» Self Storage

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If you are going to the ISS show later this month, you should see our session on maximizing profits. It should apply to several property management classifications as well as storage.

One of the reasons self storage can be a profitable enterprise is the fact that there are several ways to push profits. Self storage is a demand driven business. There are always people needing it. So if you study your market correctly and build a nice facility on a good piece of ground, people will come to you. It is not like in the good old days where demand far outweighed supply, but you will still get a lot of people who will find you on their own. So what do you do to make sure you rent to as many people as possible and have as large an average ticket as possible?

Fast food restaurants learned long ago that a large soda will send so much more money to the bottom line than a small soda. Selling large fries to each person at the drive-thru rather than a small order can easily send $10,000 more a month to the bottom line at even a slow location. Do you know how the drive-thru concept was born? Fast food owners knew they were missing business when the counter got busy. People did not want to wait and went elsewhere. But people don’t mind waiting in the car, do they?

What was the key to pushing fast food profits? Asking for the order. “Can I super size that for you?” and “Would you like fries with that shake?” have been some of the most valuable phrases in history.

How do you apply this strategy to self storage? We don’t have soda or fries. But we do have locks, boxes, insurance and truck rentals.

We don’t have a drive-thru to capture people who might go elsewhere when our phones are busy, but you can use a call center. Using a call center to capture your missed rental opportunities can account for 15-20% of your rentals.

We can learn to ask for the order. “How many boxes will you need today?” , “Which of our locks would you prefer for your unit?” , “Would you want the $2,000 or the $4,000 coverage?” , “I have a 16 foot or a 20 foot truck, which would fit your things better?” and “We take Visa or Master to hold a unit, which one do you have handy?” could send how much to your bottom line?

If you are now renting 30 units a month, what could the impact be if you and your staff mastered these phrases?

Boxes. You sell $10.00 more a month to each new tenant = $300.00

Locks. You double the number of locks you sell from 10 a month to 20 = $100.00

Your net on these supplies would be 50% or $200.00 per month.

Insurance. 50% of new renters take insurance instead of your current figure of “next to none”. Let’s say you make $2.00 a month commission on each sale. (15 x $2.00) Your net would be $30.00

Learning to ask for the order with locks, boxes and insurance could easily be worth $2,500 a year in profit. What is wrong with that?

Now increase your rentals from 30 a month to 34 a month because your call center is renting units for you from callers you would not have talked to without the service. Not only does that send the income from those rentals to your bottom line, which could easily average $600.00 or more per rental, but it gives you 4 more people to sell lock, boxes and insurance to.

What about truck rentals? The commissions on local moves keep a little revenue flowing each week. And when you do a one-way, you get a nice little piece of change to send to the bottom line. Having trucks available draws people to your store. Your truck customers may not all rent a storage unit from you, but some will. These are additional rentals you probably would not have gotten without the truck. Truck renters buy a lot of boxes and moving supplies.

My last word to you is that offering these add-ons is not enough. You have to sell them. Each item carries a list of conveniences and value-adding propositions for your customers. First, don’t let any potential customers get away from you. Then show your customers why it is good for them to get their locks, boxes, insurance and trucks from you. Finally ask for the order. If they don’t say “Yes”, ask them why they don’t think these additional products and services are not a good idea. Re-sell your value proposition and your convenience offering in terms of the customer’s resistance and then ask for the order again.

Many sales are made to people who said “No” the first time they were asked to make a purchase. “No” is not the end of the conversation. “No” just tells you how to direct the conversation. Don’t be afraid to sell you profit maximizing services. Your bottom line will appreciate your efforts very much.

You can contact Tron by email at tron@phone-smart.net

Find out more about PhoneSmart:

www.phone-smart.info

www.selfstorageblog.com

PhoneSmart is a sales solution provider for self storage owners, helping to maximize profits through its Call Center, Secret Shopping, Sales Training and On Site Recording.

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Welcome to the property management blog, our diary of the property management world. When figuring out policies and procedures for your properties you have a lot to consider.

When we take phone calls for properties we have a lot to consider, too. How do you make sure your staff understands all there is at hand. You might want to do some quizzes to help retention. Her is a copyuof one of our quizzes from our call center manager, Robin.

1. If someone is looking for storage to store their truck outside in a parking space at a California WYX Storage property and they are sold out, what do you do?
a. Take a hot lead and ask manager to call them back if they have one coming up?
b. Tell them, “sorry but we’re currently sold out”
c. Refer them to manager’s voicemail?

2. If someone calls and they are looking for a unit for someone else, how would you relay the info. to the store who you spoke to and who the unit is for as well s the contact number?

3. Can you send a lead on a parking space for Store number 0197?

4. Can you offer a special on a parking space even if it says, “all units offer specials”?

5. Property 0517 – If a caller needs a 10×25 unit, how would you handle that?

6. Property 0570 – Where can someone rent a unit for band practice?

7. Property 0570-How does the cost work for paint booths?
a. By the month like all others?
b. By the week?
c. By the day?
d. Other?

8. If you have a caller stating that they hear an alarm going off at the store and the office is closed… and you have tried to contact the ER # and other numbers listed on that store screen but have not had luck, could you attempt to contact the referral stores in that area to let someone know? Why?

9. Store 0566- how much is the deposit on a:
a. 10X10?
b. 10×15?
c. 5×10?

10. Store 0566 – what is the deposit amount required at time of rental?

11. Store 0566-Does the store accept credit cards?

12. Store 0566-what is the address to the office?

13. Store 0566- If someone prepays for a 10×20 for 3 months upfront, do they qualify for the 4th month free?

14. How do you explain an evaporated cooled unit?

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In the coming age of energy competition, who will win? Will it be the oil companies or the coal mine operators? Will it be the Chinese, the Indians or the Afghanies?

Maybe all of these will be winners if they get themsleves pre-positioned.

I believe the winner will be the people who control the roof tops that generate solar electric power.It will be the people who own the buildings that get covered in thin film solar generating material. It will be the people who control the land that the wind farms are built on. And it will be the engineers and start-up companies that solve the remaining difficulties in bringing Green and Sustainable energy generation and consumption to the masses.

We are on the cusp of a change in the economy. The Iron age developed into the Bronze age. The oil age is on its way out. Are you ready to take advantage of the coming opportunities? Are you poised to switch your investments and your property management strategies?

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Call Centers Pick Up on Storage Opportunities

By Tron Jordheim

You probably all know someone in the storage business that is using a call center to answer calls that their sites miss. If you have ever called one of the larger storage operators to check their pricing or to hear their latest specials, you may have reached one of their call centers. You might even be using one yourself. You might, however, still be wondering how a call center fits into the storage puzzle.

Using a call center as a partner is not much different than using any other vendor as a partner. You have management software companies, builders and building material suppliers, snow removal and landscape companies, auctioneers and others that fill a position on your team to help make your operation work. Let’s look at how a call center can add value as a part of your team, too.

Every site misses phone calls. The most effective managers will miss calls. The fact is that phone traffic to your stores comes in waves. The phones can be slow for several hours and then get very busy for short spurts. Sometimes phone traffic compliments walk-in traffic and sometimes it will work in opposition. It can happen that you have several people at the counter at the time when your phone traffic for the day goes nuts.
Even when store staff can juggle people at the desk and people on the phone at the same time, it can be difficult to focus on the caller enough to give that person a good experience. As you know, first time callers have no loyalty to your store and are perfectly happy to call the next ad in the phone book if they don’t like how you answer the phone. Then of course you have phone calls after hours. Many consumers of storage are busy with work and family and may not be able to sit down and make a few phone calls during your regular office hours.

Every site spends significant dollars and effort to attract new business. The idea of spending money to drive phone calls to your site, just to let that callers get a busy signal or an answering machine is frightening.

But is a call center a good solution to the problem? Why not expand office hours, forward missed calls to cell phones or use voicemail or an answering service? Expanding office hours adds additional payroll cost. You can, however, adjust your hours of operation to match peak periods of phone and walk-in traffic. But it is far less expensive to allow a call center to answer after hours than add additional payroll.

Forwarding calls to a cell phone can be effective if the number of missed calls is low. Once you start answering three or four calls every night on your cell phone, it becomes a less attractive option. But it is also difficult to be a quality telephone sales person for new rental inquiries while standing on line at the bank, loading the dishwasher after dinner or trying to put your kids in the bath. You also have wage and hour considerations when forwarding calls to a cell phone. Technically, your staff person is on the clock when taking a call on his cell phone. This means that you might owe over-time to some of your employees.

Voicemail only works in markets where you have patient shoppers who already want to do business with you. There are few of these markets left. For most operators, there is plenty of competition and there are lots of choices for consumers. Most self-storage buyers are making calls now because they want to make a decision now and cross “Find storage” off of their to-do lists. If you can’t answer their questions and sell them a unit, they will find someone who can…now. Most people are on the go and it is very hard to reach people in response to a voicemail message. While you are playing phone tag, they may be signing a lease at your competitor’s place. Studies have shown that only 30% of callers will leave a message in the first place. How many of those messages were first time callers looking for space? I would suggest that the only people who will leave you a message are your current customers who just need to relay some quick information to you or who can wait for a call back on a simple question.

Answering services are not much better. People are used to getting the information they need and being able to make a reservation or a purchase if they talk to a live person. To have an answering service rep tell you they can only take a message is no less frustrating than voicemail for buyers.

Call center may not be the right word to describe what a call center does. Reservation Service or Lead Generator or Relief Manager may tell a better story. Call centers will talk to your current tenants and your rental prospects. When talking to your current tenants, a call center acts as your relief manager, helping callers with simple issues and referring more complicated issues on to your a mangers by email, fax or voicemail.

Every storage operator is trying to find ways to increase average length of stay rates. Call centers can help with that. There is a pain and pleasure ratio that determines whether tenants will stay or not. It goes like this…if the pain of getting your stuff out of storage is greater than the pain of paying the rent, then the stuff stays. Having a friendly and helpful interaction with your call center reps rather than getting a busy signal or voicemail will help your tenants feel better about staying with you.

The most profitable use of your call center is to stop buyers from making the next call in the phone book once they have called your store. The chances are that your store offers what buyers want and need. It is the job of the call center reps to help callers talk themselves into renting with you rather than continuing to call around for prices and information. Many times callers are ready to commit to a unit and make a reservation after getting the information they need. These people are taken “off the market” for your store. Many times people may not be ready to reserve a unit but are willing to schedule time to come to the store to take a quick tour. Your call center can book these tours, so your staff can help that caller rent with you after the tour. There are many people who call because they are planning ahead and can be turned into quality leads that your store staff can rent to in the weeks and months to come.

Simply put, a call center will drive people to your store that would have otherwise ended up at a competitor.

Your call center should have the same information about your properties that your store staff does. There are many methods using email, web updates, and software integrations that allow your call center to look at current pricing and availability on all your units. The call center screens will show all the features, policies, directions and top selling points for your store, so the telesales reps can answer almost any question and be able to sell your store with confidence. Call centers are equipped to be able to differentiate calls from your store from calls for their other customers, so call reps can answer with a store specific greeting and have all the information they need in front of them before they answer the phone call.

Once the call center has finished a phone call, they are equipped to fax and or email the lead, reservation or call result report to your store staff, so your people can do whatever follow-up is necessary as soon as possible. The follow-up is key. The call center reps can go a very long way to create well qualified leads and reservations, but a swift and effective follow-up call from your staff is required to seal the deal. You certainly don’t want to spend time and money to create potential business from your missed calls, just to let them linger without effective follow-up.

One advantage call centers have is that they can monitor and coach reps immediately. Call quality control is very important to call center management. This is what helps them create added value for you. Call centers record calls and monitor reps to help with sales processes, call flows, customer experience and time efficiencies. Also, call center reps do not have to know how to do lock-checks, mo

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I saw an interesting item in a news papare the other day. You may have seen it too,

There was an old grain elevator in Souix Falls, SD, that was actually the tallest building in the city and maybe even the state. It had fallen out of use and the area around it was going to be redeveopled as an office and business park.

The demolition experts were going to take it down in a bang. People came from all around to watch the landmark drop. The explosive technicians set the charges in the support pillars and let it blow. The building did not drop. It simply sank a few feet and reset itself into the foundation. After some examination and some head scratching, the demolition crew decided the building was stable and would not fall under in its current state. They have decided against setting more charges and tyring again becasue they did not think the building would drop with a second attempt either. Instead they are going to take a wrecking ball to it and smash it to pieces a little at a time.

What would happen to any of your buildings if the demo experts tried to drop one?

They just don’t build ‘em like that any more, do they?

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Thanksgiving time

Before you get busy preparing for this weekend’s activities, I wanted to take a minute to thank you.

Thank you for paying attention to our blogs and passing them on to your friends and associates. Our readership keeps increasing and that can only happen when you care enough to spread the word.

Thank you for supporting PhoneSmart’s effort to be relevant to our property management, secret shopping and self storage customers.

Thank you for being a client and helping us create a business model that helps you run a better business.

As you spend time with friends and family this week, I hope you take the time to be thankful and be joyful.

You will be on our list of people to thank.

Thank you,

Tron

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The Show Goes on…in Miami Nov. 29

As you know, South Florida had a bit of inclement weather a few weeks back. Hurricane Wilma blew through in a hurry causing a lot more inconvenience than destruction. My brother’s mother-in-law lives in the area Wilma visited. She said in her immediate neighborhood there were quite a few trees that went down, but not much building damage. She was quite annoyed that her favorite trees near her condo were uprooted. But the tree she really hates, that blocks the view out of her living room, survived with hardly a leaf lost. That is the fickle nature of storms, isn’t it?

One inconvenience Wilma cause was to disrupt the Self Storage trade show schedule. The Inside Self Storage Expo had to be postponed. However in true Florida style, it wouldn’t take but four weeks to get ready to go back to normal. So if you had planned to go to the Fall ISS show, come on. If you hadn’t originally planned to go, check your schedule and make it happen. The Expo and Conference will be Tuesday November 29 through Friday the 2nd of December.

There will be some excellent seminars, including a session I will lead, called “Winning Sales Strategies”. The seminar will be at 8:00 am for you early risers on Wednesday the 30th of November.

You can also visit with lots of vendors who help you make your business work, including me! I will be giving a special Vendor Presentation on PhoneSmart services on Friday the 1st of December at 10:00am. Even if you are one of our many happy clients, you should attend this session and find out about some of our other valuable services…all designed to help you make more profit.

The roundtable discussions are always a favorite of the ISS Expos. Stop by my table to talk about using Call Centers effectively and make sure to sit in for some of the other great topics.

One session topic you shouldn’t miss will be “Disaster Recovery”, lead by the Nunez brothers of Southern Florida. They have had some practice in this subject over the years and can give you some great tips.

Miami is very nice this time of year, even after hurricane clean-up.. The host hotel, the Hyatt Regency, has a great rate of only $139.00 a night. That is not bad at all.

I don’t know how air fares are where you fly from, but my flight from St. Louis will only be under $250.00. That’s not much more than a few tanks of gas these days.

I’m not sure you can afford to miss this show. The cost will be pretty low and the learning and networking will be very valuable.

Go to www.insideselfstorage.com/expo/miami and register.

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Welcome to the property management blog, our diary of our property management experience.

Suggestions for Apartment Renter Concerns:

(Pet Deposits)

You tell about the pet deposit and the prospect says,

“A $600 deposit… even with a $250 refund on move out. That’s really high!”

Try something like…

“Well, with the country setting that we are located in, your pet would have a nice large area to feel comfortable in. And we also have the lake area. I know most places don’t typically have very much room for their pets to roam around, and $250 of the deposit is refundable when you move-out. I will be available to show you our community tommorow, could you come in the morning, or would the afternoon be better for you?”

or

“I realize it is an extra cost to move in, but it helps us attract responsible pet owners who keep their apartments and our common areas from getting “doggy” . And the refundable portion rewards them for helping make our community a really nice place for people and pets. I will be available to show you our community tommorow, could you come in the morning, or would the afternoon be better for you?”

bye for now, Tron

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Welcome to the property management blog, our window into the world of property management.

Sometimes initiatives are well meant, well thought out and seem to promise some practical and valuable payback. However sometimes initiatives fail because they are too complicated to execute or because they scare off the participants with confusing details. Initiatives also fail many times, because we think we can publish a set of instructions or tell someone what to do and then…presto, everything is understood.

You need to show and not just tell. You need to guide people through practice and not just let them read the instructions. I remember learning to drive. I had watched my parents and siblings drive since I was a baby. I could mimic everything they did. But it still took me time and practice to learn how to do it myself.

Be careful your sales and service initiatives do not fail for these reasons.

Read the instructions below. Do you think anyone will learn to use this function without hands on assistance? Do you think you could read the instructions twice and be ready to go?

Instructions on how to use Microsoft Outlook Tasks

How to find your Tasks:
1. On the left side of Outlook, you probably have an “Outlook Shortcuts” tool bar running nearly the length of your e-mail inbox. There is an icon there named “Tasks” showing a clipboard with a red checkmark. Click that icon.
2. You might have another tall box to the left of your inbox called “Folder List”. Because that list is usually in alphabetical order, “Tasks” with the icon of a clipboard with the red checkmark will be the last thing on that list. Double click that icon.
3. You may only have a dark grey bar below your toolbars (the things with icons along the top) that says “Inbox” in white. To the right of the word “Inbox” is a very tiny upside down triangle. Click that triangle & you will get a dropdown list box. In that list box is the word “Task” with the clipboard & red checkmark. Click that icon.

How to create Tasks:
1. Click on the “New” button in the upper left corner below “File” just as you would for sending an e-mail message.
2. You’ll get a screen that says “Subject”, “Due Date”, “Start Date”, etc. & a big white box.
3. Type in the subject of your Task. Set a due date if there is one. If you have already started on this task, type in the percentage amount that you have completed already or use the pull down box to select how much you’ve done.
4. Type in any notes or instructions about this task that you may need to know for yourself.
5. Click on “Save and Close”.
6. You should see that Task now listed in your screen. You are now the proud owner of a Task.
****DISCLAIMER: So you don’t ask, I don’t know what the “Contacts” or “Categories” buttons do or what anything is used for on the “Details” tab. You can play with it & find out, though. Then tell the rest of us.

How to assign Tasks to others:
1. A very important step so that you can be kept updated on this, create the Task & “Save & Close” it first. Otherwise, you won’t receive updates on the status of the Task.
2. Once you’ve created a Task, open it.
3. On the top row of buttons (not lists) you will see one that says “Assign Task” probably somewhere just left of the middle of that row. Click that button.
4. You will get a box that says “To:”. Type in the e-mail address or contact name you have for the person you are assigning this Task to. You can only assign Tasks to one person.
5. Add any notes or instructions they might need. You can attach files just like an e-mail, too.
6. Click “Send.”

What to do when you receive a Task:
1. You will get an e-mail that says “Task Request: <>”.
2. Open the e-mail to see what the task is. Read any attachments.
3. Up under “File” should be 3 important buttons: “Accept”, “Decline”, or “Assign Task”. If you are willing to do the task, click “Accept”. If you aren’t click “Decline”. If you know that someone else needs to do it or are going to pass it on to someone else to do, click “Assign Task” and e-mail it to them. The person who created the task will get an e-mail letting them know what you’ve chosen to do.
4. As you complete a task, increase the percentage amounts on the Task.
5. As often as you feel is necessary, go to “Actions” (probably next to “Help” on the top bar). Click on “Send Status Report”. Either choose to send the standard note or write your own. Click “Send”. Everyone who needs to receive status reports (i.e. the person who assigned it, anyone who passed it to you & anyone you forwarded it to.)
6. When you have increased the completion percentage to 100%, an automatic e-mail goes out to everyone who should receive status reports letting them know the task is done. The task will now be marked through and greyed out as a done task.
How to Create & Assign Forms for Tasks for Client Development:
1. On the top row (where “File”, “Edit”, etc. are), click on “Tools”.
2. Hold the mouse over “Forms” and you’ll get a drop down list.
3. Click on “Choose Form”.
4. Find the form you need (either “Contract Request” or “New Store Checksheet”). The one you need should be in the big white box. Double click the pertinent form.
5. Put a Name for it in the “Subject Box” (i.e. “ABC Mini Contract Request” or “SecurCare Norcross Checklist”).
6. Type any notes you or someone else may need to complete this task.
7. Click on the tab marked “Pg. 2”. Fill in the information that applies. If you’re not sure what goes in the boxes, please ask so someone can clarify it for you.
8. Go to “File” → “Save As” & name the file appropriately. Save contract requests in V:\Admin → Client Stuff folder → Contract Request Forms folder. Save new store checklists in V:\Admin → Client Stuff folder → New Store Checklists folder.
9. Exit out of the form & say no to “save changes?” (don’t “Save and Close”).
10. Create a task with the same subject name as you put on your Form following the steps listed in “How to create a Task”.
11. Following the steps in “How to Assign a Task”, Assign the task to someone else but attach the form you just created and saved (this process is exactly like attaching things to e-mail).
12. Wait to see if your task has been accepted, declined or assigned to someone else.

How to use a Form for a Task that’s been sent to you:
1. Open the task, then the attachment. Read any notes then look at “Pg. 2” to see what the form is all about. Click “Accept” & either send the standard message or your own (if you have questions, for instance).
2. Forward (not “assign”) the task to everyone involved in Client Development who hasn’t seen the request but should (Tron, Wendy, Liz L, Bob, & Liz P.) This should allow everyone to receive status and completion reports.
3. If you are going to be able to do some amount of the task right away, do so. Update the “% Complete”.
4. Go to “File” → “Save As” & save over the old file there (especially do this on “Checksheets” so it will reflect your initials and date). This is a very important step to complete every time you make changes to the form.
5. Exit out and “no” to “do you want to save changes?”.
6. You should now be back in the Task that shows you the notes & attachment. Go to “Actions → “Send Status Report”. You’ll get an e-mail screen. E-mail the report to everyone to whom you forwarded the original Task plus the person who sent it to you. ( I would recommend making an e-mail group for this purpose.) Add any questions or comments in this note. Click on “Send”.
7. “Save and Close” the Task.
8. Once you have increased the “% Complete” to 100%, a notice will be sent to everyone.

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Welcome to the property management blog, where we watch the world of property management.

What is next for green building technologies? As the cost of energy promises to go up before it comes down, we will see the cost effectiveness of many alternatives start to make sense. We will see more companies betting that they can create alternative solutions that will be attractive and will create ROI. Energy efficiency experts will see themselves getting contracts to help shave a few dollars here and a few dollars there. You may find a tremendous upside potential in your properties in energy savings and in creating energy from wind or solar. Are you starting to think in this direction yourself? Who has been calling on you with solutions?

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