» Customer Service
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Knowing Sales is the Key to the Storage Business
If you are going to be the best in the business at selling Coconut Grove storage units fast, then you should check out some sales books to learn how to be a better and more effective seller. Selling is simple, but not easy. Anyone in Florida could be the best, but only a few have the dedication and work ethic to make that a reality. Learning how to sell Coconut Grove storage units is similar to other types of sales so there is some crossover. Because that is the case, it can be very helpful to look at some general selling tips to get better.
Everything starts with a great attitude. You need to go into the job like any other sales position. Anyone who has ever sold Coconut Grove storage units knows that you will deal with a lot of negativity on a daily basis. You will need to be prepared with a positive mental attitude if you are going to last. A lot of people start off good, but are worn down by the general public after a short period of time. This is the case in all types of sales and not just in Florida storage sales. You should really focus on being positive at all times. This all starts at the beginning of the day. When you wake up and get out of bed, you should spend the morning getting ready and telling yourself that today will be a positive day.
When you sell Coconut Grove storage units you will have a lot of people say no. This is just something that you will have to get used to. You will have to hear not quite a few times in order to get to each yes. You should focus all of your energy on each sales inquiry, but then let it go as soon as you are off the phone. It is then time to move on to the next one. A lot of people will just call in to get prices so they will not reserve at that time. A lot of sales reps that sell Coconut Grove storage units will change in attitude when somebody says that they will not reserve. The best strategy is to end the call gracefully and remind the caller to phone back if they need assistance with anything else. You want to set up the call back so that they will feel good about your company. This will increase the odds that they will do business with you in the future. If you end the call rudely, they will probably not call back to reserve with you.
If a caller does not reserve the space, then you should ask them when they would have time to stop by the facility to take a look at what they are getting for their money. This will help them compare your facility to the other stores in the area. If you have a nice facility, they will be impressed with your company when they come in and will be likely to rent from you. It is harder for the customer to say no in person that it is over the phone. Set up a time for them to come in and greet them when they come in the door. Make sure that you set aside some time so that you can focus on the customer when they come in to see the site.
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Show Enthusiasm When Speaking with Storage Customers
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There are many ways to be successful at selling Dania Beach storage units and you just need to find out what works for you. A lot of sales reps in Florida take the energetic approach. Some may find it more effective to have a calm and cool demeanor on the phone. Both strategies can help you reserve a lot of Dania Beach storage units so you just need to find out what your approach should be. You may even consider mixing it up between the two depending on the nature of the call.
The energetic approach is a standard approach for many sales people. This is the kind of strategy that works great for direct sales such as in home sales presentations or TV infomercials. If you are excited about what you are selling, then the customer will naturally get excited about what you are selling. Be careful, though, because selling Dania Beach storage units is a little different than selling car wax on late night TV infomercials. You might need to tone it down a bit more the best results. The people on TV are excited because it is harder to transfer excitement through the television than it is in person or over the phone.
When people are calling around for Dania Beach storage units in Florida they will probably talk to a lot of people that are very bored and talk with a monotone voice. This is pretty common. They will also probably talk to a lot of voice mails since they will not always get through to someone right away. Make sure to answer the phone quickly when it rings and have a lot of energy when you do. This will probably shock the caller since that is not what they are used to. It will let them know that you are eager and ready to assist them with anything that you may need. Affirm that you would be more than happy to help them out.
The calm and cool approach will sell a lot of Dania Beach storage units over the phone. Make sure to answer the phone with a smile and be pleasant to talk to. One of the main keys to effective selling is to listen to the caller. Let them talk until they are finished. A lot of sales people just want to jump in and lead the caller down a path to the reservation. Let them finish and then respond appropriately. This will let the caller know that you are actively listening to them and want to help. You may even repeat back to them what they just said in the form of a question.
No matter the approach, there are some basic principles that apply for both. When you ask for the reservation on the storage unit, assume the sale and act like it is no big deal. Tell them that you are going to reserve the space since you are about sold out, that way it will be there when they come in to rent the space. Speak directly and with as few words as possible. A lot of sales reps will talk themselves out of the sale because they will try to add in a lot of selling points while asking for the reservation. At this point in the call, you should already have sold the space earlier.
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Show Your Storage Customers How Much You CareBy jeff on February 28, 2011 | 2 Comments
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Whether you have sold Coral Gables storage units for years or you are just starting, it is always helpful to go over the proper way to take a storage call. Callers in Florida have a lot of properties that they can choose from so you need to impress them when they call in. There are some basic mistakes that people make over the phone when trying to sell Coral Gables storage units and it is helpful to know them so you can avoid them. This article will focus on sales tips for selling storage over the phone.
When a caller phones you for Coral Gables storage units it is imperative that you make a good first impression with the caller. You will never get another opportunity to make a good first impression so make it count. Greet everyone in Florida that calls in with a friendly smile and be pleasant to talk to. Do not be in to big of a hurry to try to close the deal. The best thing that you can do is try to match the pace of the caller.
It is important to control the call. A lot of callers will just call in for prices for Coral Gables storage units and demand that you just read off all of the prices. A lot of times sales reps will just give them the prices to avoid any conflict. After the customer gets the prices, they will usually hang up and call the next place. All you have to do is explain that there are a lot of sizes and types of storage so you will need to ask them a few questions to determine what storage space will work the best for them. This will give you an opportunity to ask them a few questions so that you can determine their needs. After you know what their needs are, you will be able to make a great recommendation on what type of storage would work for them.
There are a lot of variable into offer a recommendation and there are a lot of Coral Gables storage units to choose from. Because of this, it is very important to know what types of units are available and all of the different sizes. Try to educate yourself on the different sizes and types so that the caller will get the impression that you know what you are talking about. This will help close a lot of deals.
If you just try to hurry through the sales process, you will probably not get that many rentals. Sure, you will get the easy ones, but you will miss a lot along the way. People calling for storage are often overwhelmed by all the choices that they have in front of them. They may plan on calling a lot of facilities, but nobody probably wants to spend all day shopping for storage. There are much better ways to spend an afternoon. If you take the time to go through everything that your company has to offer, they may just decide to go ahead and book a storage unit with you. People want to store with a company that cares about their storage experience and spending a good amount of time with the caller with show them that you care about bringing them a good storage experience.
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First Impressions (Good & Bad) Depend on Your Storage Facility Staff
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One of the main things that customers in California will look for when shopping for Travis Air Force Base storage units is quality customer service. This is a top priority to a lot of customers. It helps attract customers, but will help retain customers more importantly. Having bad customer service will mean that you are always struggling to fill your Travis Air Force Base storage units year after year because people will not put up with that. They will just store with one of the local competitors.
The first key to good customer service is having professional employees. You will not be able to attract good managers if you over low pay and no benefits. You may be able to get lucky and find a good manager, but they will not be there long term unless you treat them well. You need to over a good compensation package along with great benefits to find a good manager for your Travis AFB storage units and property. This will set you up for long term success; so do not be cheap. You do not have to do this for the part time employees, but just the managers. Most managers in California that are worth their salt are paid very well.
A great thing to do to ensure great customer service is to tie in the pay for the manager with the rental rate. This will make sure that they are invested in your Travis Air Force Base storage units so they will do their best to fill them up as best they can. They will also make sure that the other members of their staff are doing their best to help out when someone calls or stops by.
Customer service is a full time thing. It applies to customers who are looking to rent Travis Air Force Base storage units and also current tenants. When someone calls in for storage, you may not always be able to help them with what they need. A lot of times, the employee just says that they are sorry that they are unable to help and ends the call. The proper procedure is to offer them a suggestion to where they may be able to find what they are looking for. For example, if you do not rent trucks, send them to a facility close by that has trucks for rent. This is good customer service and they may come back to you when they need storage in the future. If you just end the call without helping them, then you are just another storage company to that caller.
When customers call in to pay their bill, they should be greeted in a friendly and professional manner. Also, make sure that your employees focus on that caller. A lot of employees will try to help someone in the office while talking to another tenant on the phone. This is how mistakes happen. Handle all of your customers one at a time and you are setting yourself up for success. If you help customers out with great customer service, they are more willing to accept advice that you have for them. For example, you could then sell them the moving and storage supplies that they need because they will know that you are concerned with their best interests.
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Ensure the Security of Your Storage FacilityBy jeff on February 9, 2011 | 2 Comments
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All Piedmont storage units should be secure. As a storage owner in California or other parts of the country, you should do your best to do a checklist to make sure that your site is as safe as it could be. There are many security features for Piedmont storage units and you should try to find the ones that would benefit you the most. If you have a facility in a pretty nice area, you do not need to go overboard, but there are a few features that you will definitely want to have.
There are four basic storage features that your storage property should have. The pin access controlled gate is the first things that all Piedmont storage units should be protected by. It is useful for several reasons. It will require a personalized pin code from each customer that wants access to the facility. This will ensure that only current tenants are allowed on the property. It will be able to keep track of who gains access and when. This will help if something happens on site. You will know where to start your investigation. The gate should be well maintained and get it fixed if it is malfunctioning on occasion. Your customers need to know that they can get access when they need to.
The gate will be pretty worthless without a security fence around all of your Piedmont storage units. This will protect the site from criminals who would be able to wander on to the property if there was no fence. The fence should be pretty tall and adequate for security. Make sure not to go with the cheap route with your Piedmont storage units or any of the security features.
Most sites in California will have video camera surveillance so make sure that your property has good surveillance, as well. You can shop for cameras in a variety of storage publications. Do a lot of research so that you are able to find the best surveillance system for your storage property.
Your site should also have door alarms. This will alert you when one of the storage units is broken into. You can then react appropriately in a timely manner so you give yourself a chance to catch the criminal. Also, most criminals will not spend a lot of time pillaging through a storage unit when a loud alarm is going off.
A great way to protect your storage units is by having good locks for sale at your facility. The most common lock that tenants use when they get a storage unit is the padlock. This is ok, but the lock can be broken very easily. Try to get your customer to get a disc lock since that will offer a lot better protection since the lock is pretty much impossible to cut off of the unit. There is a way to get around the locks, but it would probably wake up the whole neighborhood. A lot of properties will require that all customers have a disc lock when they store at their facility. You may consider doing this at your storage property. You may even build units that only use cylinder locks as those are very secure as well. You should sell locks at your facility for good prices so customers know that they can rely on getting a good price when they store with you.
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Attract New Storage Customers with Special Offers
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If you run a storage facility in California it is important that you study what types of specials to offer on your Oakland storage units and other products. Almost every company offers specials on their Oakland storage units it is helpful to study what the competition is doing and react accordingly. Very few facilities offer no specials and they usually do not have much success at attracting new business. The only time it may be acceptable to roll with no specials is if you pretty much have all of your storage units rented out to customers already. If you are struggling to fill your units, then you should take some time to go over what specials will work best for your company.
The most common specials that you will find in California are the move in specials. The most attractive move in special to new customers is the first month free. This will get the most attention from potential tenants. It is just like it sounds. The customer will get the first month free and then they will pay the monthly rent on a month to month basis. Most facilities do not require any type of commitment on their Oakland storage units but you may want to if you feel that you will just be giving away free storage. The most common fear among storage owners is that the customer will just rent for a month and then move on. Obviously, this will not generate revenue. The fact is that most customers will store for more than one month even if that is the initial plan. Most customers will need storage longer than they think they will.
Another move in special for your Oakland storage units is fifty percent off for the first three months. This will give customers the luxury of only paying half of the normal rent on the first three months. After that, they will continue to pay the normal monthly rent. There are many variations of this special. You may offer a different percentage on your Oakland storage units or a different number of months that the customer will receive a discount. Again, you will probably want to make sure that you offer the specials on a month to month basis as opposed to locking in the customer to any type of long term stay because you will gain fewer customers.
A lot of storage customers will need to rent a truck when they store to get things from their home to the storage unit. You can offer a free truck special and there are a few different ways to do this. The free truck rental will have a deposit, insurance, and the customer will still pay for the gas that they use. You will probably want to put a limit on not only the mileage, but also the time that the customer can have the free truck. You may also consider offering a free move in service, which would consist of a free truck and driver. The customer will still be responsible for loading and unloading the truck since a moving service would cost a lot more. The free truck rental would basically allow customers to avoid the truck rental fee and eliminate a moving cost. This will attract a lot of customers to your storage site.
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Set Sales Goals for Your Storage Company’s Staff
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In order to run a successful West New York self storage operation your employees need to have clear goals. You should have everyone set targets and goals for every month, quarter, and year. This will make sure that they always have something to shoot for and give them extra motivation to get more rentals. Many West New York self storage sites in New Jersey do not set goals for their employees and they are worse for it.
You should have clear sales goals that your employees should strive for. Make it real and do not just leave it to be an abstract thought. Write it down on something. You could even post their goals in the office so that they are always aware of what they are trying to do. You should get together with your West New York self storage to make sure that everybody has a goal and has clear steps that they will make to try to achieve their goals.
Competition is a good way to boost storage sales in your West New York self storage office. If you have several sites in New Jersey you should post the stats for all of your offices. You could use email as an effective to let everyone know how they stack up compared to others. If you know what each office is doing in term of reservations, you will know where to put your resources. You may be able to help an office that is struggling by visiting and helping out for a few days. A lot of times all an office needs is a little attitude adjustment. Offices can become filled with negativity and you can get in there and show them how it is done. Once the office is in good spirits, you should see the reservations and rentals improve very quickly. Employees can become stale, which is fine and completely normal, but you need to go in and help out from time to time.
Another great way to boost reservations is to set up bonuses for your West New York self storage employees. This does not work if you just have the same bonus month in and month out. You need to mix it up a little bit. Some managers feel that it is not fair to just reward individuals who get the most rentals, but you may want to reconsider if this is your attitude. A company wide bonus is great, but there are some downsides. First of all, there will be people who get a bonus that will not have earned it as much as others. This could bring about resentment. Also, you will not be able to offer that big of an incentive if you have to give every employee a bonus. The playing field needs to be equal if you are going to give bonuses to your top performers so the contest is fair. You could really give out some great things if you did it this way and it could be something tangible. You could offer a weekend stay at a resort for the best salesperson and their family. You could also offer a flat screen TV. These are bonuses that you could not give everybody so this would only work if you gave the bonus to the top performers in your company.
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Finding Solutions to Serve More Storage Customers
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It is wise to not make assumptions as a Secaucus self storage owner. More people in New Jersey have credit or debit cards than ever before. However, your average storage customer may not. If you deal in high end boat and RV storage, your customers will most likely have debit or credit cards. A lot of Secaucus self storage serve a variety of customers and a lot of them are cash only customers. People who need storage may be going through an eviction or foreclosure which means their credit may not be that good so they will not have cards.
Most Secaucus self storage will reserve storage units with a debit or credit card. This is a pretty common practice with truck rentals and hotel reservations through. You should figure out a way for cash only customers to reserve, as well. Telling them to get down to the property as quickly as they can may not always be the best strategy.
You could set up an honor system of holding units for Secaucus self storage customers that do not have the ability to hold storage spaces with a card. This type of program will require a good amount of discretion on your part. You will need to be able to judge whether callers are serious or just curious. When you set a unit aside, you are taking that unit off of the market. You may miss out on a rental from another customer who comes in. This is terrible if the original caller never comes into rent. You just lost revenue.
Payment options are something that every customer in New Jersey is looking for. They want to have a convenient payment option available so that it is not a hassle just to pay a bill. After all, you should make it easy for customers to give you money. You should accept all debit and credit cards. This is something that most sites will do. They should be able to pay in person, over the phone, or online. Many customers pay all their other bills online so they will expect you to offer the same option. Running a successful business of any kind is all about meeting the customer expectations in your market.
You may choose to accept check payments if you like. If you do, you may want to get a machine that approves checks on the spot. Many Secaucus self storage sites that accept checks ending up chasing after money and revenue lost from bad checks. It may not be a malicious attempt by the customer to cheat you out of money. They may just be going through hard times at the moment and are so short on cash that one miscalculation can break them. If you had a machine that could approve checks on the spot, you would not have to worry about this. You can accept cash for payments of any kind obviously.
Running a successful company is all about providing the customer with what they want. Let them make payments in as many ways possible. You can also search for ways that they can reserve the space even if they do not have a debit or credit card. If you bend over backwards to make sure that the customer is happy, then you have set yourself up for success.
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Amplified Customer ServiceBy admin on December 16, 2008 | Comments Off
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Effective customer service has many levels of meaning to it. On the surface, it may be thought of as a friendly greeting followed by a smile when a customer walks through the door, and prompt attention to the needs of that customer. If a customer seems to be looking for something, the employee of the establishment asks if they can be of assistance.
It goes deeper than that, however, encompassing literally every aspect of the customers all around experience in the store, restaurant or business. It alludes to the general quality of wanting to give the best possible experience to another. Often, this attitude is overlooked in the business world. The correlation between the business world and the rest of our lives, in this regard, is strong.
When we begin to think of customer service in terms of how we relate to everyone, rather than just the people whom we come into contact with at work everyday, we realize that it is an attitude that is lacking in stores and restaurants, but also in family dynamics and in general social settings. If we do not live our lives being courteous and friendly to strangers, to our neighbors, to our kids, then it is not likely that simply walking through the doors of our place of business will change our internal make-up and allow a selfless, friendly person to emerge for the next eight hours.
Customer service to some degree, is wanting to help others just for the sake of bringing them joy, wanting to see people happy, wanting to be a part of that in some way. For the most part, we live in a selfish society and most of us do not really seem to care if other people are happy or not, as long as we are happy. This is unfortunate, and this underlying attitude of me, me, me has deep and disastrous repercussions. It can be evidenced in advertising, in movies and television and in the snide, judgmental remarks that can be heard on the radio, and read in print. It goes beyond one’s personal opinion and it has evolved into a general collective psyche of selfishness. How do we move beyond this?
Well, first we must realize how deeply entrenched we are within it. If we go through our entire day without thinking of how we can be of service to another, not even one time, then we are completely and utterly wrapped up in ourselves. It is understandable that people live their lives this way, after all, we view the world and our place within it from our own eyes. Contrary to what your mother may have told you when you were a child, the world, in a sense, really does revolve around you. If you were not here to experience it through your body, then by all accounts, it would not exist.
That being said, we can make the choice to move consciously throughout our lives, which we do when we strive to provide good customer service to another, and to strive to make other’s lives more rewarding just for the sake of seeing the joy in their eyes. Conversely, we can choose to let the waves of emotion and selfishness be our navigator, pulling us forever in the direction of our own desires, what we want, what we need, to make us happy.
What comes as a surprise to many people, though, is that when they begin to consciously apply to principles of excellent customer service not just in their job, but outwardly, to all of the people in their lives, a sense of satisfaction and peace begins to grow within their lives. Suddenly, doing things for others is not an inconvenience anymore. It becomes a joy. It becomes a way of living that takes the focus off of oneself and gives it, with love, to another. It is generous, kind and loving, and it can transform a selfish life into one of greatness. It is customer service amplified.
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Analyze Customer Service
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Customer service is what a business stands on. A happy customer means good business while a displeased customer can spell the doom. If you are running a business it needs no fresh mention that keeping the customers pleased is what you are aiming towards. This is true whatever might be your business, be it furniture storage or car sales or chimney sweeping or landscaping. But there is a concern. Do you really know whether your customers are happy? A business running peacefully and generating revenues does not always mean that the customers are happy. You might not know but your business may have the potential to give you more than it is currently doing. So, how do you judge it? The answer is market survey and what can be a better tool than anonymous shopping, the latest instrument in for judging the market.
Anonymous shopping is known by various names but what it actually does is the same. This is a type of shopping where the shopper acts as your surveyor but without disclosing the identity that he or she has been working for you. You might ask why this hush hush when you can straightaway ask your employees how the product or service is faring with the customers. Or you can directly ask your customers to give their views on the service and products. There are problems and these needs to be explained in details if you are looking to improve your customer service .
The first option was asking the customers to rate everything from the quality of the product to the ambience of the shop. This is good but you need to remember that most of the time the customers are the restless people and the complaining lot. It is true with any business that you will never be able to satisfy each and every customer because each of them will have unique matters to complain about. Moreover, hardly any customer will have the time and energy to fill up a long questionnaire and a long questionnaire is necessary for a detailed view on the customer service . This means that you might not always get the best of feedback from the customers.
The next step is to conduct regular inspection. It is possible to make sudden visits to your establishments and look how things are going on. But it has a problem. If the staff is somehow responsible for bad customer service , you will never know because the staff will put up a show for you and never ever allow you to get even a peep into their inefficiency. After all it is a matter of their survival and they will not leave a stone unturned to satisfy you. This means that you come back to where you started from. Your ailing business remains ailing or the potential is not reached.
Anonymous shopping sends in the shoppers who are like any other regular shopper and they shop. But they are the trained people who have the eye and ear for mopping up the minutest details including how your staff behaved or how much are they conversant about your business or whether they are giving the thrust where it is actually needed for selling your product or service. This is very important data that is analyzed and at the end it results in recommendations that are bound to improve your business. Here the companies that provide such special shopping services prove to be the friend and guide to many businesses, especially those that are associated to customer service directly.