KSS eKourier April 2022

Kennards Kourier K EDITION: APRIL 2022

QLD FLOODING EVENT

ACHIEVEMENT DINNER THROUGH THE AGES

KSS HOISTS THE FLAG AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAY

WHAT'S EASIER, MOVING HOUSE OR PRETENDING TO?

WELCOME TO KSS CUSTOMER CARE

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IN THIS ISSUE

Message From Sam

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10 Questions With...

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Team Member Profiles 5 Achievement Dinner Through The Ages 6 - 7 Whats Easier Moving House... 7 QLD Flooding Event 8 - 9 Business As Usual... 9 Uni 2 Beyond... 10 KSS Hoists The Flag... 11 Usability Testing 12 Welcome To KSS Customer Care 13 Spotlight On... 14 Another One Done... 15 - 16 Reviews 16 Northern Rivers Donation 17 Nevs Notes 18 Kennards Community 19

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Deadline: June 3, 2022 Editor: Sharon Munro Email: sharon@kss.com.au Distribution: July 15, 2022

Front cover: The Slatter Family helping create the new Branded KSS photo library. See the full article on page 7.

Kennards Self Storage Wetherill Park NSW

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It has always interested me to see how our storage spaces get used by people and enterprise. The range of life circumstances, personal change and business innovation that we play a role in, is quite amazing. SPACE FOR CHANGE MESSAGE FROM SAM

T he more people change their life or work, it seems the more business we get. The Covid-19 pandemic and the government responses have been a supercharger for change too and we have seen a significant increase in demand (with the exceptions of lockdown areas) from July to September. As we all emerged from the imposed lockdowns in March-April, people went into overdrive to change their housing, their work, their business and so on. People have moved home; moved back to mum and dad; set up their home office; accelerated their sea-change or tree-change plans; taken business online; set up home gyms; bought cars and reclaimed their garage; reorganised their work places and so on. Often needing new space.

Peaking in August, our Australian business (excluding lockdown Victoria) enjoyed a 23% higher level of move-ins over August 2019. Remarkably, NSW (which imposed the lightest touch with lockdown stringency) stood out with a 29% increase. In August, we also enjoyed very strong bounce in New Zealand where move-ins were up 17%. After a surge of move-outs in April and May, there was a significant and surprising rebound. As global pandemics are a new thing for all of us, we had no idea that this new demand would emerge. Everything has been moving very quickly, many changes to our lives, extraordinary new restraints and imposts on people, with many political leaders seeming to enjoy their powers, despite the inconsistency and unpredictability they demonstrate. It is reasonable to assume that we should anticipate more volatility and for this reason our growth plans remain cautious and conservative.

In the meanwhile, we are making progress on our new website which will re-set us in the sector. The user experience will be market leading and unique to our consumer base. We hope the experience will really differentiate us and lead us to win more business. It introduces a range of innovations that have significant operational changes. These include the new insurance offer and the new Storage Agreement, with its easier and more flexible execution obligations. The new agreement and its sign-once philosophy breaks new ground in the self storage industry. It departs from legacy paper-based rules and becomes more appropriate in our modern digital environment. And, importantly, the website will hero a new headline - Space For Change - which could not be more appropriate and timely.

Sam Kennard Chief Executive Officer

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WHO’S WHO

10 QUESTIONS... With Leng Tang - Centre Manager Waterloo

Left: Leng at KSS Waterloo. Right: Buswalking in the Blue Mountains

to complete an online Interior Design course…trying being the operative word. Name a person who has inspired you? Helen Keller – a reminder that there is no excuse when you have all your God-given faculties. Where did you grow up? I was born in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. My family was displaced due to the Khmer Rouge Regime and were sent to the country- side to live and toil in communes. In the late 1970s my parents decided to make a perilous escape on foot to Thailand where we stayed in the UN Thailand border Refugee camp for 18 months. In November of 1979, we were sponsored by generous New Zealanders and lived in Auckland until 1985 when my parents decided to move to Australia. To sum up KSS in one word would be? Memorable

How many years have you been part of the KSS Team? I've been part of KSS for seven years. What centres have you worked at? Moore Park, Wetherill Park, Prospect, Ultimo, and currently Waterloo. What is it like to work in Waterloo – Kennard’s largest centre? Someone once said to me that Waterloo is like a revolving door of activity. It is true. Next time you complete your monthly KPI, compare Waterloo’s numbers to your centre and you will get the sense of the scale of activity here. The transition from paper to Digital Agreement, this was a game changer, giving greater efficiency and accuracy. Our intranet Atlas replacing KOSMO. An overall transitioning to a more digital workplace, i.e. the Centre Log to Digital Diary and Medius for invoicing, to name a few. What major changes have you seen or been a part of at KSS?

No two days are the same…I like the variety and challenges of daily operations, but the days are always much easier with a good team. Tell us about your family? I recently moved with my two boys into the city fringe suburb of Ultimo after living with my parents in the family home in Sydney’s west for the past two decades. I have been blessed with selfless parents who have helped me raise both boys as a single mother. Both boys are currently studying at University. Lucas, 21, is in his third year in Forensic Science at the Univer- sity of Western Sydney while Daniel, 19, is in his second year in Commerce/ IT at Macquarie University. I have two sisters in Kennards, Kaio in Guildford and Pheng in CCC, a family affair with Kennards! We also have our youngest sister who has been asked when she will join the ‘family’ business (LOL). What are your hobbies outside of KSS? Bushwalking, it is refreshing. I also love Interior Design and am currently trying

What do you enjoy most about working at KSS?

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WHO’S WHO

TEAM MEMBER PROFILES

Ray Adams Centre Manager - Browns Plains QLD

Leanne Nassif Centre Manager - Artarmon2 NSW

Tell us about your career background: I originally worked in the Mailroom of Minter Ellison Lawyers then I moved into their Accounts Department. I then worked at a place called Law In Order (not the TV show) a Litigation Support Firm. Then finally ended up at KSS! What do you enjoy doing when not at KSS? (Hobbies/ Interests)? With four boys at home we spend a lot of time at the pool and the park, I try to get in a bit of fishing when I can and we love to eat out. What are you reading now? Will – Will Smith’s autobiography. What are you watching now? I don’t get much TV time, unless I want to watch You Tube videos about Minecraft. What favourite foods or restaurant would you recommend? Eat Street Northshore – It’s a permanent Street Food Market with live entertainment, and Louisiana Red Claw in Fortitude Valley a Cajun Seafood restaurant. Where did you grow up and what was it like? I grew up in Alexandria in Sydney which was very industrial when I was a kid. We used to play in the carparks of surrounding warehouses. I also spent a lot of the school holidays in the Philippines which was always fun. There were an endless number of kids to play with and you knew everyone in your neighbourhood. Favourite hangout people when not at work? Outside of work all my time is spent with the family. Favourite holiday destination or interesting place you’ve been to? The most interesting place I’ve been to is Vietnam, it’s full of history. I visited the Reunification Palace, War Museum and Cu Chi Tunnels which were used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. It’s also a place that hasn’t been overtaken by tourists.

Tell us about your career background: Worked in the fashion industry for various fashion design houses and production. Self employed fashion designer, small business owner - Entrepreneur Sydney NSW, I sold to overseas clients. Two years at a Japanese Investment Bank. Then KSS ever since! What do you enjoy doing when not at KSS? (Hobbies/ Interests)? Swimming at the beach, absorbing the sun, social walks with friends, discovering new places to dine or visit, day trips, pilates, acupressure, jogging and rock climbing. What are you reading now? The Top Five Regrets of Dying by Bronnie Ware What are you watching now? Catching up on episodes of Better Call Soul on Stan. What favourite foods or restaurant would you recommend? Different flavours from around the world, variety is the spice of life! I do make a good Fattoush Salad! Favourite restaurant I would recommend is Restaurant Hubert, Bligh Street Sydney. Where did you grow up and what was it like? I grew up in Sydney when we had more freedom. Growing up in the 80's was fun and adventurous! Favourite hangout people when not at work? Family and Friends that know me well. Favourite holiday destination or interesting place you’ve been to? Post Covid I still have itchy feet to travel around the world, still have many places to visit. I enjoyed Florence, Italy, a home of many masterpieces of Renaissance Art and architecture. The Accademia Gallery of Florence that dispalyed Michelangelos 'David' sculpture.

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FEATURE

THE ACHIEVEMENT DINNER THROUGH THE AGES Sam and the Team recognised a long time ago that a key element of achieving good culture was to celebrate the success of those within the business. The Awards Night has long been that celebration, as well as a great reunion and get-together for all of us in the Team.

Above Wayne Birch (left) Vic Operations Manager with Darryl Hodgson NSW Operations Manager at the 2006 Achievement Dinner and right, Statler and Waldorf from The Muppets.

‘

H aving joined the business in 2005 with many others in that period after the Miller's acquisition, I have fond memories of those early years. Looking back through some of the photos it’s hard to believe it’s been 17 years for me, and for some others, many more. There was a tradition in those early years for the Operations Team to MC the evening. In 2006 Wayne Birch and I hosted the evening to what we understood were raving reviews (sic). At the Holiday Inn, as it was at the time, we’d share a well-rehearsed repartee of perfectly timed jokes reminiscent of famous variety shows such as Hey Hey Its Saturday. Wayne and I are sure everybody else remembers it that way too…. Reviews from the Team depicting our performance as something akin to Statler and Waldorf from The Muppet Show were cruel and unfounded. And despite an outstanding rendition of Gangnam Style by a future GM and his ring-ins, so good, it was worthy of an entry in Australia’s Got Talent. We tell ourselves to this day that our performances could not be emulated and this is the reason the Team went with professional comedians and entertainers after that.

As the years progressed we outgrew the Holiday Inn and moved our way through several other near-airport hotels. There were one or two interrup- tions; the Awards Night took a pause through the GFC and more recently because of COVID lockdowns and restrictions. This meant for 2020 and 2021 that we had to improvise online via Yammer. The use of local visits to

PEOPLE MATTER. AS THIS BUSINESS GROWS, MODERNISES AND DIGITISES OUR TEAMS WILL MATTER MORE NOT LESS. NO ONE WRITES A GOOGLE REVIEW ABOUT HOW THE WEBSITE A.I. MADE THEM FEEL WELCOME

Con't Page 7

Below: Tony Vuong GM of Operations, leading the way in the KSS rendition of Gangnam Style at the 2013 Achievement Dinner.

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FEATURE

THE ACHIEVEMENT DINNER THROUGH THE AGES...

centre Teams and using the tech to share it went better than we could have ever expected and gave us some learning for how we might include elements of it in future years. Ultimately, on its own though, it was no substitute for the face to face evening that we know. It’s exciting to welcome the Achievement Dinner back for 2022. People matter. As this business grows, modernises and digitises our Teams will matter more not less. No one writes a Google Review about how the website A.I. made them feel welcome. It’s about people and Teams that’s what the Awards Night is

all about. Importantly, that is one thing that hasn’t changed over the years.

I encourage you to look back through some of the photos we have of those early years. Not at Wayne or I but at the Team Members, seated and standing around the tables. You’ll see younger versions of yourself and many Teammates still with us. Smiles and cheers in place for the celebration and reunion. You’ll also see some faces no longer with us. I hope you are reminded of their time with us too. This year, if you get the opportunity to come along, I encourage you to. I promise Wayne and I will do our best to stay off the stage and keep the Dad jokes to a minimum.

Left: Sam Kennard presenting HK Tung with his 30 Years of Service Award with Kennards Self Storage in 2014.

Darryl Hodgson NSW Operations Manager WHAT'S EASIER, MOVING HOUSE OR PRETENDING TO? One would think the first but believe me pretending to move is equally as challenging, especially when it rains on the day.

L ast month Sharon Munro and I went behind the scenes to help direct a series of new images soon to hit our website. Meet the Slaters. A modern family who helped us capture the moments of moving home while juggling kids. Surrounded by lights, cameras and power cords, we let our creative juices flow as we positioned, repositioned, packed and unpacked boxes. The devil is in the detail. Retake! The boxes have fallen over, the tape visible, can we do something about that reflection off the fridge, should the clock change time? Do we even need a clock? We really settled into the director role quite quickly. The new high-quality images on our website, social media and blog posts will showcase the commitment and

pride we have in our Brand. The photos are natural, cohesive and have greater consumer appeal over our current stock images.

‘

Surrounded by lights, cameras and power cords, we let our creative juices flow as we positioned, repositioned, packed and unpacked boxes

It’s another way we get to show off our Brand. The project will continue throughout the year using paid talent and agencies to ensure we capture the right look and feel for our niche markets, personalising the consumer experience and drawing greater attention to our Brand. Fiona Harding Business Development Manager ‘

Photography by Orlando Sydney

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FEATURE

QLD FLOODING EVENT

They say a major flooding event occurs every 10 years in Queensland. The last severe flood in QLD was in 2011, mother nature was only slightly late to the party this year with relentless heavy rainfall and major flooding across QLD and into NSW at the end of February 2022.

FUN FACTS • 14 x 6 metre skips used on day one at Fortitude Valley. • On day three the tip was at capacity only allowing one skip per operator. • Did you know the lift pits can hold in excess of 400 litres of water. • Gumboots have a combined weight of approximately 5kgs. • Squeegees are great for moving large amounts of water across flat surfaces. • Sludge + mud + water = very slippery.

Above left to right: Darryl Hodgson, Ray Adams, Kevin Mouatt, Kylie Page, Antone Boustani, Nicky Goodwin, David Bauze, Chris Sanson, Juan Moran and Tony Vuong outside Milton.

M ilton and Fortitude Valley sites both simultaneously went under water on Sunday, 27th February 2022. MILTON Our learnings from the 2011 floods resulted in the Wine Storage area relocating from the ground floor to level one. The impact of the recent floods resulted in damage limited to only 16 ground floor units. Unfortu - nately, our Office and Merch Room sustained major water damage. FORTITUDE VALLEY We were less fortunate here with 70 units on the ground floor affected with water and mud ingressed into the spaces. The office also sustained damage with anything on the floor up to 20cms submerged under water. Our Merch Room was flooded along with the Conference Room, Toilets and Lift Well.

disasters across the business and every single time I am always amazed to see and feel the energy and care our Teams show to support each other and our customers, it truly is amazing. Following on from previous experi- ences the Emergency Recovery Plan (ERP) worked as intended. Our Teams all knew the roles they were respon- sible for on the day. A quick debrief in the morning set the Team up for the day and a debrief in the afternoon ensured we covered our tasks and set us up for the following day. For both locations the turnaround around from a disaster zone to a feeling of normality took only three days. This was a tremendous effort from all involved, our Team on the front line, Team Members behind the scenes supporting sites to free up their Teammates to assist, and the THQ Team. The spirit of “ Store with People who Care ” was evident across all the interactions with our customers

Above top: Darryl Hodgson outside Fortitude Valley ready to cool off! Bottom: The Retail Office at Fortituide Valley.

and Teammates. There were a range of emotions experienced by our customers and the KSS Team gave full support making the clean up process stress free and smooth. Small gestures like offering Con't Page 10

In light of the devastation, I have personally worked through a few

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FEATURE

QLD FLOODING EVENT... a bottle of water or a sandwich to customers made them feel valued and supported.

Linda, one of the customers at Fortitude Valley who had 80% of her goods destroyed, returned with a case of beer and bottles of wine for the Team as a gesture to say thanks for helping her out. In her own words “Thank you for being so supporting and working through all my tears, you guys are just bloody amazing”. There were also many posts and messages of praise for all of our Teams efforts on Google and Facebook.

Thank you to everyone involved in the clean up process.

Above top left: First one hour of rubbish at Fortitude Valley. Bottom left: Linda, a KSS customer, presenting the team with drinks to say thanks. L to R: Linda, Bol Kon, Renee Leverton, Wayne Boyle, Nicky Goodwin, Kellie Robley, Grace Bagajluk, Antone Boustani, Daryl Whittaker and Shaun Young. Above top right: Antone Boustani depicting the water level in the Milton Office. Bottom right: Water receding out the front of Fortitude Valley.

Tony Vuong General Manager Operations

BUSINESS AS USUAL IN NZ (DON’T MENTION COVID!) At time of writing, I am going to call it and put a line under the Covid-19 pandemic. It is fair to say after the last two years media coverage and controversial fear warnings, the New Zealand handling of ‘go hard go early’ may not be remembered as positively as intended. With the extended lock downs creating some economic challenges to navigate going forward, that unfortunately not everyone is growth, in particular our Three Kings site. Also, our Wellington site has again operated strongly and remains our number one big asset in the NZ portfolio for income. Some recent people movements both in and out of the business includes Tauranga and Hastings with new Managers from internal promotions. It is always pleasing to see Team Members master there training and then progress in responsibility and maintain site performance and momentum while having fun and creating great customer experiences. These are great examples of our Freedom Culture continuing to grow.

2022 will see our tenth NZ Orange Beacon of Freedom debut in the Hawkes Bay with the development of a green field site in Hastings. This area is rapidly expanding and enables KSS to capitalise on the strong perfor- mance of our existing Hastings site that has operated at almost full occupancy consistently for many years now. We can never take our past success for granted and sometimes just doing the simple things right is the best outcome in these challenging times

ready for if we as a country are going to prosper and recover. Nevertheless, my glass is half full and it's time to move forward with confidence and a NZ portfolio that is as strong as ever. Our recently built Wairau Valley site has continued to rent up well, breaking some records along the way for speed of occupancy growth. Reconfirming our intention to grow the portfolio in the greater Auckland market and complementing our existing sites in Mt Eden and Three Kings. Both of these sites continue to operate at high occupancy with some excellent rate

Looking forward, the Team is determined to maintain their

momentum of success, whether it is by doing the basics right, delivering memorable customer experiences with a genuine care factor, or ensuring our centres present the best they can. We can never take our past success for granted and sometimes just doing the simple things right is the best outcome. I am proud to be part of the KSS Team doing their best to achieve this. Andrew Kirkham NZ Operations Manager

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FEATURE

Currently in the Finance Team we have Howard Leung supporting us with scanning all Personnel Folders to be ready for uploading into Flare. Howard has an intellectual disability and is part of Uni 2 Beyond. UNI 2 BEYOND AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY - Slow cognitive processing time ; - Difficulty in the sequential processing of information; - Difficulties comprehending abstract concepts. technology related. I always enjoy helping friends and family members when there is a technology problem.

In 2018 I started my journey to Tertiary Education with Uni 2 Beyond at Univer- sity of Sydney. An initiative which supports young adults with intellec- tual disability to study for interest at the University of Sydney. Through the program I studied four different IT related subjects: Computing Professionalism; Foundations of Data Science; Digital Work Environments and Digital Business Innovation. I enjoyed the time spent at University and the opportunity to learn and be supported by fellow student mentors during my studies, there was always someone there for me if I needed help. I finished my studies at the end of 2021. It was a difficult time due to Covid in which I missed the opportu- nity to be on campus and mingle with my mentors’ face to face. However, as part of the program, I had the chance to start this year with a paid Internship at Kennards. The time at Uni 2 Beyond helped me to build confidence and realise that I can make decisions on my own. I have learnt a lot during my time at University and I am keen to use my skills in my current role at Kennards. I love working at Kennards. My colleagues are very nice. The best part of the day is when it gets busy. During the day I work on the tasks assigned to me, such as Excel data combination and scanning documents. My goal for the year is to continue my work at Kennards after my internship and become independent so that I can build the life I want for myself". Anthony Rous Chief Financial Officer

In Australia in 2018, 39% of working- age people with intellectual disability were in the labour force compared with 53% of people with all types of disability and 84% of people without disability. This represents: - A loss for people with intellec- tual disability who want meaningful careers; - A loss for employers of valuable employees; - A loss for society of the working contribution and diversity that people with intellectual disability could bring. My goal for the year is to continue my work at Kennards after my Intern- ship and become independent so that I can build the life I want for myself Howard has been a delight to work with and his energy and enthusiasm have been great. He is providing great value for the Kennards business while also allowing many of us to experi- ence working with someone with an intellectual disability. Below Howard tells us about himself- "My name is Howard and I have just started my Internship with Kennards Self Storage and have been here several weeks. I was born in Hong Kong and can speak Cantonese. I love to play Badminton and Tennis and anything ‘ ‘

L to R: Anthony Rous, KSS CFO with Howard Leung from Uni 2 Beyond

What is Uni 2 Beyond? Uni 2 Beyond is a multi-award

winning initiative that supports people with intellectual disability to study at the University of Sydney. As part of their studies, Uni 2 Beyond students undertake internships to develop their strengths and explore career pathways. Internships are hosted by organisations from various sectors across greater Sydney. What is intellectual disability? A person is either born with an intellectual disability or acquires it under the age of 18. Intellectual disability affects the way a person learns. Every person with intellectual disability is different. An intellectual disability may cause: - Difficulty understanding new information; - Difficulties with communication and social skills;

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FEATURE

KSS HOISTS THE FLAG AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAY

Operating as Rosebud Mini Warehousing, the owners had reached a life stage of resolving an intergen- erational asset transfer. The quality of presentation and maintenance was very high. The owners were obviously very proud of their business. It was put to market in a competitive bidding process in November - December last year. We were successful in the competi- tive process and spent the Christmas and New Year break resolving the final contract. The entire property is 34,000 square metres of land, with a little over 550 storage units and a couple of tenancies. The modest return from the storage centre and leases despite the large land area means the project is more about the development potential of the land and repositioning the asset. Our plans will intensify the self storage centre on the arterial road frontage. While designs are still only concep- tual, we anticipate the project will have several 2-3 level buildings. We will stage the project to ultimately develop 800-1,000 storage spaces. The concept will lift the exposure, profile and enhance the quality of service and product. The takeover on January 31st went well, despite the rapid timing. We also quickly had new Team Members (welcome Amanda and Peter) in place to take on the challenge. The property is vast with many idiosyncra- sies. Pleasingly, the integration is now complete and interim rebranding mostly resolved. This is an exciting project that will completely transform the self storage offer to the local Mornington residents with a more sophisticated storage offer. The acquisition of Rosebud takes our Melbourne network to 14 centres. This will quickly grow to 17 centres with the addition of Craigieburn, Cranbourne and Pakenham. Sam Kennard Chief Executive Officer

I n January we completed the acquisi- tion of the new centre in Rosebud, Victoria. Rosebud is located one hour south of the Melbourne CBD on the Mornington Pensinsula. The Mornington Peninsula is a popular weekend and day trip getaway for Melbournians as well as wider tourist appeal.

tion shift brought on by Covid-19 and the associated government restric- tions, many provincial areas have seen large influxes of people moving in. Mornington Peninsula is another one of these lifestyle communities that has attracted many new residents. This fast shifting demographic made the opportunity at Rosebud particularly appealing.

With the acceleration of the tree-change/sea-change popula-

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FEATURE

USABILITY TESTING, MORE LESSONS LEARNED On the Web, usability is a necessary condition for survival. If a website is difficult to use, people leave. If users get lost on a website, they leave. If a website's information is hard to read or doesn't answer users' key questions, they leave. Note a pattern here? There's no such thing as a user reading a website manual or otherwise spending much time trying to figure out an interface. There are plenty of other websites available; leaving is the first line of defence when users encounter a difficulty. Enter User Testing .

W e did one of these a couple of years back and the results were one of many crucial factors that encouraged a revamp of the website. We decided to invest in the underlying technology platform and a responsive shiny design which better presents our value proposition. Not only to meet Google’s mobile index preference (Google moved to mobile index in mid-2019, meaning all search engine results (SERPS) would be ranked based on the mobile version of those pages) but also to re-establish distance between us and competi- tors and improve our user experience (UX), ranking performance and visibility online. Now that the new website has been live for slightly over a year it was a good time for a reality check. Research shows that you only need five participants to identify 85% of problems on any given site. Due to us testing both mobile and desktop, we recruited three users for each device

type, and added an additional two users to allow for a margin of error.

It came to light that something as simple as the timing and language in an SMS or an email can ruin the user experience.

A testing process was put in place to uncover actionable consumer insights that can be utilised to improve conver- sion rate and overall user experience. Insights were gained through both a qualitative approach of watching participants complete typical website tasks and observing their behaviour. The first few things that stood out were users navigating through search results, most users preferred to look at maps as opposed to the SERP. Users prefer real life pictures, Google Street View footage and videos. They place a lot of trust in photos uploaded by other customers as well, consid- ering them “not dressed up”. Users got confused around some language on the website, for instance the website lists office hours and business hours, how are they different?

Most of these are quick fixes and are being actioned as you read this.

With Google’s offset strategy being “My game, my rules” one of the few things that remain under our control is a great UX. We did a good job with the website for the better part of it, a few tweaks would make the customer journey seamless. As Jesse James Garrett said, “What makes people passionate, pure and simple, is great experiences. If they have great experience with your product and they have great experi- ences with your service, they’re going to be passionate about your Brand, they’re going to be committed to it. That’s how you build that kind of commitment.”

Deepa Chirayath Digital Marketing Coordinator

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FEATURE

WELCOME TO KSS CUSTOMER CARE

It is never a boring day, on average we handle 900 calls per week with some months busier than others. As an example, last February we were offered 4,606 calls and handled 3,811 of them.

. n r.

L to R top: Pheng Lo, Ophelia Keshishian, Shalvina Nand and Portia Badri, bottom L to R: Stephanie Acevedo and Fiona Harding (Contact Centre Manager)

“Welcome to Kennards Self Storage Customer Care, you’re speaking with Stephanie, how can I help?” We are the five gorgeous, witty and charming women in the Customer Care Team: Pheng, Ophelia, Shalvina, Portia and Stephanie. Here at the Customer Care Team (CCC), we help customers through three different points of contact; phone calls, web chats, and email. Our job is to increase sales and avoid lost opportunities. We monitor and manage our call flow from a software platform called Ignite. This helps us understand where the calls are coming from, who is calling us, how long the customer has been waiting on hold and shows who in the Team are available or busy helping a customer. The information helps us best prioritise our after-call work giving us a chance to catch up on our Storman notes. The calls we receive can come from various locations: Centre overflow (Customers who call the centre

toes. We heavily rely on the website and Master Centre Features Spreadsheet to assist customers. On a normal day, our calls consist of customer sale enquires, account payments, website general enquiries, feedback, complaints, centre enquiries, or account enquires. There is also two additional contact platforms customers reach out to us on; the Web Chat and the Contact Us enquiry. There will be times when the phones do go quiet so we take this opportunity to catch up on any emails, check the status of our individual PTC sales enquiries and reservations and ensure all our notes are up to date. We work together with the centres as they follow up calls to our enquires. Besides the normal check in with customers, it is also a chance for teams to check/adjust any units we may have reserved. Ultimately the centre has the most knowledge around their unit types.

directly, but the centre was unable to be reached), Direct CC (customer dials the 1800 or 0800 number), Call-back Direct CC (customers who request a call-back if they have been placed on hold for a few minutes and do not wish to wait) and centre door overflow (customers who call from the centre intercom). We also assist with outbound calls during emergencies or disaster recovery as well as bulk email responses for mass mail outs. It’s a very different role to being in a centre. A typical day might look like this: You are currently looking after a sales enquiry with a customer on the phone going through the PTC Card, there are four centre overflow calls, and the longest customer waiting has been 5:20 minutes, two direct CC calls also drop in queue, a sales enquiry email is blinking at you requesting to be actioned and you have five customer Storman accounts open waiting for notes to be entered, when its busy its go-go gadget.

Stephanie Acevedo and the CCC Team

Supporting 97 centres that all have their unique features keeps us on our

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PROPERTY

SPOTLIGHT ON WELLINGTON

smaller than us) Kiwi Storage (large and expanding at present) and Storage One (a much smaller centre). Unlike most of our competitors we provide temperature controlled Wine Storage, a Conference Room, a Concierge Service and 24/7 access. Many government departments store with us, including Emergency Services, The Red Cross, home staging companies and promotional companies to name a few. Our main customers though are generally domestic short and long term storers. Our Team consists of Melissa, Steve and Myself. Melissa is the senior Assistant Manager and has been with Kennards for five years. Steve is the Assistant Manager and has been here for three years. I have been at Kennards for four and a half years in the capacity of Centre Manager (pictured left). During this time the Wellington centre occupancy, revenue and reputation has grown substantially and continues to break YoY records. Our current occupancy is 92.5%. We have over a hundred different unit sizes, from .7 cubic metre lockers in our Wine Storage area up to 50+ square metre units. Rental return has grown strongly over the last couple of years. We are now a well-established centre with a high churn, but a small range of occupancy percentage change. Merchandise has grown considerably in the last five years, making Wellington the number one performer in NZ for Kennards. There is a stoarge centre within 2km; Kiwi Storage, that is substantially expanding their storage unit capacity. As with all expanding centres they are offering very attractive rates to increase their customer base. We will continue to make our customer service and experience exceptional to counter this competition. Our physical location is second to none and will assist us in competing for these customers.

Hutt Road for one of our commercial sections. The centre has six levels with two large lifts servicing the non-dock way floors. Access is 24/7 unlike most of our competition. There are three business sections with power and light located across the centre, and a large Box Shop and Reception area on the corner of the building. We have an excellent reputation in Wellington for providing exceptional customer service and a clean welcoming and safe environment. We are located less than 1km from the CBD, the closest storage centre to Wellington city. We have very high visibility located on an arterial route and next to the main motorway. If you fly into Wellington from the north and have a starboard window seat you will see the Kennards centre before you land, yes we are that highly visible. We are in a business area with many retail and commercial business around us, but we are only metres from a residential area at the southern end of the building. We have three competitors within 2.5km of our centre, National Storage (slightly

K ennards Self Storage Wellington was originally built approximately 1930 as a wool store, later it became general storage. The building is nearly 100 years old. Approximately 30 years ago the building started to be converted into self storage. It was first called Downtown Storage. It was then bought by Storage King and more of the general storage space was converted into self storage units, this was approximately then two-thirds of the building. We acquired the building in 2014 and shortly after converted the last third of the building into mainly larger storage units. All units are internal and there are 1,053 units in total, 7,534 square metres. We have a small capacity for parking rental which has been occupied by two companies for some years. The centre is unique in that it has multiple loading docks for easy access. We have loading docks on levels three and five, with a double loading dock on Sar Street and a loading dock on

Simon Spring Centre Manager KSS Wellington

14 Kennards Kourier April 2022

PROPERTY

ANOTHER ONE DONE, WITH PLENTY MORE TO COME!

Cranbourne VIC

continue with the fit out. Expected completion April 2022.

Murarrie QLD Level 4 fit out has begun. Works to be completed by April 2022. Coorparoo QLD These works are now complete and units are now being rented. Wetherill Park NSW The three buildings are 85% weather tight, external works, pavements and services are almost complete and the hoists are installed. Fit out and final trades are underway. Expected completion in May 2022.

Craigieburn VIC Builder is continuing with earthworks and services location onsite. September 2022 completion. Cranbourne VIC Storco are continuing onsite with framing of building B. Completion September 2022.

Castle Hill NSW These works are now complete and units are being rented. Wollongong NSW Fit out of level 1 has begun. Finish May 2022

Cleveland QLD Level 1, 2 and 3 slabs have been poured. Finish by June 2022.

Adelaide CBD SA Demolition works continue, negotiations

with fit out contractor continue. Completion by August 2022.

Moorebank NSW Earthworks are complete and demolition of the existing slab has begun. Finish December 2022. Camperdown NSW Earthworks and services location is underway. December 2022 completion.

Bainga QLD

Baringa QLD Building three footings have been completed and the slab is being poured. Building four footings to begin excavation. Expected completion September 2022.

Wetherill Park NSW

Fyshwick ACT External painting is underway. Storco

Con't Page 16

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PROPERTY/REVIEWS

Box Hill NSW Earthworks and services location have begun on site. Expected Completion December 2022. Hastings NZ Is out to tender and due back in April. Completion October 2022. Waterloo NSW New refrigeration system is progressively being commissioned and the old system being phased out in the wine storage area. Fit out work and electrical work continue. Completion in March 2022 Pymble NSW Is out to tender and due back 22nd April. Completion October 2022. Penrith NSW Converted 16 undercover spaces in building 4 into 16 drive up units. These works are now complete and units are being rented. Michael Macheledt, Craig Henery & Brittany Ahern Property Development Team

Cleveland QLD

GOOGLE REVIEWS

KUNDA PARK QLD

FORTITUDE VALLEY QLD

RYDALMERE NSW

We stored with Kennards for a three month period and could not have been happier with the service of the team. Staff were great, responsive, informative and patient with all our questions as we had never had to use storage facilities before. Would definitely recommend.

Amazing staff who are friendly and helpful, great facility - I’ll absolutely use them again when I need storage or anything to do with moving!

Convenient, super friendly staff and so very easy. No extra charges when you move out, they just credit you back what is owed. Highly recommend.

MURARRIE QLD

WAIRAU VALLEY NZ

Kevin and Ange are the two most helpful and accommodating people I’ve ever met. 10/10 would recommend to everyone!!

Sign-up was a breeze and all done online. Access was easy and the storage space was exactly what I needed. The cutting of times I needed help, staff were great and friendly. Not looking to move house again soon, but when I do, I'll head back to Kennards. CAMPBELLTOWN BLAXLAND RD NSW This is the ninth time I have had to use this service and without fail, each time it has been nothing short of perfect.

WOLLONGONG NSW

Amazing place to store things. Very neat, very well maintained, helpful and friendly staff. Both Matt and Daniel are great to deal with. I would recommend Kennards

SEAFORD MEADOWS SA

This place is amazing, they helped me out when stuff went wrong and I needed a place to hold my stuff. Would highly recommend using Kennards Self Storage!

TRUGANINA VIC

Erin and Azam at Truganina are a great team to deal with!!! Fantastic service!!!

KINGSGROVE NSW

Everyone was so helpful. Amazing service from Chris and Gaurab!

16 Kennards Kourier April 2022

CHARITY

NORTHERN RIVERS DONATION DRIVE - Lismore and Ballina

"I Wanted to take a few minutes and provide feedback on Lorena (at Artarmon2) and Bob at Frenchs Forest. I Just recently decided to move and needed a storage facility for a six month period of time starting in late April. Visited Lorena at the Artarmon facility - purchased packing boxes and had a discussion on storage facility sizes, availability and prices. Lorena promptly followed up with an email that outlined all the information that I needed to make a decision. I did some research and found a competitors facility in Padstow that offered a much more competitive price for an equivalent storage space. Contacted Lorena and she helped me understand the pricing does vary by location and availability plus demand. She shared with me that there are other Kennards Storage facilities nearby that may offer better prices relative to my competitively sourced price. Lorena volunteered to contact other Kennards facilities nearby and summarised the offerings and prices for me in an email, that helped me out greatly from a time perspective. I am sure she did this to ensure that my decision on which storage facility to use was kept within the Kennards family. This proactive support is unusual these days where customer service is often outsourced / offshored / automated. Based upon the research that Lorena had provided on other Kennards facili- ties, I went to visit Bob in Frenchs Forest post a detailed call that we had. Bob was very helpful and I concluded that the storage space on offer and price were exactly what was needed and have gone online to finalise the reserved space. The service that both Lorena and Bob provided certainly showcases the quality of the Kennards Brand." Bud

Left to right: Anthony Donald - Centre Manager Kingsgrove, Rotarian - Vinod Reddy and Ray Powe - Group Service Manager Fergusons Toyota

The Northern Rivers have witnessed the largest and most fierce weather event they've ever seen. This saw major towns like Lismore and Ballina flooded and completely destroyed. Thousands of people have literally lost everything and are now having to deal with the deluge of the horrendous clean up. Surrounding smaller towns were flooded, cut off and isolated due to flooding and landslides impacting roads. The local community rallied together and civilians saved hundreds of families and animals and continue to deliver essential food, clothing and medicine to those stranded and now homeless. I (Maree Stokes, pictured above with Mike Howard, Centre Manager Kirrawee KSS) grew up in the Northern Rivers just outside Kyogle, and I have family and friends in Lismore. I looked on feeling helpless

from Sydney as these towns were impacted. I then saw that local ladies Kara Giovenco and Jaclyn Bold of BOLD Trailer And Caravan Repair Centre in Miranda were coordinating a Donation Drive for those affected by the flooding. Kara's family are in Ballina, she also grew up there and saw family and friends' homes flooded. Pedro Ricoy and Ricoy Transport donated their time and trucks to deliver these donations to where they were needed in the Northern Rivers on Saturday 19th March. The community of Sutherland Shire were absolutely amazing in supporting this drive, and Kennards Self Storage generous donations of boxes and tape assisted us in getting the donated goods safely delivered. We can't thank Kennard's enough and Mike, for all his help. Thanks again.

Maree Stokes

17 Kennards Kourier April 2022

NEV’S NOTES

NEV'S NOTES

Neville Kennard (1937 - 2012) Founder of Kennards Self Storage, enjoyed and was very passionate about expressing his ideas. These little gems have been appreciated by many in KSS. We will continue to publish his ideas that we have in stock. Enjoy!

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME AND OUR LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOVERNMENT

“Stockholm Syndrome” refers to an event in Stockholm, Sweden in 1973, when some bank robbers took captive a group of hostages and held them for six days while the robbers negotiated with the police. What happened was that the hostages developed an attachment to their captors, despite the fact they were held prisoner by them and their captors were criminals. The name Stockholm Syndrome was given to this paradoxical psychological phenomenon by criminologist and psychiatrist Nils Bejerot who investigated the crime.

C ould the same phenomenon explain the strange attachment people have for their politicians? Politicians are often held in rather low regard by the citizens of a country. They rank down there with Car Salesmen when surveyed on trust and respect. And yet there is also a strange attach- ment the electorate holds for these politicians, these guards and jailors who take the citizens’ money (in the form of taxes), spend it foolishly and wastefully, impose liberty-restricting regulations on their “captors” and they behave like lords and masters of the people who elect and pay for them. Why do the citizens identify with and protect those “guards and keepers” who hold them hostage with promises and threats? If one has been born in a kind of prison, and then been told that it is one of the best prisons around, that it is a bit better than this other prison across the water, much better than some prisons, especially those Communist prisons we hear of. And there are even people lining up to get into our prison and out of a much worse prison. Our prison has a nice flag, a national song and a pretty good football team. In our prison we get to elect our own guards, which we pay for, of course, but they do let us keep a fair bit of our own money. In our prison we can say what we like about our guards, and the inmates can’t do that in some of the other prisons we hear about on the other side of the world. What is this about?

Our prison has a proud history of reforms and we are better off than we were a few years ago. Yeah, sure, some of our guards are useless and worse. Some are a bit corrupt, and we resent the big bills they run up on overseas trips where they go to look at other prisons. But let’s face it, they are our guards, we chose them and elected them, and we pay them, so technically they work for us. And we are free to leave this prison anytime we like and go and find another prison. But the weather is nice in this prison, our families are here, we grew up here, we went to school here.

Politicians are often held in rather low regard by the citizens of a country. They rank down there with Car Salesmen when surveyed on trust and respect

September 2nd 2010

18 Kennards Kourier April 2022

PEOPLE

BACKTRACKS

Backtracking to the Kennards Kourier October 2008. Momentum 08 saw us set our new goals - 45,000 spaces rented and an annual revenue of $145 million in 2011-12. KSS opened its 64th storage centre, Petersham KSS tries some unique signage advertising, our Culture Survey reveals a strong blue bias once again, Hoxton Park opens its doors and Chatswood demolition beings. To read the full Kourier magazine go here: https://cld.bz/5n4oGMp

KENNARDS COMMUNITY

Above: Congratulations Jo Woodhouse the proud Grandma of Mason John Woodhouse. Son Terry and his wife Jessica bringing Mason into the world at 7.59am on March 6th.

Contributions for the back page of the Kourier are always welcome! Maybe you are a newlywed or there’s been an addition to the family, or you have been travelling. Or maybe you have some great photos of you out and about in Kennards Gear! Email: sharon@kss.com.au.

"You are confined only by the walls you build yourself." Andrew Murphy

19 Kennards Kourier April 2022