KSS January eKourier 2023

FEATURE

SSAA CONFERENCE - UNLOCKING THE NEW NORMAL The 2022 SSAA Conference was held on the Gold Coast, Qld, from the 9th to the 11th of November. This was the first real industry get-together in almost three years, given a few postponements with the challenges that COVID presented. Our Kennards team consisted of Sam Kennard (CEO), Tony Vuong (Gen Mgr Ops), Kellie Robley (QLD Ops Mgr) and myself.

for questions and ideas on how to make their own business successful, 'like KSS'. Processes like waiting lists, flexibility in length of storage and a Modern Agreement are just a few advantages that set us apart. Running concurrently with the seminars was a trade show, which allowed many of the industry’s suppliers to showcase their current offerings. Many of our own suppliers attended and it was a great opportu - nity to compare them to their counterparts. The final presentation was a panel of Industry Leaders - including our own Sam Kennard, along with the CEO's of National Storage, Storage King and Rent-a-Space (pictured above). The camaraderie on display not only in the panel, but the entire conference, demonstrated that the industry has committed to succeeding together. These may be our competitors, but it was clear that everyone had made the decision to focus on Achievement ahead of competition.

L to R: Ray Adams (KSS West End), Kellie Robley, Wayne Boyle (KSS Coorparoo), Nicky Goodwin, David Bauze (KSS Newstead), Jared Mobbs and Tony Vuong

O n the first morning, there were Facility Tours, where we visited Kennards Self Storage at Southport (pictured below) and the Biggera Waters site of National Storage. Both centres are relatively new, with Southport a part of our 2020 class, and the National Storage site opening in 2021.

the presentation of the centres. For me, this reaffirmed the commitment KSS has to the hiring, development and growth of our Team Members and is key to what sets us apart from the competition. For the remainder of the conference there were seminars available, giving attendees a chance to learn some new skills or delve into the current state of the industry. Some great topics included: Smarter Facilities, Unlocking your Neighbourhood, Cybersecurity and Storage 3.0. An interesting point of debate throughout seemed to be two opinions on the future of self storage; fully automated centres verses a consumer desire to have more human contact in a post-COVID world. Attending a few of these seminars (namely a few geared at newer and smaller operators) was a great reassur - ance of the superior product and storage solutions we offer. It was quite humbling to have some of the small operators come up to us and press us

While both locations had their positives, there were two real

standouts between our site and the National site - the friendliness and engagement of our team with the visitors and the pride taken in delivering

Jared Mobbs NSW Operations Manager

9 Kennards Kourier Jan 2023