ABC's of self-storage customers..

orginally appeared: http://www.selfstoragenow.com/JanFeb08/ManagerHelper.html

Thank you to Tammy Leroy and staff

http://www.selfstoragenow.com/

The ABCs of Self Storage Customers

By John R. Wharton Are you marketing to all of the potential customers in your market? This A to Z list should get your creativity flowing!

A is for Architects, art departments at local colleges, and accountants B is for Baseball teams, boat owners, and banks C is for Contractors, colleges, car buffs, cluttered buildings, churches, and college students D is for Doctors’ offices, decorators, and dry cleaners E is for Entrepreneurs, engineers, eBay sellers, and event planners F is for Financial planners, florists, and furniture stores G is for Golf courses, garages, and general contractors H is for Handymen, healthcare businesses, hospitals, and HVAC contractors I is for Industrial parks, independent distributors, and Internet businesses J is for Journeymen, jazz bands, and janitorial servicesK is for Kennels, kayaks, and kids’ toys L is for: Landscapers, law offices, and locksmiths M is for Military, movers, and marching bands N is for Non-Profit groups, newlyweds, and nursing homes O is for Optometrists, outdoor advertisers, and professional organizers P is for Pharmaceutical reps, printers, plumbers, painters, and publishers Q is for Quilters and quality control specialists R is for RVs, relocation services, restaurants, and Realtors S is for Stagers, schools, siding contractors, and seniors T is for Teachers, tax accountants, theater productions, and trade shows U is for U.S. Army, upholsterers, and utility companies V is for Vending, vocational, veterinarians, and video equipment W is for welders, wine collectors, wholesalers, and wedding planners X is for X-ray laboratories and Xerox machines Y is for Youth organizations and yoga studios Z is for Zoos and all businesses in your ZIP code

Making NOISE at your self-storage facility to attract customers

originally appeared http://www.selfstoragenow.com/JulAug07/MakeSomeNoise.html

NOISE

Make some N.O.I.S.E at your business

To really make "noise" and attract attention from your community, adopt these practices:

N is for Neighbors

Introduce yourself to your business neighbors. You may be missing our on sales or partnerships opportunities by not introducing yourself to the owner of the local bakery, shipping and packing store, or coffee shop. Who better to refer customers to you than the business next door? Perhaps they will have a storage need in the near future. You definitely want to break into their circle of influence, and develop a strategical alliance. The more visible you become the easier it is for them to refer business to you. Know your immediate surroundings. Walk into the neighboring office with a giving attitude and see if you can be of assistance.

O is for OUTSIDE

Remember that marketing is an action verb. The age old strategy of hitting the streets and going door to door works! Of course, your will hear "NO" more often than you hear "YES", but that is the name of the game. The numbers eventually work out, and you never know where the next relationship will take you.

I is for INSIDE

Don't forget the focus on the customers inside of your business. Who is a better referral source for you, then people already using your product. They trust you. They spend time, energy and money with you. They want to help you and bring you business.

Your customer base is a true referral gold mine, which can continued to be tapped, and massaged. This too requires getting out of the office, walking the property and getting involved with your customers.

S is for Sales.

Do some reading on sales, and personal relationship skills. Find out your weakest and strongest points, and improve. You should be consciously varying your sales approach for different groups, singles mothers, sports teams, commercial customers.

ASK FOR THE SALE.

Do you want to pay cash or credit for that? Would you like a large box? A milkshake?

Create a sense of urgency, make a personal connections, get a valid copy of an email or driver's license. Follow up!

E is for Educate

Continue to educate yourself about your industry, environment, community and competition. Information is powerful. Educate your customers or potential customers on why they should choose you.

Follow the NOISE principal and use it daily.

The ART of the THANK YOU NOTE

The written word is sweet, damaging, helpful, and misleading, but it can also be genuine, trusting, thankful and honest. Our word is all we got. It is how we communicate. Tell stories, pass information, give complaints or breathe thanks.

Remember words can hurt or help, so why not spend each day, or week, writing a few choice words to that special business customer you have obtained through grass roots marketing, or your best referral source, or District Manager, or local editor of the newspaper, or assistant manager's wife, or local Chamber of Commerce Rep, or Realtor, UPS man, pizza guy, newspaper delivery boy.

I was a newspaper delivery boy for years before and after school, and my hands hand ink on them, my Sony Walkman had ink on it, my handlebars of my gray diamond back bicycle on ink on it, and much later my mother's tan minivan which i used to transport hundreds of papers had ink on them, but the INK that struck me the hardest and that is still tattooed on my brain is the ink of thank you notes from customers, sometimes with a little cash. But I could feel their words and hear their words when i read their cards.

I still keep thank you cards in my business now, and have created an album for customers to look through, while I'm on the phone.

I also took my mother's advice and would hand write thank you notes to all my customers, aunts and uncles, and now business contacts

It is fun.
It gets you noticed.
It is sincere.

I recently wrote a thank you note to the paperboy who delivers a morning paper to our storage facility and put $10.00 in there. They came back and rented a unit 6 months later.

The power of the written word.

jrw

make some noise at your storage facility

Business is all about the people and relationships

My business I manage is 3.5 years young, and I'm convinced with each day that goes by, that the business, would be nothing without the customers. I believe we exist for the customers.

Although, sometimes it is hard to find the balance between...customer service and being the liason for the corporate office, but that is where people skills come into play. I also believe with the more experience I have, and the more situations I endure, the more confidence I will have in handling business situations they may present themselves on a daily basis.

Just like any relationship. The 1st year you have to breach the subject about who's house you are going to for Thanksgiving, but as each year goes by hopefully you have found a comprimise, and can come to anticipate situations presenting themselves.

Again, the longer I'm in the storage business. I believe it is more and more about the people I encounter, the relationships I build, the community,and my local chamber of commerce and rotary club.

It does not matter what business I was running, self-storage, coffee shop, T-shirt stand, it is not about the item I am selling, but the people in my community, and my relationships with them.

Relationships take work, they can go up and down like the economy, and sometimes have to be fixed, or jump started, but they are all we really have.

I encourage you to look to your local community, chamber of commerce, business networking group, or rotary club, and say..."What can I do for the group?"

jrw

NOISE
Make some NOISE at your facility with Grass Roots Marketing!

To really make “noise” and attract attention from your community, adopt these practices:

N is for Neighbors। Introduce yourself to your business neighbors। You might be missing out on sales opportunities by not introducing yourself to the owner of the nearby bakery. Who better to refer customers to you than the business next door? Perhaps they’ll have a storage need you can take care of in the future. You want to break into their circle of contacts, so you must become visible to them. Know your immediate surroundings. Walk into the offices next to you, introduce yourself, and ask if you can be of assistance.

O is for Outside. Remember that marketing is an action verb. The age-old strategy of hitting the streets and going door to door works!
Of course, you’ll hear “no” more often than “yes”, but that’s the way it works। The numbers work out eventually, and you never know whom you may meet। I is for Inside।Don’t forget to focus on the customers inside your facility. Who is a better resource for you than current customers who know and use your product? Your customer base is a true referral goldmine. Tap into it and set up a dynamic referral program. This, too, requires getting out of the office. Walk the property to get to know your customers, their needs, their businesses, and what is going on in your community.

Doing some reading on sales techniques will help you see what you are best at and weakest at।

You should be consciously varying your sales approach for different groups, such as single mothers, commercial customers, or soldiers. Regardless of which approach you use, ask for the sale. “Do you want to pay for that with a credit card or cash?” is a simple question to ask. “Would you like to rent it today?” and “Can we move you in right away?” also work. Create a sense of urgency. At the least, get a phone number and follow up the next day.E is for Educate. Continue to educate yourself about your competition, your industry, and your surroundings. Information is powerful. Educate your customers about self-storage, what your competitors offer, and why they should choose your facility.
JRW

Marketing and Motivating both start with "M"

The letter "M". It is basically the "M"iddle of the alphabet, and easy sound, and delicious letter, but when it comes to motivating your troops sometimes you have to yell "move it!". I'm convinced in my 4.5 years of running a small business, that it is no coincidence that marketing and motivating, both start with the letter "M". Whether, you are motivating your customer base to bring you more referrals, motivating your managers to market the business, or your sales reps to do 5 more cold calls or "pop ins." I'm convinced you can substitute the word motivating for marketing in a businesses today. Let's market to 5 business within a 2 mile radius today to let them know we exist, and are interest in slowly building relationships, or lets motivate 5 businesses today, within a 2 mile radius to visit us during their lunch break, and take a tour of our location.

Marketing is motivating your current customers to bring you more business.
Marketing is motivating your potential customers to come to you for their needs.
Often they don't know they have this "need" until you introduce yourself to them, and point it out in a very subtle charming way, as we sales people do. Remember we create and maintain relationships on a daily basis, and pay attention to people and our surroundings. Situational awareness.

I remember basketball camp in Carisle PA, in the late 80's early 90's with Jeff Lebo, Billy Owens, and his father Coach Dave Lebo, at Dickinson College, I will never forget Jeff Leo said he would shoot, and make in a row 25-50 foul shots, before he would go home after practice, and also shoot before school in the morning. He strongly believed if HE wasn't practicing someones was, and ONE day they were going to meet and play "one on one", and they would beat him.

Hmmm.

If I'm not marketing my business, service, or product, then someone else is motivating or marketing my customer base, and one day they are going to NEED what I got, but go to the competition.

Thanks Coach lebo, for teaching me to "MOVE without the Ball."

make some noise at your business

jrw