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Answer the Phone

When you call a company that you desperately need to get an answer from and they don’t answer, how do you feel? Most people would not really have any kind of emotion the first time they contact the company and they don’t answer. What kind of emotions are flowing through a person who calls a company and they do not answer more than two or three times? How you are getting pretty upset. All you want to do is call the company you need to and get your situation resolved. Why does that have to be so hard? It would seem that everyone has been in this situation once or twice.

As a property manager, you have a lot of things to do that maybe the general public does not understand. All the general public wants to know that if they need you, they can reach you. Sometimes customers do not realize the scope of your responsibility nor do they think that you are human and could possibly get sick. With that said, you also need to have some thing in place to where if you can’t answer the phone, someone else does. If this is not an option for you, then make sure that you have a good messaging system to where the customer can leave a message. The key is returning that customer’s message.
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  • Answer the Phone
    By joel on April 23, 2012 | No Comments Comments

    When you call a company that you desperately need to get an answer from and they don’t answer, how do you feel? Most people would not really have any kind of emotion the first time they contact the company and they don’t answer. What kind of emotions are flowing through a person who calls a company and they do not answer more than two or three times? How you are getting pretty upset. All you want to do is call the company you need to and get your situation resolved. Why does that have to be so hard? It would seem that everyone has been in this situation once or twice.

    As a property manager, you have a lot of things to do that maybe the general public does not understand. All the general public wants to know that if they need you, they can reach you. Sometimes customers do not realize the scope of your responsibility nor do they think that you are human and could possibly get sick. With that said, you also need to have some thing in place to where if you can’t answer the phone, someone else does. If this is not an option for you, then make sure that you have a good messaging system to where the customer can leave a message. The key is returning that customer’s message.

    We have all been in that place where a company did not answer our phone calls when we needed them to. It made us very upset and we questioned whether or not we wanted to do business with that company. Don’t let customers think that about your company. Make sure you answer every phone call you can and return every message you get. Treat the customer the way you want to be treated.

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    Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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  • Thing Ahead of the Customer
    By joel on March 11, 2012 | No Comments Comments

    Believe it or not, customers know when they are being sold to. Surprise. That is a shock to many different people or maybe its not. It blows the minds of many that think that managers really do not realize that the people that call them know that they are being sold to. If the managers are not thinking that way, then they might be missing more than just that. Property managers should always have the thought process that they have to win the customer away from whomever the customer called before them. That has to be the objective.

    When managers are thinking ahead of the customers they are putting their selves in a good place. They can have different scenarios thought out and planned so they can be prepared to rebuttal if the customer has an issue. The more the manager tries to prepare for what the customer could say the better equipped they are to get the customer to rent with them. The end game for the manager is to get the customer to rent. If you as a manager are not thinking about renting spaces then you are in the wrong profession.

    Property managers need to be a step ahead of the customers but with that said, they also can not put the customer in a weird or awkward place. When a customer tells the manager no, the manager has to be cool, calm and collective. The manager needs to ensure that they know what their next move will be and breathe before responding. If the manager goes on full blown attack mode, that can leave to the customer leaving the store or hanging up the phone. That is not what the manager wants to happen.

    When a customer calls the store or drops in, they are telling you that they want a storage space, but what are you going to do about it? Some managers think that they can just throw a price at the customer and that will win them over. Customers care about more than just the price. They are coming into the facility to check everything out and ensure that it is the place that they want to rent from. They are checking you out as a manager as well. The manager is a big piece of the pie when it comes to the customer. The property manager really can tilt the property in favor of the company if they handle this customer correctly.

    Self storage is not rocket science. As a manager you don’t have to wait for all the stars to align for you to get the customer to rent with you. All you have to do is anticipate any objections they would have with your property. You can find all kinds of different things that the customer will come up with in order to say no. They have already made the first commitment. They are asking you for storage. Now you just have to think ahead of them and come up with some solution for them that the customer does not see.

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    Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

  • Come on Down to the Facility
    By joel on March 8, 2012 | No Comments Comments
    What would you do if you walked into a facility that was completely disgusting? Most people would turn around and walk back out. Other people might consider still going through with renting a storage space. Would it be different if the manager told you they had a nice and super clean facility on to find out they were lying? How would that affect your self storage experience? Would that make you not trust other things they said or did? If you say no to this question, you are definitely in the minority.
    Many managers ask the customer they are speaking with over the phone that they invite them to come down and see the facility. They do this for a couple of different reasons. They do this to get the customer to compare different facilities and also to get the customer to come down to their facility. Many property managers think that if they can get the customer to come in to their facility, the customer will rent from them. They believe that they have the best of what is offered in the self storage world. The property managers also want you to see how their competition does not take care of their property. This is to their advantage.
    What makes a customer decide to rent a storage space? This has been the age long question that many owners have contemplated. There is not a unique system of things that can help one facility rent more spaces than the next one. One of the things that can help a property manager with getting the customer to decide to rent with them is deciding to be completely truthful with the customer. If you tell the caller something about your facility or what you can do for them, follow through with those thoughts. If you are asked something by a customer and you are unsure whether or not you can do it, tell the customer that. Do not make a promise that you can not keep.
    The disconnection between the manager and the customer sometimes is the expectations of storage. If the customer comes down to the facility and they see something completely different than is described then they will not be pleased. So when you tell the customer about your facility, be as truthful as possible. It is completely ridiculous to think that you can lie to a person and it not come back to bite you. It is very simple to sell to the customer what you have and hope for the best. The customer only expects you as a property manager to give accurate information.
    The customer will go down to the facility that they believe is the best for them. They will visit as many facilities as they feel they need or not visit any facilities at all. It is there choice. Always be ready for a customer when they come into your facility. It is always great when the customer ahs already spoken to you and now they see they can trust you as you have told the truth about your facility. When you ask the customer to come on down to your facility, you are inviting them into your world of self storage. You always want to put your best foot forward. There is nothing like hearing a customer come in telling you that the competition’s storage units are disgusting while yours are spotless.

    What would you do if you walked into a facility that was completely disgusting? Most people would turn around and walk back out. Other people might consider still going through with renting a storage space. Would it be different if the manager told you they had a nice and super clean facility on to find out they were lying? How would that affect your self storage experience? Would that make you not trust other things they said or did? If you say no to this question, you are definitely in the minority.

    Many managers ask the customer they are speaking with over the phone that they invite them to come down and see the facility. They do this for a couple of different reasons. They do this to get the customer to compare different facilities and also to get the customer to come down to their facility. Many property managers think that if they can get the customer to come in to their facility, the customer will rent from them. They believe that they have the best of what is offered in the self storage world. The property managers also want you to see how their competition does not take care of their property. This is to their advantage.

    What makes a customer decide to rent a storage space? This has been the age long question that many owners have contemplated. There is not a unique system of things that can help one facility rent more spaces than the next one. One of the things that can help a property manager with getting the customer to decide to rent with them is deciding to be completely truthful with the customer. If you tell the caller something about your facility or what you can do for them, follow through with those thoughts. If you are asked something by a customer and you are unsure whether or not you can do it, tell the customer that. Do not make a promise that you can not keep.

    The disconnection between the manager and the customer sometimes is the expectations of storage. If the customer comes down to the facility and they see something completely different than is described then they will not be pleased. So when you tell the customer about your facility, be as truthful as possible. It is completely ridiculous to think that you can lie to a person and it not come back to bite you. It is very simple to sell to the customer what you have and hope for the best. The customer only expects you as a property manager to give accurate information.

    The customer will go down to the facility that they believe is the best for them. They will visit as many facilities as they feel they need or not visit any facilities at all. It is there choice. Always be ready for a customer when they come into your facility. It is always great when the customer ahs already spoken to you and now they see they can trust you as you have told the truth about your facility. When you ask the customer to come on down to your facility, you are inviting them into your world of self storage. You always want to put your best foot forward. There is nothing like hearing a customer come in telling you that the competition’s storage units are disgusting while yours are spotless.

    [Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post 

    Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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