» Self Storage

If you know that you are going to need a self storage unit in the next couple of months, then you are going to want to be sure that you are not waiting around until the last minute to find it.  While you may think that there is nothing that goes into your search for the perfect self storage unit, you are going to find, rather quickly indeed, that you actually do need a fair amount of time to find something that is going to work out well for you.  Of course, so long as you are following a few simple steps and giving yourself enough time to shop around thoroughly, you are not going to have much to worry about when the time comes to sign your paperwork.  Take a few notes, here, and you are going to be just fine.

The first thing that you are going to want to do is make a few preliminary rounds of phone calls.  Do not stress out, here, because these are not the calls that you are making to make up your mind.  These are just calls to weed out the facilities that are not going to be able to fit your needs and priorities.  During these calls, it would not hurt to get an idea of the quotes that you are looking at, but you are going to want to focus on security and features before you begin to concern yourself too much with pricing.  If you see that a facility is not going to be able to meet your needs, then you are going to want to cross them off of your list and continue calling around.

Once you have narrowed your list down to the facilities that are going to be able to help you out the most, you are going to want to focus on pricing.  Of course, you have to take these prices in with a grain of salt, as you may feel the desire to submit to your knee jerk impulses, here.  Even if you think that the prices that you are getting are too high, you are going to want to take a step back for a moment and truly consider what you are paying for.  Sure, the facilities that are left on your list might seem a little bit pricey, but that is simply because you have already eliminated all of the facilities that are not going to work out well for you.  When it comes to self storage units, the price is merely a product of security, cleanliness, and convenience.  Thus, a slightly higher price is not something that should make you panic.

Finally, here, you are going to want to be sure that you are giving yourself enough time to take a few site tours.  The last thing that you are going to want to do, here, is rent a unit blindly.  While you may get lucky, you are really going to want to be sure that you are seeing your future unit with your own two eyes before you commit to it in writing.  The last thing on earth that you are going to want to do is rent a unit without seeing it first.

At the end of the day, you are not going to have much trouble when it comes down to renting a unit that is going to work out well for you.  All that you are going to have to do is make sure that you understand the process of finding a safe unit and you are going to do just fine.  There is really nothing to it.

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Do you know that you are going to have to move in the near future?  Are you nervous that you are never going to be able to sort through your things and get them boxed up?  Do you feel like things are really coming down to the wire, and you are still not making the progress that you need to make in order to guarantee that you are going to get moved out in a timely fashion?  Well, if you are answering Yes to these questions, then you are going to want to be sure that you are giving yourself enough time to pack your belongings properly.  If you can get everything packed up ahead of time, then you are not going to have nearly as much to worry about when it comes down to finally moving.  In order to do that, of course, you are going to have to have a pretty firm understanding of the moving supplies options that are available to you.

First of all, you are going to want to be sure that you are buying boxes that are actually appropriate for what you are looking to store.  Many, many people make the mistake of buying boxes that are not actually going to be all that helpful.  They either buy really large boxes, thinking that they can simply stuff them to the brim, or they buy cheap, flimsy boxes that are not going to stack well.  What you have to do, here, is take a brief inventory of your belongings and move along from there.  You want to be sure that the boxes that you buy are going to be able to stack easily, and that they are not going to break open when they slide around in the back of your moving truck.  Any less than that, and you are not going to be happy with the outcome of your moving experience.

Of course, you are also going to have to be sure that you are not forgetting to pick up some packing supplies as well.  This should not be a problem, because most of your local facilities are going to carry them.  The boxes that you buy are not going to do you all that much good if you are not taking extra steps to make sure that your belongings do not break.  Typically speaking, here, you are going to be able to get away with buying some very basic items.  If you have some particularly fragile items, then you are going to want to be sure that you buy some packing peanuts and bubble wrap for them, as these packing supplies are going to keep them from clashing up against each other too much.  Of course, you are also going to want to be sure that you buy some packing paper as well, because you can really never have too much protection when it comes to your packing supplies.

At the end of the day, you are not going to have any trouble with moving if you buy all of the right supplies.  So long as you are following the advice above, you are not going to wind up with a truck full of broken belongings when you finally get to your self storage facility.  And of course, when you are looking for a unit, you are going to want to be sure that you find a facility that can actually offer you all of these products, as you are truly going to enjoy the time that you save when you consolidate all of your chores.  And really, when it comes down to moving hassle free, you have to consolidate your chores whenever you can.

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There are many times in a person’s life when they are in need of help. Not everyone is able to put aside their pride or their urge to try to do it all on their own. It is safe to say that in some cases that a person could put more stress on himself before he decides to seek the assistance of another person. Whatever the reason you need help, there always seems to be someone there to assist you. You can pick up the phone, go online or even call a friend in order for you to get the information you are looking for.  The more you know, the more informed you are to take care of your stressful situation.

Whether you are going through a divorce, being made to leave your home or just need to find a place to put your car for the winter, having a place to store can be very helpful to your situation. The information is out there if you can see it. It is never easy to reach out your hand for help when you are splitting up with your spouse. You want to curl up within yourself and not want to deal with the situation. The best thing you can do is pick yourself up and get on with your life. It is not going to be easy but finding the right place to store could make a small part of your situation livable.

Some people just see self storage as an area of land that has a bunch of empty rooms. Some people cannot get past that they are just paying for an empty room, but they are actually paying for a way to bring peace to a part of their life. If you take a moment to think about it, not having some key belongings in your house, can cause a calming sensation in your mind. Your mind may tend to go off a tangent bringing all that unnecessary stress in your life but finding the right place to store can help alleviate some if not all of that stress.

When you do not know how to proceed with finding the right place to store starting out online or in the phone book can help. Getting in touch with a storage professional on site will help you the most. They will take you from step one all the way to you moving your personal belongings into their facility.  The trust factor has to come back into play with the facility manager. You are dealing with enough stress to have to add the stress of trusting another person with your belongings.

Managers at the facilities open their doors and their arms in order to help people in the situation they are in. The managers listen intently what you are going through and at the very least, they will help you fill the empty space of a storage unit with the belongings that you held close to you for some time. They will assist you in finding the right size, feeling comfortable with the security features, getting the access hours you need, and also set you up with the lease that will fit your situation.

Not every situation that finds you has to complicate your life. You have the power and the resources in order to smile again, breathe easy and go on with your day. Instead of you worrying about where your belongings are, you feel good that the tight security of the self storage facility and the well managed staff will ensure your belongings stay the same way you left it.

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John is a customer service expert and has been in the customer service field for most of his working life. He would call himself a guru when it came to level of service he could provide for the customer. John felt like he let a customer down if he could not assist them the way that they needed to be helped.

John works in a call center that takes calls for multiple different companies in which people need to store their belongings. In his current role in the center, he is in charge of his shift and ensures that the people that work under him are taking care of each of people that call. He wants toe ensure they are providing great customer service .

Sometimes in this role, John has to be a great sales person in order to make ends meet for him. When people call into talk to him about storing, he has to try to find a way for him to get the caller to reserve a space to rent. If he does not he does not make enough to pay his rent. There are times in which customer service is awesome, but he knows that he might need to push harder that normal to get the caller to reserve a space. Being nice to customers is a part of good service, but there are some customers who just want to talk about random things in their life, where John has to answer as many calls as he can to make money. He always has to decide when to cut the caller off in order to get to the next potential reservation.

There was a time recently where John took a call and he had to decide whether or not to provide excellent service or to not care as much and let the caller go. The caller called in to talk to the manager of the facility he was answering for because they were way behind on their rent. The caller had been in an out of the hospital due to his illness and also events beyond his control like, he was mugged, stabbed and he had three deaths in the family all within the last two months. During his recovery time in the hospital, the facility saw that he was late on his rent so they decided to put his belonging up for auction.

The customer was obviously upset because they had some valuables in that space and they did not want it auctioned off. No one at the facility would answer his calls and he was in the hospital and had no one to go down to the facility to talk to the managers. John could tell that the caller was shaking on the phone with anger and also because he was so upset at the situation.

John was trying to think to himself what he should do. So far just to get to this point the caller had been explaining the series of events to john for almost ten minutes now. In this industry ten minutes could have been another two calls that he could have taken to get a reservation. John knew that this was not his situation to take care of but he knew if he just tried to pass this call on to the voicemail of the on site manager, nothing would happen and the customer would not be taken care of. So he decided to provide as much customer service to this caller as he could.

Luckily for this customer and John, this company had a customer service line to handle situations like this especially when the manager on site does not return phone calls. John wrote out a long synopsis of the situation and gave as much detail as he could to assist the caller and their situation. The caller thanked John over and over again and wished that John worked for that company because they have not treated him well over the past six years of renting there.

John got off of the phone with that customer feeling really good. At first he was telling himself he could have taken three other calls in that time to feed money to his bank account, but instead he helped a person in need and just maybe the situation of that customer will be turned around because of the level of customer service John provided.

RV Storage in Kansas City

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Self storage owners are playing a game of chess with the economy. One thing is for certain, people have less money to spend. It may be that gas prices have eaten up all of a familys discretionary funds, or it may be that families are uneasy about the market and just not comfortable to commit to another monthly rent.
 
Still, people move and relocate, and unfortunately, lose their homes in a financial crunch. That means that houses of furniture will be packed into trucks, moved across town or across the country, downsized to a smaller home or apartment or even at risk of being abandoned.

Theres no doubt about it, a reasonably priced storage unit in a nice location will be a refuge for a frustrated mover. But the question remains. What will a downward economy mean for the self storage rental industry?

It means that it is even harder to make a reservation for a storage unit and earn the dollar of your customer. Consumers are not only a little pressed for luxury expenses, they are smarter too!

A self storage customer from fifteen years ago, when faced with the immediate need of storage, might have just walked in the door of the local facility. A self storage customer from ten years ago had a few places to choose from, so they picked up the phone and called around. Todays self storage customer will search the internet and look for a bargain, make a short list and call two or three stores. However, they will not be impressed by sub-par service or managers answering the phone a mile a minute so they can hang up.

Today, the value of a self storage customer is golden to an owner. Each prospect means the difference between profit and loss. So how do you make sure you are treating each prospect with excellent customer satisfaction and a foolproof sales strategy?

Mystery shopping services allow you, the self storage owner, the unique opportunity to hear and see and evaluate exactly how your managers care for your customers and prospective customers.

Yes, the last thing you want to hear about in an uncertain economy is spending more money. However, you will have to fight that same battle with your self storage customers in order to earn their rental agreement. If your managers are hesitant, unconfident, or do not know how to fight that battle on the front line, then how will your revenues and occupancy rate increase. For that matter, how will you even keep it maintained?

Mystery shopping services are designed to train your managers and encourage them to utilize sales techniques that will win over the hard earned dollar of your next tenant. Mystery shopping services also monitor and coach your staff about the customer satisfaction issues that may arise.

For example, if your mystery shopping services find that your manager often lets the answering machine pick up the phone, then you would have good insight into why no new tenants are signing up.

On a side note, if you are relying on the answering machine to sell your storage units, you should consider a call center based on all these same principles – you will not gain or maintain without the proper systems and team in place.

Mystery shopping services will help you develop and coach your staff into a highly effective sales team. Together, you, your staff and your mystery shopping services will ensure that self storage remains, and that your business is still standing, while other competitors who were not so wise as you lose renters and run the risk of going under.

San Antonio Storage

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Why does one get into a home based business ? People generally start a business at home because they are looking to either pick up some extra change in order to pay some bills or because they are trying to launch a small business in hopes it turns to a big deal. They might be looking to make a big splash on the market place but want to only put a small budget towards the beginning stages. Everyone has their different motivation for trying to be in business for themselves.

Everyone knows that there are many advertisements for a home based business out there in the world. These different advertisements may be on the television, on the Internet or flyers that you might see on the windshield of your car. The thing you need to ensure is that you think about how you want to invest your money. There are some companies that are fly by night and try to get as many people as possible to sign up to pay some sort of set up fee. You should be wary of investing a lot of money in a get rich quick sceme.

Of course the first step to a having a home based business is to think of an idea that you believe will be good and become a great way to invest your money. Some people believe they can jump ahead and try to find advertising, buy supplies, and get their office set up. The thing is, depending on the idea that you have, you might need to ensure that you have the right support. So the first place you should develop your home based business is in your mind, and then on a sheet of paper.

After you come up with the idea, it is important to plan how to get funding for any support you need. Sitting down with yourself or a business partner, you should be ready to understand how your company will run and operate day to day. When just starting out with your company it will be hard to brainstorm on how everything will flow and work together. Whether you are starting from scratch or you have looked online for a home based business that someone else has imagined, finding out how to make it successful is not easy.

Most people also try to find out how to find the time to make the business successful. Many people that get involved in their own business are people that are looking for something extra to do in line and to add money to their pocket. So those moms that stay at home or those dads that play the roll of taking primary care of the children sometimes try to assist the family with additional income. A word of advice is do not get involved if you can not commit to making it work.

It is not by any sense of the words a walk in the park to get a home based business up off the ground. It will take determination, drive, emotion and a good decision making mind to take care of business. Some people use different forms of advertising or even conduct surveys in their area to see if there is a need for their service or product. It takes guts and pride in order to want to get involved in a business that you can run from your home. The biggest thing you can do before you invest money into your business is plan, plan, and plan. You can never plan too much before you make a major decision like this that could affect your future in a major way.

Orland Park Storage

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The last person needing a storage unit, He had a cherry-red 1965 classic convertible, and a black 1975 sport convertible. The cars hold special meaning to him and he loves to drive them when he is not working part time as a mystery shopper , but his wife does not want to maneuver around them in the driveway to park her hybrid compact. She is afraid she might hit one of them getting in and out of their two car garage. Keep them, she says, but park them somewhere, safe so that you can take them for a spin when you have time. That way we can utilize the space better in the garage for our everyday cars. He gets a lot of joy taking them for a spin but admittedly, has less and less free time lately. As she does not share the same joy, it is easier for him to get them out of sight in a safe easily accessible place. He has rented a twenty by twenty foot climate controlled unit at a facility that accepts dropped shipments for the past five years. He has also worked as a pharmaceutical representative for the past five years and stores everything at a facility which is within one mile of his home. Utilizing the storage unit has been an excellent arrangement for him. He has customized the space with shelving units and also stores his accounting and mystery shopper records in fireproof containers along the back wall of the storage unit. But now all he wants to do is find out what is available for storing his mint condition, pride and joy sports cars.

As it worked out, the automobiles could be easily stored on site at the property he currently renting at and had previously worked as a mystery shopper . This arrangement was going to be very convenient. Whenever he goes on property to access his twenty by twenty storage unit, he can check on the cars. There was outdoor covered parking available and he decided he could buy covers for the cars so as not to draw attention to them and keep the dust off. He was aware of the video surveillance on the gate accessed property, and he knew it was fenced and lighted so storing them outside could work. All he needed to do was bring in his paperwork on the cars including title, registration, proof of insurance and make sure the gas tanks were low on gas. It was explained that he would not be allowed to use the space to work on the cars, but as they were in mint condition, it was unlikely anyone would need to work on them. The sports cars were excellent condition, and had custom paint jobs. He obviously took great care in maintaining the cars. The site manager was an auto enthusiast also. The renter is a great customer who has paid upfront annually for the past five years for his current storage unit which he uses for his business. He gets one month free every year for paying in advance as a reward for being a great customer. When he pulled up in the cherry red classic, the site manager came out and they went for a drive around the block before going into the store to sign a month to month rental agreement for the two outdoor covered spaces he would need. The manager was so happy to have the renter extend his contractual arrangement, that when the renter drove the other convertible into the facility he offered him an incentive rate for the first three months. He knew the renter was never going to sell those cars, and was unlikely planning to move. It was the managers pleasure to have this renter around.

Being a mystery shopper really paid off for this renter as he had first hand knowledge of the site. Check out mystery shopper jobs to see if a local business needs your help with their service. A mystery shopper can usually gather more information about a business than a regular customer.  

Miami RV Storage

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Where do you go to shop? Why do you shop there? Have you ever thought about helping the other companies achieve a higher level of customer service ? Most people have good service from a company and they do not share that experience with anyone else. How selfish is that, that they keep that great experience to themselves? Most people would tell five to ten friends or family, but if that is the case, why do so many companies fall short of the bar when it comes to customer service ?

Let us take a moment to think about the different people in our great nation. It is wonderful that everyone has the same point of view and the same likes and dislikes as their brother or sister American. Wait a minute, that is nowhere close to the truth! Everyone has his or her own opinion about almost everything under the sun. From what car to drive to how to style their hair, no one person is the same. With that said, why are most companies treating every customer the same? Do they really believe that one size fits all? That is so far from reality it is scary. However, reality is that most companies operate that way.

Right now in America, a big issue is about how health care should change for the whole nation. Some of the politics believe in the one-size fits all approach. Some companies can only offer their hard working employees one option in health coverage that cost the individual hundreds of dollars a month. Then, there are big companies that offer several choices with affordable costs. If the employee is being taken care of by the company, the employee, for the most part will take care of the company.

Your employees are the ones that face the customer more. The happier you make these people, the better your clients will rate the customer service they received. They will do whatever you ask of them and they will make those people they touch return to get great service. The way your company grows from year to year is to keep your current clients and to then add to that list. You have to, as a company, find a way to grow or you will die.

Let us return to the earlier questions. Where do you shop and why do you shop there? Most people like the atmosphere and how warm and inviting the place is for them. When they walk into some of these environments, they feel as if no other place they visit can compare. Some people feel when they are greeted by an associate and assisted, they are comfortable and willing to cooperate. Some people are not willing to give any information to the sales person because they do not feel they are genuinely there to help them. They believe their level of customer service is there just to put money into their own pockets.

If your company expects to stay in business, they need to have the highest level of customer service available to meet the needs of the variety of clients that they encounter. They need to determine how each customer has different needs and how to accommodate them. If you cannot do that as a company, you will not survive as your competition is doing everything necessary to grow year to year.

Dania Beach Boat Storage

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Self storage has become a very competitive industry. There are many parts of the country where it is not uncommon to see several different self storage facilities within a short distance of one another. And nowadays almost all self storage companies provide their customers with basically the same types of security and amenities. All self storage facilities have some kind of access panel so only customers can get into the area. They are equipped with door alarms and video cameras. And most locations usually have an onsite manager living on the property. 

If two storage facilities are located very close to each other, and offer virtually the same amenities and prices, then what differentiates the two of them? It is the people. And the excellent customer service that these people provide.

Everyone is accustomed to okay customer service in this day and age. We see it everyday at the bank and the grocery store and the dry cleaners. If anyone was really rude or incompetent, then that would stand out in our minds. But as long as the customer service is all right, then everything is, well, okay.

The service at a top notch self storage facility needs to be more than just okay. That is what everyone has, and what every customer is expecting. Going above and beyond good, to excellent customer service, is what is going to bring about devoted customers. These elated tenants are the people that are going to rave about the self storage facility, tell their friends and families and coworkers how fantastic this location is. And all business people know that word of mouth is the best and the least expensive form of advertising available. Plus, these loyal customers will keep coming back to this self storage location anytime they need self storage, or boxes, or a rental truck, etc.

The only way to get employees with awesome skills is with awesome training. They need to first learn the very basics of their job, and to be able to do it almost in their sleep. They need to be familiar with how to use the computer and answer the phone and how much stuff will fit in a 10×10 self storage unit. Anything they do not know from memory they need to be able to find the answer to quickly. Nothing says poor service more than incompetence!

Once the employee is proficient and feels comfortable with their new position, then the training needs to go deeper. 

The way to get the best possible customer service skills out of employees are through proper training. They need to be trained on the basics of their job, but the training needs to go deeper. They need to be taught the little intricacies that go along with it. Often these things are a learn as you go type of a thing. But even more often seasoned employees forget to mention it to the newbie. A written step by step check list needs to be gone over with new employees to be sure nothing vital has been neglected. And the list needs to be updated, as this is an ever changing industry. 

Veteran employees also need to be periodically updated on new information. It is vital that everyone stays on the same page. Nothing says incompetence and poor service more than two employees saying different things. 

Basalt RV Storage

Storage Concierge is your premier Storage , Storage Unit , Car Storage , RV Storage , Furniture Storage , Boat Storage , Yacht Storage and Self Storage finder .

June 2005 Self Storage Blog Archive

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Having a good website is essential for almost every business nowadays in the 21st century. Thanks to the Internet, people shopping for almost anything have become accustomed to sitting in front of a computer and getting all of the information they want with just a few clicks of the mouse.
 
A website for a self storage company needs to be user friendly for both potential customers and current tenants alike. New customers are often shopping around and will want to browse the site to gain valuable insight, while existing tenants just want to get on the website and quickly take care of business. 

People that are thinking about getting a self storage unit often have no idea what they are doing. They have never rented a space before and do not even know what kinds of questions to ask. Instead of feeling foolish by asking an employee silly questions, the potential customer that is shopping around is able to simply go to the website and get all of their questions answered.

A good self storage website will explain, in language that a novice can understand, all of the different aspects of self storage. These newbies have no clue as to what size of a unit they would need or how the lease works or what amenities are important. All of this information is found on the website in terms a layman can easily understand.

Another great thing about having a good website is that it will make clear how much stuff will fit into different sizes of units, and will usually have pictures to help the person shopping to get more of a visual. For example, a website might have a two dimensional picture of a square that represents a 5×5 unit, and will show a few small pieces of furniture and some boxes inside of the square. Likewise a rectangle representing 10×20 will show a car parked inside of it.  These visuals help a potential tenant to get a better idea as to what actually will fit into different sizes of units, and what size will work best for them and their belongings. 

Once this person that is shopping for a self storage facility has found what they are looking for they should be able to go ahead and reserve a space on the website right then and there. With step by step directions, the new customer should be able to choose the size, type, and price of a unit that will work best for them. And they should be able to reserve the unit for the timeframe in which they will need it. The facility employee will then be able to email or telephone the new customer with any additional information that is needed.

A good self storage website also needs to have a section just for current renters. It needs to be a secure area where the tenant is able to log into with his or her own individual password and take care of business. They should be able to pay a bill or update their personal information or view their previous billing statements. 

Self storage is a perfect example of an industry that benefits from using the Internet as a tool. Having an excellent website can assist a company with increasing its business and it will help in keeping current tenants happy. And the best part about a company having a good website is that they are able to continue doing business 24-7, without having to pay humans any additional compensation!

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