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The Stay At Home MomBy admin on April 8, 2008 | No Comments
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Being an unemployed mother, often called stay at home mom, is a noble profession. In this day and age when women in the family are often expected to be holding a job just the same as the husband, the stay at home mom decides that her family is more important. This must be a hard choice to make. Deciding that you want to forego extra income and maybe live a little more lavishly is a big step to take.
There are several reasons why deciding to be a stay at home mom is not only a noble thing to do, but also a good idea. First of all, there is the obvious benefit to your children. The stay at home mom can be around for all of those important times in a childs life. That first step, the first word and the first bite of broccoli can all be witnessed and remembered. For the child, there are many benefits too. Many psychology studies have been done which show the benefits of a mothers attention for a child. If they are in a day care facility or something such as that, the mother will not be able to give her children the attention they necessarily need. This in the long run could potentially lead to development issues later in life.
The family life can also benefit from a mother staying at home. Maintaining a household is a full-time job, no matter what people might say. This is why it is a noble choice to remain at home as a mother. You not only are doing a full-time job, but you are doing it for free. Actually, in a way you are paying to do it. The reason being, you could be working somewhere and making money, but instead you decide to put your family first. If you do decide to be a stay at home mom, never fear, because there are some things you can do to get some extra income while not leaving the house. One option is blogging for money. If you enjoy writing and do not mind doing it for someone else, then there are plenty of companies out there who would love to have you write for them. In some cases you can get paid to have a personal blog site and just allow advertisers to put their ads on your site. Then, whenever people visit your page and click on the ad link, you will get some money back. The drawback to this approach is it takes both time and dedication to make it work for you.
Another option is selling things online. You may not realize it, but a lot of the stuff you have laying around the house that you think is junk can be sold online for a decent profit. Say you have an old camera that has been laying in your closet since 1973. Well, to somebody, that camera might be seen as a priceless antique and they would be willing to pay hundreds of dollars for it.
These are just a couple ideas of how you can still get some income while staying at home as a mother. It is likely though, that if you are doing that, it is for reasons that have nothing to do with money. It has to do with caring fully for your family, and should be considered one of the most respectable jobs to have.
January 2008 Total Quality Assurance Service Blog Archive
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Go Shopping Before CampingBy admin on April 7, 2008 | No Comments
Camping is a great way to get into nature and have a relaxing, fun time. To get the most benefit out of any camping trip, it is a good idea to make a shopping list at least a week before you go. There are several things that are essential to purchase if you do not already have them.
First of all, there is the sleeping bag. Purchasing for a sleeping bag these days is not too difficult. A couple of things to look out for while looking for that sleeping bag are comfort, degree rating and warranty. Comfort is an obvious one. Thick padding and plenty of legroom should be your main concerns when you first look at sleeping bags. Degree rating is a little more obscure. You should know what the climate is like wherever you will be camping. Good sleeping bags are rated to a certain temperature. If you are going to be camping in an area colder than the bags rated temperature, it is probably going to be a chilling experience. Finally, any sleeping bag you are shopping for should have a warranty. This way, if a zipper breaks or there is a tear in the bag, you will be covered.
Another crucially important camping tool to go shopping for is a compass. While you may be entirely confident in your navigation skills, you never really know what could happen. If a wild cheetah starts running at you, it is unlikely you will be concerned with going along specified trail routes. Purchasing a good working compass can really come in handy in this and other situations.
Since the outdoors can sometimes be rough, looking for a quality, well-stocked first-aid kit should be very high on your camping list. This kit should contain bandages, basic medications, ointments, tape, and scissors or other cutting instruments. Be aware of the kind of terrain and possible things you could encounter and tailor your first-aid kit to fit those possibilities.
Unless you are a skilled and experienced woodsman, make a list of food that you will need on your camping trip. With this should be some basic cooking supplies and utensils. Also go shopping for some purified water. Most grocery stores stock large jugs and dispensers of drinking water. It is unsafe to drink water outdoors unless you have a certain way to purify it. Even if you run out of food, water can keep you going long enough to get help if you end up needing it.
After you have gathered your food, compass, first-aid kit and other essentials, go shopping for a good tent. There is a great variety of tents out there, and they vary just as widely in quality. Again, it is important to be aware of the terrain and circumstances you will be facing on your camping trip. You should be aware of two primary things before purchasing a tent. First, what kind of wind will you likely be facing? If you know there will be strong winds, it would be wise to go looking for a tent that is low to the ground and aerodynamic. If wind will be minimal, a more spacious tent is definitely advised. The other main factor in tent shopping is consideration of lasting quality. Are the tent materials rugged and strong? If not, it is probably going to be a poor investment that may only last you a couple of trips. You do not want the tent to fall apart while you are out in the woods, so it is best to purchase one of solid build and quality.
These are some of the essential things to consider before going on a camping trip. If you are well-prepared, it will be much easier to have a relaxing and totally stress-free time. Enjoy the spring weather.
Mississippi Motorcycle Storage
February 2008 Self Storage Owner Blog Archive
Self Storage Article Directory – Self Storage Locations by State
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Shopping Is EverywhereBy admin on April 3, 2008 | No Comments
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The Internet has made a huge impact on our everyday lives. It has changed the way we conduct our banking, meet our spouses, and do our shopping.
It is amazing the variety of different things that a person can go shopping for on the Internet. New and used goods can be bought. Popular items as well as obsolete things can be acquired. Mass produced or even a one of a kind item can be purchased.
The Internet just makes shopping so easy. A person can sit in the comfort of their home or office and browse the various websites. They are able to compare different items and prices with just the click of a mouse. Once the ideal item is found it can oftentimes be purchased over the Internet, and then delivered to the person doing the shopping. All without ever leaving home, or even speaking to another human being!
It used to be that someone shopping for a new vehicle had to ask family and friends for advice. Then he paid attention to television stories, magazines, and newspapers. Maybe he went to the local library to do some research on the different types of cars. Eventually he went to the automobile dealer and did some haggling about the price. After buying his new investment, he then drove to the office of his insurance salesman and updated his policy.
Now his wife can go to the Internet and use a search engine to find out anything she wants to know about any car. She can discover how different autos scored on safety tests, their fuel efficiency, and even the variety of colors available. And while she is shopping for her new car she can also be shopping for her new auto insurance. She is able to compare the rates of several different companies at once with just a few keystrokes on the computer.
The Internet is a perfect tool for aunts, uncles, and grandparents that are shopping for birthday presents for faraway family members. The Internet helps the people shopping discover the latest fads in clothing, the hottest toys for children, and what gifts are coveted by all.
People have very busy lifestyles nowadays between work, school, kids, and so on. And there are also many people that are homebound, unable to leave their residence. Grocery shopping via the Internet is a great solution for all of these people. With just a couple of clicks of the mouse, their groceries are ordered and delivered to their home in a timely fashion.
There are websites available now on the Internet for people to get rid of all of the junk they have accumulated in the garage and attic. As the saying goes, one mans junk is another mans treasure. So instead of being put in a conventional yard sale or flea market booth, these items are posted on an auction website. Anyone shopping for just about anything is usually able to find it on at these online auctions.
And maybe the biggest impact of all, the Internet has become a huge tool for people shopping for a new home. Anyone shopping for real estate is able to sit in front of their computer and see all the varieties of homes that are for sale in the area in which they are shopping. The person doing the shopping is able to take a virtual tour of the home to see what it looks like on the inside and out. And all of this without having a pesky real estate agent breathing down their neck!
People are using the Internet anymore for shopping for just about everything. This makes it imperative that anyone trying to sell just about anything must have an attractive and user friendly website.
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Why Do People Like To Shop?By admin on April 2, 2008 | No Comments
Shopping is an interesting human phenomenon. Since ancient times, people have always engaged in some form of shopping. It is relied upon as something designed to make our lives easier. While it may seem like a benign event, one that is a necessary part of our existence, there are definitely some potential dangers inherent in shopping.
One interesting example of these dangers is the fact that shopping is addictive. Going to the department store or mall carries with it a certain appeal. For some families, shopping is the event that brings them together on the weekend. Certainly more than one mother and daughter go shopping as a way to bond and learn more about each other. But the more a person goes shopping, the more they are drawn into the consumer mindset. This is a multifaceted and somewhat deceptively comfortable way to function in this world.
Product advertisements, to a large degree, are focused on the promotion of the ego. Through decades of research, companies have learned to not sell a product but instead sell a lifestyle. This creates a very unique mental process when someone goes shopping. As you walk through any store, whether you are shopping for a new toothbrush or a new dining set to match your sofa, you are looking for something that defines you as a person. Advertisers are privy to this, and key in on that idea to sell a product. So when you are shopping for that perfect pair of khakis, you can often become attached to a specific brand. If you can relate personally to not so much the products themselves but to the ideas they represent, you can very easily become a brand addict.
A byproduct of this is that you want to buy more and more of that brand every time you go shopping. While this may not be true for all things and for all people, the potential is certainly there. Therefore, it would be wise to become mindful of exactly what you are doing every time you go shopping. Are you buying something because you need it? Or, are you making a purchase because there is some idea or lifestyle that company is selling that you think will make you feel like a more complete person?
An interesting exercise for yourself would be to go into a store not to buy anything, but to simply witness your reaction to the products. Take a pen and paper and write down the brands you are drawn to. When you get home, try to think about each of those brands. Ask yourself, why did you choose them instead of the others? Write down the ideas those brands represent that you can relate to, and how heavily that weighed on your decision to choose them.
It is likely that if you do this exercise even once, it could change the way you view shopping for a very long time. Part of the reason that shopping is addictive is that many of us walk around with a metaphorical mirror in front of our faces. We are all so concerned with what we want, what we feel, what we need. This contributes in a significant way to the feelings of loneliness and exclusion so many people in our world are facing. While shopping can be fun and is a necessary part of our lives, filtering that experience with awareness and a little bit of attention can help to make it a valuable practice in self-improvement.
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Job EmploymentBy admin on March 20, 2008 | No Comments
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Job employment is sometimes one frustrating thing to find. Finding a new career or job employment can sometimes feel like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. One great way to approach finding new job employment is by word of mouth from a friend or family member. Of course, you should use caution when applying for job employment that would require you to work closely with a relative or friend. Working too closely could create tension between the relationships. However, having a reference with someone the company or recruiter knows can work to your advantage when seeking job employment.
Another advantage to getting a job employment lead from a friend or family member is that they will often times know about the open position before an ad has been placed in the classified ads newspaper or online job employment search engine. Getting a head start above the rest of the masses of workers searching for job employment is always a good thing.
If you can not find a job employment opportunity by word of mouth, do not fret. There are other ways of finding a job employment. One of the most popular ways is by checking the local newspaper listings under Job Employment, Job Opportunities or Classifieds. This is where local companies may post ads for open positions within their organization. You can typically learn a brief description about what the job employment responsibilities of the positions are and what the prerequisites of the job employment opening are. In some cases, employers may also include the salary or range in the job employment ad, as well as if there are any benefits included.
Replying to a newspaper job employment ad should be done with extreme care and attention to detail. For example, if an employer places a job employment ad in the paper and requests that applicants send their resume to an email address, then applicants need not mail in a resume to the company. It is also imperative to give your resume one last proof read and make sure that all phone number and email address information is correct.
One thing is for sure, sending out a resume with incorrect contact information will prevent any employer from scheduling an interview with you. And even if you realize the mistake and contact them, it would be difficult for an employer to take an applicant seriously after a bad first impression.
Perhaps the most popular way of searching for job employment is by looking online. There is several popular online job or career search engines. Many niche job search engines allow you to sort employment ads by location, salary range, requirements, date the ad was posted and more. Some sites even allow you to join as a job seeker and keep your career data and resume on file. They may even send you a notice of job employment ads that fit the criteria you select.
One advantage to seeking job employment online is that if you are relocating to another city and even across the country, the Internet allows you to locate a new job no matter where you are sitting.
Your local and metro-area newspapers probably also have online versions of their news and classified ads. Job seekers who are interested in building a new career can use the online version of their local newspaper to access job employment ads quickly.
One key thing about seeking job employment is to keep at it. If your local paper posts new job employment ads each Wednesday and Sunday, then you should look at the paper each of those days. Missing just one day may mean that you lost your dream job.
Another important step in looking for a new job is replying to the job employment ad promptly. If there is a position to be filled, that company may want to act quickly. Sending in your resume when you find the ad is the best strategy. Otherwise, they may fill the position before your resume reaches them.
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Are You Needing A Large Storage Space?By admin on March 19, 2008 | No Comments
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If you are shopping for a 10×20 self storage unit, you will find it is equivalent to the size of an average one car garage. A tenant can put away a lot of items in a large unit such as this, especially if they take advantage of the eight foot ceiling and stack boxes and other items vertically. Shopping for a big self storage unit works wonderfully for individuals, families, businesses, etc.
A 10×20 self storage unit holds the entire contents of a three bedroom home plus appliances. So it is ideal for anyone that is moving or remodeling their large home.
A 10×20 self storage unit is perfect for someone shopping for a unit to park their vehicle. There are a lot of different circumstances where someone wants to store a car, a truck, or an SUV. Military personnel being deployed need a place to put their vehicles. Someone giving a loved one a new car as a birthday, anniversary, or graduation gift needs a place to park it until the big day. People living in an apartment complex have a limited number of parking spaces available to them. Here are many different reasons why someone would be shopping to put their vehicle in a self storage unit, and a 10×20 unit is the ideal size.
A 10×20 self storage unit is great for people shopping for a unit that have large toys. Motorcycles, snowmobiles, and jet skis can all be put into this big self storage unit. Riding lawn mowers, boats, and campers are all seasonal items that can be stored in one of these units as well.
A 10×20 unit works really well contractors and construction companies shopping for storage. These people are able to drive right up to their self storage unit and get the supplies that they will need for that day. The unit is large enough to hold big, bulky pieces of equipment and supplies.
Shopping for a 10×20 self storage unit is ideal for companies that conduct their business indoors as well. Many different types of companies are required to hold onto documents and a lot of paper records for a long period of time. It is far more cost effective for these businesses to be shopping for a large self storage unit than it is to get more office space. The price per square foot is less at a storage facility than it is in an office complex. Certified Public Accountants, lawyers, and doctors offices are just a few examples of types of businesses that have a huge need for document storage, and they can all take advantage of storing these items offsite.
Someone that works from their home oftentimes rent a 10×20 sized self storage unit. A salesperson is able to store their samples and their inventory at the storage facility, instead of taking up precious space in their home or garage. Marriages can be saved by simply shopping for and renting a 10×20 self storage unit!
A 10×20 unit works well for college students that are shopping for storage. Several roommates or sorority sisters are able to pool their things and the monies together to get one large self storage unit to rent over the summer months.
Boy Scout troops, PTA organizations, and other non-profit groups collect items throughout the year so they can have a yearly garage sale as a fundraising event. Shopping for a 10×20 self storage unit works really well as a place to put all of these donated items until the day of the big sale. They can put in shelving and form aisles to help keep everything organized.
A 10×20 self storage unit is very versatile and works well for a countless number of different people and in different circumstances. Its lower cost per square foot makes it a smart investment for families, businesses, and organizations alike. -
Sales Training ManagementBy admin on March 12, 2008 | No Comments
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Our Total Quality Assurance Service department offers a Sales Training Management solution to self storage owners. We have several programs that you can use individually or combined for an even more effective sales increase.
The unique thing about our company is that we derive from a knowledgeable pool of highly trained sales associates who know the self storage industry and know what works. Our call center services have given us the experience of speaking with more self storage customers than the population of a small country. The great thing about that is, we have been able to develop a highly effective training program and can offer it to your self storage staff.
In the Quality Assurance Service department, we can help customize a program to meet your company goals and see improvement in staff performance. The best way to start a quality assurance service program is to complete a round of blind Mystery Shops. That will give you, the self storage owner, and our trainers a good idea of where your current sales skill level is already at and what areas we should focus on more heavily during the quality assurance service training course.
The next step would be to choose from a variety of sales training options. The Quality Assurance Service department offers several sales training options that would be appropriate for a singly owned self storage facility or a national chain of storage facilities. Some of the sales training options range from on-site seminars to a course self storage managers can take individually. If you are a property management company servicing self storage facilities, it would also be beneficial to you to add our Quality Assurance Service options to your portfolio.
Upon completing your quality assurance service sales training, your staff will have the foundation sales knowledge and have learned specifically what techniques to use to sell self storage to your customers.
You cannot stop there. Maintaining the knowledge your team has gained and challenging them to improve even more is key to implementing a quality assurance service.
One way to reinforce the sales training your staff has learned is by monthly secret shopping. Our Quality Assurance Service department offers a few options in the level of secret shop you feel would be best for your staff.
The most commonly understood form of mystery shopping is when a shopper calls a storage facility and acts as a renter. The phone call is recorded and then evaluated based on the fields determined by each storage company. The recorded phone conversation and the evaluation are sent back to the owner or direct manager.
Another form of secret shopping is our Feedback Shop. This is the most effective and immediate form of secret shopping. Rather than ending the mystery shop as an anonymous shopper, we reveal our identity to your manager and then begin and immediate coaching and training session. The results are instantaneous and your manager will be able to increase his or her sales knowledge with the very next customer.
So now that you have done a round of Mystery Shopping to benchmark where you began, completed a sales training course and are beginning your monthly secret shopping you may think you have everything covered.
Such a program is absolutely a guarantee to self storage sales success. But about the turnaround of your employees. Does the manager to who got hired in the middle of your quality assurance service program miss out? No.
We have some unconventional methods of training that can benefit new-hires as well as help brush up a knowledgeable self storage manager. Some of those methods include one-on-one phone sessions with our sales trainer.
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Basic InformationBy admin on December 6, 2006 | No Comments
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#1. Can you mystery shop our competitor?
PhoneSmart will mystery shop for competitor prices or to measure their selling skills. However, we must follow telephone recording laws that can vary by state. A majority of the states are a one-party notification state and only require that one party on the phone be aware of recording the call. In these states we can provide a recorded conversation and written report. There are a few states in which two-party notification is required. In the case of shopping a competitor, it is unlikely that they will consent to us recording them. PhoneSmart can still call and assess their sales skills and provide a list of prices.#2. What is the Role Play Helpline?
PhoneSmart’s Role Play Helpline is exclusive to PhoneSmart and the self storage industry. Our inbound call center has taken over 900,000 self storage phone calls; our staff is a seasoned sales force and knows the ins and outs of selling self storage. The Role Play Helpline is designed to give your staff one-on-one training. They can call our sales reps and role play various scenarios and ask specific questions. Our reps will teach them valuable sales techniques such as: price stalls, overcoming objections, building value, gaining commitment, and closing the sale. The great thing about our Role Play Helpline is that your staff can call us in the down time, when it’s convenient for them.#3. How do I start your mystery shopping program?
The best way to begin is to try us out. PhoneSmart offers 2 Introductory shops to any new client. These 2 shops are designed to let you see how PhoneSmart fits with your company. Once you’ve received the results you’ll be able to benchmark where you’re starting from. We can then begin monthly mystery shopping your facilities or employees. Using your monthly shops as a training tool is key in making any mystery shopping program work. PhoneSmart offers a completely customizable evaluation form and is here to help your staff improve.#4. Can I change the evaluation form used to evaluate my calls?
Yes. PhoneSmart’s offers a standard evaluation form; however, any client is welcome to customize any part of the form to better fit their company’s needs. Many of our clients change the points to better reflect their goals and some of them even change the questions on the form. PhoneSmart is the most flexible secret shopping company available and we take great pride in our reputation as such.#5. What is secret shopping?
Secret Shopping can be both a training and monitoring tool to measure your staff’s sales performance. PhoneSmart makes a call to your store and, posing as a potential renter, asks for help with storage. We record the conversation and later send it to you on a CD or via email as an mp3. We also send a written evaluation of each call. The evaluation is meant to determine the strength and growth areas of individual employees as well as the team as a whole. Secret shopping is the perfect tool to know how your staff performs in real life situations.#6. What services does PhoneSmart offer?
PhoneSmart is really a complete sales solution. We offer services in training, sales, lead development and lead follow up. These are some of the services available at PhoneSmart:
Inbound Call Center- let your calls roll over to us and we’ll rent storage for you.
Mystery Shopping
Lead Generation
Sales Training Course
Role Play Helpline
Lead Follow-up#7. How long has PhoneSmart been in business?
PhoneSmart celebrated its 6th Anniversary in December, 2006. PhoneSmart began as an inbound call center and has blossomed into a respected sales force in the self storage industry.#8. Does PhoneSmart have a blog online?
PhoneSmart submits three blogs every business day. You can read our blogs at:
www.selfstorageblog.com and www.totalqualityassuranceservice.com (view the Quality Assurance and Property Management categories). If you think you have an interesting entry for one of our blog sites email is to us. We’d love to include clients and fans on our blog.#9. How many mystery shops do you make each month?
We currently evaluate over 350 calls a month and our clients love us so much that they add new stores or tell their friends about us. Secret Shopping is a great way to assess the quality of your business. PhoneSmart’s mystery shopping program has clients both nationally and internationally and we’ll only keep growing.#10. Do you evaluate your own call center employees?
Yes. PhoneSmart randomly evaluates 4 phone calls per month for each call center representative. We pick 2 calls in which the caller was inquiring about storage and we also evaluate 2 calls in which the caller had a concern other than storage. This allows us to maintain a high standard in our sales techniques and also measure our customer service to those callers who aren’t looking for storage. -
Sound FamiliarBy admin on August 24, 2006 | No Comments
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By Robin Turner, PhoneSmart call center manager.Welcome to the PhoneSmart call center blog. We offer and insider view of the self storage industry.Our secret shopping department gets the privilege of acting as detectives mystery shopping most store managers or other store employees.Many of our self storage clients want to mystery shop specific employees a certain number of times per month. However, it can be a difficult task sometimes. Some don’t particularly like to be shopped. So our shoppers put on their game face and track them down.The ones who don’t like to be shopped act like escape criminals being hunted by the FBI. On the run with nowhere to hide. But they give us a run for our money sometimes. Our shoppers are persistent and they won’t give up to easily, though.Some self storage employees or managers will not answer the call if it shows as “unknown” on their caller ID. Or our shopper will ask for the employee by name to shop them, (pretending like they’ve spoke to them before). Then our shoppers hear in the background a faint whisper saying… “Tell them I’m not here.”It’s quite funny actually. Watcha gonna to do, watcha gonna to do when we come for you?Don’t run and hide though… PhoneSmart reps get shopped everyday. So don’t feel like you have to dodge us. Store managers, owners, competitors, as well as prospective clients, other PhoneSmart employees and even our own secret shop department, shop us.Utilize us. We all make mistakes, but we can also learn from them too. Take advantage of the service we offer and get as much as you can out of it. What’cha gonna do??????Self Storage in Florida
1300 West 49th Street
Hialeah, FL 33012
Manager: Fidel Rodriguez
Ph: (305) 826-4119
Fax: (305) 826-1562
Sate of the Art Security including individual Door Alarms
Call Fidel today for your $50 coupon!Total Quality Assurance Services Measures Quality Assurance
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I have to check with …By admin on February 20, 2006 | No Comments
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Let me check with my spouse first.
Tron Jordheim
ISSHow many times have you talked to a prospective renter who told you, “I have to check with my spouse before making a commitment”? How many times have you said this to a sales person? Isn’t it the greatest stall tactic ever invented? Have you ever had a sales person call your bluff on this one?
Wait a minute, you say, in your household you and your spouse share decision making and check with each other before committing to expenses or something significant like a lease on a storage unit. And as a sales person you would not want to interfere with your clients’ and prospects’ marital politics by telling someone to make a decision or a spending commitment without agreement from their spouse.
What I am telling you is that your prospects are betting you have neither the skill nor the courage to challenge them when they say…”I need to check with my spouse”. Many times selling is like a poker game. When someone lays down the spouse concern, they are betting you will fold. If we study this betting strategy, you will see it is full of holes. Let’s study family politics for a minute and see what we can learn from it.
Women tend to be the ultimate decision makers as far as household purchases, decorating and remodeling are concerned. So when a woman tells you she needs to check with her husband, this is almost surely a poker tactic. Most men would rather hit themselves on the thumb with a hammer than have to spend a day or several days moving things in and out of a storage unit. If a man is talking to you about storage, either his need is immediate, or his wife has determined that their need is immediate. So if a man tells you he needs to check with his wife first, he is probably bluffing. It was in all likelihood his wife who told him to find a storage unit in the first place.
Most storage buyers begin to look for storage after they have already decided they need one. Most couples have already discussed their plans and how storage will fit into the picture, before they start talking to you about pricing, sizes and availability. This means that the spouses have most likely already decided what and when they are going to store. The only decision that is left is the where.
What you have to consider in family politics is the risk of making or not making a decision. So where is the risk for the person in making or not making a decision about storage? If the spouses have already decided most of what they need to decide about their storage plans, then the person you talk to is going to get in trouble for NOT making a reservation or NOT renting right away. Their conversation will go like this. Spouse A says, “Honey I talked to the storage place and got their rates. It sounds like they have the size we need and I think we can afford it” Spouse B says, “Did you get us a unit?” Spouse A says, “Not yet.” Spouse B says, “Well why not? What are you waiting for? Do you want to waste all day with this? What are you waiting for?”
Now it doesn’t matter which gender which spouse is. The exchange will be the same. So it is your job to keep the peace in your prospects’ households by helping the spouses you talk to make a reservation and complete the rental process whenever possible.Now if the spouses have not talked with each other about their storage needs, then the risk is in making the reservation or renting the unit. You can’t just show up out of the blue and announce that your family now has a storage unit unless it will be a pleasant surprise.
Your job as a sales person is to ask more questions when someone tells you they are not ready to buy from you, no matter which card they play. Your questioning process will determine if the card your prospect is playing is a real reason, or a bluff. Here are the three questions to ask when someone throws down the spouse concern card:
1. Have you already talked about your storage needs?
2. Have you pretty much decided when you will need to store?
3. Have you already decided what you will be storing with us?If you get a yes for each of these questions, you must then say, “Great. I can save you a lot of trouble by setting a unit aside for you. Wouldn’t it be nice just to tell you spouse you’ve got everything taken care of. And since availability is somewhat limited right now, the best way I can help you is to put a hold on that unit, how do you spell your first name?” And begin filling out the lease or the reservation form. If you do not take this strategy and let your prospect slip away, you may very well lose the rental. If you go for the reservation or rental, the spouse you talked to will look like a hero when he or she comes home and presents your facility and its great value.
If you get a no for each question, then you are to arrange a time when spouse A can bring spouse B in for a site tour. You can set it up this way. “Great. I think your spouse will really like storing here. The best thing to do is to bring him or her in for a quick tour. I can show him or her ____(whatever feature the person you are talking to likes). When can you both come in? Is morning or afternoon better?” If you do not go for the joint appointment, you may very well lose this rental.
Don’t get snookered by the spouse concern. It is a great opportunity for you to rent a unit. Don’t fold your cards. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by calling your prospect’s bluff. Now that you know how, practice it until you get great at it. Email me at my address below and let me know how this strategy works for you. Good luck and good selling!
