Time Management for Managers

by John Manes, StorSuite

Self storage may present some unique challenges from time to time, but the principles of time management remain the same as in any other industry and those principles are presented clearly in the late Stephen Covey’s ‘Four Quadrants of Time Management’.

Under Covey’s four quadrants, any activity is either urgent or not urgent, important or not important. We can never fully control the four quadrants for example, we never know when a crisis may arise but we can control where the majority of our focus, and our time, is spent. According to Covey and his theory has been proven accurate and successful if we focus the majority of our time and attention on quadrant II, we greatly reduce the amount of time we spend in crisis mode.

So the question becomes, “As a store manager, how do I focus the majority of my time on things that are Important but not Urgent?” The first step in the process would be to identify what daily activities in our business are Important, but not Urgent. Some examples of Important/Not Urgent would include: training and coaching, building rapport, regular lock checks, marketing, cleaning, stocking merchandise inventory, maintenance, collection calls and monitoring rates.

Let’s look at some examples of how focusing on how Important/Non Urgent reduces the time we might spend in crisis mode. A customer comes in the office to inform you that they have just vacated a 10 x 20, of which you had none available. It is Important, but not Urgent that you make that space ready to rent as soon as possible, but instead you spend the next couple of hours doing Trivia, talking on the phone on non-work related issues, listening to the radio and checking your social media. Now a customer comes in with a loaded moving truck ready to rent a 10 x 20 and when you go to show the space, you discover it’s going to take you an hour or more to get it ready. Now you’re in crisis mode. The customer is ready but you’re not. In fact, you may lose this rental. Here’s another example. You haven’t done maintenance on your golf cart in months, and now, while showing a space at the far end of the property in a pouring rain, your golf cart batteries go dead. Instant crisis and another lost rental. Here’s one more: While enjoying high occupancy for the past several years, you’ve totally neglected any efforts to market your property. Suddenly the local economy changes and you see your occupancy plunging. By ignoring the need for marketing, you now find yourself scrambling to try to drive traffic to your property, thus missing out on multiple rentals and revenue.

These are just a few examples of how neglecting to focus on what is Important but not Urgent will ultimately lead you to spending too much time in crisis mode. It should also go without saying that we need to spend a minimal amount of time focused on the unimportant Quadrant III and Quadrant IV items. Beyond these basic principles of time management, let’s look at a few things specific to our industry. We should get in the habit of making “to-do” lists, so we don’t forget something on the “Important” quadrants. Often there is more than one person performing tasks and having a list will reduce redundancy.

Learn to Prioritize

When I previously listed items that are Important/Not Urgent above, there was a reason why I listed "training and coaching” first. I believe this is the most important aspect of reducing time spent in crisis mode. Many times a crisis develops simply because a person is not equipped with the knowledge and training to make the proper decision. Often when that occurs, that person will either make the wrong decision, or no decision at all. Consistent training and coaching reduces mistakes and keeps you out of crisis mode. A simple way to prioritize would be to take your “to-do” list and rank items in priority from A, B, C. Once you have all of your A’s, B’s and C’s, you then rank each one within the category based on how many you have. Example: A1, A2, A3, B1, C1, C2, C3, C4. Create a monthly operational workload calendar for routine items such as overlocking spaces, sending out certified letters, auctions, and special projects. By having this available, you’ll be reminded of what is Important/Not Urgent, and you can utilize downtime to prepare. For example, you have a slow afternoon and by a quick glance at your operational workload calendar, you are reminded that tomorrow is the day to send out certified letters. You may spend that slow time making one last collection call or preparing envelopes, so that tomorrow when you get hit with a rush of customers, you’re not having to scramble in crisis mode to complete the task.

Communicate With Your Customers

Communication is always a key to success. Unless you are a sole proprietor managing your own property with no employees, then you are part of a team, and being part of a team makes communication essential. Create simple ways of organizing your communication, for example, use a communication binder. This will allow you to communicate with each other on different team member’s days off. Another example would be to hold weekly or monthly meetings with your team. Keep them to a half hour or an hour targeting items that will help improve Quadrant II.

If you know something will be happening at your property that may affect your tenants, communicate it to them and you may avoid having to deal with an angry customer later (Crisis). Every time you interact with a customer (unless it is routine such as taking a payment) you should note that interaction in the operating system so when the next team member is dealing with that customer, they have a history to use to make the right decision, thus preventing a crisis.

Communicate With Your Supervisor

Let your direct supervisor know what you need and what he or she can do to help you, as well as any issues at your property. It’s impossible for them to properly assist you in running your business if they are kept in the dark. By regular communication, your supervisor can then focus on things when they are Important/Not urgent, long before they become a crisis. By paying attention to how you use your time, and by allowing adequate preparation, you’ll be headed in the right direction to master your time.

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Training

Tailoring to Your Facility

by Jennifer Jones, JKJ Marketing

When you consider what a manager can and can’t do for your business, you realize how important training and hiring really are. A manager is part of your brand—the personality of your facility, the person who makes sure things are working properly. Depending on the size of your facility, they can wear many hats from marketing and maintenance to operations and revenue.

Trusted Self Storage Professionals has new assistant managers work with an experienced manager for two to three weeks before being scheduled to work alone. New managers work with an experienced manager for several weeks before being assigned their property. “We have one site that does most of our training, which makes for consistency,” says Mike Gately. The manager doing the training is a strong manager who likes training others and uses a written checklist of all tasks to be trained that must be completed and sent to the property supervisor. Good training is critical to achieving operational excellence and to have confident, competent employees.”

“Move It is larger than some of the other operators, so we’ve used our benefit of scale to set up an online learning management system (LMS),” says Katie Cowen. “Our managers get a combination of live, one-on-one training, training via review of an operations manual, and training via modules in the LMS. The LMS modules can include written lessons with a test afterward, video lessons with a test afterward, or a combination of both items. We also utilize training resources and certification from our software provider (SiteLink) and our ancillary truck rental services (U-Haul/Penske).”

Sarah Cole says that at Oakcrest Management, each new manager gets one week of training with a seasoned manager, two days of customer service phone skill training and one week in their store with a seasoned manager/ supervisor. “By the third week, they should be able to handle day-to-day functions on their own. On lien process days (NOC, cut lock, etc.), a supervisor will be with them to make sure notices are done properly and the new manger is learning how to do them properly. Oakcrest Management also has quarterly training webinars on various topics, such as collections, closing the sale and auction process.”

So, what do you do if you don’t have multiple facilities or don’t want to hire third-party management? You can write your own training manual. Each day you are performing a task, write down your thoughts and start creating checklists. Implement some of the tactics used above at your facility. You may only hire a new manager once in a blue moon or you may have higher turnover. Creating a training manual, although a time-consuming process, can ultimately save time when you hire a new manager.

Creating checklists for leasing, maintenance (as well as schedules), operations, procedures, new hire orientation, marketing and more will ensure your new manager is aware of your systems and expectations.

At RPM, training never ends. They have a designated trainer who gives personal, interactive training following a two-week program. At each subsequent store visit by a district manager, time is set aside for ongoing training for the entire staff. RPM also provides employees with paid tuition for online business management related courses.

 

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Cultivating Leadership in Sales

How to Create a Sales Training Process to Propel Information Into Action

by Cody Reynolds

Fundamentally speaking, we are in business to rent self-storage units and collect money for those rented units.

When it comes to standard operating procedures, there are dangers looming in the form of potentially processing something to death. So how can we give life to these mechanisms and achieve balance in the face of our over-processed world we live in?

I believe the solution is for the information to move from knowledge into action! Sounds simple, but hearing is not necessarily doing and knowledge is not exactly the same as putting that knowledge to use.

I first want to express the philosophy behind what it takes to excel in sales, plus I will cover what it takes to teach the art of conversions from both a trainee and a trainer’s perspective.

When I approach training and mentoring at any level, from novice to advanced, it is imperative as a trainer to understand the language of the trainee.

Roll out a solid training program that involves as many learning styles as possible. Think about it for a second. Everyone has different learning styles: visual, aural, verbal and physical. If we introduce an on-going educational training program on various topics, it can be easily absorbed. A good training process will facilitate memorizing the facts, discovering how the facts relate and applying those facts in real situations.

I personally like to encourage my staff to have some type of training resource in a binder that is supplemented with follow-up verbiage from me on the information I just covered that day with the employee. This way it will be received in both an audio and visual format. Support your employees with tangible reference material. Information overload is common no matter how good a teacher you are and having systems and processes to refer back to will be extremely beneficial. I also like to segment my training programs in evolving phases that can take up to several days (and sometimes weeks) rather than all at once.

Let’s dive into the sales process and take the table above as a sales training example. This tool is a great way to introduce the five parts of a sale and the dynamics between phone leads and straight walk-ins. Put this in a table, leaving room for note taking as you expand on all of the bullet points, and cover the material in various ways until the dots begin to connect.

Here is a rough template regarding the five parts of a sale:

• greeting,
• inquiry,
• consultant,
• invitation, and
• close.

One will flow right into another in a natural progression when conducted smoothly, so keep in mind that the approach will vary as it relates to walk-ins versus phone leads.

GREETING

What does your initial encounter look like with your customers when they walk through your doors? The customer is always judging with their five senses and there are certain aspects within your control to help give you the cutting edge in sales as it pertains to sales.

What is the customer seeing as they pull into your driveway and walk up to the front door?

Are the fire lanes painted and trash picked up from last night’s wind debris?

Are cigarette butts swept off the pavement?

Walk-in Example:

This is your moment to set the stage for a professional tone or lack thereof. Is the glass on the door clean or smudgy? Is the lawn well-manicured and are the weeds pulled throughout the facility? Do you stand and greet every single customer to show respect as they enter?

Be upbeat. Don’t drag your personal life into work or be a “Debbie Downer,” especially if the customer is moving. Elevate positive morale in your environment by letting you and your work shine!

Phone Example:

Seize the opportunity right off the bat and ALWAYS capture the most essential element of the sale: A name and number.

You: Thank you for calling Super Self Storage this is Cody, who do I have the pleasure of speaking with? Customer: [Susan]

You: Hi Susan, may I please have your phone number in case we get dis- connected? Customer: 499-955-2122

Key Take-away Insights: Remember, some of the people who are calling you and/or walking through your doors are going through some of life’s most challenging situations. Your ability to be professional and properly identify their needs with a solution really does help them in their transition! Always track your leads in an organizational spreadsheet or software to optimize the skill of follow-through.

INQUIRY

Fact: The customers who call you or walk into your facility inquiring about storage space are already in the market for space. This should be a huge confidence booster. One way or the other, they are renting space from someone, and it might as well be you.

Be secure in your ability to respond to your customers with bold solutions and take the lead by actively listening. Draw them out of their shell if they lack detail in their response, by asking the right questions directly after the greeting:

• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
• How long?

Example:

You “Thank you for calling Super Self Storage this is Cody, who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?”

Customer: “Susan.”

You: “Hi Susan, may I please have your phone number in case we get disconnected?”

Customer: “499-955-2122.”

You: “Thank you Susan, how may I help you today?”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Customer: “I need storage.”

You: “In order for me to best identify your square footage needs, may I ask how many bedrooms worth of furniture you will be storing?”

Avoid at all costs the question, “How much space do you need?” after the customer inquires about a storage unit. In many cases the customer may not know how much space they will need. You are the expert ready to help!

CONSULTANT

You are the self-storage professional. Display your ability to provide a solution in the consulting stage by flowing into this phase with positive assurance.

Mention a couple of features and benefits as an upside to storing at your location at this point in the conversation.

Example:

“Susan, based on what you are describing, you will need up to 200 square feet worth of space, or a 10x20. We have a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility that is gated with wide drive-up aisles. I would love to show you our property! When would be a good time for you to come by today and look at the space to see if it would be a good fit for your needs?”

INVITATION

The invitation is such a natural progression from the last step in the sales process.

• Invite all of your phone lead customers to visit the store by scheduling a set appointment
• It is easier to make a sale in person versus over the phone
• This is key to a successful phone presentation

Example:

“Susan, based on what you have described, you will need at least 150 square feet up to 250 square feet of space.

Our storage units range in five-foot increments and the best way to assist you is to invite you to the store so you can actually see the size difference on these two suggested unit mixes in or- der to determine what will best fit your needs. When would be a good time today to come by so I can give you a quick tour of the facility?”

CLOSE

The closing encapsulates the sales process by simply asking for the rental.

Remember, the customer is already in the market for space. The battle is half won from the get-go because they are reaching out to you. This is not out- bound sales. They are actually coming to you with a need for space.

If you become knowledgeable and intentionally practice courtesy, then your ability to serve the customer will exponentially succeed! Obviously, you need to do your part and keep the facility polished with good old-fashioned hard work and elbow grease, but this produces confidence in the product you push and builds character!

Honestly, I have discovered that customers are more apt to buy from you as a person than they are the product.

The facility manager has an extraordinary power to connect with the customer on an entirely different level and create the most value out of any tool the business attempts to deploy as a means of marketing!

Implement these five steps in the sales process, harmonized with the other points mentioned above, and you will most definitely serve your clientele well.

Applying a solid sales training program naturally leads to an increase in your conversion rate, enhances the quality of your customer interactions and will build overall value to your infrastructure.

Furthermore, it is also important to support your staff if you are an owner or an area manager by being more systems-driven in the way of broadcasting good training programs for your business model.

 

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