I hate companies that have a computerized, punch-in-the –last-name-with-your-key-pad answering systems phone systems.
I hang up.
Unless I have no choice but to deal with them – like the phone or cable company. And then I hate it even more. By the time I finally get someone human on the phone, I’m not always the nicest person.
I like doing business with companies that answer their phone.
I like BEING a company that answers’ their phone.
In the self storage business, one of the decisions you’re going to have to make is wither or not to use an answering service or call center to answer the phones when no manager is available.
We usually budget that expense into our facilities.
I’ve had a lot of you all ask me about self storage call centers when you see my numbers, so I thought I would address it here.
There are a lot of pros and cons about answering services/call centers for self storage.
Ultimately however, it depends on your business strategy. That should be the document that informs you if an answering service/call center is right for you.
I have two brands of self storage, two sets of managing partners, and two sets of beliefs about them. One uses it and one does not. I wanted to get that on the record up front.
Here is why I avoided them for so long:
I always test, rent from, and know about my competitors in any given submarket we are in. I always start with a walk in, then I call.
Companies that have a call service were often very annoying. They would use such a hard sell on the phone to get me in for an appointment that, in real life, I would never have rented from them.
But I do understand the thinking behind it, and have some respect for it. The theory is that if you can set up an appointment, then you have a 90% or better chance of closing the deal when they show up.
But, I didn’t want to be that company. I hated the experience as a customer. I was convinced that there was a better way.
One of the problems with this model that I saw was that these call centers are compensated for every appointment they set up. I wondered if there were any that were compensated another way.
I found out there was.
So we tested it.
We tried it with one of our large facility that was so busy that the manager was often unable to answer the phone and that had more customers than our average facility.
We started getting three to five rentals per month from the answering service as well as someone who could talk to a customer after hours who had an issue at the facility, had a billing issue or some other kind of problem.
So, our larger brand started using call centers for all our facilities.
However, our business strategy is to have the most expensive units in our submarkets.
This requires a certain level of employee, a certain level of cleanliness, a certain security level, and a certain level of customer service. The call centers fall in line with the customer service portion of that equation for us.
So, what’s YOUR business strategy, and how would a call center fit or not fit into that equation?
Look, I know all of us are very full now. Why would we need one? “We don’t have units we can even rent if someone call in.”
I hear this often. Even from some of our partners.
This is a valid point and I know call centers are not the be-all and end-all solution to customer service issues. I get upset with ours a lot, especially when I go to a voice mail on their service and I know I’m paying them a monthly fee. They do return the call back quickly after hours, however, and/or have the manager call me back quickly during business hours.
But remember my prediction, this high occupancy we are experiencing now will not last forever. We want to be the company that offered high customer service during good times as well as down times in the economy.
It just fits our business strategy.
Also, as a smaller owner, you can piggyback off the REITS business strategies. Believe me, they do nothing that does not generate a profit.
Their research is top notch. If a practice they institute does not generate a positive ROI, they know it, and it ceases or evolves into something that does.
We can learn a lot from them on how to find, build, and run a self storage business.
They all use call centers.
That also got my attention.
But as I said earlier, it ultimately comes back to your business strategy and how you want your company or facility to fit in the market.
So that’s my long winded answer to the question “Should we have a call center or answering service?”
My short answer, as always, would be: “It depends.”
