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Several weeks ago I broke my ankle.  Thankfully, no surgery required!  But I have had to wear an air-cast, and attempt to get around using crutches.  It has been quite the learning experience.

One of the many amazing things I have found has been the number of strangers that just come up out of the blue and befriend me. It seems that everyone that has ever had a leg in a cast feels a kindred spirit.

I understood this connection last night.  I was hobbling around at the grocery store when I saw an elderly lady in a wheelchair with a cast on her leg.  I was somehow drawn to her. I felt I had to go to her and see if she needed any help. It turned out her husband was with her, so she was okay. We began comparing stories, and became fast friends!

Finding some commonality between you and someone else can help build rapport, especially in the self storage industry!

Have you recently become an empty nester, like your storage customer who is remodeling her college-bound son’s room?  Is your daughter going through some tough times, like your customer whose grandchildren are moving in with her?  Have you recently moved, like your customer from out of state?  If all else fails, the weather is always a topic that everyone has an opinion about! Find some way to build rapport with the caller.  This is a sales technique that can bring big results.

Who knows, that person you felt a small kinship with might become a repeat customer and maybe even a great friend! 

Written by Ann Sheehan PhoneSmart call center reservations specialist.

Thank you for visiting the PhoneSmart call center blog an insider dairy of the self storage industry.

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

Find a storage unit at 150 W. 81st, Bloomington, MN 55420.

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I recently had the opportunity of renting an apartment in the management industry. The property managers took me through the whole process. They showed me the apartments and made sure that they set an apartment aside. They showed me each room and told me exactly what I was getting.  They also made me feel a part of the community before I even signed the lease. They worked with me to make sure they could hold the apartment. They let me split the deposit so that I was still able to hold the apartment. They also went step by step through the contract

The same lessons can be applied to managers who have potential renters coming into their store. Self storage is all about building relationships. You should make the customer feel wanted before they even sign the contract. Managers should also walk their potential customers through the contract and make sure that they understand everything in the contract.  You also want to make sure the unit you are showing them is one of the best ones you have. You don’t get an opportunity to make a good first impression. Going the extra mile will make the customer feel like you care about their business.

Written by Ronald Smith, PhoneSmart call center reservations specialist.

Thank you for visiting our business blog an insider view of the self storage industry.

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

12311 Parklawn Dr, Rockville, MD 20852 has a storage unit for you.

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How many of us have gone somewhere to do some shopping and we have to go to multiple places to get everything on our list? It is worse when we have to go across town and go way out of the way, eating up our limited time. It is not fun when you pay for something and the associate forgets (or doesn’t see the point) to tell you everything that you need. It is like me selling a customer a washer and dryer, not telling them they need a power cord and vent for their dryer (sorry folks, dryers don’t come with a dryer cord or vent), or not offering to deliver and hook them up for them, or not offering some sort of insurance to protect their investment. I bet that customer would not be happy and go find someone who would tell them all that they need. 

Most storage facilities are a one-stop-shop and have everything there in the store that they need. If the caller has just started their moving process, they could come to the facility, buy boxes, tape, bubble wrap or anything needed to get their belongings ready to store. Some even have rental trucks to get the customer’s stuff to the facility and insurance to protect it while it is in storage. How awesome is it to know you can get all of that from one place. The only problem is that the manager has to inform the customer of that. Customer’s can not assume that everyone does that. Informing the customer that you are a one-stop-shop, and taking care of their assessed needs will gain you their business.

Written by: Joel Little

Thanks for reading PhoneSmart’s mystery shopping business blog; an inside peek into the self storage and secret shopping industry.

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

Self storage is just around the corner at 1352 Holton Ln, Takoma Park, MD 20912

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Times were hard

Technological advances in software and hardware have helped relieve some of the tedium in doing employee evaluations. During my tenure as supervisor in an inbound call center one of my most difficult tasks was evaluating employee performance. It was easy to track attendance and punctuality and to gauge professionalism, interaction with co-workers and attitude.  What was more difficult was monitoring the 10 calls per employee per business quarter for rapport with callers, accuracy of information given and the manner in which the caller was managed. This required logging in to monitor and catch the employee answering calls as there was no signal that a call was coming to the station. It was also impossible in that system to assist handling overflow calls without logging out of “supervisory mode” and back into “active mode”.

We had no equipment to record the call so notes were done “live” as the call progressed and 100 notations were to be made about the call, the caller, and the company rep. As I listened to each call and tried to keep up I am sure that valuable bits of the conversation were missed. It was time consuming and not very efficient.

Today the PhoneSmart Secret Shop department works in a very efficient manner. A variety of employees make calls to the requested store employees and pretend to need a storage unit. We all try to “play dumb” so that the store employee does not catch on. The calls are recorded live and then burned to CD’s. The CD’s are given to other employees to evaluate and fill the score sheet for the call. The recording can be paused, reversed and heard again. It makes the process so much easier and insures greater accuracy and insight.

I am one of those hold outs who does not trust technology completely. I do redundant backups and try to follow my father’s advice “Don’t believe anything you hear and only ½ of what you see” but I must admit that this technology makes evaluating employees much more efficient. Call Sarah or Natalie and see how our Mystery Shoppers can help you.

Written by Kay Johnson, PhoneSmart call center blog editor.

Thank you for visiting our business blog, an insider view of the self storage and secret shop industry.

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

Are you looking for storage at 8195 Jumpers Hold Rd, Pasadena, MD 21122 ?

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During a recent PhoneSmart training session Call Center supervisor, Dana, did a presentation on her pet peeve, salespeople that use the word “do”. Using this dreaded word automatically turns any question into an evil yes/no query. (“Do you want to reserve a unit?” “No.” “Do you have a credit card?” “No.” “Do you want to come in for a site visit?” “No.”) 

In Sales 101, sales pupils are taught to use an “either/or” question. (“Would you rather reserve the 5×5or the 5×10?” “Would you like to use Visa or MasterCard?” “Would you like to come in Saturday morning or afternoon?”) Yes/no questions make it too easy for a customer to back out of any kind of a commitment. The person simply says “No” and goes on their way. The proper either/or question forces the caller to participate in the conversation, or at least use a little imagination to get out of it! 

I have understood the idea behind the pros and cons of both types of questions for many years, but I never related it to the word “do”. Now that Dana has brought it to my attention, I realize how obvious it is! Listen to yourself or others around you. When trying to make a sale, do you use the word “do”? (Yes or No?)

Written by Ann Sheehan, PhoneSmart call center reservations specialist.

Thank you for visiting our storage business blog, an insider diary of the self storage industry.

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

Are you looking for self storage near 5201 Forbes Blvd, Lanham, MD 20706

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What makes a business successful? Is it the corporate people who created the company and make most of the major decisions? Or is the managers in the building driving results through the roof? If you look at most businesses out there, you will see that the most successful businesses have great talent that care about the overall business goal. If your team is not happy, then there is no way all the goals are being met. 

If you can keep your employees happy and caring about the result of the business, they will in turn make the customers happy and want to contribute to the company. If they do not make the customer happy, then your store could not be consistently hitting its goals.  What is important to the person in charge should also be important to the person at the bottom. How do you make the customers happy?

One thing you can do is take the time to get to know your employees on a personal level. Now some people are able to take the time to spend time with their people. Spending the time with them to see what makes them tick, what is hindering them from doing their best, what would they like to see change in their day to day work that could potentially bring the team closer together. The people closest to the customer are the ones who should be the happiest due to the fact that they are there everyday trying to drive business. Take care of your employees, coach and train them, and they will grow your business.

Written by: Joel Little

Thanks for reading PhoneSmart’s secret shopping blog. We give you the truth about self storage and sales.

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

Self Storage is just around the corner at 17705 W. Washington, Hagerstown, MD 21740

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We are living in a community with 3 large colleges.  There are 2 smaller colleges plus our state university.  Many of these students are attracted to employment here are PhoneSmart because of flexibility and the opportunity for better earnings than a large number of student employers.
During finals week, of course, there are people who need to be off work to cram for exams. There is no reason for any employee to need to “cram” in our call center.  Training here is one-on-one and ongoing. There are readily accessible “cheat sheets” to help us through a call.  There are lists to help us determine an appropriate size for self storage, there are lists of our clients and reservation and cancellation policies.

I like to think of each call as a test or quiz and with the help of our training and posted lists we can manage any question. Since the test (call) is in the nature of an open book test then there is no reason to receive a low grade.  As a trainer it is my objective to see that everyone gets a B on every call.  Calls are evaluated and a score of 85% or more will be awarded a certificate. Now not all calls that come through the call center are a reservation call or credit card reservation but you can still ace the test (call) by providing the best service that you can.  Before each call you should ask yourself if you are ready for the test.  With the answers right in front of you how can you fail?

Written by Angela Perry ,PhoneSmart call center trainer and reservations specialist.

Thank you for visiting our business blog an insider diary of the self storage industry.

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

Self storage is around the corner at 12211 Middlebrook Rd, Germantown, MD 20874.

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The promise of springtime brings thoughts of budding trees and singing birds to our mind. Shortly after that, we think about organizing the garage and maybe doing a little landscaping.
 
 For self storage owners, springtime means much more. All that organizing and home improvement means more business for you. A certain increase in business is guaranteed, but don’t let the dreams of moving trucks pulling into your parking lot cloud your vision of the present. Are you ready to maximize every opportunity your favorite time of year will bring? How will your staff adjust to the increased traffic? Will they be able to handle the customers in the store as well as answer the ringing phone? Will they be confident when selling your facility or will they let customers walk out the door?

 Don’t let all these questions burst your bubble. PhoneSmart can prepare your staff by dusting off their selling skills with our Role Play Helpline. It’s a great way to freshen up your sales pitch and polish a great image. In addition, the sales force in our call center is ready to answer your phones and send the renters your way, reservations in hand. You can even generate more traffic by advertising on our Storage Concierge website. PhoneSmart is much more than a mystery shopping provider; we’re your complete sales solution. If you haven’t already explored our many services, dust off the phone and give us a call today.

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Robert Frost

Written by: Sarah Little, TQA Executive

Thanks for reading PhoneSmart’s secret shopping blog. We know the mystery shopping and sales industries.

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

Your storage unit provider at 14211 Gallant Fox Ln, Bowie, MD 20715

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As I have stated previously, self storage is moving more toward the customer service and retail field. A lot of the self storage industry is looking toward call centers to answer their rollover calls. Our reservation center alone takes thousands of calls for potential and current customers. This makes it even more important to keep a professional attitude when you are answering phones or even if you are at the facility assisting customers.

There are several ways to ensure that you are keeping a professional feel when you are assisting customers. One of the first shots is greeting the customer. If you are on-site, it can be as simple as greeting the customer with a smile when they come to the desk. You can also greet them at the door. If you are answering the phone, you want to make sure you greet them in a professional way. You always want to thank them for calling. Make sure you mention the store name in your greeting and ask them how you can help them. During the call or conversation with the customer, it’s okay to keep it conversational and relate to them. However, you want to make sure that you are speaking in a way that is appropriate for the job. We all have a different way of speaking when we are at work versus when we are at home. You want to make sure that you never mix the two when you’re addressing a customer.

Written by Ronald Smith, PhoneSmart call center reservations specialist.

Thank you for visiting the Phone Smart call center blog an insider diary of the self storage industry.

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

Find a storage unit at 1010 N.E. Crain Hwy, Bowie, MD 20716

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Sometimes you just have to go back a little to be able to proceed forward. I run the Prize Patrol, an incentive based program for our StorageMart stores and today, I had to step back to make the program move more successfully. Somewhere between having the stores call in to our Role Play Helpline and the self storage stores getting their proper credit we were having a problem. Because we already send the stores hot leads, reservations and such, we will now send the stores a copy of the Role Play. This will insure the rep that took the call about self storage training completed the form and it will be sent to the store so they have actual confirmation of the credit. It seems like a simple idea but somewhere we were losing credit for the report that is pulled. I really would love to believe that each rep is filling out the report and that each store really is calling in but the numbers say something else.

So, if you have systems in place that don’t deliver, take a step back.

Written by Natalie Thomas, TQAS executive and Prize Patrol boss.

Thanks for visiting our secret shopping blog, an inside peek at secret shopping, TQAS programs, customer service and the Prize Patrol.

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

Your local self storage unit provider in 2445 Crain Hwy. Waldorf, MD. 20601

Need storage in Baltimore? 7233 Windsor Mill Rd, Baltimore, MD 21244

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