Excellence

PhoneSmart strives for excellence. At a training session, Director of Operations Tron Jordheim stated that we were striving to set the standard for excellence in our industry. Of course, we all are aware that our calls are evaluated and we are given the result of the evaluation with suggestions about how the call could have been better. We have pop quizzes from time to time and there is training and retraining as we move along. At periodic intervals we are required to pass certifications to move to different levels. The real value of all of these things is clearly brought home to us when we participate in the Total Quality Assurance Department’s Secret Shop Program.

It is nearly impossible to be a secret shopper and not realize the value and importance of the standard for excellence that has been set for us. Many times as I am in the middle of a secret shop call I am thinking, “Wow, they need us”. Secret shopping helps us to be better as well because when you are answering the phones after secret shopping all of the mistakes that you have heard stick with you and help you to not make the same ones.

Recently I had quite a revelation. We had the opportunity to “shop” another call center. It seemed that on every call, the operator was lacking in finesse and motivation. Questions were answered with a perfunctory one-syllable response. Most generally the first question was “could I have your phone number and name in case we get cut off?” This is something that we are trained NOT to do as it might indicate shoddy equipment and not inspire confidence in our ability to help. We generally ask for name and number where it “fits”, getting the first name so that we start to establish rapport and then getting the last name and phone number as part of our close. We might just start asking for information as though we were filling out the order. At other times we might say something like “Let me get your name and number and lock in that special offer for you” I suppose it amounts to the same thing but we try not to sound too much like old time used car salesmen. We strive for finesse and polish.

Each call that I made through the competing call center was as frustrating as the previous call. On one, I requested information to store a queen size bed, a small sofa, and 8 “totes” and was told that I should rent a 10 x 20. I wondered if this was the only size that was available or the person was really that poorly trained. He gave no features or benefits, gave no hours, discounts, or other important information. I had to “pull teeth” to even get a price on this grossly oversized unit. Call after calls seemed the same; what is your name? What is your telephone number? these questions followed by a rush to get me off the line.

When I had made all of the calls and had written the evaluations I was asked to write I asked some questions about this whole experience and found out that they are paid an extra stipend for each name and telephone number that they collect. They seemed to be encouraged only to collect that data and not to give real service by striving to reserve units for the store. We are not given extra pay for collecting leads and we have often wondered why we were not. We are given extra pay for getting credit card reservations. I now understand that. Getting paid to collect names and telephone numbers would only encourage the operator to do just that and move on as quickly as possible to the next call. This is merely processing calls and is not the excellence that is practiced at PhoneSmart. We would not recommend a grossly oversized unit just because that was all that was available today. We would take information and send the lead through, not just so that we would get extra but so that the store manager could call them and let them know when the size that was appropriate would be available. Good service to the store, good service to the caller. Excellence!

It seems to me that it is just as easy to strive for excellence with every call as it is to answer and brush people off. It takes the same breath and energy to answer one as the other. The difference is in taking pride in what you are doing and to consider what you are doing to be helpful. This difference, this excellence, comes from training and from a feeling of partnership with the storage facilities that we serve.

Competition in self-storage is fierce and I believe that industry will become even more competitive as additional features and services are offered. More and more people are finding themselves in need of short or long-term storage and we owe it to them to give each and every call our very best.

Any self-storage owner or manager seeking the services of an after hour call center should apply the principles of our secret shop department. Create a story, decide what you will need to store and when. Next use your own experience and note what recommendation that you would make to a customer about the unit. Think about what information you would give to a caller and how you would “sell” your store. Use these guidelines to measure the performance of the call center. Try our competition and then talk with our professionals. It will not take many calls to see the difference between poor performance and our excellence. What is it that you are looking for? Would you want a tired, bored voice, merely offering the price and giving no information about your store or would you like to have an enthusiastic “smiling” voice with professional demeanor that is knowledgeable and trained to maximize business for your store. Do you want untrained operators who will become angry or “snotty” with a disgruntled caller or a professional who can maintain a composed and soothing yet “in charge” affect when dealing with an upset or even angry customer? At PhoneSmart we are the professionals. What we practice here is excellence!