Buyers remorse is something any salesperson wants to avoid at all costs. The best means of avoiding it is to confront it. As the old cartoon character Pogo used to say, We have met the enemy and he is us!

Records storage provides a good way for owners to make money, but also provides great value to customers. In an era where many companies are apt to take advantage of their stakeholders, its refreshing to find a business opportunity thats good for everyone involved. Records storage is highly valuable to its users for four primary reasons:

First, saving business records is always a pain in the neck. People only save them for fear of the unknown or out of regulative compliance, not because they want to. And they are plagued with common questions: Which records do I keep? How long do I have to keep them? What can I toss out? How do I protect myself from audit, litigation or fraud? There are no easy answers.

Second, the time and effort to manage records and the space in which to keep them are always an issue. The volume of records only increases over time, making the task of record-keeping more demanding. As any business matures, its records amass. The average growth rate for new enterprises is 25 percent or more, while established businesses experience 7 percent to 9 percent escalation per year.

Third, people will always need access to their records at the most inconvenient time. In the records-management industry, we have a saying: Business records go from the basement to the boardroom overnight. No one needs records until they need records. Files are unimportant until they become very important. You dont ever know which items will be crucial until something goes wrong.

Finally, records are often difficult to locate. We have all had the experience of trying to find a business record without success. Is it lost? Has it been discarded? Is it just missing in action? It never fails that the item you need most will be the most elusive.

Selling with No Remorse

Its very common for people to second-guess their buying decision after making a purchase, especially if it was for significant money. As a salesperson, if you understand that buyers remorse is a natural reaction, you can take steps to ensure customers feel good about their choices:

These steps are easy to accomplish when selling records storage within a self-storage operation because the service does exactly what it claims. If you honor your commitment to your customer, he will always be happy, knowing records storage is inexpensive and good for his business.

The value of the service is easy to validate and demonstrate, making it simple to banish buyers remorse. Again, lets consider the benefits:

The great thing about providing records storage is you can do it with existing manpower, outsource any additional labor, and provide services with no overhead. Hows that for avoiding sellers remorse?

Cary F. McGovern is the principal of FileMan Records Management, which offers full-service assistance for commercial records-storage startups and sales training in commercial records-management operations. For help with feasibility determination, operational implementation or marketing support, call 877.FILEMAN; e-mail [email protected]; visit www.fileman.com.