ISS BLOG - Keep Calm and Carry On! Customer-Conflict Stories and Advice From Your Fellow Self-Storage Managers
Unless you’re the type of person who’s always spoiling for a fight, you probably aim to avoid conflict in your life as much as possible. As a self-storage manager, however, you’re in the service industry, and that can mean occasional friction with tenants. We gathered anecdotes and advice from facility operators on how to resolve these tricky or tense situations.
In the years before I went to college, I held quite a few jobs in the retail industry. As you can imagine, there’s a big customer-service component attached to these positions. And when you’re dealing with people, clashes can happen.
I had very little training on how to interact with upset customers. I was young and inexperienced, so more often than not, I looked to a coworker or supervisor for help. When it wasn’t available, I stumbled through the situation, unsure whether I was saying or doing the right thing.
When you work in a service industry like self-storage, conflict comes with the job. Most facility managers have found themselves embroiled in a heated discussion with a tenant a time or two. While these tense situations can be uncomfortable, a good manager knows how to handle them appropriately.
I asked several of your peers to share disputes they’ve had with a tenants, how they resolved them and what they learned from the experience. Following are their stories. Note: They’ve been edited for brevity and clarity.
The Bad Self-Storage Tenant
Brittney Accardo, Resident Manager, Mt. Olive Storage, Duarte, California
Conflict can arise when dealing with tenants who refuse to follow the facility rules. I had a tenant who rented 20 parking spaces for their business and thought they owned the facility. They were constantly coming in after hours, parking their equipment in unassigned spaces, and even damaged our gate by hitting it while trying to tailgate instead of punching in their code.
We gave them many warnings and charged appropriate fees. Needless to say, they didn't comply, and we had to terminate their leases. The customer was very argumentative and made the situation as difficult as he could for us.
If I could’ve done something differently, I would’ve emailed them more as the form of communication instead of having verbal altercations or texting them. I would’ve kept better notes—they’ll save your life. The best advice I could give is take good notes and reach out to upper management for guidance. We are better when we work together.
The Customer-on-Customer Confrontation
Jordan Bowers, Manager, View Pointe Self Storage, Edgewood, Washington
We experienced an uncommon situation of customer-on-customer conflict. A female tenant made a claim that a male tenant had followed her into an area of the property that she had access to but he didn’t and initiated a verbally hostile confrontation. We filled out an incident report and typed a written statement for her to sign. Once completed, we reviewed our facility footage. We were able to confirm the customer's claim and inform our district manager of the situation, including the steps we’d be taking, which involved getting the other customer’s side of the story.
In any situation where we must speak to a customer about their possible actions, we can’t overly stress the importance of initiating without accusing. We want to give the customer the opportunity to tell their side, as it’s possible that things can be misinterpreted or occur outside of camera angles.
We also stress the importance of having reviewed all footage available because it allows us to have as much insight into the situation as possible. We might experience situations where claims don’t match what was captured on camera. As self-storage managers, we need to be as aware of what happens on our properties for everyone’s safety and ensure our customers have the best experience possible.
If I could provide a general guideline, it would be to review all footage, gather all sides of the story and speak to your management team before making any decisions. Don’t be afraid to advocate for your customers if you feel it’s necessary, and speak up on what you believe the next steps should be. Everyone thinks differently, and you might present a solution that others hadn’t thought of that could be helpful to someone else should a similar situation arise. You are part of a team. Reach out to your support systems and handle every situation with an open mind.
The Threatening Self-Storage Tenant
Alex Shelton, Site Manager, Mission RV and Mini Storage, Peoria, Arizona
As storage managers, we’ll come across tenants you can’t please. For example, we have a long-time tenant who has been storing with us since the late 80s. He wanted to pay his six accounts with one check. Normally that isn’t an issue; but since he’s been with us so long, he has six different accounts with different anniversary dates. Unfortunately, we can’t accept a one-check payment. He has been made aware of this many times. Upon explaining it again, he got very agitated. He then decided to call me every name in the book and threatened me with, “When I come back, you’re going to get it.”
The best thing I could do was stay calm, and be polite and respectful, as hard as that was. I did my best to ease the tension and eventually he listened to what I had to say. Unfortunately, I had to call the local police because of the threat to my life. Officers arrived and helped defuse the situation. They explained that threats wouldn’t be tolerated and that we have certain policies and procedures that we must abide. After all, he shook my hand and apologized for his behavior.
This customer, for instance, was given the opportunity to express his feelings. I was understanding as I knew what he was going through outside of this situation. Knowing that helped me stay calm and respectful.
The best advice I would give is to stay calm and listen. Let them express their feelings. Get to know your customers. Hold conversations outside of just business. Ask them how life is going. Most customers just want to be heard and valued.
Focus on Prevention
Jason Hansen, Manager, Grand Central Storage, Yucca Valley, California
Many people believe that conflict resolution happens at a conflict point. Really, it begins long before a conflict ever arises. It's more about prevention. In the storage industry, we have a longer period of time in which to interact with customers and establish relationships, boundaries and expectations. This makes a potential conflict a lot easier to handle in the future.
There are many approaches for conflict resolution. What I’ve found works best is just creating those relationships. Allow that other person to know who you are and get to know them really well. This way, when something comes up, it's a much easier conversation. People will feel comfortable and safe to come to you with an issue. Most of the time, they also approach an issue calmer and are more understanding.
If you do have a situation, I suggest incorporating these steps. First, I keep my voice calm, listen to their situation/problem, and let them know that I understand their situation. I repeat back key points to show I’m listening. That tends to calm them down. Work with them to propose solutions that fit the company guidelines and get them to agree to them. In many cases, just being calm will ultimately diffuse the situation.
On the rare occurrence when someone is just uncontrollably irate, you may have to be a little tougher. In this case, I use a stronger tone of voice like a parent. I let them know that I won’t continue to accept their behavior and we’re going to solve this in a better manner. If they don't comply with that request, then we can take further steps like getting law enforcement involved. Again, that’s incredibly rare.
It really all comes down to relationships, establishing boundaries and creating expectations before something goes wrong. When something does, use a calm tone of voice, listen, be understanding and solve the problem to the best of your ability based on company policy. Everyone wins!
More Sound Advice
Linda Montgomery, Manager, Thunderbird Mini Storage, Peoria, Arizona
Conflict is the same whether it’s in the storage business or personal. The key is to listen intently to the issue, then paraphrase back to the complainant what you understand it to be. Once this is established, both people are on the same page and resolution is just around the corner.
After listening and paraphrasing, offer several of the following options to resolve the problem. Once an agreement is acceptable, be sure to do the following. Let them know:
Who’ll fix the problem and that you’ll personally verify that it’ll be resolved
What’ll be done by either you or another person
When the resolution is expected
Where/how the proof of completion will be presented (email, mail or phone)
If—and only if—your offers of solution aren’t acceptable to the complainant, then ask them, “What or how do you see this issue being resolved?” Only ask this question if no other means has been suitable. When you do this, it puts the solution back into the hands of the tenant, who may request the unreasonable. When an offer is made that can’t be fulfilled due to policies, conflict may begin again.
Help When You Need It
While it’s possible that you’ll someday face an uncomfortable or awkward situation with a self-storage tenant, being prepared can make it less painful. Learn how to approach these occurrences with professionalism and a plan. If you do find yourself in a conflict with a tenant coworker or even a supervisor, reach out to the members of Self-Storage Talk for advice. The online community is free to join and open 24/7!
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