» Customer Service

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Welcome to the secret shopping blog, where we look at customer service and sales trends as they impact mystery shopping and secret shopping efforts.

Over the weekend I watched the award winning movie, Aviator. The timeframe of the movie was set 40 or 50 years ago. Throughout the movie I felt like I was looking into a different world. American culture was totally different; everything from dating, to the press, to congress worked at a different pace, and with a different set of rules. What is considered socially acceptable now would have been taboo 40 years ago.

The one thing that stood out most to me was that even if you despised some one, you were still expected to be respectful to them. People addressed each other as ma’am and sir, and said please and thank you.

I wondered how our culture would change if we all said “yes ma’am”, or “thank you sir”. It would definitely impact our personal lives. But on an even bigger scale, it could improve the opinion of businesses as well. If your employees treated every customer like they were truly concerned, or at least respectful, that customer would leave feeling appreciated.

In a world of drive through food, drive through pharmacies, ATM’s, and automated voice systems for just about every company you can think of, the impact of a fellow human being taking a moment to appreciate you could make your day. Think of how many times the opposite has been true. You went to get a quick burger and when you pulled up to the drive through you sit for a while and then you’re greeted by, “Ya, what can I get for you?”. You give them your order and then proceed to the window. There, the employee snatches your money and slams the window. They return by shoving a cup in your face and then throw you a paper bag with your lunch in it. So for a few minutes, or maybe longer, you are not in a very forgiving mood- to say the least.

While using good etiquette can definitely impact the reputation of your business, it can also improve the working environment. If your employees treated each other with kindness and respect they would feel more motivated to work. They will feel like a team and as a result you will see more productivity.

I believe that there is a lot we can all learn from our past. We all try to avoid making mistakes we have seen in the past, but how often do we look for something we can instill in our present?

Ta Ta for now…
Sarah

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Welcome to the secret shopping blog. We look at sales and customer service issues from our mystery shopping and secret shopping perspective

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

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Welcome to the secret shopping blog, where we keep an eye on mystery shopping and secret shopping trends. We recently met with one of our self storage clients that we have been secret shopping for several years. We wanted to see what recent trends we are noticing. We also wanted to see how the teamwork between our shopping crew and the storage store staff is developing. In the ideal world, the people we secret shop see us as a positive part of their team, helping them to do better at their jobs. Here is our report from Sarah, Laura and Natalie from our secret shopping team:

In reviewing the last quarter of evaluations, we found that the managers seem to:

• Have a cheerful greeting
• Sell their store before giving the price (by listing amenities/security features)
• Tie in the benefits of the amenities
• Determine the best size for the caller needs
• Build rapport with the callers
• Pay attention and listen to the callers
• Close with a positive statement

The trends on some of the specific fields are:

• About half of the managers invite the caller to the site
• One third ask for a reservation
• When answering the phone managers use a complete greeting
• Let the call roll over to the call center (if applicable) when they are too busy in the store
• Seem to have a lack of confidence after customers voice a concern. Keeping a positive tone in their voice can help. If the managers identify what some of the concerns or hesitations are, they can learn to overcome them. They can even brainstorm some phrases to use when they hear these concerns.
• It is rare for the managers to ask for a phone number. One of the reasons may be that most stores have caller id. When we make our shops the number will appear as out of area, or blocked, so they don’t automatically have the phone number.

We can see great progress in the store when they really become motivated to use their evaluations as a training tool or incentive.

After getting some feedback from some of our current customers we learned that:

• The employees appreciate the recognition awards
• Managers consistently use the evaluations as a continuous training tool
• Managers ask the higher scoring employees to help train the other staff
• Goals were set by individual managers as to the standard base score
• Evaluations were worked into an ongoing incentive program

Some of the employees use “being busy” as an excuse for providing poor phone customer service. The clients we talked to agree that in-store traffic shouldn’t have any effect on the potential customer on the phone. Their opinion is that the person walking into the store is already there, so extra attention and focus is needed to help get teat phone caller in the store, too.

These are the trends we have noticed so far this year. Take these positive and negative trends and see how they compare to your company or business?

bye for now, Tron

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Welcome to the secret shopping blog. We keep a diary of our experiences in the secret shopping and mystery shopper business.

I was recently at a business conference and had the pleasure of hearing an awesome motivational speaker. Now, I realize that this persons’ job was to motivate, but it really worked. I left the conference fired up and ready to take on the challenges of the outside. One of the programs that I attended was on communication. Which brings me to what I would like to write about in today’s blog, “How I learned to communicate better?”

Basically, there are four styles of communicating:
1. Aggressive
2. Passive
3. Passive-Aggressive
4. Assertive

Aggressive communicators believe, “I count, You don’t”

Passive communicators believe, “You count, I don’t”

Passive-Aggressive communicators believe, “I count and I won’t tell you that you don’t”

Assertive communicators believe, “I count, You count,”
Do any of these ring a bell in how you communicate?

I fall into the Passive-Aggressive type and the more detailed description that was given at the conference really hit home. Now, one of the points of the program was that ideally, we should all try and be more assertive. That means the Aggressive person backs down a little, the Passive person steps up, and the P-A person sees the picture more clearly and more caring, and with a choice.

Now, as far as secret shopping goes, how does this relate to how we communicate as an industry overall. Are we the loud, pushy, demanding type or the quiet, accommodating type of communicator? Again, the point is to be more assertive, to say what you mean, to mean what you say, and don’t be mean when you say it. Wow, it’s not brain surgery; it’s speaking the truth (communicating), without conflict to get the results you need. How many times have you shopped someone and they spend a whole 40 seconds on the call/sale and are done? If we say it once, we’ll say it a million times, if you can’t dedicate your very best to every call or sale, why are you there? Treat every call/sale like there is something riding on it. In fact, something is always riding on it. It might be your job, an incentive, a bonus, an evaluation, a raise, monitoring or hey, what about this one…..a customer!!

I learned five steps to being more assertive:
1. Breathe (you’ll get all red in the face if you don’t)
2. Use “I” statements (I need…, I feel like…, I am…)
3. Slow down and deepen your voice (don’t be rushed and squeaky)
4. Watch your non-verbal communication (eye contact, weight distribution, body language)
5. Be nice—there is policy and there is policy… (Being nice…seems like an easy thing)

Let’s try and be nice. Visualize your goals and remember to appreciate the people that are good to you, and surround yourself with positive people. It’s catchy.

**I would like to thank Marilyn Sherman, owner of UpFront Presentations for the information she shared with us that day. Marilyn rocks!! If you ever have the chance to see her speak, go; trust me it’s worth it. And don’t forget to sit in the front row… wink, wink.**

xoxoxo,
Natalie

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Welcome to the secret shopping and mystery shopping blog. We hope you come back again.

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!

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Welcome to the secret shopping blog, where we keep a diary of our mystery shopping and secret shopping experiences.

Can you be too busy?

Normally, at this time of year we all become giddy knowing that the busiest time of the year is upon us. College students are moving back home, moms are doing their spring cleaning, people are moving across town and everyone needs storage. Our phones ring all day and the occupancy rate goes WAY up. But as wonderful as all this new business can be it means that you will need a way of serving all these new customers. From the business point of view, you can never have too many customers. But from the customer service point of view, if you give poor service you haven’t gained a loyal tenant.

Over the weekend we finished all but 16 of our mystery shops. Today I picked up the stack of remaining secret shops to make and dialed the first number on the list. I was greeted by a cheerful woman who seemed to be ready to help me. When I asked for some rates she explained that she was too busy, and would have to call me back. I could tell she was in a panic by the sound of her voice. This lack of service may come as a surprise to some, but we get these types of calls more often than you would think.

I began talking about this call with my coworker and we realized that the manager at this store was only doing what she thought was best. Perhaps a coworker called in sick today and she was short-handed, or maybe a mob of people suddenly needed to come in on their lunch break and rent storage. In any case, it was clear that she was overwhelmed, but that didn’t make my request for storage any less valid. If I had been a ‘real’ customer I would have went down the list in the phone book and found storage somewhere else. So it is important for a manager to be able to serve each customer.

I wondered whether I should use the call as the mystery shop, or erase it and make another call later. I decided that I should do both. I think it’s important for our clients to know if they are missing out on rentals because they are understaffed. Maybe if they had a part time employee or a call center they could add a few extra tenants each month. And I also decided to redo the call because our job is to test how well they sell their store. Granted, if they push people off the phone without helping, they won’t be able to sell their store. But I want to give the manager a fair chance at selling me her store. So I am going to make another call tomorrow. Hopefully this time she will be able to meet my needs.

So, my observation is this: During the busy season, we see the quality of service go down because many of the managers are overwhelmed with new tenants in the store, customers on the phone, current tenants with billing questions, angry tenants that didn’t pay rent on time, etc… It is important to keep a close eye on what quality of service your staff gives when they are under pressure, it could make or break a few extra rentals.

Ta Ta for Now…
Sarah

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What is the PhoneSmart?

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 .

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How many different kinds of business can benefit from secret shopping their people? Well all of them of course. Every business has to be sold well. Every business has customers who need to feel well taken care of. Even secret shopping companies need to secret shop their staff. How can you monitor compliance to policy, strategy and tactic if you don’t know who is saying and doing what? How can you move your sales and customer service levels higher if there is no measuring of standards and no way to raise standards? Writing a secret shopping blob or a mystery shopping blog is an interesting way to consider the details and the big issues involved in making a mystery shopping or secret shopping program work. If you are not shopping your employees, you should start finding a way to get it done.

Bye for now, Tron

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