When a mystery shopper is using the telephone to critique a sales rep there are certain things that they are looking for in the evaluation. This is true whether the client is selling self storage or any other item or service.

A very important part of any sales call a mystery shopper is paying attention to is the Close.  Because the sales rep is unable to see the look on a customers face or observe the customers body language, then they must rely on what a customer says.   Helping the customer along is a sign of a good call, and will receive positive marks from any mystery shopper.

During the telephone call, the mystery shopper knows a good sales rep will control the call in a positive manner.  Even if the customer gets off track a bit, the sales person is able to reel them in and take back control.  During the Close the sales rep wants to be sure to offer the customer two choices.  Did they want the self storage unit that is upstairs or on the ground level?  Did they need the climate controlled space, or will a regular unit be okay?  Did they want to come into the office on Saturday morning or afternoon?  Giving the customer choices will let them feel involved in the decision making, while at the same time getting a commitment.

The mystery shopper will make certain the sales rep always asks the customer for a name and phone number.  This helps to build a better rapport, and the information is useful for future follow up.

The mystery shopper is taking note that the sales rep creates a sense of urgency.  There are only a few 10x10 units available or, this is the last 5x10 storage unit that is open.  Creating a sense of urgency will let the customer know they need to make a decision now, as opposed to next week.  Otherwise, they may not get the size unit they need.

The mystery shopper is listening to make sure the sales rep uses this sense of urgency to encourage the customer to reserve a storage space with a credit card.  The mystery shopper knows the customer is far more likely to actually go to the location and rent a storage unit if there is a sense of obligation, thus the reservation.

If the caller is unable to reserve a unit, then the mystery shopper is noticing if the sales rep invites the customer for a site visit.  Pinning down the customer to a day and time will again make it more likely that the customer will go to the facility and rent a unit.

An important thing the mystery shopper is listening for is that the sales rep attempts to overcome any objections the customer may have.  A customer claiming they need to speak to their spouse before committing to anything is probably just making an excuse, and trying to take the easy way out.  Suggesting to the customer that their spouse will probably be pleased that they no longer have to be concerned with finding a storage unit will usually earn bonus points from a mystery shopper.  It is a good rule of thumb to only attempt to overcome a customers objection three times.  Any more, and the sales rep will appear too pushy.

A mystery shopper pays a good deal of attention as to how a sales rep handles the Close of any call.  This is because the mystery shopper knows that a good Close can often be the difference between an actual sale, and just another phone call.

Hermitage location, 3986 Central Pike, Hermitage, TN 37067

Secret Shopping

Property

It is far more cost effective for a property management company of an apartment complex to be able to retain current renters than it is attract new ones.  Finding new tenants can be expensive and time consuming.  It includes the costs of advertising, background and credit checks on potential renters, personnel to show the units, etc.  Retaining the majority of current tenants can be as simple as having at least one competent and reliable Handyman on staff.  This person also needs to know his limits, so if there is a problem the handyman will know who to call for help.

A handyman that works for a property management company needs to be available 24-7.  If a tenants heater goes out in the middle of the night or if the water stops working on a Saturday afternoon it is crucial that someone be able to fix it immediately, and not wait until normal business hours.  Then there are always the everyday things the property management company needs to be sure is constantly maintained.  Broken windows and doors need to be repaired, leaking pipes and clogged toilets need to be fixed and light bulbs and smoke alarm batteries need to be replaced.

When a tenant moves out of an apartment it is the perfect time for the property management company to have the walls painted, the carpets steam cleaned, and the old appliances replaced.  The handyman employed by the property management company can also change all of the locks for better security. 

The curb appeal of an apartment complex is always important.  A property management company in the northern part of the United States has four separate seasons to be concerned with.  During the winter months it is imperative that the handyman employed by the property management company be prepared for ice and snow.  Parking lots, private streets, and sidewalks all need to be cleared and salted for safety.  Special care needs to be taken to be sure water pipes do not freeze in the cold weather, and assisting tenants with weak car batteries or vehicles in a ditch is great customer service, and will be remembered by the tenant.

In the springtime a good property management company is prepared for work on lawns, bushes, and trees, etc.  The property management company needs to make sure the handyman has working lawnmowers, weed eaters, and ladders at his disposal.

During the summer months the property management company needs to be sure the grass is mowed and the gardens are weeded.  These areas also need to be watered on a regular basis if it is permitted by local ordinances.

Autumn is the most important season for a property management company as far as the outside of the apartment complex.  It is important that garden hoses be put inside and that all spigots are completely shut off so they will not freeze, leaves need to be removed from gutters so rainwater will flow freely and lawns need to be raked and debris removed so the grass will grow in the spring.

A responsible handyman is one of the most important things that a first-class property management company can have.  This person can make a huge difference as to whether current tenants renew their lease, or look elsewhere for a place to live.

South Nashville, 14985 Old Hickory Blvd, Nashville, TN 37211

Property Management

Shopping

There are many different types of property management companies throughout the country simply because there are many different types of self storage needs. 

Cars and motorcycles are popular items for people to put into self storage facilities or property management companies, and for a variety of reasons.  One person may need to store just for the winter because of the hazardous driving conditions.  Another customer may only have two parking spaces available at his apartment complex, but has three vehicles.  Still another may be getting deployed to Iraq and needs the storage unit until she returns.  This type of self storage facility has to be very secure and have storage units with drive up accessibility, like many good property management companies.  Self storage facilities equipped with these types of units are found all over the United States.

It is a little more difficult to find self storage facilities or property management companies that can handle large recreational vehicles.  People need to store these vehicles because home owner associations usually frown on these monstrosities being parked on a driveway or on the street.  Self storage facilities and property management companies that specialize in RVs often have both indoor and outdoor parking, as well as 24 hour access available for their adventurous customers. Oftentimes amenities such as dumping stations and wash bays are also provided. These property management companies are usually found in areas near large lakes and parks, as well as close to affluent neighborhoods with stringent HOA rules.

Some self storage facilities and property management companies specialize in boat storage.  People put a great deal of time and money into their vessels and proper off-season storage is essential.  These self storage facilities usually have a large climate controlled warehouse and a system where they are able to stack the boats upside down, three or four boats high.  Because they are able to store a large number of boats they are able to keep the costs down for each individual customer.  These self storage facilities usually have a set rate for storage throughout the winter months, and then everyone comes back in the spring to retrieve their property.  These locations are common in the northern United States, where there is obviously a limited boating season.  These self storage facilities can be found all around the Great Lakes.

Self storage facilities and property management companies that specialize in storing documents and files are becoming increasingly popular.  Many types of businesses are required by law to keep files for many years.  These documents can take up valuable warehouse space that can be used for equipment or inventory.  Renting larger office space just for document storage can be very costly.  As an added bonus, many self storage facilities that specialize in document storage offer additional services for their clients.  These locations are able to bar code each box of files for better organizing and easy retrieval.  They also often provide document shredding services, to safely and securely destroy files that have out-lived their useful life.  These self storage facilities and property management companies are used by large accounting and law firms, hospital and medical clinics, as well as small home based businesses with very little storage space.

In a few select areas, art storage is very specialized and trendy.  Preserving art is an intricate affair that requires temperature and humidity control, extremely high ceilings for large pieces, and a private viewing area.  Self storage facilities and property management companies that specialize in art obviously have extremely high-tech security measures in place.  These self storage facilities are usually located near larger cities, where there is a higher concentration of art enthusiasts.

Many self storage facilities have become far more specialized over the years because that is what the customer wants and needs.

Bellevue location, 7332 Tolbert Rd, Nashville, TN 37209

Shopping

Property Management

Whether your business is a service businesses, a product production business or any other kind of business you can think of, you have customers. These customers may be any place on the supply chain. Someone has interaction with your employees and your services or products. How do you know if the experience of your users is worth the price, the effort and the hassle? You do a mystery shop.  However, depending on how you handle it, a mystery shop may or may not give you the information you need to make improvements. Here are a couple of ideas to help make your mystery shop more valuable.

First of all, decide up front what you are hoping to discover. One mystery shop cannot tell you everything about everything. If you try to collect too much information, you will not be able to process it, make sense of it, or take action on it. If you have not used the mystery shop before, then focus on one very narrow portion of the interaction. If you run a self storage property and have never done a mystery shop of your property, you might have someone visit your property just to see if the curb appeal and cleanliness is up to par and if the staff people are friendly and inviting. This seems like a simplistic mission for a mystery shop, but it is enough information to start. This would enable your staffers to work on two simple things, curb appeal and cleanliness and being friendly and inviting.

You also need to make sure that you have a straightforward method of judging the mystery shop. For instance you might rate the curb appeal on the freshness of the paint, absence of litter, cleanliness of the front windows and door handle, cleanliness of the carpet, counter and show room area.  You might rate friendliness by how long it took to get eye contact and a smile. If you are not specific about what is being judged on a mystery shop and what levels of attainment are unacceptable, acceptable, very good or excellent, then your staff people will not know how to pass a mystery shop and will never be able to satisfy you.

If you set up your mystery shop so it is ambiguous or so that no one knows what has to be done to get an excellent rating, then the mystery shop becomes a de-motivator and a disincentive. Many companies create lots of initiatives that backfire. If your first attempts at using the mystery shop backfire on you, it will be very hard to reestablish a mystery shop program.

The last tip is to be sure you give the feedback on the mystery shop quickly. The longer you wait the less effective the feedback will be and the less action a feedback will create. If you tell your staffer that last month on the second, there was litter piled up in the corner in front of the building, you will get little action and little behavior change. Your staffer will probably shrug the shoulders and carry on with whatever he or she was doing. If, on the other hand, you tell your staffer that there was trash piled up in the corner in front of the building yesterday and you are not happy about it, your staffer will probably get outside and get on litter patrol right away and keep up with litter control for a week.

And if you need help in getting your mystery shop program going, whether it is a telephone mystery shop or an in-person mystery shop, you are in the right blog.

Franklin location, 1138 New Highway 96 W, Franklin, TN 37064

Secret Shopping

Property

Mystery shopping jobs often seem like a myth or legend to the workforce. We hear stories of people who get to go shopping, keep the merchandise and be paid to do it. There are even rumors of positions that offer mystery shopping jobs to those who travel from top resort to top resort and are pampered with massages, fine dining, luxury suites and more.

These stories are not just urban legends because such mystery shopping jobs do exist. However, finding these mystery shopping jobs is somewhat of the mystery. Where does one go to sign up for free dining? Where is that career field listed in job fairs and college majors? There is no clear cut way to preparing oneself for mystery shopping jobs, except to have a good understanding of customer service and to have the ability to critique and express the difference between desirable customer service and poor customer service.

Employers for mystery shopping jobs want to hire someone with some experience in their industry. The level of experience may differ depending on the service or product being evaluated with mystery shopping jobs.  For example, the majority of the population has experience with the fast food industry. Therefore, a secret shopper with little training could easily conduct fast food mystery shopping jobs. Let us take a look at the massage industry. An inexperienced person applying for these mystery shopping jobs would likely be more excited about the free massage and unable to critique the techniques of the massage therapist because the mystery shopper has had no formal training in that field. This is why some mystery shopping jobs may require specialized training.

When we think of mystery shopping jobs, legend and our own imagination flashes images of a woman bedazzled with bags of free new clothing, free five star dining and a glamorous life. These images are, more often than not, inaccurate ideas of what mystery shopping jobs are. Most mystery shopping jobs offer some compensation to the mystery shopper for visiting a business and then reporting several observations concerning how clean the property was, how friendly and knowledgeable the staff was, and how satisfactory the product or service was. In some mystery shopping jobs, a good or service may be given to the mystery shopper for free. However, there are also mystery shopping jobs that only offer a free service or good with no compensation for the time spent conducting the mystery shop.

When looking for mystery shopping jobs, the Internet is a very good source for information and employment opportunity. It is important to select the mystery shopping jobs that are contracted through reputable businesses that hold memberships with national mystery shopping associations or mystery shopping associations within their industry. It is also important to do some homework on an employer before beginning mystery shopping jobs for them. One can access public information regarding a business through several business bureaus and other online sources.

Finding the right mystery shopping jobs may also mean narrowing down the keyword search. For example, searching the keyword phrase mystery shopping jobs may result in too broad a result. One could narrow down the search by using a keyword phrase that reflected what kind of mystery shopping jobs he or she were looking for by using a keyword phrase like self storage mystery shopping jobs.

Storage-Mart on South Federal Hwy. in Pompano Beach

Shopping

Property Management

In most property management structures there are some list of rules or protocol. This list maybe written, or just in the head of the person at the top of the company. In property management, the bottom line goal is always to make a profit from your property or business. You are also in charge of the overall maintenance and the look and feel of the property. So in property management, what do you do when someone on your team is not fulfilling the rules or responsibilities that you as a property management owner have clearly laid out?

For example, most property management structures do some form of performance management. What is meant by that is that most managers lay out a clear expectation and they follow up to ensure that employees are following those expectations. If you do not have some form of performance management structure within you business, then you are throwing away your money. Some people within your property management structure are not abiding by the rules and are continuing to work for you taking away your profits. Anyway, back to the point. In this example, a company is using performance management through monthly mystery shopping. A mystery shopper came into their business and pretended they were actually looking for something. They were testing the ability to take care of the customer. The goal for this property management structure was to score a 90 percent or higher after they were evaluated by a secret shopper. The top quality associate received a 65 percent. 

Remember, this associate is top of line, will soon be promoted, and usually gets the customer taken care of. When confronted with this score, his response was simply, It is better than a 45 percent, which is what he received last time.

If you were in this property management structure what would you do? The associate did not seem to mind that he did not pass his mystery shop and said it was better than his last performance. Would it seem like this associate does not care or that he is looking toward the future and builds off the past?

Just think about it for a moment. In your own property management structure, does someone on your staff perform as the example lists above? Is there an employee that is doing more damage than good in your property management structure? This associate had a stern talking to. That associate has been there for over a year and knows how to take care of customers.  The associate was upset at first and then realized that he knows what he is doing, but chose not to do it. So when you are trying to performance manage your staff on your property, make sure that everyone knows what their job responsibilities are. Then from that point on, your staff is just choosing not to do their job versus not knowing how to do that job. If they continue to choose not to do their job, then that is when they are promoted to customer.

Downtown Nashville, 1615 Charlotte Ave, Nashville, TN 37203

Secret Shopping

Property