» Customer Service

It is extremely important to always make an excellent impression when first speaking to someone via the telephone. This is true whether that person be a prospective client, a vendor, an upset customer, etc. And the caller may even be a mystery shopper, testing out your telephone skills. There are several basic rules of thumb that need to be adhered to.

• Project your best telephone personality. Keep a smile in your voice and on your face, even if you are having a bad day.
• Always be polite and mind your manners. Sometimes the caller needs to vent off some steam, but never stoop to that level.
•  Always give the caller your full attention. Avoid multi-tasking and remain focused on the job at hand. Callers can tell if you are reading your emails or making your grocery list instead of focusing on giving them a self storage rate.
• Remove any distractions from your area. It is tempting to read the headlines if there is a newspaper sitting on your desk.
• Establish a good rapport with the caller no matter what the situation is. This works quite well to help diffuse an upset caller.
• Keep the call on track. Never be rude to the caller, but if the conversation gets sidetracked gently lead it back to the task at hand.
• Stay apprised o the caller’s mood. If they suddenly become sad, or agitated, or confused, etc., act accordingly. Let them know that you are listening and that you care.
• Mimic the caller’s pace and telephone style, without being condescending. Speaking to a lawyer from New Your City will have a different tempo than with an elderly grandmother from Nashville.

Great telephone etiquette is vital to any self storage owner and business. Sometimes it may be difficult, but remember the initial feeling that person gets while speaking with you will be everlasting.

Written by Ann Sheehan, PhoneSmart Call Center Representative

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65202 Self Storage

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64114 Wine Storage

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Let’s get a show of hands, who loves great customer service. Wait a minute. We cannot see each other raising our hands, but I expect everyone to have their hands raised. Why do we expect great service from everywhere we go, but not always provide it in our self storage facilities? We as consumers have needs that we need fulfilled, as do the people that call us on the phone. Do we always volunteer all the information to the person helping us, or do we just answer whatever questions they ask us. With people on the phone, we have to dig deep sometimes to figure out their needs and then find a way to satisfy those needs.

We all know there are a variety of reasons why people are in need of storage. They might be de-cluttering their house, moving from an apartment to a house, storing business documents, etc. It is up to us to determine that and then find a storage solution that would benefit them the best. With someone who is attempting to sell their house within two weeks, need information on how they can save money by renting for three to six months. Probably not, but will that same customer like the idea of being prorated for the days they use so they don’t have to pay for the full month? Yes. Would the business customer who needs to store business documents like to know how they can save money towards their bottom line if they store for a year? Absolutely. What customer would love the idea of paying one dollar for a week (some companies run a one-dollar move in special) so they can transition their belongings from one house to another? I do not know of one person, or business, that would not.

The whole idea of customer service in self storage is to get people to rent and to have repeat business. Let us get out of the mundane one-size fits all strategy, dig deep, discover their true storage needs and find a solution that can work for them. Treat customers like you want to be treated and provide them an excellent. If the caller does not want to volunteer information, ask questions that get it out of them. The more information you have, the better you are able to accommodate their needs.

Joel Little, Experienced Manager.

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64114 Wine Storage

Rent storage at 2360 Gallatin Road;  Madison, TN  37115

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If there is one part of my job as a business owner that I despise, it is demoting an associate. It especially sucks when they have been with me for a long time. However, what am I to do when they consistently get low stores on their secret shops and often get complaints? Do I continue to let them work 35 + hrs a week, not providing my customers with excellent service? 

By nature, I am a down to earth person. I am very positive and I am not quick to anger. That all changes when I get an email and I have an associate receive eight points out of a possible 116 points. When an associate has been with me for over a year and knows their job in and out, there should not be a reason for this at all. This where I as a business owner, need to decide whether I demote him, document his performance and say you have one more chance, or revert him back to a trainee. One fluke bad score should not threaten his job, but it should be a wake up call. Several consistently bad scores are a red flag to me though.  
 
It is not easy managing a business, most of my staff are great, but some people choose not to do what you ask them. At the same time, I do not want to sacrifice my customer base because my employees are not doing what is asked of them. Sometimes you will ask yourself, What do I do now? The best way to handle the situation should be strongly based on how the customers are being treated, how other coworkers are treated, and not too much on how long they’ve been with the company. Without the customer, you would not have a business and with uncomfortable or offended employees, you get even more poor service.

Joel Little, Experience Manager.

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64145 Wine Storage

Rent storage at 1615 Charlotte Road; Nashville, TN 37203

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Try feel-felt-found.  I have already told you that it’s a wonderful tool that people use all of the time in selling. It has many different names, but it goes like this: I know how you feel. A lot of our very satisfied customers felt that way at one time, too; what they found was that our solution was very well thought out and met their needs very well.

You can use the feel-felt-found in just about every selling and customer service situation you run into. Feel with people what they’re feeling. Let them know their feelings are legitimate. Let them know other people have felt that way. Maybe you even felt that way before coming to work for the company. And then tell them what folks found when they allowed the process to happen and did business with you. It works quite well, especially when you have some good, real-life stories at hand to illustrate the point. Here is where references and notes of recommendation can help a whole lot, too.

Written by Tron Jordheim

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64155 Self Storage

Rent storage at 11333 Owings Mills Blvd, Owings Mills, MD 21117

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Very seldom do you receive a warm welcome anymore when entering an establishment to receive service anymore. It seems more common to hear the same old robotic, insincere greeting. And forget about seeing an employee again after you have entered the building to do your shopping or after you’ve sat down to enjoy your meal.  Unless of course you have to hunt them down to ask for assistance.  Where’s the customer service or sales techniques in that method?

I must say that it was a nice change when we went out to eat at an all you can eat pizza buffet that we recently discovered here in town.  From the moment we entered until the moment we walked out the door, we felt like we had been going there for years.  In our Call Center, we also like for our employees to make the caller feel comfortable and to let them know that we too, are human.   

We can laugh, smile, and enjoy the business conversation at hand. It doesn’t need to be a stuffy call. Whether you’re in the self storage, shoe storage or yacht storage business, you too should want to be human with your customers. Make them feel comfortable and do all that you can to assist them.  So before you take a call, shake yourself loose.  Don’t be so tense.  Relax yourself and enjoy the conversation at hand.  Your customers won’t forget you.

Written by Robin Turner, Call Center Manager

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Storage available at 1005 E. Main St, Mt. Joy, PA 17552

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40505 Self Storage

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You can’t afford to have a bad day when it comes to customer service. Have you ever heard the saying, Leave your troubles at the door? That is exactly what you have to do everyday that you have to deal with customers coming in to your office or answering the phone. By leaving you troubles at the door you can focus on the day’s activities and provide the best customer service you can. Your customer probably doesn’t care that you had a flat tire or your child has a cold, they have their own set of daily obstacles to overcome. And don’t talk yourself into a bad mood, by wallowing in self pity you are doing no one any good; you might as well stay home.

Be cheerful, friendly and helpful and chances are by the end of the day, your mood will have turned around. Make yourself smile at every customer that comes in and that calls you. The positive vibes will be returned, by sharing a joke or a laugh together. Don’t be grumpy; be happy that you have a job that you get to help people with their self storage dilemmas. A little customer service goes a long way in any business.

Written by Natalie Thomas, TQAS executive and business blog writer.

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Storage available at 625 Lowther Rd, Lewisberry, PA 17339

66221 Self Storage

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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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Storage Available at 1391 Vermont Ave, Lancaster, PA 17603

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66061 Self Storage

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When you go out to eat or shopping somewhere how do you like to be treated? Do you like the red carpet to be rolled out or do you prefer something a little bit more low key? Whichever way you like to be treated is how you should approach your customer service to others. If your style is low key but you are always available to help with any concerns that might arise, make it work for you. If you like to make a big production about your self storage site, people will realize that you are proud and will go out of the way to help your customers. It’s what works for you that counts. 

Customer service begins with you anticipating the needs and wants of your current and future customers. Customer service is building rapport with each and every person that walks through the door. The connection must be real, but the more you connect the easier it will become to build rapport with everyone. Customer service is being friendly, having a smile on, knowing your product, and offering to help resolve issues.

Having great customer service will help your secret shopping and mystery shopping scores improve. If you currently don’t have a secret shopping program set up for your self storage, craft storage or food storage business, contact us at PhoneSmart for information on how we can help you start on the road to giving great customer service. Call 866-639-1715 for information.

Written by Natalie Thomas, TQAS executive and business blog writer.

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog, a inside peek at the secret shopping and mystery shopping industry.

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Storage available at 925 Old Trail Rd, Etter, PA 17319

66103 Self Storage

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In the call center business handling sales calls, including self storage quotes, there is a certain outlook that you need to have in order to effectively and productively manage your conversations with the customer.  It’s referred to as being persistent.  Typically, right before the middle of the conversation is where most sales associates will ask for a sale.  If you have a persistent associate you’ll notice that they continue to ask for the sale throughout the call.  Each sales rep has their own way of asking for it, and most likely, your top sales associates will be straight forward and ask for it upfront. 

With top sales employees, this is where the invisible fine line is drawn.  It’s not like you’ll see a big flashing red light with sirens going off, warning you that you have gone too far, but that little voice that tells you to be careful where you tread. And if they’ve stepped over the line, they’ll quickly know by picking up on the customer’s signals and be careful in how they respond.  This is also where top sales people are watched closely. 

A prospective customer, who isn’t in the best mood, may see a rep as a pushy sales rep who forced them to make their purchase elsewhere because they weren’t 100% satisfied with how the call was handled by the rep.  This, in turn, could also be the same call that our self storage client, is so completely pleased with that they praise that rep on a job well done.  To each his own.

Written by Robin Turner, Call Center Manager

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30622 Self Storage

Rent storage at 1010 N.E. Crain Hwy, Bowie, MD 20716

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You never know what can make the difference in whether someone buys from you or not.  So you have to be prepared to have all answers and as much knowledge as you can in order to cover all bases.  Ask tons of questions and find out what’s really important to the customer.  What may make the difference to one, may not matter to another at all. The same goes for the self storage and property management business.

I had an elderly gentleman call and inquire about self storage.  His main concern wasn’t whether they had good security or even what the price on the storage unit would be per month.  His main concern was if the store offered a senior citizen discount.  I didn’t show any information regarding a senior citizen discount so I told him I would check on it for him.

In the meantime, I proceeded with the call.  The unit was only $39.99 a month.  I asked for the credit card reservation; however he wasn’t going for it.  Not until he found out if they in fact offered a 5% senior citizen discount.  To you and me $39.99 a month is a pretty good deal for storage no matter where you are.  And a 5% discount would only save him $1.99 a month.  To him, that $1.99 savings per month, was going to make the difference in whether he actually rented the self storage unit or not.

What do you have in place to ensure that your property doesn’t lose a customer like this over $23.88 a month for a total of $286.56 a year?

Written by Robin Turner, Call Center Manager

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