A Guest Installment by Joel Little, Head Sales Coach, PhoneSmart

No matter what part of the self-storage industry you are in, there will be some level of stress and pressure. Whether you are someone who believes your job is insignificant or the person sitting in the big chair running the show, you will at times feel the pressure of your job. One thing staff at all levels of a company should understand is every job is important and all employee positions make a company function. Everyone in a company is faced with daily, weekly or monthly decisions that could affect a portion of the company or the operation as a whole. Unfortunately, we do not always envision the end result of our actions when we are making our choices.

Those of us involved in self-storage do not typically wake up from our daily rest and think we can change the world today. If you think that way, then more power to you, but for the most part, changing the world doesnt happen in one day. Instead, it takes time, and many decisions have to be made. In fact, getting out of bed this morning was a decision you had to make. What would have happened if you didnt get up? Who would be affected by your decision? How would the company suffer? Many do not see something as simple as getting out of bed being detrimental to the company, but who has to pick up the job duties of the person who chooses to lie in bed?

If you are a self-storage manager or even a rep who answers the phone, how you decide to treat the customer is very important. Everyone likes to talk about getting as many rentals as they can, but is that the mentality of those who deal with customers on a daily basis? Do they make sound decisions that give every customer the best service possible and represent their company well? Are they trying to get every rental?

In order to do that, they have to decide to be helpful, friendly, answer any questions customers have and use their industry knowledge to entice customers to rent space from them. Does the owner(s) of your company make decisions that help or hurt staff in the field? Does the owner fully understand how things work in the field? Even the smallest decisions can make a big impact on a company.

You should always want to do your best 100 percent of the time. Obviously, we are all human and make mistakes. The key is to minimize mistakes, learn from them when they occur, and make sound decisions. After all, we dont always know the full effect our decisions can have on the people around us or even our company.

Joel Little is the head sales coach at PhoneSmart, a self-storage call center and marketing firm. He's been in the self-storage industry for more than five years, and has been in retail management for more than a decade. He strives daily to help improve the self-storage industry one call at a time, gaining insight from each customer. For more information, visit www.phone-smart.net.