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Building TrustBy admin on July 31, 2006 | No Comments
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Sarah Little, PhoneSmart mystery shopping professional speaks out on building trust.
Welcome to the PhoneSmart secret shopping blog, an inside peek at mystery shopping and secret shopping.One of the most important aspects of telephone sales for storage is building trust. A customer who believes you and has faith that you are sincere is much more likely to give you their credit card information than a customer who has reservations about you or your company.We have found in some mystery shopping trends that a good way to begin building trust is to connect with the customer. Try using their name and share a laugh or two. Then let your customer know that you care about their needs. Ask them questions that will help you qualify what they do need and what they may not need.Most of all have a conversation with your customers. It’s easy to say “yes” and “no” but try to create a conversation by asking questions that require more than one word answers and give your customer more than a yes or no if they ask you a question.And don’t forget, your customer should trust your company. So brag about what great service you offer and all the amenities you have. Give your customers peace of mind and they’ll value your company above your competitors.Think of it as the man who built a house on sand and the man who built a house on rocks. No contractor would trust their home to be built on sand; they want a firm foundation and peace of mind. If you help your customers build trust in you, and your company, they’ll feel right at home.Self Storage in Georgia Storage in Bogart, GA, call 706-548-2252 for storage and RV, boat and trailer parking.
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Putting Your Best Foot ForwardBy admin on July 25, 2006 | No Comments
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Sarah Little, Secret Shopping Director shares the first of her monthly newsletter.Welcome to PhoneSmart’s blog, your inside peek into the secret shopping industry.We’re with you every step of the way!
Vol. I.I.The first impression you give your customers should show them what type of service to expect. They should feel confident in your professional and friendly manner, comfortable enough to let you know what they need, and assured that you care about their needs.You can accomplish all of this in a quick, upbeat greeting. To begin, you should present yourself in a happy, smiling tone of voice, making sure you are speaking clearly and at a reasonable speed.It’s best to script or create a standard greeting. Consistency is a plus when it comes to customer service. When choosing a greeting you should be sure to include the following:-The Company, or Store Name
-The employees name
-An offer of service (such as “How can I help you?”, “How may I be of assistance?” or another question that leads the caller to open up.)Of course you can always go with the standard, “Thanks for calling (company name), this is (employee name). How can I help you?” This greeting is to the point and meets all the requirements, when paired with a friendly voice.A more unique or personal greeting can also benefit your business by setting it apart and making it a little more memorable. Try adding a little information about your company in the greeting. If you’re the only company in your area who offers complimentary cookies try saying something like, “Thanks for calling (company name), where the cookies are always fresh. This is (employee name). How can I help you?” Or if your business has a slogan, try inserting that into the greeting.Be creative and original, but make sure that each element serves a purpose and meets a need.“Few have strength of reason to overrule the perceptions of sense, and yet fewer have curiosity or benevolence to struggle long against the first impression: he who therefore fails to please in his salutation and address is at once rejected, and never obtains an opportunity of showing his latest excellences or essential qualities.”
Johnson: Rambler #166 (October 19, 1751)Storage Concierge Self Storage in Maryland
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How Do You Sound?By admin on July 24, 2006 | No Comments
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Written by Liz Langsteiner, customer service rep and valued call center employee.
Welcome to the PhoneSmart secret shopping blog, an inside peek at the secret shopping and mystery shopping industry.Do you sound like a robot a computer a sales representative or a happy smile on your face sales representative?Take the challenge and listen to yourself. Listen to several different recorded calls from different days. Listen to calls in the early morning and late afternoon.I have found that after many hours on the phone I begin to sound like a computer. Callers will say to me “is this a real person”? “You sound so professional just like a recording.”
That is not a compliment; I don’t want to sound like a recording.
When I hear those comments I cringe and instantly change my tone of voice and smile.If you sound like a recording you may be perceived as someone who is just going through the motions and really isn’t that interested in doing business.How does it make you feel when you are speaking to someone on the phone and you know they really don’t care and are just going through the motions? I know how it makes me feel, I just want to hang up and find someone who really does care about my business and where I take it.Keep a smile on your face, have good product knowledge, be friendly and use a few sales techniques. Remember to listen carefully to your caller and sound like a real person someone who truly cares and wants to help.Storage Concierge Self Storage in New York
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Don’t Try to Pull One Over the MasterBy admin on July 21, 2006 | No Comments
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Julio Montes, call center supervisor shares a lighthearted attempt to pull one over one him.Welcome to PhoneSmart’s blog, your inside peek at the secret shopping industry.I am one of those people that loves to play jokes on other people, but that doesn’t like to get jokes played on me. Don’t get me wrong though, I won’t be outdone… most of the time. Today, I had a caller who needed self storage in New Jersey; he was a college age young man. He apparently thought he was going to have a great crank call lined up for who ever he was calling, but unfortunately he got me. He was calling to see how much a storage space would cost to store 12 dead bodies. I heard some snickering in the background so I just went along with it. I doubled checked with him to make sure he said 12. Then I asked him how tall they were so I could make sure I had a unit long enough to hold them all. He told me they were 6 feet tall. He paused for a moment, told me to hang on, and then quickly hung up the phone.That was probably the saddest attempt at a crank call I have ever heard. He needed some more gumption. That could have gone so much farther – asking about a climate control unit to cut down on the stench, making sure we had pest control so the bodies wouldn’t be taken over with critters. In all actuality, storage units wouldn’t be practical anyway. With 24-hour video camera surveillance, that leaves too many witnesses. So have fun with your crank callers. If they are going to be wasting your time, you might as well have fun!Storage Concierge Self Storage in Illinois
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Finding Something in CommonBy admin on July 17, 2006 | No Comments
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Robin Turner, PhoneSmart call center manager offers advise on connecting with a caller
Welcome to the PhoneSmart secret shopping blog an inside peek at the mystery shopping and secret shopping industry.This past week, reviewing calls with our newer employees who haven’t had any experience in a self-storage or in a call center, I’ve noticed that one of the main things that they needed help with was “relaxing”. Being themselves seem to be a bit difficult when you need to make sure you are listening to the customer and getting the correct information as well as giving the correct information. Also keeping your end goal in mind, which is commitment from the caller to come in and rent a unit at the facility.I can’t stress enough how important it is to find something in common with your callers. Finding something in common will help build a rapport with your caller. They’ll get more comfortable with you on the phone and start to trust you. In order for someone (well, most people) to give you a credit card over the phone, (especially these days with the fear of identity theft), you really have to build trust with your callers before you can ask for a credit card to reserve a unit.Anyone can find something in common or bonding somehow with your caller. They give you their name… maybe it’s the same name as your dad’s. Or they have children coming back to live with them for a short period because they are going through a rough time and you have gone down that same road. Maybe someone has a family member leaving to serve the country and you also know of someone who is and has gone through that.Get on their level and communicate what you have in common and that you understand what they’re going through. They will be so thankful that they are actually talking to someone who is listening to them and can relate to their situation. You’ve just broken down some barriers that could have prevented the reservation or rental from them. They will be forever grateful. It’s not hard to just… Find Something In Common.Storage Concierge Self Storage in Kansas
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Oops!By admin on July 12, 2006 | No Comments
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Sarah Little, PhoneSmart Secret Shop Guru has a customer service situation.
Welcome to the PhoneSmart call center blog and insider view of the secret shopping industry.
I’m going on a trip to L.A. this weekend. Benny, my cousin, is getting married. Really, he hates being called Benny, it’s just Ben now, but I have been pardoned and grandfathered into being the only one allowed to still refer to him as Benny. He was always my favorite cousin and protected me from his older brother who always picked on me. I can’t believe we’re all grown up now and married; having families of our own.My son, Isaiah, is in the wedding so we have to be in L.A. at least the day before to go to the rehearsal. Heather, my sis, is going with us and I reserved our tickets online about a month ago. Last night she called and wanted to plan all the final details, like what time we should get to the airport. I checked our reservation and gasped. The ticket was for a 7pm flight, which meant we wouldn’t arrive until 9pm, which meant we’d miss the entire day before the wedding including the rehearsal. I couldn’t believe I made such a huge mistake!You can bet that early this morning I was on the phone with the airline. They were kind enough to offer to switch my reservation, for only another $600 per ticket!! I declined that offer and they let me know that I could arrive at the airport early enough to get on the stand by list, which is no guarantee that I won’t be waiting at the airport for the entire day with my impatient baby and missing the rehearsal. But it looks like I have no other option.Heather and I plan to leave for the airport early Saturday morning and wait it out…I’ll let you know how that works out.If only I had called the airline to reserve the tickets. I am very unfamiliar with airline procedures and purchasing tickets online. It was a little tricky finding the right information and when I did get to the list of available flights the list was so crazy and long that everything started running together. Reserving airline tickets online is not as easy as some other services you can buy online. Today I’ve already talked with the customer service center three times. They’ve been extremely courteous each time. I should have called them in the first place and avoided this mess.Sometimes talking to a real person is the best way to ensure that your customers get what they need. It is perhaps more necessary to talk to a person when reserving a storage unit. A real person can help determine what size your customer needs if they aren’t sure and a live voice will give your customer peace of mind that their needs have all been met.Self Storage Blog A diary of the self storage industry
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Fix it, and then forget itBy admin on July 11, 2006 | No Comments
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Natalie Thomas Secret Shop Specialist adds insight about human relations.
Welcome to our blog, the PhoneSmart call center staff adds an insider view of the self-storage industry.I saw a slogan the other day and it really made sense. It said, “Fix it, then…forget it!”Whatever the day may throw at you, don’t let speed bumps in your day get you down. Fix the problem then forget about it. Sounds easier said than done. I tend to stall on the top of the speed bump and not roll down the other side of forget it. Sometimes my mind doesn’t seem to want to forget about it, whatever it may be. If you think about it, it does make sense. Some people store up all of their anger and then boom, they explode. Not healthy.I have been trying to use this slogan lately at work. Our jobs are based on a monthly time frame. We start the month off with a fresh batch of calls, and as the calls get done, they get sent to the evaluators who in turn send them back to us when they are completed. Once they are completed the calls and evaluations get sent to the clients. Once in awhile, there is a speed bump and we have to stop whatever we are doing to “fix it.” It usually doesn’t take long and everyone is happy again. To make sure we don’t have a lot of speed bumps, we check and double-check the evaluations and calls before they are sent. But alas, mistakes will pop up. So…it’s best to “fix it, then forget it!”PhoneSmart Your Source for Lead Generation
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Deal or No DealBy admin on July 6, 2006 | No Comments
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By Liz Langsteiner, A.K.A. Liz Taylor bilingual call center representative / Key Account Representative offers insight on the purpose of the PhoneSmart call center.
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
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Time to ShineBy admin on July 5, 2006 | No Comments
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Written by Natalie Thomas, regular gal and great deviled egg maker.
Welcome to PhoneSmart’s secret shopping blog, an inside peek at mystery shopping and secret shopping.Now more than ever we need to make sure that we are providing great customer service. During our busy season, customers are flustered and need storage right now. It is important to listen to what the customer is saying, keep control of the call and provide them with the best service possible. Don’t let the customer get you rattled, it will make for a long day. Start the call with a smile while you answer the phone, listen to the callers needs and determine what would be best for the caller. It takes a quick mind to navigate the storage screens and be able to help the customer as swiftly as possible. The customer needs to know about any extra fees they might incur when they rent a storage unit. And, also about any moving and storage supplies that your office has that would be of interest to the customer. Make sure the caller knows where you are located and get the callers name and phone number. Invite the caller in for a site visit and ask the caller what day or time would be good for them to stop by. You will reserve more units right now if you stress limited availability and urge the customers to put a unit on hold. Ask for the sale! It won’t always fall into your lap. Have fun and sell some storage.PhoneSmart Your Source for Lead Generation
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Fix It, then Forget ItBy admin on June 30, 2006 | No Comments
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Written by Natalie Thomas, ultimate secret shopper.
Welcome to PhoneSmart’s secret shopping blog, an inside peek at secret shopping and mystery shopping.I saw a slogan the other day and it really made sense. It said “Fix it, then…forget it!”
Whatever the day may throw at you, don’t let speed bumps in your day, get you down. Fix the problem then forget about it. Sounds easier said than done. I tend to stall on the top of the speed bump and not roll down the other side of forget it. Sometimes my mind doesn’t seem to want to forget about it, whatever it may be. If you think about it, it does make sense. Some people store up all of their anger and then boom, they explode. Not healthy.I have been trying to use this slogan lately at work. Our work is based on a monthly time frame. We start the month off with a fresh batch of storage and other calls, and as the calls get done, they get sent to the evaluators who in turn send them back to us when they are completed. Once they are completed the calls and evaluations get sent to the clients. Once in awhile, there is a speed bump and we have to stop whatever we are doing to “fix it.” It usually doesn’t take long and everyone is happy again. To make sure we don’t have a lot of speed bumps, we check and double check the evaluations and calls before they are sent. But alas, mistakes will pop up. So…it’s best to “fix it, then forget it!”PhoneSmart Your Offsite Sales Solution
Self Storage Blog A diary of the self storage industry
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