The Little Things
About the Author
Timm has worked in Self Storage for over 10 years... so it's only fitting that he came to work for StorMan when he was looking for a bit of a change. Timm currently resides in the United States and is our Sales Manager for this region.
You can get in touch with Timm via our Contact page.
Thank you to everyone who is trying to follow the rollercoaster that is “Timm working at StorMan”. Today is my last day... again. Some have suggested that I only keep leaving because, in his generosity, Ben shout’s a pub lunch for all staff whenever someone leaves StorMan. Ignore all those years of me saying "Ben wouldn't shout if a shark bit him" - that was just jealousy.
Mind you - last time I left, due to the urgency of my departure, instead of getting a "going away party", Ben threw a “gone away party” which meant all the other staff got their pub lunch and I had to hear about the rump steaks and beers from a car travelling south with a stale sausage roll and weak coffee as a substitute.
However, that was my choice (not bitter much) and was covered in an earlier blog. This time, however, I am not technically leaving StorMan - just re-locating to the USA to get my teeth stuck into a new market and to get away from the continually bad horse tips that still flow through on a weekly basis (you still know who you are).
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the advice on what beers to drink, what suburbs to avoid and what not to yell out the windows of a moving car on the freeway. So, with any luck, I will be back later in the year to discuss my spy mission on the US industry and will be more than happy to divulge any secrets or tricks and tips I learn to anyone who will listen.
Just be aware that I am a double agent and am keen to see if the US industry can learn some things humbly from this Aussie company.
I am in the process of crossing the “T”s and dotting the “I”s (and some of the lower case “j”s), packing bags, signing forms and in the midst of all this - after 10 years in the industry & talking to storage operators new and old every day and spending all day thinking about streamlining storage centre’s what is the last thing Timm forgot to do? That’s right. I am leaving the country for the better part of 5 years, and I forgot to organize my storage! So I rang around as a customer who actually knew exactly what I needed, how I would move it, when I was moving it and how much I would approximately be paying.
I'm sure you've all heard them, but a lot of operators still went through the motions of asking me the following...
- How much stuff have you got? (it's 20 cubic meters, just in case you wondering)
- How are you moving it here? (it's packed in a trailer at the moment)
- How long do you need storage for? (5 years; I am going O/S for work)
- What's your best price so far? ($100 - $200 per month)
All legitimate questions and the answers to them would help solve my storage needs... but in the end, my goods went to storage with the one person who asked me a question that is not even related to these things. Just imagine the winning salesperson asking me question 3.5: “Oh okay... you are going overseas, where are you headed?”.
After 4 calls each about 5 minutes long that consisted of me explaining that I have worked in storage, I know what I need and want, and I just need to know if you have the space and the price etc (arrogant customer alert) this one store’s manager had me on the phone talking for 10 minutes and we weren’t even talking about storage anymore! Then, towards the end of the conversation, we agreed I would just bring the trailer down, lock it in a secure area and it never has to be loaded and unloaded again. And, I promised to send him a postcard from L.A!
I couldn't tell you how much I'm paying per month, but the experience on the phone was so engaging that I was sold! So much so, that I'm signed-up to "autopay" the account using my credit card.
The moral of the story is that even someone as seasoned at this storage lark (me), can still be swayed by someone doing just the smallest things differently. And it really was the smallest of things - a simple question that no-one else asked me. With StorMan, it is even possible now to mention in my account (yes this store uses StorMan) that "Timm is in L.A", etc ...so if anyone goes near my trailer of goodies, someone who wasn’t on the phone for 10 minutes with me like this manager was, will know the story and know that I am enjoying life a million miles from my trailer.
Taking the "little things" idea one step further, StorMan even has a customer in Melbourne, Australia that has all their clients tell the staff know what football team they support (called AFL in the southern states – or "aerial ping pong" in the northern states). When each customer PINs into the building, the staff can mention how good (or bad) their team is going. Every customer thinks it is amazing that the staff can remember 1000+ customers and what football team they barrack for - considering some of these customers haven’t been into the store in 6 months or more!
It may not seem that important but this store has an average length of stay for commercial and residential clients approximately 28% above the state average (to them this represents an extra 50 days per customer). Sure, there may be other factors - but just imagine if all this extra income is derived simple from knowing what football team someone supports!
All that said, here’s how easy it is to sell to me, just remember the little things....
- I am a long suffering Queensland Reds fan
- I am a longer suffering Kansas City Chiefs fan
- Don’t even get me started on the Cubs and Aston Villa
- My coffee comes white with 2 sugars (not that you would know it considering it is my last day here and am the "coffee gopher", it appears)
God help me in the United States, seeing as I have a credit card with a high limit and am an easy target ...go easy on me please! :-) This is my last blog from Australia for a while so thanks again all and the next post will be from the sunny 'States! Enjoy...
Regards,
Timm (International Sales Representative, StorMan).
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