Just like the common cold, there is no cure or way to ensure that your company will be around in the decades to come. To most readers, this might sound like an extremely harsh thing to say, but it is reality. No one business is guaranteed to be in business in the future. For this reason, many companies are racking their brains trying to figure out how they can stay around in their community.

You will see some people do all sorts of different ideas or schemes in order to keep their business out of the red. Some people have huge sales every week, where they put out balloons all over their building. There have been companies that send out flyers or go door to door to get people through the door of their business. No matter what idea they come up with, they still will have issues if they can not fix the internal workings of their sales staff. Having an effective team of individuals taking care of the clients and their businesses will dramatically affect your bottom line. To most people that is not a secret, but some companies are learning the hard way and are being bought out by larger companies that get it.

Most of these successful companies get the idea turn to a mystery shopping agency that can help provide some quality feedback. The thought around a mystery shopping agency is to evaluate your business and through either a report or face to face contact, give you what they found. Let us look closer.

Just think how it would be to have a company that you partner with that can help you enhance the performance and profitability of the companies the work for in a specific, measurable and intense way. There are many agencies out there but not all the ones guarantee their work or your money back. Not all the companies will give them a confident recommendation to use their services. There is a mystery shopping agency that can provide proof of the previous sentences to you and more.

When looking for a mystery shopping agency , you have your work cut out for you. As stated above there are many companies that state what they do, you just need to verify it. There will be fees associated with the different services they provide as well, so you have to see if those services fit in your budget. Sometimes, depending on the current situation of your company, you might have to decide whether or not you need to pay more to get an instant result.

No matter what mystery shopping agency you find, there is one important part that you must follow in order be successful. Now, as far out as this may seem, here it is. The information that you get from the mystery shopping agency , in order to make it worth your time and money, should be used it to make a difference in your everyday business life. When you get information from them, it can not just sit on your hard drive or in a file folder never to be seen again. Your associates need to see how they are doing and it is a great performance management tool for your business. You could sink or swim based on what your clients hear about the service you are providing for them. Most people would like to have the method to improve their business. Having a mystery shopping agency on your side can make a dramatic improvement to your business if you allow it to what is meant to do.

Columbia RV Storage

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

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It has become more important than ever for a sales based business to capture every opportunity. But does a business manager or owner have to just blindly trust that all his associates are doing their part to make every customer count? No, he can use secret shopping services to give him a true, unbiased opinion of what sales opportunities are being lost.

Keep in mind that the most effective secret shopping services go beyond reporting if the associate said hello within 10 seconds or if they had their name tag on. All those practices can be controlled without needing an outside expert to tell you so.

Secret shopping services should be sales focused and this is where the quality control and shopping industry must go if they want to stay in business with businesses who are pressured to cut spending. Shopping services have to report on habits and techniques that are working to the advantage of a sale and also critique those which are not. That is what makes successful secret shopping services .

Consider this. You are the manager of an Ultimate Buy Electronic store. There may be 5 to 10 associates on the sales floor at any given time. You cannot possibly listen to all of them, all of the time. You have not been meeting your budget goals and you see customers walking out of the store without a purchase in hand.

The latest shopping service report showed that Jane had her shirt tucked in and greeted the customer within just a few seconds of being in the home theater department. The shopper report shows a check mark in the field indicating that Jane asked if the customer needed any help. The report also shows that the shopper asked about the comparison of two TVs and Jane told her the difference.

What are missing from that report are the sales details. Did Jane genuinely offer to help the customer or did it seem she only asked out of obligation for her job. Did Jane offer to demonstrate the two TVs to the customer and find out what brought them in to look at TVs. Did Jane use any closing questions or also recommend accessory products or the extended warranty? Did Jane connect with the customer and close the sale?

We sales managers have been conditioned to look at reports from our secret shopping services for a few quick seconds and then hand them over to our associates. Do we realize that we are missing pieces of the puzzle? We have the framework, but we can not see the whole picture without knowing the sales specific details of our customers experiences.

The quality control and shopping industry does have a few providers who offer these top notch sales shops. Will they become the last man standing as other businesses realize they are paying for less than quality shops or will we sales managers continue to look at ineffective reports and be none the wiser?

Odenton Furniture Storage

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

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Storage Concierge Self Storage in Illinois
Storage Concierge Self Storage in Kansas
Storage Concierge Self Storage in Kentucky

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

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Welcome to our blog. Your peek into the secret shopping industry.

Self Storage Blog A diary of the self storage industry
Property Management Blog The ins and outs of property management

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

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Welcome to the secret shopping blog, your peek into the mystery shopping world.

Our main objective in the call center is to take the caller off the market and get them to cross “storage unit” off the to do list. Every now and then you get a gimmie, but most of the time it takes patience, industry knowledge, building rapport and sales expertise to take the caller off the market.
Every morning Monday – Friday I log in at 6:30am. I choose the morning shift because I find the early morning callers mean business. Early birds are ready to give up their credit card and reserve a storage unit. On most days I usually have minimum of 1 credit card reservation and sometimes 2 by 7:30am.
Let me share with you my “Deal or No Deal” experience. IF you can get a laugh or giggle from your caller you are half way to getting a reservation. One morning last week I took a call from one of our East coast stores. During the call we agreed on location, size and time frame. I gave the price and noticed on my screen a super special ½ off the first 3 months. I decided to wait and offer the special at a perfect moment. The caller seemed to be in a hurry so I went for the close and gathered all the pertinent information. When I asked for the credit card I heard those dreaded words well I am not sure I want to do that now. I could feel the caller slipping away so I said “here is the deal you get ½ off of the first 3 months, you rent month to month with no deposits, pay a small admin fee of only $12.00 bucks and provide a lock.” DEAL or NO DEAL The caller burst into laughter and said, “DEAL”. The rest is history.

Self Storage Blog A diary of the self storage industry
Property Management Blog The ins and outs of property management

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

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Welcome to the Phone Smart call center blog. We give an inside view of the secret shopping industry.

PhoneSmart Your Source for Lead Generation
Self Storage Blog A diary of the self storage industry
Property Management Blog The ins and outs of property management

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

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Welcome to the Phone Smart blog and inside view of the self-storage industry

1 out of 3, 33.33% or the rule of thirds

Self Storage Blog A diary of the self storage industry

Property Management Blog The ins and outs of property management

PhoneSmart Your Source for Lead Generation

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

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You know you’ve reached a good, solid rep who truly knows what they’re doing when there aren’t any unanswered questions or at least there is a good response for an unanswered question. If you ask a question, and the rep can’t answer you, then he should include 3 components in the response to you.

 Honesty! It’s always the best policy. If he doesn’t know then he needs to tell you so.
 Sincerity! You shouldn’t have to guess at what the next step is.
 Urgency! Confirm that there will be an answer.

Something like… “Well, I’m not sure but I can certainly find out for you and give you a call back shortly to let you know”.

It still doesn’t cease to amaze me… the things that come out of some people’s mouths. They can have a great attitude, be polite and professional and then you get something that makes you say “Wait a minute”!

Example:
Just the other day I called the toll free customer service number of a company that I deal with. Although the man I talked to could not answer my question with a solution or even a hint to what might have happened, he didn’t have to lie. I’m sure you’ve caught someone in a bold faced lie before and it just makes you scratch your head and wonder what ever possessed them to do that.

In this case, when I spoke to this rep at a call center for a company in which I deal with, he could not answer my question with a solution or even a hint or possibility of a solution. So I asked to speak with the manager to see if they could give me a clue as to what happened and possibly straighten it out that day as it was an urgent situation..

He said “Sure, please hold one moment while I get the manager”. The next man who got on the phone had the same accent, just as pleasant, but a little more enthusiastic then the first man I spoke to. He basically gave me the same response. “O.K. wait a minute”, I thought. (He’s the manager, giving me the exact same response, same accent with an extremely similar inflection and tone in his voice as the first guy)

I jumped in and said… “Wait a minute!!! You’re the same guy I just spoke to the first time, aren’t you!?” “Yes”, he replied… Some people don’t cease to amaze me.

O.K., overlooking the bold faced lie, I voluntarily started to give him information that I thought would be of help in order to track down the information and the solution that I needed. I wasn’t in the mood for games. While doing so, he put me on hold… again. While on hold, I called the company that I dealt with here in town, who deals with them but are not affiliated with them. If there’s a problem with the service/product, you’re supposed to contact the toll free number that I called.

But when that wasn’t sufficient for me, I called the place in town and explained the situation. They immediately included the 3 components… “I’m not sure what happened, but just come down here and we’ll go ahead and take care of you, today, o.k.!”
And they did exactly that. They had it figured out in 10 minutes! I never did stay on hold. Instead I went right to the other company.
Are you losing your customers’ trust in you?

Robin

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

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By Tron Jordheim

Most of us would agree that it is better to have a sales savvy staff than not. Our business requires some intense customer interaction. The person at the front desk wearing your logo shirt is the reason people choose to store with you or with your competitor. When a tenant has a problem, it is your staff person’s ability to handle the problem that makes the difference.

So how do you attract sales savvy people? You have to build the culture first. A lot of lip service is paid to the whole idea of a company culture. The fact is though that every workplace has its own feel and its own unwritten rules. This is your culture. A culture revolves around language, shared stories and myths, legends of heroes, rituals and all those unwritten rules. When your culture encourages selling and the development of selling skills you have created a workplace where sales savvy people are comfortable and can excel.

Start talking the language of sales. Speak of qualifying questions, alternate choice closes, concerns and assurances, assumptive statements, closing percentages and missed opportunities. Learn the keywords and code words that help your staff keep “Sales” at the front of their minds.

Share stories and myths about selling. There is a great story about a young kid straight out of high school who went to work for a department store that sold everything you could imagine in one location. At the end of the day, the owner of the store went to check on the “new kid” and asked how many customers the new hire had helped in his first day. The owner was shocked and dismayed to hear that the kid had only helped one customer that day. The owner asked the kid to explain. He told how he had offered a man a fishing hook, only to find that the man had no rod, no reel and no tackle. After getting all the fishing gear picked out, the kid found that the man had no fishing boots or outdoor clothes. After helping the man find the right boots, pants, jacket and hat, the man realized he had no boat. So the kid took his customer to the boat department and helped him select a boat and an appropriate trailer. When the man mentioned he would have trouble hauling the boat with his Volkswagen, the young sales clerk took the customer to the truck department and helped him pick out a new pickup truck with not only a towing package , but also with a CD and DVD player. Finally at 4:45 in the afternoon, the customer who had been with the young salesman since 10:30 am had everything he could possibly need for a weekend of fishing. The owner of the store was amazed. He asked, “You sold all this merchandise to a man who came in to buy a fishing hook?” The kid replied, “Well actually I started the day in the pharmacy and the customer asked me where the tampons were. I took him to them and happened to say, ‘Looks like it a good weekend to go fishing’”

There are all kinds of fun stories about sales people. There are some great cartoons, too. Have you ever seen the Far Side cartoon featuring the King of Salesmen? He is waving good-bye from a boat as he pulls away from a shore-side Eskimo village. The Eskimos are standing proudly by their new refrigerators waving back. You can tell their fondness for the salesman in the sad expression on their faces.

There are sales stories like the Rule of Thirds that says one group of potential renters will rent from you anyway, as long as you don’t chase them off, because they already like your location or they know someone who has rented from you. Your job is to not talk yourself out of this sale. Another group isn’t going to rent no matter what because their needs will change or their needs are too far in the future. If you are nice to these folks, they will remember you when it is time to rent. Then there is a large group, the third group, which could go either way. These are the people you need to use your best sales and listening skills with.

Talk about the legends of great sales feats that have happened in your business. You can talk about the time one of your staff had a record rental day. Talk bout the funny and different ways your staff has asked for the rental and gotten it. At PhoneSmart, we still talk about the day that one of our reps, Dana, reserved 7 10x 20s for one caller. We still try to beat Paula’s eight hour record of 23 credit card reservations.

You can establish rituals, like the manner in which you make notes on your call logs, the way you stand up to greet a customer walking through your front door, the way you turn the lease toward new tenants, so they can see where to initial and sign. Look at the things you do in your selling routine and allow some of these to become your rituals.

Then there are the unwritten rules. The rule that you end no rental inquiry without asking which day the person would like to move in; the rule that says, no eating at the front counter; the rule that says look everyone in the eye when you greet them. You probably have many rules that work in selling your facility to new tenants and re-selling your facility to current tenants. Let everyone know what the rules are so they can use them.

Now that you have created a selling culture, go about attracting people who are sales savvy. Start with some qualifying hoops. We hire telesales reps at PhoneSmart. The first hoop a potential new hire jumps through is the recorded audition. When someone calls the “Employment hotline” they are invited to talk about themselves and their experience on a voicemail message. We listen to the messages and only call back the people who sound great on the phone, use visuals in their story and sell themselves well. You can do the same thing. Many people call your stores before they come to see it. Your telephone impression is essential to getting the rental. Why not hire only people who sound great on the phone?

How do you get people to inquire about your positions? What do you call your positions? Do you look for managers, sales assistants, marketing reps, retail sale people? Think this issue before advertising or promoting an opening. You will generally get what you ask for in an ad.

Why not secret shop any potential new hires? Do a telephone interview with them if they pass your recorded audition. If you like how the person deals with you on the phone and sells himself on the phone, find out where he is currently employed. Wait a day and call his place of work and secret shop the person. Pretend to be a prospective or current customer of that business and see how you are treated. This will tell you a lot. Did your potential hire ask for your business, try to fix your problem, attempt to cross-sell or up-sell?

When you call your potential hire in for a personal interview, create a test that will weed out the “wrong” people for the job. It can be frustrating when a person interviews very well and then turns out to be totally wrong for the position. I hired someone for a PhoneSmart position with a good resume and appropriate work history who interviewed very well. As soon as the other team members found out I hired this person, I had several of them ask me if I was nuts. Apparently this person had been rude and even somewhat hostile to three or four people while waiting in the break room for me to start the interview. So now we do “The break room test “. We intentionally leave a person waiting for the interview in the break room for five or ten minutes. We have a team member pass through and say “hello” on the way through to see the person’s reaction. Then another team member comes in and apologizes that the interviewer will be right there and says sorry about the wait. If the person does not have a natural, friendly reply for the person saying hello, and if the person is not cordial and patient when asked to wait a little longer, that is a short interview and a “No hire”. I honestly believe that this break room test has almost entirely eliminated unsuitable people and has cut our turnover in initial trainees dramatically. Create your own version of this “Break room test”. You will be very pleased with the result.

Another great t

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

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I was in my front yard one afternoon this weekend. I was messing around and doing a little yard work. My kids were playing in the yard and enjoying themselves. A white van rolled slowly up our cul-de-sac. My first instinct whenever someone I don’t recognize rolls up our circle like that is to let my Rottweiler out of the back yard. I could see from the decals on the van that it was a direct sales meat supply company. I imagine that the direct sales meat suppliers can build up some pretty nice route sales.

The driver rolled down his window and yelled out to me. “Hey do you eat steaks?” I said “No”. He yelled back, “You don’t?” I said “No”. He replied, “How about seafood or fish?” I said, NO”. He yelled back, “Well I know you aren’t a vegetarian, are you?” I replied, “I have no interest in talking to you today.” He said “O.k.” and rolled out the way he came in.

My daughter said to me, “Daddy, why didn’t you tell him you are a vegetarian?” A sensible question coming from a kid.

I explained to her that it was not his business in the first place and that if he was too lazy a sales person to even get out of the van and have good manners about introducing himself, I didn’t need to tell him anything. When sales people start their process in a flippant and impolite manner, they cannot expect to get anything but rejection.

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

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‘Tis the season to be Jolly or is it?

I ask this question in good faith that the answer should be rhetorical but it is not. As the Christmas season is approaching, the stores are ready in every way imaginable except for the associates that either have missed the memo on friendly customer service or had an over dosage on “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

It is a shame that you can go in to a store and smell the pine from the trees and the Christmas melody soothes your mind and leads you directly to the Holiday aisle. As your mind gets lost in the music and you ignore the over priced items as your hand continues tossing items into your cart, thoughts flutter around aimlessly. These thought expand into elaborate decorations and scenery that will look appropriate for the lawn, garage, the roof tops, the edging, the fence, etc. And as planned, more decorations go into the cart. As you go to the other aisles that are filled with big red signs with white letters that make up the word CLEARANCE and the “50% off “adds attraction to our eyes, so here we go racing to the sign; ignoring the two small words “up to” before 50%.

To get through the crowded aisles and ignoring the bumps you repeated “excuse me”, “pardon me”, “I’m sorry” as you make your way to that particular section for that specific item, to only discovered that the item is not there and so with some disappointment you proceed with your shopping list. On your way to the next item on your list you spot a sales associate. Your disappointment turns into relief, your prayers have been answered and here is a chance to redeem your faith and find that particular item that you felt did not exist.

With all the confidence in the world you approach the sales associated with a smile and ask for the much-wanted item. Instead of the anticipated response with clarity you get a half smirk of a smile, a low toned demeanor; and the entire person, both body and verbal language, wreaks of frustration. To top this off you get an answer of “I don’t know” or “I think that it is down here”. When you alert the associate that you already looked “down here” they reply with the first response, “I don’t know.” How helpful is this one being? And can we add some personality to this person? Wouldn’t it be nice for the associate to add to the first response “I don’t know” with “but I will find someone who does”? This simple addition to the sentence would make life a lot easier and will still allow you to continue shopping and take your mind off of the cart that is filled with the items that you did not need in the beginning.

But once the “Grinch” comes out the cart is quickly noticed and the music becomes annoying and then you are irritated with the smell of pine and holly and spice all mixed together as one fragrance and then you are out of the store empty handed. All of this to go home and then realize that you must again face the stores that may or may not have the “Grinch” working for that day.

If anyone knows a sales associate, please let him or her know theses three things:

1. We too are frustrated
2. They are the ones that filled the application out to help and “I don’t know” is not helping, it is ignoring… and shoppers like myself we don’t go away.
3. This is the season to be jolly is not just “now” but the season is as long as they are employed with the establishment.

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

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I bought a new toaster last weekend.

The old toaster was about 20 years old and every time it would come out of the cabinet the back would fall off and the sides would bough out. It still worked once you got all the pieces together, but it looked like it had been through a war. Not to mention the lovely avocado green color. The main thing that the toaster has been toasting lately is my morning bagel. I like my bagel toasted with soft cream cheese and a slice of salami.

So, I decided that the old toaster was dumpster bound and a new one should take its place. I first checked online from some popular discount retailers, so I could get an idea of what they might have to offer. I ended up getting a dinner invitation that night so I decided to leave the apartment early and go by the store for a new toaster before dinner.

The “aisle of toasters” was bigger than I thought it would be. After I got to the specific toasters that I wanted to look at there were still several choices. Besides features, there were color choices, and price ranges. I was looking for something under $30 that was stainless with black or some combination of those choices. I decided on one and put it into my buggy.

The next morning I was excited to try out the new toaster. As I was unpacking it I noticed the large lettering that said; bagel toaster. Cool, I didn’t even know that was one of the features. My bagel was going to love the new toaster, but would I?

I got everything ready to make the bagel and started the toaster with the “bagel” button pushed. It seemed like it took forever to finish but it finally popped up. I assembled the bagel toppings and took the first bite. It wasn’t great. The top was a little toasty and the bottom was barely warm. AACK!!

The old toaster was already in the dumpster and I was not going diving. Maybe I was being too picky. Sometimes we get used to something and when it is gone we miss it. I would give it another try.

I tried it again without the bagel button pushed. My old toaster didn’t know the difference between a bagel and a bread slice, why would the new toaster? It was better.

Who decided that in bagel toasting the top would be toasty and the bottom lukewarm? Not me. No one asked me how I like my bagel toasted.

Is your business too specific? Have you modified your business plan to only include a specific niche? Is it working for you? Yes it is good to offer a service or product that no one else has but have you pigeon holed yourself unnecessarily? Take a look at what you offer and see if you have a “bagel button.”

Thanks,
Natalie

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

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Even though some people scoff at factory management mentality, the fact remains that no one knows flow management and efficiency controls as well as people who run factories and distribution centers.

In many ways a secret shopper’s job is to make sure the sales and customer service chain moves smoothly. As in a factory, you are often hunting for the bottleneck. Once a bottleneck or log jam is found, you can free up the flow and let the enterprise move forward.

A bottleneck in the sales process leaves both the customer and the sales or service rep in an awkward position that can mean decreased enthusiasm for all. That means less purchases or no purchases from the customer and weak attempts or no attempts at stimulating business on the part of the employee.

So use your secret shopping to identify the bottleneck in the process and remove it. Then look for the next bottleneck; and then the next.

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

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For the last few days I’ve dedicated a portion of the day to calling through a long (LONG) list of prospects. I ask them a few questions about what methods they currently use, if any, to give sales training to their employees. And I work in our new Role Playing line.

Sometimes they let me know that time is their biggest obstacle in maintaining sales training. Others have said it’s just the large scale of the task itself and they aren’t ready to take it on. Whatever their, or your, concerns or hesitation may be to update or initiate your staff into the world of sales, our Role Playing Helpline can make things a lot less painful and definitely more effective.

Our other services, a training course, secret shopping, and call center, are always a great sales solution to offer to everyone too. I really believe that we have covered all the bases and have the complete answer for storage and apartment industries.

So far everyone I’ve talked to has either loved the idea, or been completely not interested. We also sent some postcards and letters to those on the list whose address we had. I’ve found that the ones who received the letter first were must more interested and even asked me some questions about the service. So, I stopped calling the prospects we haven’t mailed letters to, and we’re going to find their addresses!

I feel like lately we’ve gone mail crazy! We’ve been bombarding our clients, old and new, with postcards, letters, flyers, etc…But it’s working! They have become intrigued and are ready to ask questions when I call them. I think that sending out a little something that doesn’t quite let the cat out of the bag leads them to become curious.

Did anyone catch the latest commercial campaign for EBay? They began airing commercials that talked about “It”. They even gave a web address to go to. The commercials were so intriguing that my husband and I were wondering what “It” was for days. A few weeks later they aired part 2 of the commercials and revealed that “It” was whatever you wanted and EBay could get it for you. Genius! They had me wondering and now, when if I ever need to find that one item I just can’t get anywhere else I’ll know where to go.

I think that stirring up a little curiosity about your business will do you some good. Just get your name out there and people will call you, or be waiting for you to call them.

Sarah

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

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I was in a motorcycle dealership the other day and spent 15 minutes looking at neat two-wheel rides without a single staff person even batting an eyelash at me. And I saw lots of them. I finally gave up and walked out.

When people walk into your place of business, do they hear you saying, “I don’t need no stinking customers?”

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

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Here are a few things to consider as you fine-tune your expectations and evaluatinos…

12 Powerful & Positive
Steps to Selling

 Listen to Prospect – you won’t have the right answers unless the client helps you w/it.
 Features are important, but stress benefits. (I know we repeat most of the same things a hundred times a day – but it’s the 1st time your client has heard this and some of it is not self-explanatory).
 Know all possible applications of your product – this shows them we can do the job. (Example; drive-up access as opposed to inside storage, how to take advantage of drop shipped delivery, etc).
 You must firmly believe that our company provides the best service, best value, and best customization and has a stellar reputation. (All of these things apply to our company).
 Don’t assume – ask all the questions (all the way to the credit card, no matter what negative feedback we think we’re getting).
 You cannot force a prospect to do anything. When you try to force, YOU LOSE! This is a good time to find all areas of agreement and highlight potential solutions.
 Verify your information – just because they sound interested doesn’t mean they are. (Same as getting agreement).
 When you’re verifying information, never sound the same twice. (Put a new twist on the benefits you previously mentioned).
 Don’t think a negative response is a MAJOR ROADBLOCK. This is the time to shower them with all of our benefits.
 Be their partner, not just another vendor.
 No one can guarantee success! You can only deserve it, and you deserve it by:
 Accurately identifying the opportunity to help the caller and take active steps to move the relationship closer to the point where we can be of help to them.
 Deserve it by focusing on finding situations where you honestly believe you can add value and then deliver on that value. (Remember we must close the sale to get the chance to produce).
 Closing sales means building relationships.

good luck and good selling, Tron

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

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One way to make your secrets shopping efforts work is to make sure you sales strategy works. Study your customers, your staff and your offering and make sure the strategy lines up with your customer’s practical and emotional needs, your staff’s capabilities and your offering’s uniqueness.

I can probably help you with that. I will be in Miami on Oct. 28th giving a seminar called “Winning Sales Strategies” for the Inside Self storage conference. This will help you fine-tune your existing strategy or help you scrap your old and create a new. For details, look at www.insideselfstorage.com .

Tron

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

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How specific is your evaluation? Is it geared to the subspecies of customer service or sales effort you are watching?

Selling a car is different than selling clothes, isn’t it? Even though there are a lot of similar elements. You are choosing size, style, color and function. How do your evaluations take into account the similarities between all customer service efforts?

We find for instance, that secret shopping self storage properties and apartment rental communities is very similar. The buyers are in similar situations usually and often have similar concerns about value, location and atmosphere.

What customer service areas do you look at and how are they similar and different?

Bye for now, Tron

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

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When evaluating a sales performance, make sure you understand the sales person’s goal. When you are secert shopping a rental property and there are no vacancies, the sales person needs to take a different approach than if there are vacancies. So don’t be quick to fault the sales person unless you are clear what the goal is.

Basic customer treatment is non-negotiable. Polite, helpful and professional is always a must. But where the sales person needs to go from there will vary with the situation.

bye for now,Tron

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

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Sometimes we think a sales process is very simple when we are doing evaluations. In the big picture, this is true. But once a sales person masters the basics, things can get very complicated. Here are some ideas from Robin about handling concerns. Keep in mind that at a certain ppoint, some of the people you are evaluating will get better than your evaluation and you will need to get a step ahead of them again.

HANDLING OBJECTIONS

The word “objections” is used here because it’s the word you’re used to. However, we have learned that the word that best applies to a prospect’s hesitations is “CONCERNS”. Concerns can be in the form of a statement or question. (These should always be handled routinely, as if they are no big deal-and as if we are prepared).

The following are concern handlers. The first one refers to all concerns and the rest refer to a more specific concern.

1. Use how other clients have overcame the concern this client brings up. (For example, “we have no climate controlled units that are large enough”). Ask them to isolate what needs to be climate controlled and what items don’t. Then you can put them in a standard unit for part of thier belongings and a climate control unit for just a few things. Problem Solved! Plus, you probably saved them money.

If it is a price issue for someone who’s trying to sell their home and wants to move stuff out so that their home looks larger; ask them which is the better value, having their home on the market 6 months longer because it looks small… Or, selling it in a couple of months because it looks spacious. These are our chances to customize the product to fit their needs.

2. Don’t assume a price concern brought up by this client is the same as the last. Explore. Ask them what they expected and why (again customize).
• If you have a smaller unit their belongings will fit into and the price is in their initial range, you’re a hero.
• If they have found the same size at another company for a lower price, STRESS BENEFITS. Find something they liked and point out to them how much more important VALUE is over cost. Would you rather buy an umbrella for $5 that blows apart in the first rainstorm, or spend $15 for an umbrella that lasts for years?
3. “I’ll have to think about it”, or “I’m just shopping”, “I need to speak with my husband”, Etc.
“Well Mr. Client, as I was telling you this I realized I might have put too much emphasis on the security features and didn’t mention our extensive line of moving supplies. Or even the fact that there are no deposits required.”

This gives the client a chance to tell you what’s really holding them back and we get another chance to meet their concerns. It’s a good time to give them an example of a “Success Story” we’ve had with another client.

Final Closing Tips
The entire phone call SHOULD NOT be one long opportunity to close. Remember that you’re trying to find something in common with them.

Listen to them; let them help you to know what they need. Meet Their Needs!

When there is resistance, let them know you understand their hesitation. “But a lot of folks felt this way at first. Before they learned how secure our site is, about the free rental on a truck, etc.”

At the end if they still won’t give their credit card, express concern that you might have mis-handled the conversation and isolate good points.

These tips apply no matter what your are selling or promoting. How would you customize your evaluations to test and evaluate more advanced selling pratices?

bye for now, Tron

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

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When you meet Bob, you know from the start that he is a seasoned sales man. Not the cheesy, pushy kind that we stereotype as a used car sales man. Bob is the witty, quick on his toes type that could sell an Eskimo ice cubes. It was fun to listen to him and hear some of his catch phrases.

I think we all walked away from the meeting with a better understanding of each other’s business, and what our goals were in working together. We set up a future meeting, that is coming up pretty quickly, with Bob and his peers to give them a short presentation of what training and other services we are offering them.

Bob suggested that we use one of his locations as a prototype, in order to determine effectiveness, and work out any of the kinks. This is always a great approach to trying something new. It allows a business man to dangle his feet in the water before he jumps in head first. And it allows us to dazzle him with our services. We can build some wonderful loyalty this way and help him increase his profits, which would build loyalty with anyone.

I look forward to meeting with Bob again and working out a deal with him. He seems to be the kind of man who has a vision and knows how he’s going to accomplish it. He really makes it enjoyable to work with him because he gives us feedback as to what he likes and doesn’t. If we can change something to make life easier for any of our clients we are glad to do so; all they have to do is ask. It’s surprising how often a person wants something but never gets it only because they didn’t ask.

I feel it is important for not only the boss, but every level of employee to have a vision or goal of where they want to be in the future in their personal life, and within their company. And when you reach your goal you will feel a great sense of achievement, and be motivated to make a new goal. Before you know it you’ll be farther than you imagined.

Ta ta for now…
Sarah

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

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One effective rule of selling says, “Sell your worst feature early.” This may not make a lot of sense right off the bat. But think about it for a second. If you have a feature in your offering that is not attractive and could turn off a customer, you don’t want it to become apparent late in the sale and ruin the deal. You have to be careful to sell the worst feature, not just mention it. If you just mention it, it will turn off your prospect and kill the sale.

Sell it. For example, you are looking to buy a Hummer. The worst feature might be that it won’t fit in your garage. If the salesperson just told you this and left it at that, you would become annoyed and leave the dealership. If however, the sales person said something like, “You might have trouble getting it in your garage, but man are you going to look good riding around town in this! And since the heat and A/C produce comfortable temperatures in 2.6 seconds, you’ll never even miss your garage. Hop up and get behind the wheel and you’ll see how easy the control panel is to view.”

If you were looking at a health insurance plan with high co-pays, the salesperson would have to find another feature to off-set the displeasure high co-pays costs. It might go like this: “Now the co-pays at our company are generally higher than you are used to, but our company has one of the fastest turnaround times for payments in the industry. You won’t be waiting for months and wondering if your provider has been paid. Also our telephone support reps have one of the best speed-to-answer rates in the industry, which means you will not be on hold half the day waiting for an answer. We are responsive to our customers. Did you want to just cover yourself or are there any dependents you would like to add?”

Selling a worst feature can apply to something as unglamourous as self-storage. What worst features are there in the industry? Some facilities are older and have not been updated. This can be sold by explaining how the basic needs of dry and secure are being met and the fact that the facility is older means you have less cost to run it and can keep rates down. So you take what could have been a discussion about your place being old and turn it into a discussion of your place offering the same safe and dry spaces as your competitor at less cost.

Some facilities are a little hard to find. You can sell “off the beaten” track by emphasizing that it is easier to keep a place secure that has less traffic and that it costs less to have a location off the main street, which translates to better rates.

Some facilities have walk-up units. These are easy to sell. “One of the nice things about our store is that you can save a bunch of money by storing upstairs. Now we don’t have an elevator, but a lot of people are glad to go up a few stairs to save the money. If you prefer we have some convenient first floor drive-up units, too. Which would you like to look at first?”

Some facilities don’t have 24 hour access. You can sell that by explaining how no one is on the property after 10PM, so everyone’s belongings are secure over night.

Some of you require that people insure their belongings while storing with you. You may think this is a worst feature for prospects, but people are actually glad to know that they can buy insurance for a few dollars a month to add an extra level of protection to their goods. “We do require that you insure your belongings when you store with us. You can buy the insurance through us for as little as $8 or $12 per month. This adds an extra level of protection. Not that we have ever had a problem here, but if anything ever did happen, we want you to be protected. Did you want to purchase the $2,000 value or the $4,000 value package?”

Some of you may have limited access to the road that runs by your property. In this case tell people that it is a pain to get in the drive-way from the east and tell them how easy it is to get in the driveway from the west. Blame it on the road planners or the mega store across the street. You might be shocked if you knew how many people tried to turn in from the east and kept going to rent with someone else.

Even if your store doesn’t have a worst feature, you may not offer a few things that your competitor does. So take away your competitors advantage by telling prospects, “We don’t have feature X, which most of our renters don’t miss, because we have feature Y, which our renters really like because…”). This takes the thunder away from your competitor. If your prospect goes to your competitor after talking to you, feature X will not be so impressive because you have planted a different view in the prospect’s head.

Now you have to be careful how you do this. You have to be realistic and sensitive to customers’ needs. If you live in South Florida, you can’t say, “We don’t have humidity controlled units like some of the other storage places because you really don’t need it and it drives your cost up. So we can offer you just as good a place to store for less money”. You could say though, “One nice thing about our place is that we don’t have climate controlled units. Since not everyone wants one, we keep our cost down by not offering them. So if you don’t think you want climate control, we can offer you a good price. Would you like to come down today to take a look at our site, or would tomorrow be better for you?” You might think this is a subtle difference. But if you tell people what they should want or need, they will usually take what you say as BS. If you tell them what other customers have said, they pay attention and consider their options.

Pay attention to the worst features at your facility and learn to sell them. You may find out those features aren’t so bad after all.

bye for now, Tron

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

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Here is a sample of how you might try selling an apartment lease to someone.

Greeting:
“Hi, thanks for calling _____ Apartments. This is __, how can I help you?”

Do you have any ____bedrooms/vacancies available right now?
“We sure do. We have several floor plans available right now. We have…”
…………..Or…
“We sure do. We have several different floor plans to choose from. How many bedrooms are you interested in?”
2 bedrooms
“Well, we have a couple different floor plans to choose from….we have….
A 2 bdrm 2 bath @1100 sq. ft. and a 2 bdrm 2 bath deluxe @ 1200 sq. ft…
Both have very nice floor plans. Do you have a preference?”

Location:
“Do you know where we are located over here on _____?

Amenities/appliances:
“We have great amenities here …we furnish all of your major appliances, such as dishwasher, refrigerator; stove…we also have washer/dryer hook-ups. Now if you don’t have a washer and dryer, we do have an on site laundry facility that you can use…. (as applicable)

(Amenities plus # of tenants)
Now are there going to be adults living there, or children, too?
2 adults and 1 child.
(Other Amenities Offered on Premises)
Nice…we have some great stuff for all of you. Let’s start with the kids first, because you know you got to make them happy …
We have 2 swimming pools, plus there’s a picnic and play area.
There’s an exercise room, which you guys can use, as well as…
A new clubhouse with a kitchen and a fireplace…
And there’s also an exercise room.
We are also close to public transportation…….
(as applicable)”

Lead with Pricing
“The 2 bedroom, 2 bath is only $___. That’s not a bad price is it?

(Comparison pricing with tenants current rental)
Are you renting now, in ____? And what do you pay, where you are?”

Get the Tour Appt.
“Yeah…well, for you to come down and take a look at it and make a decision, you probably want to come down and see it, right?
When would be a good time for you to come down?
The best time for us to set up a time would be 10am, 1pm or 3pm m-f….
Which day is best for you? What time….10am,1pm or 3pm? (Confirm …Fri. 10am would be great).”

Getting Personal Info.—
“What’s your first name?

Last name? Address?

Phone #? ”

Confirm date & time again… “and this is the number she could get a hold of you in case you need to reschedule for some reason.

I’ll tell you what…in order to get the ball rolling, I can take a little more information from you, if you’ve got some time, like your address – sometimes we like to send out information as well…

We don’t start the credit application until you come down here and you like the apartment and you’re going to o.k. that you want to rent here. ”

What do you notice about this that might make it work? How would you rate an apartment leasing agent who treated you in this manner? Would you maybe rent from him or her?

bye for now, Tron

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

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We looked at a report from a live secret shop of an apartment today. What we found is no surprise. There are two possibilities it seems. The staff either shows someone around or sells them an apartment lease. In this case the leasing agent was just showing the shopper around. The leasing agent did not qualify the shopper, did not determine the shopper’s needs or likes or wants. So basically it was wasted effort.

Don’t just take someone on a tour of your property or business to show them around and wait for their decisions. Find out what they want, need, desire. Show them that you can meet those requirements and ask for the business. If you don’t ask for it, you won’t get it.

So are you taking people on tours, or are you selling?

bye for now, Tron

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

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While I was doing evaluations this morning of some of secret shops we had completed, I noticed a common objection that was causing a concern for the people we were calling. When the store asks for the caller’s name and phone number and the caller does not want to give the number out, you can hear the wind come out of the sails of the store staff. Deflated, dispirited and let down the staff people don’t even try to close the call/sale. Objections and concerns happen all the time. Why would they call it selling if every sale was handed to you on a silver platter? Some examples of other objections are; price concern, just shopping, not ready, spouse/boss permission, doesn’t have a credit card, waiting for help, are just a few that we hear on a daily basis.

Ok, it happened. A potential customer gave you a concern. Now what? Do not let it get you down. If the caller does not want to give their phone number for instance, don’t let your voice change. Agree with them if you have to, “yeah, I don’t like to give my number out either,” then ask them to come by for a visit. Let them know when your office hours are and then try and nail them down for a specific day or time. More than half the battle is getting the caller to the property, once there, we’ve found the turnaround to be very lucrative. Same idea for the credit card refusal, it’s not that they don’t want to rent with you; it really might be they don’t want/can’t use their credit cards. Now, some callers will use this as a concern just so they aren’t locked into the reservation. Again, agree with them, “well that’s ok, I don’t like to use my cc over the phone either, is there a day that you would like to come by for a visit and look at that unit?” Turn the negative into a positive. After the cc refusal, try again to stress the limited availability. Let the caller hear the urgency in your voice. Try and think of some of the concerns you hear on a regular basis, write down some good comebacks so you will be prepared when the concern comes up again. Be ready.

And then after you have gained a little more trust from the caller, you can ask again for the name and number, or ask again for the credit card reservation or appointment…and you will get it more times than not.

Give the caller the best customer service from the time you answer to when you hang up the phone. And don’t assume a concern is not going to turn into a sale down the road. (See Laura’s blog from yesterday about assuming)

“There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem.”
Harold Stephens

Thanks,
Natalie

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

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When I think of product consistency, I think of McDonalds. I have had the opportunity to eat McDonalds not only across our great nation, but abroad: McDonalds in Rome, Mexico, and England. It doesn’t matter where you go, it’s always consistent. Now, I know what some of you are thinking, “Why would you eat at McDonalds when you can eat anywhere else, especially abroad”.

Well, after being in Italy for six weeks, I really wanted a meal that was consistent and plus, I was a little homesick. Every meal at McDonalds tastes the same; it doesn’t matter if it is down the street or an ocean away. Now, there are some deviations to the traditional USA menus. For instance, in England they charge for the ketchup packets, and in Rome you can have a cold beer with your Big Mac.

How long do you think it took McDonalds to develop a consistency plan? My family has been in the restuarant business for years and I “grew up” in the restaurant. Coming from a restaurant background, I believe this plan is harder than it seems at first glance. Say there is a person that is cooking the XX today, and as they are making it they put just a little bit more of la la in it. Now the XX is different.

The person didn’t mean to make it different they just made it the way they wanted, or thought it would taste even better. Or, what if the big boss ordered a different kind of la la than what they normally get? It changes the XX completely. If you want to start consistent and stay consistent you must control all the variables from the beginning.

Is change wrong or bad? No. You see it all the time: new and improved, better tasting, no more late fees, bigger and better and faster. It’s just that every one of your customers might not embrace the change. People get used to being in a routine, having a plan, and when that changes it can cause upset. (Think of New Coke)

Is your sales force consistent? Are the variables controlled? Does your company have a consistency plan? Are all the ingredients there? What are your company’s sales goals?

One of the things we use in our sales force is a “one thing at a time” strategy. We work on improving just one area till it is accomplished. Then we move on to another area, and so on. Pretty soon many of the areas are improved and sales are increasing across the board. We also strictly monitor our sales force, not just for internal purposes but for use as a reference point if needed. Each person is evaluated at least four times a month on sales calls. We use the same evaluation form we use for our customers. We expect and get great things from our team, do you?

Natalie

“They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”

-Andy Warhol

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

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You Know What Happens When You Make Assumptions…

In the PhoneSmart Secret Shopping department, one of our goals is to help our clients avoid making assumptions. The reason is simple, it makes it harder to find easy opportunities to help the caller and get their business. It’s usually never a good idea to make assumptions about your potential customer or their situation.

Here are some of the common assumptions we run into and the reasons to avoid them.

• The date the product or service is needed
In our experience in the rental industry, many times, the client we’re shopping will assume that the caller has an immediate need. If what they are looking for is unavailable immediately, unfortunately, they’ve already told the caller that they don’t have anything available. It’s much more difficult to regain the caller’s interest and attention after this than it is to just ask when they need service in the first place.
• The convenience of the office or location
Usually the clients we shop will ask if the caller knows where the office or facility is located, but not if it’s convenient. This is important because it helps the manager determine what they need to do next. If the caller lives across town from where they’re located, our client has to do that much more to sell their product or service and encourage a visit.
• What product or service best suits the caller’s needs
In the storage industry, one of the most important things to do is determine the right size for the job. If the caller is vague or doesn’t really know, that’s not the time to guess. It’s better to keep asking questions to determine their needs. Another good way to get around this is to help them by comparing and giving visual aids to judge size. The manager could also offer a few choices if the caller isn’t sure.
• The budget
Sometimes during our secret shops, we hear a discouraging tone in the manager’s voice. They don’t give the caller a chance to decline the sale, they assume that they aren’t going to – so they don’t.
• Their hesitation
It might be easy to assume that a challenge or concern when asked for the business means “No Sale!” But again, it’s an assumption. If our client is presented with a challenge or more questions about the service, they simply have another chance to show pride in their service or product.

One assumption that is safe to make is “I’m going to make this sale!” If our clients answer their calls with the assumption that they are going to get business from every customer, they will give everyone the same opportunity and likely get more business. Assuming that everyone is a potential buyer will also help them be more consistent with their service and it will be better service to boot!

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

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PhoneSmart is a wholly owned subsidiary of StorageMart. StorageMart is a company with assets of 300 million dollars that currently operates 46 storage facilities. The owners of StorageMart, the Burnam family, formerly operated Storage Trust. One of the larger storage businesses in the country, Storage Trust contracted with a third party call center to handle its incoming calls and received many thousands of calls a month. PhoneSmart was created based on the experiences and successes at Storage Trust.

PhoneSmart Call center is a solution for two of the most perplexing problems in the self-storage industry.

1. Facility managers can’t answer all the phone calls their facilities receive. Managers are often out on the site showing units or doing facility maintenance. When they are in the office, they may be walking a new tenant through a lease, visiting with a current tenant or making past-due calls. Mangers can miss calls; and potential renters call before and after hours, too. Do you know how many calls your stores miss? It might be a painful answer.

2. One of the primary ways people find out about a storage facility is through the yellow pages. I don’t have to tell you how large a chunk of revenue a facility’s yellow page advertising eats up. It is enormous. What does it actually cost to get someone to call your facility? A lot. If your manager can’t get to the phone for one reason or another, is the caller going to call back… or move on to the next ad in the yellow pages? How much money do facility owners spend to help their competitors fill units? Even if you get a lot of your renters from your location, most people call first before coming in to your stores.

At PhoneSmart, we turn those missed calls into profit. PhoneSmart is a roll-over call center. Any time the manager can’t get to the phone, or is already talking on the phone, the new caller is forwarded on to us.

We have made a huge investment in the latest telephone technology. Our technology enables us to separate the people calling about renting a unit from the people calling to talk to the manager about issues other than a new rental. If the person wants the manager, that call is forwarded to the manager’s individual voicemail box. The manager can retrieve the message when things calm down at the store and then return the call.

Our system also determines the exact facility the caller had dialed and brings the current information for that facility up on the computer screen in front of the sales person answering the phone at PhoneSmart.

We can then walk the caller through a consultative sales process. The caller makes a reservation confirmed with a major credit card, which is forwarded to the store manager. If the caller does not have a credit card or is unsure of a move in date, the information is automatically faxed or emailed to the manager for timely follow-up. We have developed several excellent ways to drive callers to your store. We can help you integrate systems and procedures that will convert as many of our leads into rentals as you possibly can.

PhoneSmart is not an answering service. PhoneSmart has many advantages over an answering service type or customer service type call center. Because we focus on the rental calls, we can reduce the total cost of call center services to our clients. Forwarding tenant calls to the manager means the manager can deal directly with people she or he is on a first name basis with. When we do talk to your current renters, we can give them a great customer service experience, by answering basic questions for them or referring them on to the store manager.

Because we ask for a bonus from our clients when we write a credit card confirmed reservation, our motivation is to maximize every call. It also means we can offer performance incentives to our reps. Other call centers hire lower wage “operators” or “customer service reps”. We hire sales people and invest in their training. Therefore, we not only give a professional presentation of your facility, we also sell it. Our job is not to clear calls, but to send people to your store. The credit card confirmed reservation is a great way to get people to go to your facility.

Another benefit of dealing with PhoneSmart, is knowing we are a part of a successful storage business. We know about self-storage. We have also made the commitment to be a leader in call center technologies. Because of our commitment to technology solutions, we have an experienced IT expert on staff .

If we can create just one new rental a month that a facility otherwise would have missed, our service pays for itself in almost every instance.

What results can you expect from us?

PhoneSmart has been taking calls since December of 2000.

StorageMart compared total occupancy rates in June of 2000 for their established, mature stores with total occupancy rates for these stores in June of 2001. There was a 7 percent increase. The only operational difference was PhoneSmart. I’m not sure we can claim all seven points, but we were certainly responsible for several of them.

In 2002, PhoneSmart was credited with 16% of total rentals for 34 StorageMart stores, totaling over 2,500 rentals. If we can talk to people about your site, we can help you rent units.

PhoneSmart talked to over 100,000 self-storage callers in 2002 for all of its 40 plus client companies. That adds up to a lot of experience, experience you can put to work for your company.

PhoneSmart sent its 200,000th lead/reservation in April of 2005. Our experience in turning inquiries into rentals is second to none.

PhoneSmart also offers a secret shopping service to help you make sure your phones are being answered correctly at your property. We have recently added a sales lead follow-up service to help you make sure you are renting to as many of the leads we create as you can. And our sales training material will help your staff sell as well as we do.

PhoneSmart is also actively preparing for the future. We have a redundant phone center that is located on the other side of town on a different spoke of the phone and utility grid, so that in the event of service disruptions or disasters, we can continue to provide great service to our clients through our back-up center. We continue to develop our technologies to be able to offer superior service for years to come.

We have been providing secret shopping services to clients for 3 years. Some use us just for monitoring. Some use us for moving their sales and customer service programs forward. We are mystery shopping professionals who know how to mystery shop. We give your staff a chance to shine and give you a chance to make some real improvements. This secret shopping blog is one way to help people learn more about the secret shopping business.

To find out more about PhoneSmart and how it can help you profit from your missed calls, email Tron Jordheim, the PhoneSmart director at tron@phone-smart.net or call 1-866-639-1715. Forgive us if you are put into voicemail, we may be busy writing a credit card confirmed reservation for one of our forty plus clients. Or you can find us at www.phone-smart.info .

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

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In today’s secret shopping blog, I’d like to take a different look at this saying. If you were trying to build a business selling a product or service, wouldn’t you want customers that knew the value of what they were buying? Wouldn’t you seek out the people who knew the most about your business and try to find a way to satisfy their requirements? Wouldn’t those people become your biggest users and biggest fans if you served them well? Wouldn’t your sales techniques revolve around what those people in the know taught you?

One would think that Eskimos know a lot about ice. I would bet their languages have many ways of describing ice. Some live in ice houses part of the year, hunt on ice during hunting season, kayak around ice flows and put ice cubes in their Coca Cola. If you knew about the different uses they had for ice and how ice needs to be for each of their uses, you could build a very nice business selling ice to Eskimos. If you could get the right consistency and coldness of pre-cut blocks, shaped especially for walls, ceilings and tunnels, you could sell pre-cut igloos to Eskimo families who are too busy to select and cut their own ice blocks. Eskimos have busy, demanding modern lives that don’t always leave them enough time to savor the traditional enjoyments. Buying prefab igloo ice would allow them more time to enjoy the great outdoors. Your mystery shoppers will need to be aware of how yor retail people approach iglooe ice.

If you knew the kind of ice that was required to keep seals preserved for processing after a hunt, you might be able to sell “Hunter Ice” as well. With the changes global warming is bringing to the arctic, the right kind of ice may not be available to hunters at the times they need it. I can only imagine the disappointment in taking a big seal for your family only to have it spoil before you can get it home and processed.

There are probably kayak races that are held each year in areas that used to have consistent ice flows. I can imagine that some kayakers would be very disappointed to run a race with no ice flow obstacles. If a company could overcome the transportation issues, it could probably sell a lot of ice to the big races with big purses to attract the best competitors and the best sponsors. A “Kayak Ice” line might not sell to many events, but those transactions would generate a lot of revenue for the ice company and the race organizers.

Certainly your ice company would want the exclusive in the concession booths that offered cold soft drinks to the audience. Knowing that the same company that can provide the best quality “Igloo Ice”, “Hunter Ice” and “Kayak Ice” is putting its best “Drinking Ice” in the soft drink machines would allow the concession stands to charge a little more per cup and they’d probably sell more drinks.

What about selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Have any of you seen the Larsen “Far Side” cartoon of the sales man floating away on his boat, waving good-bye to the Eskimos who are standing beside their new refrigerators? What do you think when you see the cartoon? Do you think, “Wow that guy must be some kind of B.S. artist.”? Do you think, “Those Eskimos are suckers.”? Maybe there is a lot more going on there. If you look at the expressions on the characters faces, you see that they are going to miss each other.

Just because it is cold in the arctic, doesn’t mean the temperature is always right for all the things you want to chill. Have you ever seen what happens to a nice head of lettuce if it is kept too cold? Or what happens to apples if your humidity levels are off? What about the seal meat from the hunt? Keep your game refrigerated at the wrong temperature and your family might go hungry. Many newer refrigerators have cool amenities like crushed or cubed ice from the door and filtered drinking water from the door. If the company that provided the best ice for outdoor use, also sold its own brand of refrigerators with crushed and cubed ice available with a touch of your finger, it could develop brand loyalty that would create years of profitable growth and many happy customers.

If your business was ice or refrigerators, would the Eskimos do business with you? Do you know enough about what your customers need and like? When someone who knows a little something about storage looks at your place, do they say, “Yes, this is good.”? Try thinking of yourself as the ice sales person who has just been awarded all the lands north of the Artic Circle as your new sales territory. Do you think you could develop a good business?

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

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