StorageMart Head of Marketing Tron Jordheim Featured in Columbia Business Times

Tron Jordheim, who serves as chief marketing officer for Columbia, Mo.-based StorageMart, which owns and operates 163 self-storage facilities in Canada and the United States, as well as director of PhoneSmart, which provides call-center services and sales training to the storage industry, was recently profiled as a “Person You Should Know” by the “Columbia Business Times,” a local media outlet. In the profile, Jordheim discusses his background and shares highlights of his life and career. Interesting tidbits include how he started his first business in the sixth grade with a roll of paper towels and a can of window cleaner, and his stint as a dog trainer, selling protection dogs to police departments and private citizens. Jordheim also managed one of Culligan’s top U.S. bottled-water franchises, promoted rock bands and cleaned offices prior to entering the world of self-storage.

He also playfully claims to be one of the originators of rap music, having co-written “a funky little groove with spoken word rhymes” called “The Rap” in 1978 with James Brickhouse. “‘Rapper’s Delight’ by The Sugar Hill Gang came out the next year, and the rest is history,” Jordheim says in the article.

A frequent speaker at the Inside Self-Storage (ISS) World Expo and a regular contributor to the ISS magazine and website, Jordheim has also written a book about how StorageMart managed its business during the Great Recession titled “The First Rule of Selling: How StorageMart Led an Industry Out of Recession.”

The profile also includes some of Jordheim’s philosophies on marketing and management. “Marketing is not for the weak. You take many calculated risks. You lose almost as often as you win. Bigger and better-funded competitors are always kicking you in the teeth,” he said. “Managing people is only for people who like people and enjoy watching them develop and succeed. And being a leader is great if you have some realistic expectations.”

Founded in 1999, StorageMart serves more than 75,000 self-storage customers across Canada and the United States. The company operates in Chinese, English, Punjabi, Quebecois French  and Spanish, according to the source.

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