Exceptional Customer Service Tips for Managers | Self Storage Virtual Workshop

Gabfocus Episode 64 | Exceptional Customer Service Tips for Managers

Managers are on the customer service frontline, so how can you make sure you're equipped with all the skills you need to provide the best customer experience? We've invited a customer service expert to share tips and tricks that any manager can use to create happy customers and drive more positive reviews.

Featured Speakers: Lee Creech
Moderators: Tommy Nguyen & Melissa Huff

Category: Operations
Focus: Owners, Operators, & Managers
Aired: September 26, 2024
Duration: 1:15:07

Overview

If you don't have time to watch the whole session, here are some of our favorite parts:

At 4:55, our expert discussed why he believes customer service matters and how it can improve your business.
6:40, Lee discussed how customer service can help differentiate you from the competition.
Starting at 10:45, Lee covered how he defines good and exceptional customer service.
At 14:10, our guest talked about how you can audit your customer service experience.
17:00, our expert shared the most common customer service mistakes he hears about.
Around 21:00, Lee talked about how to provide the best customer service to leads and potential customers.
At 25:50, our guest covered tips for providing excellent customer service during a customer's move-in.
29:40, Lee touched on how to respond to customers who talk about the REIT down the road being much cheaper.
35:15, our guest discussed how they provide additional customer service during a tenant's stay.
40:35, Lee highlighted how to provide even better customer service when a customer is moving out.
At 45:15, our guest talked about how to handle a discussion about a customer being late with their payments.
Starting at 54:00, Lee discussed how to handle a situation where a customer brings you an issue with their unit.
Around 1:03:00, our guest talked about his tips for de-escalating a tense conversation.
1:06:20, Lee answered the question of the week!

Gabfocus Takeaway

Providing excellent customer service starts with listening to and empathizing with your customers. If you understand their needs, you can figure out the best way to fulfill those needs and even ways to go above and beyond to make sure they are as happy as possible. Happy customers will leave positive reviews and make referrals, all you have to do is ask! Even if you already think you're providing excellent customer service, there's always room to improve, so be sure to audit your customer service just as you would any other part of your business.

What are Gabfocus Sessions?

Gabfocus Sessions are virtual workshops for self storage owners, managers, and operators. Brought to you by the team behind Gabfest: StoragePug and Lighthouse Storage Solutions.

Each session features hand-picked industry pros who will dive deep into relevant topics surrounding our industry, share best practices, and explore trends in the market. It's our hope that these sessions help you navigate your self storage business better during these uncertain times.

Want to learn more about self storage? Join us on select Thursdays for Gabfocus.

Questions Answered in this Session

How can customer service set you apart from the competition?
What is the difference between good and exceptional customer service?
If you think you're already doing an exceptional job, how can you audit your customer experience to be sure?
What customer service mistakes do you see or hear about the most?
What are the most common customer sticking points?
What are your customer service tips for each stage of the customer experience?
What are some tips for going above and beyond with your customer service?
How do you handle difficult conversations?
What parts of customer service can be automated with software or tech?
How does going above and beyond with your customer service get you more rentals?
How can you advertise your exceptional customer experience?
What is your best customer service tip for new managers, experienced managers, and owners?

Resources from this session

Awesome Quotes

“Once your operation is in place, you can become more dynamic with your pricing, but that requires data. You need some method of being able to record the data that you need to know whether your price is in the right place - whether you need to move it up or start giving some concessions.” - Warren Lieberman

“I never want to downplay to what someone else is doing. I'm better than they are, then I'm going to be worth a higher price. That's what value is. If you go out to a restaurant and get really good service, would you go back? Yes! What if it was pricier? You'd still go back because you got better service and a better product.” - Jim Mooney

"It's good to be informed on your competition. I don't want to ignore them, but I don't want to respond too strongly to them either." - Warren Lieberman

"We did a survey of 10,000 facilities on their pricing. We found out that two-thirds of those operators didn't change the price of a single unit of the course of a month." - Warren Lieberman

“Rate increases and value pricing are the number one ways to grow your revenue.” - Jim Mooney

"Tenants in more convenient units tend to be less price sensitive." - Warren Lieberman

"The size of the unit is only one aspect of what people are willing to pay for." - Warren Lieberman

Highlights

Foundational marketing strategies to have in place - whether leasing up or stabilized:

Website
Set up listings (Yelp, Google My Business, Apple Maps)
Social Media
Establish Local Partnerships

Lease up marketing strategies:

Lead Generating Strategies (like digital ads)
Aggregators (Sparefoot, Storagefront, etc.)
Awareness Campaigns (like billboards, flyers, and sponsorships)

Your average customer value
Find the average stay length of all tenants. Next take your economic occupancy and divide by how many units you have. That will tell you what the average customer pays.

Multiply the average length of stay by what the average customer pays, and that's the average value of a customer.

For example, if a customer stays for 12 months and pays $100 per month, then their value is $1,200.

Your average lead value

Figure out your closing rate (or conversion rate) i.e. how many leads do you turn into tenants? Multiply that by your average customer lifetime value to figure out what your leads are worth.

Pro Tip: see which lead sources are converting the best. It may be that certain sources have a higher conversion rate, so those leads are worth more to you than a source that barely converts.

Typical Lease-up timeline

According to our panelists, it's typical to see a 3-4% increase each month, putting your facility at 36% after the first year, and 72% after the second.

Alternately, you can look at your lease up goals through the lens of your units, aiming for 20 units rented per month.

For Nick and StorageMax, they pro forma their economic occupancy at 85% with their sweet spot at 92%.