» Mystery Shopping

I work in a retail environment five times a week. I am in charge of 15 associates within my department and 80 for my store. We have trained and made sure all people knew their job expectations. I have encountered frustration at times when it came to holding people accountable for doing their job. We have a structured presentation on how we should talk to customers and various offers to present to them. It was hard for me to validate that employees were interacting with and offering product to the customers the way that we wanted them to. 

It is great that in self storage, as well as numerous other industries, there is secret shopping. Shoppers call different facilities ensure that the customer is being helped fully and to the facility manager’s expectations. Secret shopping is a great program because managers have the opportunity to hold their people accountable to great customer service.

For example, if a manager has a store that for some reason has the low occupancy but the facility manager says that are doing all they can to ensure great service. The franchise manager can have secret shopping company call in, pretending to be a potential renter, and ensure the level of service is being presented by recording the call. After the shop is done, secret shopping sends the recorded conversation to the franchise manager. From there, they can decide if that store manager is meeting expectations or not. How great is that?! With secret shopping, managers can ensure all customers are getting the best service available or conduct training to do so. 

Call PhoneSmart for more details about this exciting program that can help certify that the managers at your storage facilities are doing a great job taking care of customers on the phone.

Written by: Joel Little

Thanks for reading our mystery shopping blog and inside view of the self storage and quality assurance industries.

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

Rent self storage at 2310 Paris Rd, Columbia, MO 65202

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Last night, in the call center, I answered nearly 100 calls in 8 hours assisting callers seeking a storage unit.  As I was nearing the 6th hour I began to experience a bit of strain in my voice and a little tenderness.  There are several things that people who must talk for hours can do to try to keep the voice strong.  Many of those things are ineffective and some do more harm than good.

I had always believed that hot coffee or tea would be soothing to the throat but have found that the acids can actually irritate my throat while I am working.  The same thing happens when drinking carbonated beverages.  The carbon gas and the additives and acids in most sodas seem to exacerbate the irritation and can bring on a tickle that leads to harsh coughing.

Cough drops or lozenges are high in sugars and usually have a bit of anesthetic which might soothe the tickle but can reduce the clarity of your voice tone making it necessary to speak louder to have a clear tone and this makes the situation even worse.

The simplest solution that I have found is to keep my throat hydrated with pure water.  If I feel the need for a warm drink plain water armed in a cup can be soothing and keep your throat and voice hydrated and well.  A bit of tart citrus such as lemon is a soothing addition to hot or cold water.

At home such simple things as sleeping a in a room that is not overheated and keeping the air in the house at the proper humidity also help.

Our voices are valuable tools for our work and to make our living.  Safeguarding our voice and throat is one of our best sales techniques.

Written by Kay Johnson PhoneSmart call center reservations specialist

Thank you for visiting our secret shopping blog. We offer sales training and quality assurance to the self storage industry.

We are PhoneSmart your off site sales force call center in Columbia, Missouri.

Rent storage at 150 W. 81st, Bloomington, MN 55420

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Storage Employee: Thank you for calling xyz storage.  How may I help you?

Storage Customer: Yes, I need some storage.  I think I need a 10×10 storage space.

SE: Great it’s $100 a month.

SC: Ok. Thank you.

SE: Oh, do you want to reserve one?

SC: No thanks, bye

What kind of customer service do you see from this phone conversation?  I hear a lot of calls that go exactly this way or some that ask about the office hours.  This is most likely not the level of service the customer expects.  When people are shopping around looking for prices, they don’t always pick the one with lowest cost.  They look for the best value.

It is very important to tell the caller why they should store with your company vs. the competitors.  One of the competitors might have a lower price but they maybe don’t have as many amenities.  Customers need to know what amenities you have and how they benefit from them.

Here’s a scenario: I am a customer looking for storage. I found out that I need a 10×10.  One storage facility is offering that size at $60 with a $10 admin fee and a $25 deposit.  It is surrounded by a barbed wire fence.  Someone will have to let me in each time I want to get something out of my storage space.  The second facility is offering that size at $100 with a $15 admin fee.  It is surrounded by a rod-iron fence, it is computer operated with a pass code to get in, there are alarms on every door and a manager lives on site to prevent any break-ins and added security, etc.  Which one will I choose?

People want to know that their belongings are safe and that they don’t have to worry about it.  By telling them about the amenities of your storage space and then the price, they can see that their money will be well spent.

Written by: Joel Little, Secret Shopping Evaluator

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog. We take you behind the scenes of the mystery shopping industry.

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

Find self storage at 12211 Middlebrook Rd, Germantown, MD 20874

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Recently I learned about how to secret shop for our self storage clients. I did this with two of my coworkers. It seemed pretty simple, however, we were all a little nervous about calling random people and making up a person and a scenario. When we call from the secret shop area in the call center, we have a fake name and fake phone number that works for the store we are calling. We also use a fake scenario to secret shop the self storage employees. Our goal is to not let them catch on that we’re a secret shopper so they’ll treat us like they would any potential customer. This gives us a great way to evaluate their performance on the phone and their sales techniques.

I called a store in Illinois and my fake name was Julie Scott. I was moving out of my home soon and would need to store some of my bedroom furniture and family room furniture and some boxes and clothes. The storage center employee was very friendly and extremely helpful. He did a great job of following the script. He asked if it was a convenient location, and helped me determine the best size for my stuff. He told me all the amenities. My only problem was he told me all of the amenities including the fact that they had PO boxes available. That part seemed to drag on forever. However, the rest of the call was very pleasant. I scheduled a site tour to look at the location the following week.

As long as you have a good well thought out story to work with and a phone number it is actually kind of fun!

Written by: Jill Dudley

Thanks for reading our mystery 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.

The Convenience of Self Storage at 3800 Pulaski Hwy, Baltimore, MD 21224

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