» Quality Assurance Services

In order to assure good quality in products or services, many organizations use quality assurance services offered by the third party agencies. The purpose of using these services is multi-fold. One benefit is that these agencies are day-in and day-out involved in similar kinds of activities, so they are experts that offer reliable services.

Second, since this function may not be a continuous requirement of the organization, the company would not have qualified manpower to do this job. So, it is better to seek the services of quality agencies. Third, for some organizations, it does not make business sense to recruit people for this task and hence they hire such agencies for these functions. Various quality-monitoring agencies are present to assist such organizations in their efforts to give good quality products and services to the customers.

The Services Generally Offered By These Agencies Are

Testing
These agencies help in testing of material as requested by the organizations. Some agencies offer test services for measuring product performance. These are useful for organizations that want an independent opinion on the performance of their products. Some agencies are also authorized to certify the products as per product standards. Few agencies offer test facility for component testing. Many organizations use services of such agencies for doing reliability testing of their products and components. The testing for meeting environmental requirements of products and components is also performed by these agencies. Some types of tests are conducted only during the new product development stage and thereafter they may not be required. In such cases too, the organizations approach QA services for conducting the tests.

Inspection
Some agencies are involved in inspection of products or components or raw materials before the delivery of the same to the organizations. These services are offered both onsite and off-site. These inspection services vary according to the nature of the industry. For e.g. for construction industry, there are different kinds of inspections like lift inspections, inspection of construction materials, structural inspections etc. In some cases, organizations send the inspectors from these agencies for doing product inspection or process inspection at the suppliers unit. These suppliers are then allowed to supply the product or components along with the inspection report signed by these inspectors.

Certification
Quality assurance services are also offered for the certification of the organizations for various standards related to quality, safety, and health management systems. These agencies help in the entire documentation process for meeting the requirements of the certifying body. They cover all the aspects of the organization and help prepare the quality manual for getting certified. They also conduct dummy audits in order to help organization prepare for the certification. Some of the agencies also help the organizations in achieving various product certifications.

Technical Assistance
These agencies also provide technical assistance in solving the various problems in the organization. Every organization may not have expertise in all the fields and hence sometimes it is important to seek assistance from the outside experts in order to solve certain particular types of the problems. Here these services come to the rescue, since they normally have experts available from the different fields. These services can be very useful, especially in the field of developing technologies.

In short, quality services of such agencies are utilized by the organizations to – reduce their operating costs, reduce redundancy from their operations, remove biasing, establish quality processes, and get technical assistance in various matters.

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Different types of quality assurance services are very important for the field of software development. Primarily, before developing of any software, a design is generated as per the requirement or standards of the end users. Once the design part is complete, the development part starts. To start the development of any software, first of all the resources should be made available to the developer. Normally, development is done on a module by module basis. Once a module of the software is fully developed, it is ready for the evaluation process. The module is then handed over to the quality control department for testing purposes.

The quality assurance services team then takes the module, the design and the requirement of the end user at a time. The testing database is created with relevant information. Sometimes real life data is copied from an existing storage system. Using this information the modules are run. The results of this module are checked against the design and the requirement. If any problem or non conformance is found from the module, it is reported to the developer team, through proper management channel. The team might also find out some suggestive recommendations to improve the functionality of the software. The developers then fix the particular problems or non conformance issues or include the suggestions and send back to the testing team for rechecking. For each module of the software, this system is continued until the total software is full proof.

There are many professional organizations, for providing quality assurance services to any software developer organization. As they are outsiders, prior to their work, they need to understand the scope of the software and the user requirement. Once, they gain transparent ideas on this, they start planning on how they are going to deal with the responsibility. Many software developer companies can manage to have a dedicated team of quality control people for serving only for in house developmental projects. In this case, the quality control team become more confident about the scope of the project and can perform better.

Companies dedicated for quality assurance services use various scientific methods and techniques for their evaluation and reporting process. At many places, the total process of quality control is fully automated to keep track of the testing procedures and respective results. This information is also very much useful for audit purpose. The scientific approach of quality control, divides the total process in several modules of work. Depending upon the requirement various test cases and test plans are developed. Taking these as a guideline the testing gets started. This methodical testing process, make the total process much more reliable and easier to implement.

The dedicated quality control companies offer quality assurance services to the projects ranging from short term engagements to long term partnerships, irrespective of client status. Many quality control projects use completely outsourced testing procedures, while others involve guiding a client to their in-house testing programs. These companies normally offer following advantages to their customers.

•  Improved customer satisfaction for better handling of responsibility,
• Lesser turnaround time with total attention to each module of the project,
• Guaranteed transparency of the procedures with regular status reporting,
• Capable of testing the projects developed on various platforms in minimum time, and
• Finally, to deliver high quality testing solutions within specified time and budget.

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1. Answer the telephone lacking interest.
Customers calling a call center are unaware that they are actually reaching a sister facility.  They want to hear someone who is interesting, helpful, and wants to speak to them.  Answering the phone in the best manner gives one the very first impression of the storage business.

2. Do not build a rapport.
Building rapport gives the representative the ability to close the gap that keeps the rep and the consumer at a distance.  It helps the consumer feel more comfortable and creates a common ground in which the consumer can relate.

3. Do not listen.
Listening is a great way to help build that rapport.  It also tells the consumer that what they have to say is important.  It shows a sign of respect and patience.  Listening allows one to communicate effectively and also helps to eliminate error.  Once it is realized that one hasn’t been listening, all credibility built up during the call is lost and very hard to get back.

4. Settle for your comfort level.
Once one settles for their own comfort level, it is hard to reach outside the box.  One is trapped in the same routine and can be unaware of the many different approaches that may help.  Knowing and using many different sales techniques allows one to move the call in the desired direction.  Guiding the flow of the call keeps it along the path of the commitment and the reservation.

5. Tell them you are at the location.
Telling a consumer that the rep is at the location is misleading.  Once the customer goes to the site and realizes that the rep is not there, mistrust creeps in.  This gives the customer mistrust in anything from there on out.

6. Inform the consumer of the wrong office hours.
Once again, this builds mistrust as the consumer will think that the rep does not know what they are talking about.  Many people plan their move and if they arrive outside the office hours this can cause many problems for them.  It can even lead to them to renting with someone else just to make sure that they have the unit that day.

7. Inform the consumer of the wrong availability.
Informing consumers of the sizes and prices are one thing, but telling them that something is available when it is not is another.  This can cause the consumer to go elsewhere because their needs cannot be met.

8. Only tell the consumer of the rental fees.
Many consumers are new to the self storage industry and are unaware of any other fees they may be responsible for.  There is usually an administration fee to process the paperwork and retrieve a personal pin code for them to access the gate with. Some consumers come to sign for the unit only with the money they need, if they aren’t told of the extra fees then might not have all of the money with them.

9. Don’t tell the consumer of the correct specials.
Many times the consumer is price shopping to fit their move into their budget. Also many people decide where to store based on the best special.  If a rep informs them of the wrong one then the consumer will be angry, untrusting, and probably rent somewhere else.

10. Be rude, unattentive, and unhelpful.
In general, if a rep is rude then the caller will be offended and their first impression is tarnished.  If the rep is unattentive and does not listen, they will be unable to help the consumer commit.  When the rep is not helpful, the caller’s needs are not met and may will find storage somewhere else.

Written by: Marie Batchen

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

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

Rent storage at 1515 Church St, Lake Charles, LA 70601

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I have been thinking about secret shopping trends in regards to large chain stores as compared to small specialty shops. In my experience in the secret shopping business, I have learned that sometimes it’s worth it to pay a little more. 

Lately, I have had much difficulty keeping my tropical fish swimming in my 45 gallon aquarium.  In the last several months, I have purchased many tropical fish at the large pet store in town.  All have quickly reached their demise within a short time.

The worst experience was when I took our youngest daughter to the pet store to pick out her fish.  She had been talking for quite some time about buying her goldfish and it was her turn to choose.  She was very excited when she found the cute little goldfish that she planned to name “Sara.”  In our house we name the different species of fish one name.  We had the clerk bag four of the fish and headed home.  Within a couple of days we lost all four. 

The pet store has a policy that if the fish die within 10 days of purchase, you can return them for a replacement as long as they determine that your water chemical levels are normal.  We went back to the store with the dead fish in a zip lock and our water sample and everything looked good.  We left again with four new “Saras” and headed back to our house.  Again, within a couple of days, the fish were floating.  You can only imagine my 3-year olds disappointment at seeing eight of her goldfish die. 

The problem with acquiring tropical fish at a pet store is that fish and aquariums are not the only thing they sell.  Regardless of the higher prices, there are certain things that are much better to purchase in specialty stores.  Tropical fish and aquarium equipment top that list in my book.   Walking into a pet store to get advice on the problems with your aquarium is not generally a satisfying experience.  Oftentimes, you arrive at the store to find a pimply-faced teenager helping you to come up with solutions not to mention having a really difficult time catching the fish in the little green nets.   

Unfortunately, in our new town we do not have any stores that specialize in aquariums and tropical fish.  No matter how nice the employees are, they generally do not own fish and they haven’t the foggiest idea of what advice to give.  In my experience, going to a pet store to buy fish is like going to the train station to catch a flight.  The people serving you in the station may be the nicest folks on the planet, but they have no idea how to help you catch your plane.  Dealing with experts on a subject is far superior to just getting any help at all.

Written by: Steve Wilmes

Thank you for reading this secret shopping blog. We offer quality assurance to the self storage industry.

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

Looking for self storage? Find it at 9702 W 67th St, Merriam, KS 66203

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How to see sales increase can take a bit of time and some homework.  Okay maybe a lot of home work and a lot of practice.  It doesn’t come overnight.  You have to be well versed in what your product is.  You have to know what the other self storage businesses are doing in your area.  You certainly can’t just jump into a position and see your sales steadily increase over time without trying to improve on your sales techniques.  You have to have determination and take responsibility for making it happen.  Read and learn.  Watch and learn.  Shop and learn.  Practice, practice, practice.  Set goals for yourself.  If you notice your techniques are going stale, it’s time to pump up the techniques, by trying something new.  See what others are doing that works.  It may not work for you, because everyone has their own style, their own finesse and their own attitude that comes across naturally for themselves.  You have to find yourself and know who you are.  I worked with a lady who on every call would refer to their customers as “dear” or “honey”.  That’s just not me.  I think that if I said that, the callers would take it in a different light – the wrong light. Find your niche.  What’s your hook?  Are you funny?  Are you detail oriented?  Are you quick to go over everything in a productive way and include all aspects of the entire rental process without missing a beat?  Personally I take my time and explain everything in detail.  I’m apt to even double check and repeat what was discussed.  From time to time, I try to step it up and go through my calls a little quicker, but my main objective is to be well versed in what I’m discussing.  My number one goal is to know my product and give as much information as possible while I’m on the phone with the caller so they don’t have any other questions and they don’t change their mind because they find out later that I didn’t tell them everything.

Written by: Robin Turner

Thanks for reading our mystery shopping blog and inside view at the self storage industry.

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

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In order to be a successful sales person, you will go through periods of failure.  If you don’t fail at anything, you can’t grow and learn what you need to.  Failure dosn’t neccessarily need to be considered defeat.  Turn your failure into victory.  If you read about any successful person in this world, you’ll find that they failed many times, in many areas.  Failure is a great thing.  You probably think I’m crazy for saying that, but I didn’t get where I am without failing afew times in my life. 

A strong person will grow from failure as they learn why it happened.  Take your failures and use them to your advantage.  In the self storage industry, businesses do the same thing.  They have to look at why their approach didn’t work and come up with something new.  Whether it was there advertising that didn’t turn out as planned, or their product wasn’t selling as it should.  Most likely they made a few tweaks to the way they advertised or it could have been that their product wasn’t priced the way it should’ve been.  In the call center, we do the same thing.  We try one approach or several approaches to find the best way to promote or present an item.  Not all approaches will be successful, meaning that some are bound to fail.  But bounce back from failure and find the successful approach and put it to use. A sales increase is bound to originate from failing and what was learned from it. 

Written by Robin Turner

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog and call center in Columbia, Missouri.

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

Self storage is just around the corner at 3715 Horseshoe Lake. Rd. Pontoon Bch 62040

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I have mentioned in previous blogs that cross selling is a big deal in sales and customer service. You see it all the time especially with cell phone companies. You can not only buy your cell phone, but you also get the charger, manual, and sometimes the ear piece. Most of the time cell phone distributes will try to sell you the ear piece that goes with the phone separately. They also try to get you to buy the car chargers, face plates, or any other accessories that will go with your cell phone.

Cross selling has also become a big part of the self storage industry. I have been working for this company for about one year now. The self storage trend is to sell the other items that are offered at the stores such as boxes, locks, tape and more. I am now a new trainer and I had the recent opportunity to take some of the new-hires out on a sight tour of one of our facilities. I showed them all of the different items that are offered at the stores now. While we don’t go into great detail as to what we offer, we do mention some of those things to the customer so that they will be aware of all of the different choices they now have in self storage.

By Ronald Smith

Thanks for reading our secret shopping blog and inside peek at the self storage world.

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

Organize your clutter with a storage unit at 910 St Thomas Road, Granite City 62040

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My name is Liz Langsteiner, aka Liz Taylor like the movie star. I work in a call center for self storage with awesome coworkers. We are like a family supporting and encouraging each other on a daily basis.
 
May is typically a great month for self storage reservations and that puts dollars into our pockets. I work Monday through Friday 6:30a.m. to 9:00a.m. on a regular basis. I typically arrive at 6:10 am and open the call center.  The morning ritual begins with making coffee. The boss Tron Jordheim generously provides gourmet coffee beans and other treats to help get the morning started. At 6:30a.m. I am settled into my cubicle ready for the first call of the day. I love the early morning callers because they our typically ready to do business. This morning was awesome, I was able to help three callers reserve units for self storage. Yesterday was even better, I was able to help four callers make reservations for Self storage. In addition to making reservations for storage I also gave out helpful information to current tenants, hours of operation, gate access hours and directions. I make it a personal goal to help meet the need of every caller.

Written by Liz “Taylor”, Like the Movie Star

Thanks for reading our self storage blog and diary inside life in a self storage call center.

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

Reserve your storage unit today at 1015 N Halstead Rd, Chicago, IL 60622

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I’m still new in the self storage business so I’m still learning something new everyday.  I used to be a customer service representative at Famous Barr so a lot of skills that I acquired through working there transferred really well when I started working at the call center.  The other day something happened that I’d never heard of before.  I had assisted this customer for a while to help them decide what storage unit size they needed and what I had available for them.  By the end of the call I had answered all the prospective customer’s questions, but still couldn’t reserve the unit because they were still uncertain.  Throughout the call I was my typical agreeable self and thought nothing more of the call.  Later that day I came back in from my break and my associate told me that the person called back specifically to thank me for being so helpful even though they weren’t going to rent the unit.  I was blown away that someone who wasn’t even going to rent would call back to simply say thank you, but I guess that is the true value of good customer service.  Although the person didn’t rent storage that day, I’m sure when they do decide to rent storage or maybe someone they know needs storage they will recommend us.  Word of mouth is one of the best ways of advertising so customer service can serve to be one of the best sales techniques to create future business.

Written by Julio Montes, PhoneSmart Supervisor

Thanks for reading our mystery shopping blog. We provide secret shopping and sales training to the self storage industry.

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

Get great customer service and affordable self storage at 819 Eola Rd, Aurora, IL 60504

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Thirty days ago I knew nothing about the storage business.  Since then I have gotten through a tough training program and survived.  I do not just want to survive; I want to thrive in the self storage industry.  When I began taking my first few calls, I was very nervous.  I stuttered, paused for long lengths of time, and had little control over my breathing.  I guess nervous is not the correct word.  My supervisor allowed me to listen to some of the calls I had taken and I was shocked.  You could hear my breathing on the other end of the call.  What were the customers thinking?  I could only laugh a little and buckle down on my studies.  I wrote the information down, read it many times, and even made flash cards to help.  These learning aides help me to learn the structure of the business, but doing the job has helped me to perfect my sales techniques.  The randomness of each call leaves room for me to use many styles to overcome any concern a customer may have.  My certification test was yesterday.  I used any resource I could to study and it paid off.  I had no problem with the test and little help.  I am so proud.  Now the trick is to learn something new and improve everyday and every call.

Written by: Marie Batchen

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

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

Reserve your storage unit today at 794 Scenic Hwy, SW, Lawrenceville, GA 30045

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