What?!? You Didn't Tell Me That! (Why Communication Is Vital)

If communication is your forte, then no one should ever be surprised by anything you have to say.  I'm a firm believer in communicating well with people so there are few, if any, questions to be asked.  You never want to leave the door open for a customer, your employer, or anyone else to be shocked about anything.

So, I do my best to avoid getting that look from anyone who even crosses my path.  Now, I've given that look to others but I can't really control how other communicate with me.  However, I can control how my messages are delivered.  

We've had to overcome communication issues with our customers here which isn't always easy.  We have both a lease and an addendum that we require everyone to sign.  I tweaked our former addendum so it could also act as a summary, outlining our formal lease. Most of the people who walk through my door are on a mission, they need a place to store their items and are ready to come in and leave within 5 minutes time.  I have our leasing time down to 15 minutes per person, which is pretty good in my opinion.  When my customers arrive, I show them the sizes we offer, I discuss what they are storing to make certain they have chosen the correct sized unit, I collect their information, input it into the system and then the last 5 minutes are spent going over the lease addendum and answering their questions.  This is generally their least favorite part.  Yet, it is the most crucial portion of our meeting.  Maybe it seems trivial or silly and perhaps you are afraid to scare off or offend your customers, nevertheless, it is vital that you cover your bases for the sake of your customer and your business. 

If I do not communicate everything on this addendum to our customer, then they will be shocked when they are given late fees, are locked out at the gate, don't receive their deposit back,  find out we've rescued their cat out of their units (yes, this has happened) or receive an auction notice.  In the event I do not do my part, I not only get the proverbial "deer-in-the-headlight look", I also receive angry phone calls, get disappointed emails, drop-in visits from irate tenants, let's just say it's not good for anyone involved.  I want everyone involved to have a complete understanding of what they are signing.  Recently I posted this story at our front desk for everyone to read while I input their information into the system (feel free to use this at your place of business):

DID YOU READ YOUR LEASE?

Why is it important to always read anything before you sign?

David Lee Roth And The Real M&M Story

This is a short excerpt from The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. Here explained is the reasoning behind David Lee Roth’s famous obsession with brown M&M’s:

“Listening to the radio, I heard the story behind rocker David Lee Roth’s notorious insistence that Van Halen’s contracts with concert promoters contain a clause specifying that a bowl of M&M’s has to be provided backstage, but with every single brown candy removed, upon pain of forfeiture of the show, with full compensation to the band. And at least once, Van Halen followed through, peremptorily cancelling a show in Colorado when Roth found some brown M&M’s in his dressing room. This turned out to be, however, not another example of the insane demands of power-mad celebrities but an ingenious ruse.

As Roth explained in his memoir, Crazy from the Heat, “Van Halen was the first band to take huge productions into tertiary, third level markets. We’d pull up with nine 18-wheeler trucks, full of gear, where the standard was three trucks, max. And there were many, many technical errors — whether it was the girders couldn’t support the weight, or the flooring would sink in, or the doors weren’t big enough to move the gear through. The contract rider read like a version of the Chinese Yellow Pages because there was so much equipment, and so many human beings to make it function.  So just as a little test, buried somewhere in the middle of the rider, would be article 126, the no-brown-M&M’s clause. When I would walk backstage, if I saw a brown M&M in that bowl,” he wrote, “well, we’d line-check the entire production. Guaranteed you’re going to arrive at a technical error… Guaranteed you’d run into a problem.  These weren’t trifles, the radio story pointed out. The mistakes could be life-threatening. In Colorado, the band found the local promoters had failed to read the weight requirements and the staging would have fallen through the arena.”

Bottom line is, how well you communicate with others can and WILL affect the outcome of your business.  You may feel you have beaten the world record for number of words spoken in a day by the time you leave work but you have actually made your job easier in the long run.  Your customers will have peace of mind and if they do call and act shocked, you can mention that you "went over that" the day they signed their lease.  Feel free to go over it again.  If they are insistent that they are clueless about the item, ask them to pull out the paperwork they signed and then if they have questions after reading it to feel free to call you back.  I can count on one hand how many phone calls I have had like this since we modified our lease addendum.  I know this works.  If you aren't using effective communication with your customers, it is time to give it a go.  Until next time, have a great week!

Michelle Armstrong

Manager

Star Storage

816-765-7300

When A Sale Is Not A Sale And Never Will Be A Sale

I think everyone who has read my blog knows by now how much I love my customers.  However, those who know me also know I have developed very good boundaries in my life as well.  I think it is very important to establish those boundaries with everyone who enters our lives. It is way too easy to get walked on today just because we budge a little too easily.  I remember several years ago when my now adult son was 4 years old.  I am very big on not spoiling children.  He had been spending a little too much time with his Grandmother (who loved to spoil) and it was very obvious when we went to the store that evening.  He wanted to look at the toys.  I said, "OK, but I'm not buying anything".  We walked back and he saw this "amazing" toy and he just HAD to have it.  I responded with a very calm, "No".  Much to my chagrin, he started throwing a fit.

Now, I do not believe in spanking but I do believe in setting boundaries for children through discipline.  So, what did I do next? I looked into his eyes and said, "You will sit on the floor and not cry for five minutes.  If anyone asks why you are here, tell them it is because you threw a fit".  His cute little bottom lip quivered and he nodded his head in agreement.  As he sat on the floor I watched from the end of the aisle (it was a short aisle). After that, he never threw a fit again.  He always knew my "No" was a "No".  The boundaries were established and that made raising him even easier.  And now, he is learning about making and keeping them as well.

So, what happens when you have a potential new customer walking through the door and they disrespect those boundaries (which should already be in place, if not, see: Boundaries)?   I remember about 4 months into my job two men walked through the front door.  I greeted them with my usual friendliness and began telling them about our facility and our specials.  Sadly, I knew from the moment they walked in the door that "something wasn't quite right".  They acted anxious and couldn't stand still.  They were on the defensive and responding with sarcasm to everything I said. I assumed they might be on drugs although wasn't positive about that. They both tried to pick a fight with me over our rates and move in costs.  I refused to fight back.  That made them angrier.  For some reason they just seemed to want to start something with someone for some reason but I wasn't taking the bait.  When one of them leaned over the counter and stretched his arm towards my face and pointed his finger towards me and demanded a better deal, I looked at him and said, "Sir, I do not have to rent to you, please leave my business now".  The arm fell, their mouths dropped open, they backed up and walked out the door.

As I watched them walk across the parking lot I realized they hadn't driven here.  I had this "gut" feeling that I wasn't the first business to be picked on by these two.  They were on foot and on a mission.  Our location isn't in an area where our customers arrive by foot.  I was glad I handled it like I did.  On occasion, I have had other situations arise where the boundaries have been crossed and I have had to risk losing a potential customer.  Most of the time, making the boundaries very clear has actually made the situation better and all has worked out.  On a rare occasion, I've watched a potential customer walk out the door and go elsewhere.  And there have also been times when they have gone to other facilities only to take a bite of humble pie and come back to rent from us (if I would have them back after a sincere apology).

So, what circumstances would determine whether or not to refuse a customer?

In her article "The Right To Refuse Service Or Discrimination", Stephanie Tallman Smith states:

"As a general rule, your right to refuse service can be based on one of the following five reasons:

-Partons who are unruly
-Patrons who would place your business overcapacity in violation of local fire laws
-Patrons who wish to be served after hours or just before closing, necessitating the expenditure of overtime for your employees
-Patrons who bring non-paying customers with them that require more space than one person would be reasonably be allocated.  IN other words, if a paying customer brings three non-paying customers, he or she can be refused service because it requires the use of more than the one booth allocated to the paying customer.
-Patrons who exhibit such poor hygiene that results in numerous customers leaving."

See the entire article at:

Right To Refuse Service 

Of course we always must be mindful to not refuse someone based upon our own beliefs.  This is where we can cross a fine line that is not only illegal but can also be very hurtful to the other person. 

We need to always remember that refusing someone based upon: age, race, sex (or sexual orientation), gender or religion, is a federal crime.  That's an easy one for me.  The more difficult ones are the ones listed earlier, the "gray areas" or rather, the ones that make you scratch your head and go, "Hmmmm".  Those are the ones we need to be wary of so we don't become targets ourselves.  If you read this and are still uncertain, sometimes it's a good idea to consult an attorney just to make certain we are within our legal limits to make that decision.  However, I think most circumstances are very obvious and I am a firm believer in following intuition.  It's usually right on the money.  In the meantime, here's to hoping you never have to use the information in this blog; may many happy customers come to greet you throughout your life.  

Michelle Armstrong

Manager

Star Storage

816-765-7300

Try A Little Kindness

I have been thinking about kindness a lot lately.  Listening to the lyrics to Mad World yesterday (written by Roland Orzabal of Tears For Fears) put such a sadness in my heart.  My son said, "Wow, he must have been really depressed when he wrote this". You would think, listening to the song that he was on the verge of jumping from a building.  In all actuality, Orzabal was just simply making a statement based upon his observation of people while peering outside his window.  A simple observation told him there were a lot of hurting people in our world. Yesterday, I was running through my Twitter feed and saw a tweet about anger being nothing other than the depth of someone's hurt (not a direct quote). If we could get into the habit of seeing things this way, perhaps our responses would not only change our perspective of others but maybe it would be a catalyst for change in this world.

You know, I think it would be quite wonderful if we didn't see this as a "Mad World".  Would it be too difficult to extend a kindness to someone else today?  A simple hello or how are you just isn't enough anymore.  Those greetings have become too cliche in America.  We all know when we ask someone how they are that more often than not, we don't want to hear.  It has become a superficial way of being polite.  Now, when people come into my office and I ask how they are, I DO want to know.  It means a lot to me and it also helps me to be a better service provider to them. We cannot tout ourselves as being top notch with customer service if we truly don't care. Knowing someone's circumstance can make all of the difference in the world to them and to me. I understand there are days when the office is so busy you may not have extra time to listen. In that case, bypass the socially acceptable, "How are you?" when people come in the door.  Just greet them with a huge smile and hello.  Let them know how special they are not only because they are your customer but because you see them as a person.  You can do that by complimenting them or by sharing an encouraging message when it is obvious they are down.

Allow me to elaborate, when I say encouraging, I don't mean sharing religious quotes or asking if they have been to church lately (that gets my goat more than anything when people do that to me).  We need to be very wary about doing this in any business setting. We can be encouraging by saying, "Hey, I can tell you're feeling really down today and I would like you to know that things will get better.  I've had some hard times in my life, been unemployed, lost a loved one (etc, fill in the blank with something brief, not your life story) and man, I wondered if it would ever get better, but it did.  So, hang in there, you're such a good person who deserves good things and they are just around the corner."  I remember reading a story not too long ago about a man who was planning to commit suicide. It was someone's kind words (not a friend, just a stranger) that gave him the encouragement to keep pressing on.  We don't know how many people are ready to just end it all.  In the self storage business, we see people from all walks of life and many are here not because they want to be, but because they have to be and we should be mindful of that when renting to anyone who walks through our front door.

Take some time today and think about how you would like to extend kindness to others.  When you give it, you often get it back as well.  As a matter of fact, the rule of thumb is: whatever we give, we get back.  And sometimes we get it back twice as much as we gave it.  The television show "My Name Is Earl" gives a great depiction of how it works both ways.



Now, keep in mind, being kind to everyone doesn't always mean THAT particular person will reciprocate.  However, they have their own "Karma" lesson to learn.  What normally happens is an unexpected kindness directed at you in another circumstance and sometimes even bigger than what you extended.  Just don't get caught up in being offended by the person who didn't reciprocate to miss what good things you have coming to you.  And it WILL come back to you.  It is all very much worth it.   Give it a try today.


Have a great day!

Michelle Armstrong
Manager
Star Storage
816-765-7300

The Second Worst Decision I've Ever Made (What Not To Do With Abandoned Units)

Have you ever tried something new thinking in your mind it was such a simple yet perfect idea?  I am a huge proponent of researching marketing trends before trying new ones (not researching that can be very costly in the long run) but recently I found I had a dilemma of different sorts.  I had a unit that had been abandoned.  I couldn't auction it.  No one would bid, their responses were more of a snicker coupled with rolling eyes.  It looked quite possibly like a hoarder's unit. At the time, we had limited access to a truck here so I tried to auction it...again, but to no avail.  People would come back later and ask if we still had it, would take another peek and then ask how much we would take for it.  My suggestions went from $10 to pleading them to just take it.  I was sick of looking at it.  Even "free" to my storage auction experts was not cutting it. No one wanted to deal with this unit full of trash bags, piles of clothes and stuffed animals (and oh, there was much more).  And who could blame them?

So, I came up with this grand idea that maybe I should put it on Craigslist for free. Well,  I am a little accustomed to the ways of the Pacific Northwest, laid back, easy going, not forceful, I was never yelled at by anyone there.  Patience is most definitely a virtue in the PNW. People actually slow down to waive you in on the freeway instead of purposely speeding up so you can see them give you their salutatory sign.  I decided about two months after staying here that the ways of the PNW are decidedly different from the ways of the Midwest and my ongoing situation with this unit totally confirmed this. I posted on Craigslist that I would allow people access to this unit beginning at 2 p.m., first come, first serve.  I specified they needed to leave it completely empty and clean.  Well, was I in for a surprise....

People began lining up about an hour in advance.  For the most part, they were kind but some were a little aggressive and most asked for "special favors".  Their stories ranged from having a house fire to being unemployed to being homeless. I am not doubting their stories were true at all.  Each one wanted a special favor which entailed letting them in for a "sneak peek" before anyone else.  I knew that wouldn't be fair so I made everyone wait.  However, when we ran out of parking spaces here and across the street (a totally different business not belonging to us) I opened the door 5 minutes early.  People by the droves ran back to the unit as if there was a prized jewel in the midst of it all.  As I watched the people land on that unit like flies on potato salad, a woman walked up to me and cursed me out for allowing people in 5 minutes before the advertised time.  My "Hello, McFly" moment arrived in the middle of trying to explain to her why I did what I did. As her fist came a few inches from my face, I backed up and started to walk in the office. As I watched her storm off to get into her car, I turned to look at the crowd of people going in and out the unit with bags full of items. The evil cursing lady peeled out of the parking lot screaming "Witch! Witch!" as she sped down the road.  If it wasn't the holiday season, I would have thought it was Black Friday.

As the hour went on, there were still people arriving and carrying out items. I looked back and wondered how they continued to find more items after an hour.  Was there more hidden in a black hole that had eroded away beneath that heap of hoarder gold? I swallowed over the lump in my throat and taking a deep breath, walked to the unit.  I wasn't prepared for what I saw.  It looked worse than when I initially opened the unit.  It was as if a tornado had blown through.  I cleared my throat loud enough for all to hear and exercised my authoritarian voice and as I began to force the air out of my mouth, my voice cracked like a 15 year old boy hitting puberty, "Um, uh, don't forget you all promised to clean this out when you were finished". They all looked at each other and then continued with their pillaging and plundering while I stood there in disbelief looking like the village idiot.

As I walked back to my office, I realized that this was the second worst idea I ever had. The first being the time I climbed on the school roof in high heels during my high school senior year right after an ice storm.  I thought I had learned my lesson in bad ideas since then.  Apparently the years had wiped my memory clean of that one.  In any event, I knew deep in my heart this was going to hurt as bad as it did when I fell off the roof and into that second story window on that cold winter's day back in my days of being young and stupid.  Only this time, I knew I wouldn't garner the prestigious honor of being chosen the 'Senior Class Clown'.  There was no reward for this feat, only rotten tomatoes.

Two hours later, two women and a child were still in the unit.  I walked back there and one of the women said, "I'm really sorry, we're trying to put everything back the way it was".  I said thank you and again walked away knowing my brilliant idea had miserably failed.  It was a lesson learned and one that has not been repeated.  After that, we hired someone with a truck and we pay them to clean up the units that we are unable to auction. The truth is, I inherited quite a few unwanted and abandoned units when I began managing this facility which prompted me to quickly change the collections process.  As a result, auctions are now (gladly) rare here.  That still doesn't keep people from moving "most" of their belongings out and leaving behind what they don't want.

The culture shock still hasn't worn off but I have wised up a bit since that day.  I put nicer items on Craigslist, maybe one or two items at a time.  It makes it more manageable when there are only one or two items.  I give people a time limit and never leave my phone number on the ad anymore (yes, I had done that, too).  I don't do "favors" for anyone because then I could be holding the items forever.  It is on a first come, first serve basis.  If they don't show within the hour I tell them I will call the next person.  I regained control and have the upper hand now.  It feels kind of good.  Quite a change from the mass chaos that took place here a few months ago in that unit.  I know I'm not the only one who makes mistakes during the learning process.  Maybe I shouldn't be admitting to them at all.  However, there was a lot of humor in this sad mistake and if we can see the humor in our mistakes while learning from them, it might make us better people for it. And if it doesn't, at least someone has laughed.

Michelle Armstrong
Manager
Star Storage
816-765-7300