Myths and Stories that build Culture

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Let’s talk about some of the myths and stories that build a culture. Do you know any little kids that have seen many of the Disney movies? Okay. These movies lay the foundation of our American popular culture. A little kid that hasn’t seen Cinderella or Finding Nemo or at least Lion King is not in our culture. He or she might as well live on the moon!

If Disney tells the stories that help build our pop culture, what kind of myths and stories help build a selling culture? Let’s think about that for a minute. One of the stories I love is called the “Rule of Thirds.” There’s actually a Rule of Thirds for many different kinds of situations, because it is easy to remember three things and it is easy to draw a triangle. Here’s how our Rule of Thirds goes: One group of people is going to rent to you anyway, no matter what, as long as you don’t say something stupid or chase them off because they’ve already decided they like your place. They know someone who’s rented there. Maybe they drive by it every day and think it looks good. Whatever the reason is, they’ve already decided they’re going to rent from you; and when they come to see you or call you on the phone, what they’re really trying to find out is if they shouldn’t rent from you. In their minds they are asking themselves if their inclination to rent from you is wrong. So when you get someone in this easy third, your job is to not drive them off and to just let them rent the unit.

You have another group of people that aren’t going to rent from you anyway no matter what you do because their situation is going to change: the house doesn’t sell, the divorce doesn’t come through. The situation changes. Their Uncle Fred says, “Don’t pay for storage. I’ve got a barn you can use for free.” Something will happen to those people; you’ll lose them without any wrongdoing of your own. Your job with those people is to give them as good of an experience as you can so when it is time for them to actually need to store, they’ll think of you and contact you first so you can rent to them at some future date.

But then there is this third group of people that could go either way. They’re not quite sure what they’re doing. They’re not quite sure they’re going to store. They’re not quite sure they’re going to store with you. They’re not quite sure they like your place. They’re not quite sure they can afford your place. This group of people that can go either way are the people who help you make your money. They help you make your money, because they represent the “upside” in your promotional spending.

Anyone who is halfway friendly can rent to that easy third, but only people with sales skills and persistence and people who see themselves in a selling culture can work with that third that can go either way. If you can convert a nice share of that either-way third, those dollars go right to your bottom line. These people that you might not have rented to before you adopted a selling culture are the people who represent your increase in revenue. So keep the Rule of Thirds in mind when you’re talking to prospects. Is this person in the easy third? If so, let just move him in. Is this person in the impossible third? I’ll give you an example of an impossible third.

We actually got this phone call at our PhoneSmart call center. One of our supervisors, Dana Shields, was catching calls for our many self storage clients. She asked the fellow who called, “How soon are you going to need a storage unit?” and he said, “Well, I’m retiring in four years. I won’t need it until then, but I’m just curious what one costs.” So there’s a prepared man! He’s certainly in the impossible third, because no matter how great you are at sales and service, he is not going to retire this week just to start renting is storage unit from you.

But then you talk to all of the other people who say, “Well, I still have to shop around,” “That’s maybe a little more than I’m looking to spend,” “I’m not sure if I’m ready to do anything yet,” “I’ve got to check with my boss,” “I’ve got to check with my spouse,”. When you can rent to a large portion of these people, that’s when you make your money.

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