Another reason you should ask the caller if they have any questions before ending the call is it gives you the manager one last chance at great self storage customer service. You want the caller to come off the phone with a good feeling, and if you leave them with a good impression at the beginning, middle and end of the call, they will carry that feeling with them. In some cities there are many self storage companies to choose from, what sets your self storage property apart from the rest? It might just be the way you handle yourself on the phone.

Written by Natalie Thomas, TQAS executive.

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It is important to make every customer feel that they are important and that you appreciate their business, regardless of their age. When customers have children with them, it is important that you also give them your attention. Although I’m not saying that you should ignore the adults when they are speaking, but that you make the child feel important also. You can do so by including them in your greeting and answering questions that they may have also.

No matter what business you are in it is important to realize that they only reason you are there is to serve people.  You’re not a storage company serving people; you are a people company providing storage. Your main focus should be on serving the customer. Some will be harder to please than others will but everyone has that one thing that will satisfy them.

Go for the WOW. Sometimes there will be customers that have a complaint. It is important that you listen to them without interruption and if possible repeat what their problem is so you both are on the same page. After you correct the problem, try to go for the WOW again by going above fixing the problem to give them something that they were not expecting.

This will help erase the bad feeling that they had previously and leave them with a positive image of your company.

Written by Heather Gerling, Restaurant Manager

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Is it always about customer service? Today, the day after Thanksgiving is typically the one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Retailers bank on outrageous sales to pull customers in and hopes that the will buy other items. Some stores in our city were advertising that the doors would open at 4am. Ouch. That is pretty early to go shopping in my book.

When you have several hundred people waiting to get into your store, what is the best way to handle the customer service part of your job? My suggestions are that people are going to have in mind a least one item to look at and buy; otherwise they wouldn’t be waiting at the door just to look around. Have plenty of associates on the floor to direct traffic and don’t forget to suggestive sell. With the craziness of the day, people are going to want to get in and get out, and your associates will just not have an excessive amount of time to spend with each customer.

What do we do here at PhoneSmart when it is busy? We try to cover the busiest times of day with scheduling. Sometimes, we will get that unexpected rush of self storage calls and we switch over to super focus mode. Depending on the client and how we answer their self storage calls for them can impact our busy times. Self storage inquires start early for us and goes into the nighttime hours, much longer hours than any self storage office.

Written by Natalie Thomas, TQAS executive.

Total quality Assurance Services is brought to you by PhoneSmart – A quality assurance firm.

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I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our customers, clients, associates, employees and coworkers a Happy Thanksgiving. Most businesses will be closed tomorrow so that family and friends can gather together to give thanks. I love the quote from William Purkey that reads;

Dance like no one is watching, Love like you’ll never be hurt, Sing like no one is listening, Live like it’s heaven on earth.

Take tomorrow and slow down, think about what you are grateful for, kiss your kids, pet your dog, share a smile with a stranger, walk outside and take a breath of fresh air. You are alive today, make it count. Oh yeah, don’t forget to eat a lot of turkey. Mmmmm turkey.

Here at Total Quality Assurance Services we blog every weekday for two different blogs sites with a total of three blogs each day. We post a self storage blog, a property management blog and a TQAS blog. PhoneSmart prides itself on being a leader in the self storage call center industry. Remember, you could go with another company to answer your phones, but why would you; we turn your missed calls into profit. We have trained sales professional that are capable of handling your future self storage rentals. 

Written by Natalie Thomas, TQAS executive.

Total quality Assurance Services is brought to you by PhoneSmart – A quality assurance firm.

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Any Secret Shopper monitoring my calls today would discover that no matter how hard I tried, it was not my day to rent storage units. Here are just a few examples of the customers I spoke with today.

• An older woman called wanting to know the price of parking spaces. She and her husband were thinking about buying an RV, but the salesman told her to be sure they had a place to park it before they purchased it. I asked her how she heard about our facility.  She said our competitor recommended us. He told her he had plenty of spaces available, but their location was very unsafe and that he would not advise her to park there. Unfortunately, we had no available spaces. Maybe because the competitor was sending us all of his business!
• An employee of a tow-truck company called. It seems they needed to repo a car that was inside of an enclosed self storage unit. I had to transfer that caller to the manager for further assistance, because I saw all kinds of problems with that issue!
• I spoke with a woman that was in tears. Her husband’s job had transferred them to a suburb of Chicago. While they were in Illinois searching for a new place to live, their current 4 bedroom, 3 car garage was robbed. Witnesses saw the moving truck, knew the family was moving, and thought nothing of it. She needed a small self storage unit to store the few items that were left behind. They had to wait on the insurance adjusters to know when they would need a self storage unit.
• A woman said she was calling for her son, and just needed prices. She said he needed self storage by Saturday because she was kicking him out of the house. She needed the room for family that was coming for Thanksgiving.

Granted, my callers today were rather unique.  I am hoping tomorrow to speak with some customers that are a little more run of the mill!

Written by Ann Sheehan, PhoneSmart Call Center Representative

Total quality Assurance Services is brought to you by PhoneSmart – A quality assurance firm.

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