» Mystery Shopping

Do you secret shop your competition on a regular basis in person or by phone? If you don’t, you should try it; it’s a very enlightening thing to do. If you do shop them, how many of your competitors are on the ball, friendly, helpful, do-anything-for-you kind of people? If you find one like that, you better hire him or her him away! Most of your competitors let people answer the phones that have no telephone skills and allow people to manage their facilities who have little or no customer service ethic and usually even less sales skills. Most of your self storage customers, if you’re not the first place they’ve called or the first place they’ve come to, already expect you to be gruff, unhelpful, and annoyed that they’re being interrupted by a rental inquiry.

So this is what you’re up against. The people come in with a chip on their shoulder, and you’re going to have to do something to get that chip on their shoulder off. Because they have a chip on their shoulder and assume self storage people are jerks, they don’t want to tell you what their real concerns are because they’re afraid that if they open up to you, you’re going to take advantage of them, you’re going to rip them off, you’re going to get them a crappy storage unit for way too much money, or you’ll use the information against them. So rather than tell you their concerns, they’re often going to tell you all kinds of other stuff.

Written by Tron Jordheim, Director of PhoneSmart.

Thanks for visiting our secret shopping blog, an inside peek into the secret shopping and mystery shopping industry.

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We rely heavily on our computer systems, servers and technology to help us with our day to day secret shopping work here at PhoneSmart. So much so that when the servers are being updated or the internet connection is down our work comes to a screeching halt. We are not on our computers every minute of the day but it certainly streamlines 98% of the work we do. All of our reports, call sheets, calls, evaluations, communications, and information for secret shopping is all one the computer. Email has become invaluable for sending messages and correspondence to clients, co workers and future customers. We burn all of the calls we do each month to CD’s to ship out to the evaluators and then those CD’s are sent to the client, unless requested not to. Our busiest times of the month are the first and last week, with the middle of the month filling up with correspondence, billing, filing, and basic office management. Our month stays very full with our regular work and many extras that pop up during the month.

If you are thinking about starting a secret shopping or mystery shopping program for your self storage or car storage company, contact us here at PhoneSmart, 1-866-639-1715. We can provide training, secret shopping, call evaluation, and more to help get your team on track.

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

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog, an inside peek at the secret shopping industry.

Storage available at 11510 N. Main, Kansas City, MO 64155

33312 Self Storage

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Allowing poor customer service is like burning soup, most of the time you have to throw out the entire pot to get a good bowl. Have you ever noticed that a good idea in the workplace eventually spreads to other employees? Before you know it, they all use the same practices and formulas for success.

On the other hand, have you ever noticed that a bad idea spreads even faster? Maybe one person finds a way to fly under the radar with a solitaire game or cell phone. Others will want to be able to have the same freedom and they’ll find a way too. Before too long, there’s a guard at the door looking out for the supervisor so he can warn his cohorts before they get caught instant messaging their friends.

This isn’t to say that these employees are bad. It’s human nature to want fairness. If Jack gets to play solitaire, then why can’t Jill? Even if she knows that it’s wrong at first, after a while she’ll think to herself, well he gets away with it, why can’t I?

Therefore, if Jack begins cutting corners with his customers and is short with them, Jill might catch on to that as well. If Jack hangs up the phone and begins complaining to Billy about the annoying woman who thought Jack should let her in her craft storage unit even though she hasn’t paid her bill in 2 years, that attitude is likely to hang around for several calls to come.

Left unattended, these employees will develop uncooperative attitudes and may even feel that they’re entitled to games and cell phones. What happens when you hire a new person? The coworkers influence them as well and good customer service has become a thing of the past.

Correcting widespread customer service or behavior issues is much harder than stopping it right where it started. That doesn’t mean you have to micromanage your employees. There are services such as secret shopping that will provide an unbiased opinion about what really goes on when the manager isn’t around. Secret shopping is not only a great way to monitor, but is a powerful training tool that will encourage good customer service and sales success.

Written by Sarah Little, TQA Account Executive

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I just spoke with a prospective client about starting some sales team management for his properties.  He has a few self storage facilities that have some fierce competition. The competition isn’t fierce because they’re better, it’s that there are over 20,000 units for rent at various facilities all within blocks of his store.

It really isn’t realistic to expect his managers to keep tabs on all those unit prices, on how many 5×10’s they still have available, on how many parking spaces they have for automobile storage, etc. I’m sure he spends a lot of time and money researching what the other guys rent their 10×10’s for. But just knowing the competition’s price doesn’t mean he can simply lower the price of his storage and get more rentals.

After convenience, customers go where they get the best service. That’s why he came to PhoneSmart. He wants us to begin teaching and training and growing his managers. Not because he lacks the capability or know-how. He honestly said to me he just doesn’t have the time it would take to do justice to such a program.

So now, PhoneSmart has become convenient. We have the time and resources, along with established principles and techniques, to maintain your sales team management. We have the time to train each of your managers on selling self storage; after all, it’s all we do!

Written by: Sarah Little, TQA Account Executive

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

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Let me tell you, if there are two things I dislike doing in life its going to the dentist and the eye doctor. No, I would never tell you that I had a great experience at the dentist office. The great experience was at the eye doctor. 

My wife and I walked in and were greeted warmly by the staff and we were checked in to be seen. My wife was then taken to back to get her eyes checked out while I watched the kids. Some ladies came from behind the counter and started playing with my kids which was nice. Then, they took me back to get my eyes checked. My first reaction was I have to wait for my wife to come back out to watch the kids. They told me no and they would watch the kids while I was checked out. I was kind of leery about that idea, but I said sure. 
 
As I was getting my eyes checked, the conversation with the eye doctor was amusing and entertaining. I felt at ease for the first time in the eye doctor’s office and was receptive to find the right glasses for me. 

When I came out to pick out my glasses, one of the ladies picked up my two year old and went around trying glasses on him. She did a good job keeping him entertained as I tried on glasses. At the same time, she still helped people as they walked in. 
 
The overall experience was awesome. They catered to me, my wife and my kids. Usually when we all go out as a family, one of the four of us doesn’t have a good time.  I absolutely dread going into professional environments with my kids sometimes because I don’t know how they will act. Those people at the eye doctor’s office, made me feel that it was going to be ok.

When customers walk into your storage facility, it is your job to do what you can to make them feel completely at ease. Think of every customer as a potential secret shopper. If a couple walks in, make sure that you speak to both of them and not to alienate one of them. If they have kids, make sure you acknowledge their kids as well. You only have one time to make a good first impression. If you do a good job making the customer feel like they belong, the will store their belongings at your facility. And who knows, if it is a secret shopper you will have a great evaluation on your secret shopping visit.

Written by Joel Little, super dad and business blog writer.

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog, an inside peek into the mystery shopping and secret shopping industry.

449 S Federal Hwy, Pompano Beach, FL 33062, has storage available.

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I feel like I have always been attuned to good customer service. I worked in the retail clothing industry for over nine years and had many great customer service opportunities. Now that I am out of that business and am in the secret shopping/mystery shopping industry my views haven’t changed. Every restaurant and every store I got to I can’t shut down the mystery shopper in me. I check out displays and the interaction between the employees and the customers. Sometimes I feel overly aware of customer service situations but that’s ok, I like my job and what it does for people. Some people might think that secret shopping/mystery shopping is about catching people doing things wrong. However, we love to see people doing things right! We like to see our services as a training tool to make every customer service experience the most that it can be. We reward clients when they can overcome objections and ask the appropriate questions. In fact it takes less time for us to evaluate a good evaluation than a not so good one.

Does your business need some monitoring? Consider hiring a secret shopping company to evaluate your customer service issues. Secret shopping is a great training tool for new and seasoned employees.

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

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

Thanks for visiting our secret shopping blog, an inside peek at the secret shopping/mystery shopping industry.

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A previous mystery shopping blog I mentioned some things that should be done while conducting a mystery or secret shop over the phone.  When doing a mystery shop in person, you should do the same as you would over the phone, which is to relax and have fun. 

I had an experience with conducting a mystery shop in person.  Although the shop was successful I felt as though there were some things that I could have done differently.  I was contracted to go to a specific clothing store with a credit card and shop for clothes.  This is something that I felt would be easy for me since it’s something that I do in everyday life. 

Other than being relaxed and having fun, you should be as natural as possible without letting your body do the talking and/or be so obvious.  By letting the sales associate approach me instead of me seeking the sales person out, allows the sales person to present themselves and gives them an opportunity to score high on the greeting and presentation portion of the evaluation form of the shop. 

I made the mistake of asking for the person that I was conducting the shop on, which made the person suspicious but I am good and threw her off.  To cover this mishap up I just told her that a friend of mine recommended her service as she had assisted her in the past. 

Also, while conducting the shop in person it is important to accumulate a significant (but not outrageous) amount of clothing; this should allow the sales person to ask of they can be of assistance by ether starting a dressing room or putting the clothes in a place where you do not have to hassle with carrying clothes while shopping.  Since you are talking with body and verbally speaking while conducting a mystery shops in person it is imperative that you are as natural as you can be and learn from my experience.

Written by Angela Perry

Thanks for reading our mystery shopping blog. A business blog that goes behind the scenes of the self storage and 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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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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Recruiting for a mystery shopper is a task that can be approached many different ways. At the PhoneSmart call center, the way that the center recruits for a potential secret or mystery shopper is to simply ask for any interested personnel.  Once the interested party goes through the proper training then they can begin making calls.

This past Father’s Day I went into a local department store to purchase my significant other a gift for the occasion. As I walked into the store, I was approached by a man in a black suit.Grabbing me by the arm, he gently escorted me over to the side corner and asked me if he could talk to me for a moment.  At first, I was uncertain and leery because I was shopping alone on this particular day. With some reluctance, I did agree to hear what he wanted.

As I followed him I held onto my purse with the pepper spray in it; I was prepared to use it.  The man introduced himself to me and told me that he was head of security and he wanted me to mystery shop one of the employees.  He briefly explained how he mystery shop works. He wanted me to give the sales associate a difficult time to see what kind of customer service I received.  This was a simple task for me because I wasn’t sure what to buy and welcomed any suggestions.  After the shop was completed the man approached me once again and asked me some basic questions that allowed him to evaluate the sales associate.  After that, the man thanked me for participating and then offered me a twenty percent discount off of my purchase (which prompted me to go back and do some additional shopping). 

I was very pleased with the experience. It is also nice to know the company is interested in what kind of service their associates give. There are many ways to recruit a person to be a mystery or secret shopper. (Of course, the incentive makes it very easy to obtain cooperation in the retail industry).

Written by Angela Perry

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog and inside view of the mystery shopping industry.

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

Rent self storage at 1376 Cromwell Ave, Bronx, NY 10452

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

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Consider that good customer service is the largest reason a consumer repeats business with a company. Many studies have verified and drove home how valuable it is to give our customers a satisfying experience, beginning with the moment they walk through our door, or pick up the phone to call us.

While secret shopping may seem like a questionable use of money to some, the return on investment goes beyond just knowing how long it takes to answer the phone or greet a customer. Secret shopping is the only tool that objectively provides a third party perspective into how your customers may feel. This insight has immeasurable value.

Secret shopping will let you know if good customer service is consistent, or if it just accidentally happens every now and then. Once your eyes are opened, you and your staff can begin to make the necessary steps to provide excellent customer service, on purpose, every time!

Written by: Sarah Little, TQA Executive and Blog Editor

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog and inside view into the mystery shopping industry.

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

Rent self storage at 11510 N. Main, Kansas City, MO 64155

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