» Sales Training

Anyone who owns or manages a retail business such as a clothing store, a convenience store or a home improvement center, or a business that is heavily involved with serving customers in one way or another such as a restaurant, coffee shop, cafe, boat storage or automobile storage place, hotel or night club, knows all too well the tremendous impact that secret shopping services can have on the employees of any such business that utilizes them. In fact, employees who know that their company or employer will be utilizing secret shopping services throughout their employment in the company, typically out perform employees of other companies who do not use consistent shadow evaluations to measure customer interaction and employee friendliness.

Why is this? Well, for starters, many companies that are actively using a consistent level of secret shopping services on their employees and businesses usually do so as some kind of incentive program, offering rewards for improvement, rather than to find and single out bad workers, as is sometimes assumed by the very nature of the evaluations being unknown. Many companies offer cash bonuses to those employees who are rated as above average or excellent when they have been the recipient of an evaluation. It is logical to assume that once an employee realizes that doing their job to the best of their ability not only gets them brownie points with the bosses, but also cold hard cash, then just maybe they think to smile a bit more often, and greet the customers more regularly.

In fact, entire training programs are very often created around the basis of the secret shopping services that are routinely performed at a company. For the most part, companies who use the results of their shadow observations and evaluations to come up with fun, convenient ways to motivate their employees to try harder often have the best scores over all. As an example, imagine working for a company whose manager hands out something along the lines of smile tickets, when he or she sees and employee smiling frequently or doing their job exceptionally well. The employee then puts their ticket into a tumbler and each week a name is pulled out of the tumbler for a cash prize or some other prize. Even though there may not be any evaluations going on that day at all, the line is cast, in that employees are asked to consistently participate in friendly, courteous service with their guests. It becomes a theme, and a recurring one.

Honoring employees for the work that they do and for the progress that they are showing just makes them feel good. Working for a company who values them, and rewards them in fun and exciting ways, enables them to be more responsive to customers and patrons whether the secret shopping services are being performed or not. That is, after all, the ultimate goal, friendly, courteous customer service every day, not just every other day, or once a week when they feel like it. Good customer service makes a lasting impression on guests to an establishment, and fun, respectful and unique management makes for happier, more responsive employees. At the end of the day, it is this combination of excellent management and training skills and responsive, happy employees that turn a guests experience from mediocre to stellar, and that is something that all businesses want to achieve.

Customer Service

Tweet This Post 

Real estate management courses are providing in depth study of the property industry, such as commercial retail, mini storage , commercial storage , residential and more. These courses deal with concepts which you need to know to start your new career. You will get to know the state laws and regulations, which are applicable to different types of properties. If you want to make your career in this industry, then it is better to have a certification for your proven knowledge of the subject. Many of the universities and educational institutes are offering these courses nowadays. You can avail online courses also, if you have internet connection at home. Depending on your requirement and financial feasibility, you can enroll with any of these courses.

The online real estate management courses will include a fixed hours of education and training to provide you the guidelines. You will receive varieties of course materials on the subject. Time to time you have to sit for online quizzes. All the study will be conducted over the internet. You have to attend the quizzes, enrichment exercises, extra lessons and a final test. The courses offered by the universities have part time or full time facilities. Students can learn while they work using a part time course or devote their full effort for a long time course. The master degree course requires several years of experience in this field.

The online real estate management courses provide the materials having latest information regarding the industry. Normally the materials supply information on following aspects.

• It provides textbook giving detail information to become a high quality landowner. The book shows different communication methods with the tenants and teaches you how to become comfortable in critical situations.

• The main study material is a book dealing with details of management of properties. This includes total overview of the industry, economics, property analysis, marketing, advertising, lease formalities, forms, daily operations, management of commercial properties and so on.

• The online real estate management courses will also give you a workbook, which will lead you step by step through the various levels of the course. The book has enrichment exercises and lessons, which will help you to learn and build up your knowledge.

• A tutorial for basic and complex mathematics is also provided within the course. This will help you to become confident in solving the realty estate math problems.

• The course provides a dictionary explaining the meaning and applications of the terms used in realty.

• Finally, it supplies a demo disk for the software that deal with properties. This will help you to learn about the most common functionalities of the software. This acquired skill will guide you to operate other major software also.

After completing the real estate management courses successfully, you will be prepared to deal with any challenges of this industry. You will be well trained in following aspects.

• Classify the management of different properties and the purpose.

• Generate a financial statement for any property.

• Create a suitable marketing plan for the business.

• Explain ways or methods to maintain a friendly relation between owner and tenant.

• Apply the leasing processes to fill up any vacant property.

• Understand the major legal issues related to the industry.

• Differentiate between the scope of managing residential and commercial property.

A career in managing different properties is highly recommendable these days. It has good employment prospects all over the world, offering you lots of challenges to overcome.

Storage

Tweet This Post 

As a real estate management firm you should be prepared to offer our property owners a full strategy for success. Above the usual accounting, payroll, legal and tenant management services, a well rounded real estate management firm would offer sales training and job management for clientele employees.

This may mean that a real estate management firm suggest third party training services, such as a secret shopping program to its clientele. In fact, secret shopping is a great way to look at sales training because such a program would allow your clients a chance to see what their service really is at the customer level.

After all, a great accountant has less to count if customers are not buying, right? This is why, as a real estate management firm it is in your best interest to recommend reputable sales training or secret shopping services to your clients. This is also in the best interest of the client and they may appreciate a valuable recommendation.

Of course, this means that your real estate management firm can not just go recommending any old sales training material or secret shopping vendor. You will have to research those that seem to fit your client base the best.

For example, if you manage storage properties, then find some of the self storage niche shopping programs and ask to have a few trial or demo calls done. Evaluate the program. When comparing secret shop programs, here are some things to consider.

• Was the program customizable to your needs?
• Did you have easy and productive communication with your contact person at the shop office?
• Were the secret shops conducted well enough to not give it away?
• Were the results of the secret shop delivered in a timely manner?
• Were the results accurate?
• Does the shop program have updated technology (i.e. Are the shops recorded on cassette tape, CD, or mp3? Are the results accessible to you via online access, mailed to you, or emailed to you?)
• How many secret shoppers does the company have? If there is a limited pool of them, then you may see or hear the same shoppers too often. If the shopper company has a large network of shoppers, that is best.
• How long has the company been in business? You do not want to recommend a new company to your clientele that may be out of business in a few years. Find a company that has proven they are going to grow their own business.
• Ask for a discount for all the clients who sign up for their services through your recommendation. If you can offer your clients discounted third party services and products, they will appreciate your management services even more.

Other services you may want to gather as third party services could be insurance to the client, and insurance for the clients customers. Take the self storage industry again, they would like to sell renters insurance to their customers. If your management service had a collection of recommendations, they would be pleased to do business with you.

The goal should be to cover all the need of your client base. Make your management firm more than just an accountant and a lawyer, make your firm a one stop shop for business owners. Become a consultant for them.

Self Storage in Kansas City

Tweet This Post 

Mark had only gone to college for two semesters. When he was a senior in high school he had originally planned to obtain his four year degree in business and find a good paying job after graduation. As life is hard to plan to the details, Mark met with some unexpected things along the way before he could complete his plan of college and a career. When he was a year into college he had to drop out because of many issues, including money and also family problems. He took on a desk job at a real estate company that made decent enough money, but he knew in the back of his head that this was a job that would take him nowhere in the long term, and nothing to offer him except a cost of living raise every year or so. This was not what he wanted to do with his life.

So Mark took control and decided that though his old plan would probably never come to fruition, that did not have to stop him from making a new one altogether. He got online one night and searched for online and short term degrees that would take him in the general direction he had wanted to go those years ago in high school and college, and he eventually found what he was looking for.

He came across a site that offered property management classes . It was completely online, which meant he would not have to travel to and from school.  And it would only take a year or less to complete. Mark realized that within a couple of years he could probably find a job and work his way up in it with experience, but he knew that a degree such as the one he could take with property management classes would take him further faster, and this is what he wanted.

The property management classes that Mark began to take soon thereafter were designed specifically with distance in mind. They were easy to follow and since everything was online, Mark was able to check his grades and assignments at any time necessary, night or day. What was even better was that with the school he decided to go through, the property management classes had no set time. He was able to set his own schedule and work at his own pace, turning in assignments and taking tests whenever had had time in his busy schedule. Mark was also thrilled to learn that all of his tests and assignments were open book and open note, as the course focused more on actual learning and researching.

With the real estate position that Mark currently held, he was learning about certain business and managing tactics already. But he knew that with the property management classes he was taking in order to obtain a degree and certification, he would have the means to jump immediately and actively into the competitive job market as soon as he graduated. The courses would allow him to learn things now, the same things that being on the job might take years to find out.

After a year had gone by and Mark had graduated with his degree and certification, it took him only a couple of months to find a job that he wanted. It was one that had enormous potential, and his employers were very impressed with his enthusiasm, his degree, and the fortitude Mark had shown in taking the initiative to take control and do what he wanted with his career.

Kansas City Furniture Storage

Tweet This Post 

Have you been looking for ways to make extra income with a flexible schedule? Have you investigated secret shopping jobs ? Listed below are the top three steps to a job search.

Like many online work at home opportunities, there are scams that you should watch out for when doing your research. Businesses need feedback on their services and products in order to make good marketing decisions. In order to do this, they hire shoppers for pay to shop incognito to evaluate the typical daily activity of their shop from a customers perspective. These marketing research assignments include shopping, auditing, merchandising, scheduling and Internet shopping. Every assignment has certain criteria it needs and is scored based upon those assigned criteria.
 
A shopper needs to be patient when getting started with secret shopping jobs , remembering this is self employment and probably will not happen overnight. It takes time to build a business.

Getting Started

The application process. A potential shopper begins the process by submitting applications to shopping companies. They should do a search online for directories, through forums and other shopping sites to find possible jobs. Respond directly to the company, signing up with as many companies as you can. Pace yourself. Filling out large amounts of applications is time consuming. Spread it out. Each company will be different. Some will want faxed applications. Others will require you to email them for their application. The application will almost always require you to write a paragraph or two. This is so they can evaluate your grammar, spelling and punctuation skills.

Use a word processor for your application and answer each question, editing your writing until it is accurate. Save it for later applications, using copy and paste so you will have very minimal retyping to do.

The Assignment

Follow the clients guidelines. Secret shopping jobs require the shopper to report their observations. Be sure to take good notes once you leave the shop. Have any necessary materials with you to complete the assignment. A notepad and pencil should be available to you, a hand held recorder or cell phone, a PDA or any other device that will help you record your findings.

Verify your store location. Often clients will have multiple locations near each other. You do not want to waste time shopping at the wrong location. If you have multiple assignments for jobs they can be combined in one trip when located in the same mall or retail area.

After the Assignment

When you finish each of your secret shopping jobs , complete your report and questionnaire forms according to the assignment requirements. Be detailed. They are very important. Give associate names if possible, if not provide a good description including hair and eye color, approximate age and distinguishing features such as glasses or a scar. Be prompt in returning your report.

Make sure your reports are well written and factual, with good spelling and grammar. Provide complete details when requested and read through the questions carefully. On time, detailed and factual reports go a long way in earning you more secret shopping jobs , increasing your income and the enjoyment you have in each shopping experience.

Well, there you have it. The three basic steps in the mysterious world of shopping are finding the jobs and apply, do the assignment and fill out the report.

Milledgeville Furniture Storage

Tweet This Post 

What is one thing that a mystery shopper looks for during a sales presentation?

The Price Stall

The price stall is a great sales technique that allows you the sales person to control the presentation and reel in the customer. By waiting to give the price you will start to build value in your product or service and you will be gaining rapport with the customer. Customers want to be able to trust and believe what you are saying, that way they feel good about their purchase. You do not want them to have a case of buyers remorse and return the product or service that you worked so hard to sell them on.

How do you Price Stall? There are many techniques and styles out there in the land of sales but the basic price stall is pretty easy to master. The basic price stall is exactly what it sounds like, stalling to give the price so that you can qualify the customer and figure out all of their needs. As mentioned above, the stalling part of the sales presentation can be an art in itself. You want to be able to present the customer with the appropriate product or service and you want them to purchase it.

Listen to how others are presenting their sales pitches and see what works for them. Everyone can have his or her own style and flair, which what make salespeople so great. Then the next thing to do is practice. You want to be smooth but not slick, you want to helpful and knowledgeable not pushy. You want to be friendly not pompous. You want the customer to buy your product or service and you want them to come back next time they need something from you. If you do the customer right, they will show their loyalty by returning in the future. Another good reason to treat customers right is the possibility of them referring your company to someone else. This is free advertising for your company and is a great way to gain new customers. They say that many people will give a good referral about a service or product they receive, but that many more people will give a negative referral if they did not receive the customer service that they were expecting. Better make it a good customer service experience.  

The Price Stall is just one thing that a mystery shopper is looking for when evaluating an employee. The mystery shopper might even play devils advocate and ask for the price of the product or service up front. This is a good test to see if the salesperson can get back on track and use the correct price stall technique. The mystery shopper might even go a step further and interrupt the salesperson during their price stall to see if the salesperson can overcome the interruption.

Sometimes a mystery shopper will notice another salesperson that is having a difficult time with a customer. For whatever reason the customer wants the price and they want it right now! The only way to get around these types of customer interaction is to go ahead and give the price but do not give up on the sale. Hang in there and ask for the sale, you will be surprised at how many new customers you will get this way.

Miami Car Storage

Tweet This Post 

Ah, yes taking criticism. It is known how we all love and look forward hearing how we did something wrong or how someone is willing to give us advice on the situation. Every time it comes time to hear feedback, we start putting up walls that shield us from the comments. Most of the time, we are not receptive to the information even though it could greatly benefit us. Sometimes you need to check your pride at the door.

Most people like the idea of feedback secret shopping because you get immediate recognition on what you did well, and some coaching points that can help you going into the next call. In the past, secret shopping  just shopped different storage managers, evaluated their call, and then sent the call to the district manager for them to do as they please. Think how many calls in between the secret shopping calls, that self storage manager in between that time could take. They still could be using not as good sales presentations that they did not know they needed help on. The only problem sometimes with instant feedback from secret shopping, is that some people are too prideful and choose not to listen.

It is so refreshing that there are managers out there who receive a perfect score every single time they participate in secret shopping, mostly unknowing. We should applaud you for you efforts, but what about those who do well in the secret shopping evaluation? Even the perfect managers can still learn and tweak their presentations. They should still open up their ears during their secret shopping evaluation and be humble enough to say that they do not know it all. Whether you have been in the industry for over ten years or ten minutes, everyone can improve on their skills. It is up to you to want to. That is why secret shopping is in place to help all different experience levels.

With secret shopping, there can be a huge lift in your company if you use the feedback correctly. Of course, as stated, earlier that is easier said then done. You have to check your pride at the door and realize that no one is perfect. That is another reason secret shopping is out there. People just need to get over the fact that they believe secret shopping is there to judge, bring down the individual or attempt to get someone fired. It is hard to believe that there is a company out there that would spend money to have an outside source listens to their associates, just to have reason to let them go. Now with the secret shopping evaluations, if the associates choose not to improve or for some reason cannot, they need to not be part of your company. Let us be honest. Why would you have someone on your team who is not willing to accept feedback from secret shopping when it gives them a true snapshot of how they assist customers? Do they not believe that will help them see that they have something they need to work on?

Instant feedback seems to be sky rocketing with more and more companies signing up. Companies know that the quicker they change some behaviors the quicker they can see profits. It is good for these companies to sign up and use the instant feedback way of doing secret shopping, but they need to get their people on board to check their pride at the door and be more receptive to criticism. They have to remember, not all criticism is bad, and it is just how you receive it.

Self Storage 

Florida RV Storage

Oakland Storage

Tweet This Post 

There has been a lot of talk in the media lately about a possible recession. People seem to be buckling down and keeping their nose to the grindstone in hopes that the economy will heal itself. Businesses are doing the same and that is why if you are a business owner you need to have a game plan.

The business game plan needs to include ways in which you can spend money on training your employees while getting the most value for your dollar. How does this happen? It starts with evaluating what you want your employees to be doing while they are at work. Are they there to sell, clean up, and provide customer service and a safe and secure atmosphere? Sometimes when employees are given many duties they will prioritize them in an order that is not the best for the company. If you have an employee that is well organized and likes to clean, they might put selling a little lower on their list of duties. If you have an employee that is a super people person than customer service and a well-kept office might be lower on their list. It is important to convey to your employees how you would like your business to be run. 

Secret shopping is a great way to help your employees with additional training. Typically, secret shopping programs are affordable and very helpful to many businesses. Here are some things that a secret shopping program can help your business with.

• Monitoring- evaluating employees in their natural setting. For example, the sales floor, the counter, the register, the entrance and more.
• Compliance- making sure that your employees are following company procedure at all times.
• Incentive based- giving your employees rewards based on their positive secret shopping evaluations. Rewards can be monetary, gifts, awards, a pat on the back, lunch, or whatever sounds like fun.
• Customer service monitoring- making sure that your employees are giving the best customer service possible.
• Competitor information- some secret shopping companies will shop your competitors and provide you with evaluations on their customer service and selling skills.
• Training- we all know that training is important. It is important to train new employees and provide on-going training for existing employees.

Most secret shopping programs can be tailored to fit your business and your business profile. Not all secret shopping businesses and programs are the same, so be sure to do your homework to see if they will work with you. The best secret shopping programs will examine your business needs closely and communicate the best plan of action for you. Sometimes it can take more than just a secret shopping program to complete the big sales picture. Ask potential secret shopping companies if they offer other training services to help and back up their secret shopping. Additional training can sometimes be combined in packages with secret shopping to obtain the maximum amount of training exposure to the employee.

By doing a little homework you will be able to provide your employees with the best training solution for the money. Investing in a secret shopping program will help your employees bring in more sales and more sales equal more revenue for you and your business. Remember, get the most out of your hard earned money. Make sure your business game plan includes additional training for your employees to insure a long and profitable business.

NE Storage Units

StorageMart Eola Rd & New York Aurora, IL 60504

Automobile Storage

Tweet This Post 

It is well into 2008, and now is a great time to explore a brand new secret shopping year. Have you thought about your current plan or implementing a new agenda this near year to help increase your storage business? What about re-vamping your sales management training with a secret shopping program? Or, are you planning on the same agenda you had last year? Have you thought of any storage procedures that you would like to implement or change this year? The same routines your employees followed last year will likely result with similar outcomes this year. As with every new year, you should always strive to better your company, your employees and yourself. Come up with new guidelines, including secret shopping procedures to take the next step on the success ladder.

The first noticeable change our company made this year was that we started the hiring process much sooner. We now have plenty of time to get our new hires trained and well versed in the storage industry. Our spring storage rush is approaching fast and our summer storage season even faster. Our company has always believed in internal monitoring with a secret shopping program. The type of prospective applicants we have had recently seemed much more experienced and available for consideration for the openings we have available. Maybe the change in the type of applicants we had is due to the over spending during the Christmas season or the college students moving to Columbia during the Winter break. Either way, it has made a noticeable difference. We are planning to do the same at the start of each year seeing the results we encountered this year.

We will continue to hire about every 3 weeks until our call center cannot bear to add any additional employees. This way we have plenty of time to prepare for this summers expected high number of storage inquiries. We know they will only continue to increase as we get closer and when we are in the heart of the summer season. Overstaffing will not be an issue since we will fill any open time with additional storage sales training exercises. Plus, by starting an early training regime we can monitor the staff with our own secret shopping evaluations.  

During the storage training regime, we can usually predict who will make it in the required training time frame before we send them to the wolves to see if they can make it on their own. Those who are motivated and sincerely interested, will do anything to make it will make it work for them. Those that show this type of interest should be given a second chance.  Invest in them as they are trying to invest in your storage company.  These dedicated personality types usually tend to be there for the long hall making your turn-over rate smaller than normal. And, surprisingly they can also end up being one of your tops storage sales professionals. Taking risks are part of the business. Make sure that your secret shopping program is set up to handle new employees as well as old employees.

Letting these people go without the extra attention will just set you up for the next trainee who walks through your door. So, find their weaknesses and encourage them with the idea that even the best of the best need extra training to stay on the storage team. Secret shopping is a great tool for this job. If they have a great personality and an ambitious drive to learn the storage trade, then invest in the additional training time with them. Secret shopping will help your employees see their strong and weak spots. It is important to not give up on someone you think would be a great employee.  Everyone has their own learning pace and secret shopping will help you determine what areas the employee needs to work on. 

Do not try to overload them with monotonous training regimes, instead give those breaks so that they can work on other projects and feel needed in other areas. This builds their confidence and shows them that they are needed within the company. Secret shopping can be a program that helps boost your sales, try it.

North Dakota Storage Units

StorageMart Halsted & Chicago Ave Chicago, IL 60622

Boat Storage

Tweet This Post 

Our Vegas convention team has returned from another successful business outing. Four members of our staff including our director traveled last week to Las Vegas for a very large self storage convention. We prepared and met prior to the convention so that we would all bring our A-game. The secret shopping team composed of the director and an agent presented information about our secret shopping services. The convention was very busy and on the opening day, many people stopped by our booth to inquire about our secret shopping services. Also in the booth were the call center director and a client services representative. We were all there for the same thing, meeting, greeting and getting new business.

This particular convention is popular in the self storage industry because it attracts many newcomers to the business. Besides information about secret shopping services, there were companies that build self storage, manage self storage, supply self storage, gates, boxes, tapes and sales seminars rounded out the convention floor. Besides our company that offers self storage call center services, secret shopping services and management training, there were only a handful of competitors in our market.

Here are some of the great responses that we received while on the trade show floor.

Your seminar this morning on motivation was excellent.
We already do business with you and we love it.
You guys have the booth that is the most fun.
What else do you do besides call center?
I cannot wait to get started with your company.

We made sure that most of the people passing by our booth received some sort of handout about our company. We provided people with call center information and information about our secret shopping services. Our secret shopping services are just the icing on the cake as far as what we do as a whole to provide the self storage industry with appropriate services.

On Friday morning we presented our vendor information in the morning to a small crowd. We considered this a great turnout considering it was the last day of the conference and it was an optional event. We took turns speaking about our call center services and management software along with our secret shopping services and our management training. The presentation was well received and a few attendees stayed and inquired about additional information.

The last day on the show floor was a little slower than the first, but it was to be expected. Many people try and visit the booths they are interested in the first day. But that did not deter us from staying strong and meeting and greeting. A few more potential clients came by to take advantage of our call center show special and our special on secret shopping services. Because many people choose to shop around there is still business to be had on the last day of the conference.

We would like to take this opportunity to Thank all those folks that came by and said hello. We got to visit with current, past and potential call center and clients looking for secret shopping services. Las Vegas treated us well and we are thankful for the opportunity to spread the word about our company and the great job that we do. Contact us if you are looking for call center or secret shopping services. We would love to talk to you!

Arkansas Storage Units

StorageMart Rt 59 & Lake Street (Rt 20) Elgin, IL 60120

Automobile Storage

Tweet This Post