eKourier April 2017

Kennards Kourier

April 2017

KSS Goes Into Turbo Drive

W ith a busy finish to 2016, acquiring a site in Melbourne’s west and the inner Brisbane suburb of Coorparoo has figuratively and literally put KSS into ‘Turbo Drive ’. QUEENSLAND TO GROW TO 15 CENTRES The new Brisbane property is located at 21 Turbo Drive, Coorparoo, and with a site area of 6,800 square metres is very large considering the inner urban position. The new location will fit nicely between our existing West End centre and new Murarrie centre which is due to open in May. Similar to Murarrie we intend to build a new five storey centre at Coorparoo with approximately 900 spaces. We also intend to relocate our Queensland Operations Managers office to Coorparoo and also establish a better resourced trainer facility. …PLUS MORE SPACE COMING IN MELBOURNE’S WEST In addition to Coorparoo, we have agreed to acquire land in Melbourne’s booming Western Suburbs.

‘ ‘ This is an exciting period for the company as we invest further in the growth of the business. The new property is currently being sub- divided and serviced with roads, drainage and sewer. It will be ready for development in 2018. The land is 1.4 hectares located on Leakes Road, Truganina. The neighbouring development will be a Homemaker retail centre. The surrounding area is undergoing enormous growth, following significant investment in infrastructure. New rail services and stations have been built and are operating. In addition, roads are being upgraded and widened. …AND AUCKLAND WILL HAVE A THIRD CENTRE IN 2019 We have acquired a high profile site in Auckland’s northern suburbs and intend to build another Big Box six level building.

Currently occupied Leases expire in May 2018, when we will immediately commence construction and will open in summer of 2018-2019. WHILE THIS YEAR WILL ALREADY SEE FIVE NEW CENTRES OPEN On top of the summers three new acquisi- tions, a number of new centres will open this year. In Adelaide we will have Seaford Meadows (May) and Croydon Park (Nov). In Brisbane, Murarrie will open in May. In Melbourne, Hawthorn will finally open also in May. In Sydney, after acquiring Chullora 10 years ago we will finally open this centre before the end of the year. This is an exciting period for the company as we invest further in the growth of the business. Our ability for quick analysis and transaction completion is proving advanta- geous to secure sites. It is not forgotten though that the hard work really starts once we open. Sam Kennard Managing Director

1 Kennards Kourier April 2017

WHO’S WHO

Team Member Profiles

In this issue KSS Goes Into Turbo Drive

Melissa Robbie Customer Care Centre - THQ NSW

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Career background: District Manager for 7-Eleven, McDonalds and a Front End Controller for Flemmings. Marital Status: Married. Any children? James, seven years old and a Soccer superstar! Courtney, 21, owner of Anove Beauty Hobbies/interests: I love to buy old timber furniture and restore it. Do you play any sport or have any special talents? I played Softball growing up, but now score while my daughter plays. Favourite book/s: Michael Crossland. Favourite movie: The Longest Ride.

Team Member Profiles

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10 Questions with...

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Business Class By Kennards

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Australasian Wine Loving Tribes...

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Customer Feedback

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Forecasting - Worth The effort?

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Houseproud

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You’re Not Just The Star ...

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Orange Beacon Coming To Auckland...

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In Case You Missed it

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Thanks For Calling Customer Care

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Coffee, Chicken and Taco’s...

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Feedback

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Google Reviews, Get Noticed!

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KSS Achievement Dinner 2017

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Feedback

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Favourite restaurant/food: Mexican. Where did you grow up? I have lived most of my life in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, close by my parents and sister. Any pets? A Dog named Braxton. Favourite holiday destinations: I love Thailand. I have visited four times and enjoy the shopping, beaches and food. All at a great price!

Have Boxes Will Travel

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Effective Centre Management Steps Up...

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Construction Pipeline In Overload

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Spotlight On... 17 Disadvantaged Communities Feel The Love 18 Nev’s Notes 19 Kennards Community 20 Next issue Deadline: June 16th, 2017 Editor: Sharon Dux Email: sharon@kss.com.au Distribution: July 14th, 2017 Upcoming events 25/4 - ANZAC Day - KSS Closed 1/5 - Labour Day (QLD) - PH Hours 2/6- Maleny Show Day Warana QLD only - PH Hours 5/6 - Queens Birthday - Mt Eden, Three Kings, Wellington - PH Hours. All other NZ centres - Closed 12/6 - Queens Birthday - (NSW, VIC, ACT, SA) - PH Hours 16/6 - Sunshine Coast Show Day - Maroochydore and Kunda Park QLD only - PH Hours 14/7 - Christmas in July - Newcastle Region

Boris Hoth Team Support Manager - Adelaide

Career background: Woolworths as a Department Manager. Following this a Store Manager for Romeo Group. Marital Status: happily living with my partner. Any children? My daughter Lucy who is four. Has great talent at wrapping her Dad around her little finger! Hobbies/interests: Checking out live bands at night and wilderness hikes during the day. Do you play any sport or have any special talents? I don’t play any sports these days, but continue to follow my passions

of Skateboarding and Bodyboarding. Favourite book/s: Shantaram by Gregory Roberts. Favourite movie: Any Hitchcock classic Favourite restaurant/ food: Iced Coffee’s - ‘keep em coming!’

Where did you grow up? I was born in Germany then my family moved to Australia when I was seven. Have lived in the Adelaide Hills, Blackwood area ever since. Any pets? No pets. Favourite holiday destinations: Searching for waves west of Adelaide, and yearly trips to Tassie chasing more waves and enjoying the National Parks.

2 Kennards Kourier April 2017

WHO’S WHO

10 Questions... With Kem Sermen - Assistant Manager, Waterloo

$30 deposits, which feels like ancient history now. It’s been great seeing modernisation within the company and a lot has changed in the past six years with the introduction of things like Medius and Deputy. I’m looking forward to the introduction of Rent Now and the new Kosmo. When I first started I found the culture within Kennards to be fantastic and unlike most businesses. It’s been great to see that the standard of people within the business has remained the same and that they’ve embraced the great culture within the business. My family live in Melbourne. I have two sisters, the eldest with two kids, Atilla and Kayra. I currently live with my partner of five years and our little cat baby, Celine Dion. Is there one special goal you have for yourself that you would like to share? I want to travel the world! I’ve just spent a month travelling across Cambodia and Thailand and still have the travel itch. My dream holiday location is Iceland and to see the Northern Lights! Tell us a bit about your family?

experience as simple as possible. It’s great to be an integral part helping small business prosper all while growing and promoting the KSS Brand. Have you always been in Customer Service? Before KSS I worked in the hospitality industry in a very fancy restaurant called Clover Cottage. I was Head Drinks Waiter. I worked at the restaurant for four years before making the move to Sydney. Prior to that I worked for a fast food shop called Jesters. I made lots of pies. My favourite was the Blueberry Kiss. What do you like most about working at KSS? Working for KSS has introduced me to a lot of wonderful and inspiring people, both colleagues and customers. KSS has given me countless opportunities to grow and improve my skills. There is a great sense of community within KSS and help is always close by. What things do you like to do in your spare time, we hear you help out as a volunteer for charity? My partner runs a charity called Rough Threads. We hold large community festivals a few times a year where we provide goods and services completely free for disadvantaged members of our community. I’m usually in charge of the Green Grocer area and at the last event we managed to hand out four pallets worth of free fruit and vegetables. Other services we provide include haircuts, clothing, letterbox service, books, toilet- ries, legal and medical services and many, many more. I’m proud to work for a company who not only assists many charities but have also assisted Rough Threads by providing discounted boxes for our events. Over your six years with Kennards what changes have you seen take place both within the framework and also the culture and people?

How long have you been with KSS and have you always been at Waterloo? I’ve been with KSS for almost six years! I started off my KSS career as a lift driver at Artarmon1 but was soon promoted to Assistant Manager. I was at Artarmon for three years and was then offered the challenge of transferring to Waterloo. I was born and raised in a Victorian suburb called Narre Warren (about an hour south-east of Melbourne near the Fountain Gate Westfield). I moved to Sydney when I was 22 and have lived in Kingsford, Kensington and now Darlinghurst. How do you find working in a larger centre like Waterloo compared to the smaller centres we have? Working at Waterloo is definitely a challenge. In recent years we have seen a big increase in commercial clients, a lot of which are running small online businesses from a 3x3. Tailoring the traditional idea of storage to suit the needs of these customers has been challenging but it is fantastic to see their delight when we can make their storage Do you originate from Sydney?

To sum up KSS in one word?

FREEDOM.

When I first started we were still taking

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FEATURES

Business Class By Kennards

I t was 2007 and we had just designed an in-house customer portal that gave us a leading edge over our competition and the ability to offer multiple storage units through a consolidated invoice. We had revolutionised the way we did business with large corporate clients. A gateway which stood us in good stead and placed us years ahead of our competition.

Using this as our base we made the decision to remodel our National Account Program to match our service. In February 2017 Business Class by Kennards was formed replacing our once National Account offer. Business Class is new, it’s personalised and it’s already a hit with clients! The new name communicates our message blending all our great ingredients into an industry first experience. In fact, only last week we initiated a rubbish report for a client that showed a repeated pattern of waste from their Team over ordering stock. It was this insight that triggered a chain of events saving this client money in manufac- turing, packaging, warehousing, delivery and finally the end of the line, disposal. It’s these real life examples that set us apart from budget driven operators. It’s this level of care that will hold us favourable in the minds of our clients. Combined with the development of our new software, digital agreements and improved payment systems we are literally just taking off with our Business Class offer. Fiona Harding Business Development Manager

After digesting feedback from tenders it became clear our clients weren’t comparing apples with apples. In fact many decisions were being made by a person who had never stepped foot in a storage centre and never had any intention to. ‘Paper Agreements’ It was the feedback we needed to better define the value of our offer. If there’s one thing we know it’s that good storage isn’t cheap and cheap storage isn’t good. It was time to take a good hard look at our offer.

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Business Class is new, it’s personalised and it’s already a hit with the clients!

At the time the ability to provide single invoicing through any storage software on the market was simply unheard of. It was the start of our National Account program. Of course being market leaders of any industry greatly increases the odds of competition to follow. Fast forward a decade and not surprisingly many have tried to copy our offer giving customers more choice.

‘ Traditionally our promotion had been around the quality of our centres, our goods and handling service, meeting rooms and consolidated invoicing but in fact our real point of difference is our care factor. When companies join with Kennards they are buying into a partnership which includes ongoing support. We promise the highest level of service and profes- sionalism in the industry and savings yielded here often far exceed any initial competitor discount.

When businesses can’t compete on quality they compete with price.

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FEATURES

Australasian Wine Loving Tribes Help Us Reach 90% Occupancy

Customer Feedback “A particular mention regarding Jay in the office at Rozelle. He made everything very easy for us and nothing seemed to be a problem. He went over and above what he needed to in order to help us get our stuff in and out of storage without us physically being there. Top work.” “I would like to say a big thanks to Cory at Ultimo who helped me out yesterday. My removalists were running late and I almost missed the cut off time but he stayed behind longer than he needed to so I could unload my items into storage. Thanks Cory! You are the best.” “The staff really took the stress out of the whole process and were very helpful at Wellington. A real pleasure to deal with. The website was so easy to navigate and decide on the size I thought I would need.” “Very good. Extremely professional staff. Phil in particular very helpful at the Waterloo desk. Everything is clean and organised. Very refreshing.” “Very friendly and helpful from first phone call talking to Di, and Wayne at Virginia Kennards Storage centre, assisting with a smooth check in service and orientation. This is the fourth time I have used Kennards at Virginia, always professional.” “Very good. Katie at Three Kings not only kept in contact with us, but she also stayed behind to let us in as we were running late getting there. This consideration meant a huge deal on a very stressful day for us.” “The new St Marys branch is fantastic. Very helpful and pleasant staff member. Will definitely recommend this storage site to friends.” “Very good at Thornleigh. Nicole was very welcoming, accommodating, and helpful, thanks!”

A s the Australasian tribe of wine lovers grows, the need for a space to cellar their wine is heating up... or should I say cooling down in our climate controlled wine cellars!

another goal and reached 90% for the first time. In addition to the increased occupancy, the portfolio also increased its income by 14% year on year. Our response to the increased popularity of our private wine cellars has been to build MORE! We are really excited about our new locations as they are opening up an offsite wine cellaring solution, previously unavailable to these areas. For example, Customers have been telling us for years that there is nothing available for them in the ACT region. So we listened to them and we opened the first state of the art private wine cellar in Fyshwick in January. By opening this site we are allowing more wine lovers to join the game of collecting. This also helps the wine industry by increasing wine sales. Our Hawthorn location came out of the intense growth we have seen in the Victorian market, with our other four wine cellars almost full now. The Melbourne wine lovers are on their way to taking over the size of the Sydney market. This cellar will be open for business in May 2017. Our new Miranda wine cellar is the first to the Sutherland Shire and the only cellars available south of the Sydney CBD. We had a beautiful underground space so it made perfect sense. This was the first of our new cellars to open, just before Christmas. With these new cellars we now have the capacity to store almost two Million bottles of wine, in 3,300 cellars, across 19 locations in Australia and New Zealand. Lynda Walsh

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With these new cellars we now

Kennards Wine Storage has been listening to our wine loving tribe and expanding our cellars into new neighbourhoods around Australia. The past five years has seen strong growth in the need for private wine cellars as the trend for collecting and cellaring wine grows. ‘ have the capacity to store almost two million bottles of wine...

Wine Cellaring Business Development Manager

In January the wine portfolio smashed

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FEATURES Forecasting... Worth The Effort?

A s we move towards our effort?” There has been healthy internal debate on Yammer of the pros and cons of the forecasting process. Annual Forecasting process it is always worthwhile asking, “Is the Forecast worth the 1. Control – having a Forecast allows the business to compare our actual results vs what was expected. Variances would often explain either something is not working as expected and may need an improve- ment or what we expected to happen has changed. This could result in a new process being adopted or an update on our understanding of what is taking place vs what was expected. 2. Achieving Goals – having a Forecast allows the business to work towards achieving a goal. It provides a common process of working towards the goal. In the case of Kennards it is a goal for each centre which builds into a total goal for the company. 3. Effective Planning – it is very benefi- cial for managers/centres to plan for the future and think about how their centre will operate over the next 12 months. It forces one to look forward and plan and think about what the centre will achieve. Often thinking about the future is pushed to one side as we go through our daily responsibilities. To have to think about the future and put into numbers what we expect at our centres is very powerful. It takes into account our occupancy, pricing, what our competitors are doing, what our Team can achieve, other revenue such as merchandise or insurance and also what new opportunities we can create. Do we expand, add spaces, adjust our unit mix. Here are some of the benefits of the Annual Forecast process:

4. Funding requirements – the Forecast allows us to see what cash flows will be generated and how the business will be funded going forward.

3. Setting unrealistic low targets – this means the person doing the Forecast deliberately sets low goals or easy to achieve forecasts. This can cause slack and the business to be ‘happy” with what is being achieved when in fact it could be better. This can always be avoided where there is an aligned forecast and a review of the forecasts to achieve the best possible outcome for the business. 4. Blame Game – sometimes missing the Forecast can be seen as a way of blaming poor results on Team Members or others that are causing a centre to have poor results. This can be avoided by working together as a Team to grow the business and supporting each other through whatever issues may arise to achieve the best outcomes given the circumstances. 5. Forecast restricts what I spend or spending is increased – sometimes necessary spend may not happen because it is not included in the Forecast. Likewise, if someone has forecast an amount to be spent it may be done for the sake of spending the money, a sort of use it or lose it way of thinking. These can both be avoided by always doing what’s best for the business and asking oneself “If this were my money or my business, would I spend the amount?” Whatever ones opinion on forecasting, it certainly aligns a business and creates a common vision for what is planned to be achieved for that centre, state, country and total business. A collaborative, engaged, simplified process of forecasting keeps all those involved well informed and allows ownership and proactive actions to be taken to continuously grow the business. Anthony Rous Chief Financial Officer

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Having a Forecast allows the business to work towards achieving a goal.

5. Users of Kennards Data – the Forecast allows users of our data to see where the business is going, what growth, and basically what the future holds for Kennards. 6. Financial Learnings – the Annual

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Forecast allows Team Members to develop their skills in finance and forecasting and develop increased financial understanding across the business.

As with all process, there can also be cons relating to the Forecast: 1. Effort – Forecasts take time and resources. It is key for businesses to look to minimise the effort through systems, simplification and ongoing training. 2. Ownership – Team Headquarters will tell me what to do so why do I bother to do a forecast? This is a terrible outcome and means preparers of the forecast do not own or take accountability for their own forecast. This can easily be avoided by working collaboratively and taking on input from centres as to what their forecast is and how it is being impacted by local factors.

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FEATURES

Houseproud...

‘ Presentation doesn’t start and finish with clean doors, drive ways and floors, it’s the detail that will be noticed and impress customers. minor personal triumphs others needing a little extra help. The Team at Kirrawee have posted habitually their crusade to continually keep their centre looking fresh and vibrant. Y ammer has been awash lately with photo’s from Team Members proudly showing off their centres. Some showing This reminds me of a previous Kourier article titled the “Broken Window Syndrome” a belief that if we maintain our properties to a high standard of presen- tation this sends a powerful message to our customers that we care and that some one is responsible, in turn our customers will treat our properties with the same care and respect. When people see that we care about the standard of our proper- ties, customers will believe we care about their goods in storage. Presentation doesn’t start and finish with clean doors, drive ways and floors, it’s the detail that will be noticed and impress customers. Is behind and under the service counter clean and organised, is the tile grout in the toilets white, is inside the fridge and the microwave clean. Is the car park free of leaves? I’ve often turned up early at Pymble to use the Conference Room before the centre is open to find the Manager with the leaf blower on his back cleaning the car park. These are all little improvements that can add up to create an overwhelming impression for our customers. I enjoy the photos and the commentary from proud Managers and the improve- ments to your centres. Keep them coming! Darren Marshall General Manager ‘

7 Kennards Kourier April 2017

FEATURES You’re Not Just The Star Of Your Own Story, You’re The Author

L ife is full of cultural choices. We make them every single time of the day or night in our lives. Some choices are quite evident, some are not so obvious. It’s those choices in life that makes a person or a Company… what we become. We can all have a say in our own destiny, the conductor of our lives, it is purely up to the individual as to where that destiny will lead you. Choices can be easy or difficult on the challenges we face every day. Having the FREEDOM to make decisions forms part of our ability to develop and grow in life. Our own Kennards values are recognised in our FREEDOM to make decisions and forms part of our company culture. Many of Kennards choices over the past 44 years has seen our company grow to 85 centre’s employing well over 250 Team Members. We owe our origins to a courageous individual in Neville Kennard, and as we all know with his own vision and choices, Neville commenced our self storage business in 1973. Our further business successes, now lead by his son Sam, has seen some significant and even more courageous choices being made, coinciding with Sam’s appointment as Managing Director in 1995.

and even 30 Years of Service, is evidence of great choices being made.

Manager in 2009.

- Millers Self Storage was acquired in 2004 for $220 million and was a BIG choice made by our Company Directors. - Our company horizons were expanded overseas in 2007 with the acquisition of storage sites in New Zealand. Having the FREEDOM to make decisions forms part of our ability to develop and grow in life. One of our many company strengths is of course our people and centre Teams, THQ and Company Directors. It’s those choices made to employ and develop our people that are important choices during the history of Kennards Self Storage. Choices which have had a significant impact on our business and the direction of our Company. Kennards is a company that places a high level of importance and effort into the development of our Teams on a daily basis. Commencing Skillbuilder, PEP, Wine Appreciation coaching, Mystery Shopper Programs, HUB Training Centre’s, and even the achievements of Team Members reaching 5, 10, 15, 25 ‘ ‘

Our company culture is significant to the journey we have made, and will make in the future. Recognising the need to address our culture in 1998 was a MONUMENTAL CHOICE. At the time, we were a company that oozed a high level of aggressive and passive defensive behaviours by our Teams. A choice was made to address our work environment and culture. It is those choices which have impacted our business the most.

We can all make choices about our lives on a daily basis:-

- Choose to be a successful person wanting to enjoy work and life.

- Choose to help others grow and develop. You will grow more yourself as you help others.

- Choose to be brave enough to speak your truth.

- Choose to act and be your very best at what you do all the time.

Making good cultural choices begins with taking charge of your own decision making process. Manage the big stuff, learn from the past, know what you know and what you don’t know, don’t procrastinate. More importantly once you make a choice, don’t look back – make it work. Wayne Birch Operations Manager VIC

So what significant choices have occurred at KSS since our storage inception?

- Sam Kennards first employment day with Kennards commenced on the 15th March, 1991.

- Darren Marshall became General

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FEATURES

An Orange Beacon Is Coming To Auckland’s North Shore

P lanning is now well underway to develop the site we acquired in the tightly held Wairau Valley precinct on Auckland’s North Shore, a short drive across the bridge from Auckland’s CBD. The site is situated just before the corner of a major motorway off ramp (some 30,000 vehicles will pass our property each day based on the last annual average daily traffic survey). This feeds into a major business and retail base that services a large residential neighbourhood. The area has traditionally been an industrial and service type area, however over recent times, bulk retailers including supermarkets, Bunnings and Mitre 10 have moved in to the region along with some significant Car Dealerships. Development of the site will see the demoli- tion of an old workshop and mechanics units (built circa 1970’s) to enable building of a potential six storey building providing over 8,000 square metres of rentable space. This will be a great opportunity to construct our first purpose built KSS site in New Zealand. It will become the envy of the self storage community and also be the self storage facility of choice for customers on the North Shore of Auckland.

Access to the site is via a main arterial road and side lane. The council has recently completed a new cycleway/

pedestrian lane beside our property boundary to make a more customer friendly environ- ment to operate within.

with leases up until this time next year. However, this is convenient for the necessary Council approvals that all take up more time than they should. At time of writing, the approved design is still a work in progress, so stay tuned for the big reveal! It is exciting times for us in New Zealand, in particular the Auckland Team, as we grow and build another significant facility in the area, that we have been hoping to enter for some time. It provides economies of scale for our presence which is benefi- cial for our organic Google listings and also adds more momentum in our pursuit to make Kennards Self Storage a famous house hold name. I look forward to updating our progress as we begin this new and exciting project. Andrew Kirkham Operations Manager NZ

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This will be a great opportunity to construct our first purpose built KSS site in new Zealand. It will become the envy of the self storage community...

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The timetable for construction is limited to a start in mid-2018 due to acquiring the property with some existing tenants

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FEATURES

In Case You Missed It! SAM KENNARD APPEARS ON SKY NEWS

while many business leaders are voiceless and not heard on many topics that affect businesses today. It was wonderful to see Sam get an opportu- nity like this to express his passionate views and opinions on many subjects. The responses Sam gave were open, honest, and I believe made a lot of sense. Views and opinions I have been listening to for the last thirteen years working at Kennards. We only need to look around to see that what Sam advocates works, building a very successful company that we all have the privilege of experiencing first hand.

During the interview Sam was asked questions in relation to his experience as a business owner operating in Australia. Questions economy?” To which Sam covered two of his favourite topics’ regulation and taxes, to teaching and such as “How do we kick start the

S ome of you may have caught Sam Kennard recently on Sky News television. Appearing on the Jones & Co segment Sam was interviewed by Mark Latham (centre) and Ross Cameron (left) to talk about business and in particular the impact of Government on business.

celebrating entrepreneurship, capitalism and private business ownership in school. While also touching on his political involve- ment with the Liberal Democrats Party.

http://www.skynews.com.au/connect/ podcast.html

Sam was praised by the commentators for speaking out as a business owner

Darren Marshall General Manager

Thanks For Calling Customer Care You’re Speaking With...

Saying this, our days are never boring as each customer brings something different to the call. In fact I think we’ve heard it all from the lovely old lady who just wants a chat to the angry delinquent who is going to A Current Affair. Then of course the customers who want to hire a concrete mixer and the ones who personally know Sam and want that special price. old Michaels memorabilia! “Sure we can help you … have you used storage before? Would you like a unit near David Bowie, George Michael or Prince…? In fact the centre even has 24 hour access just in case you need to get your hands on his unreleased recordings at 1am!“ Our Mystery Caller had a little chuckle before bursting into laughter. Sometimes you just have to keep the fun alive! Dianne White Customer Care Team But one story gave us all a chuckle last week. Janet Jackson called to store poor

W orking in Customer Care we often talk to centres who are surprised what our day involves. Getting your head around 85 storage locations all offering slighting different features, designs and access while trying

to complete a Plan To Close accurately takes a fair amount of multi-tasking. Two computer screens, hard copy display folders with information on hours, access, nearest cross streets and in excess of five different online pages to scroll between. Now amplify that by 300 calls and that’s a lot of conversations for one day!

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FEATURES

Coffee, Chicken and Taco’s Coming Soon To KSS Penrith

Customer Feedback

“Steve is da man! Great person, very pleasant, polite and professional. He provided us with awesome assistance at St Marys.” “My first storage experience. I’ve been very happy with the assistance from staff and feel very confident that my goods are safe and secure. Customer service has been excellent at Springvale and happy with the price.” “The Team I dealt with were fantastic (Sandgate), especially Lenci: profes- sional, friendly, efficient, helpful. We made our first contact at 10 minutes before closing time and she gave us all the information we needed, despite it being so close to the end of the day, in a cheerful manner.” “Antone and his team were very welcoming and courteous from the moment I made my first inquiry with Rydalmere. Lift access was very ‘ doable’ with easy access to trolleys.” “Leng at Prospect, She is very accomo- dating and helpful. I enjoyed my experi- ence with Kennard’s because of her excellent customer services service.” “Kennards KSS at Pymble - what a fantastic place, very organised and clean. Steve and his friendly Team are extremely helpful and go that extra mile to accommodate your requirements.” “Very smooth and awesome service and the Team made me feel special and well looked after. Totally recommended Palmertson North.” “Ian at Frenchs Forest offered fabulous service from the first visit. Took me for a guided tour of the premises and then followed up with an email and phone call. I visited a couple of other centres in the area and their service was no where near that offered by Ian.” “Very good. We used the storage units at Gladesville 10 years ago and this time we found the same friendly staff, cleanliness and easy access to our unit.”

T he final piece of our three hectare land parcel at Penrith will soon be developed into a take-away food centre. restaurant buildings with drive-thru’s. KSS will construct and retain ownership of the land and buildings, earning rental income from the food operators. Additional food and retail space is also available for Lease alongside those well-known brands. When fully occupied there will be six or seven individual food and retail tenants next to our Penrith storage centre. We have secured Oporto, Starbucks and Zambrero to Lease three take-away

The scheme should be completed in early 2018.

Sam Kennard Managing Director

Customer Feedback

“I want to make special mention about the outstanding service I received from Matthew at the Wollongong centre. He spent some time showing me various units and sizes. He also gave me very valuable advice on how best to move and store our household goods. I had used another local storage facility in the Wollongong area previously and they were a bunch of "Cowboys" compared to the professionalism and friendly welcoming service displayed by Matthew. I was so impressed by the cleanliness of the unit and of the overall facility. A very pleasurable experience.”

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FEATURES

oogle Reviews, Get Noticed!

I n today’s online world Google is usually the first place we think of to search for something, learn about something, find or review something. We plug keywords into Google to help us with anything we want to know. If we want to find out how one business compares to another we Google it and compare peoples reviews and experiences. We look at the star rating and this gives us an indication of what that service was like. If I was trying to find a restaurant in Darling harbour, I do a quick Google Search “restaurants in Darling Harbour”, this returns me a list of restaurants in that area. Right away I can see the user star rating and review with each restaurant listing. Of course I am going to choose the restau- rant with the better review or more stars, compared to the one that has two stars and a bad review.

million Australians aged over 14 used Google, that’s 86%! All up that year 552 million hours was spent on Google. This is why it is crucial to encourage your customers to leave a Google Review, their feedback is important and a huge contribu- tion to the way we do business. The journey they have taken with Kennards Self Storage matters, it matters to us the business, and to the consumer searching for storage. Reviews not only bring more business they also help us to do better next time and improve our service. It also gives us a chance to see just how many ‘raving fans’ we have, and believe me we have many! Over 95% of Reviews that we receive for our centres are five stars with glowing comments.

‘ In today’s online world Google is usually the first place we think of to search for something, learn about something, find or review something. In business online reviews bring the benefits of social proof to the table. They help to increase or decrease the degree of trust felt when in unfamiliar territory. The more reviews there are the more trustworthy it is deemed. On average most consumers will read around six reviews before making up their mind. In a study done over a four week period almost 17

Google Reviews are gold, the more the better. Get noticed!

Sharon Dux EA to the MD

Fyshwick ACT.

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Mt Eden Auckland NZ

Moore Park NSW

12 Kennards Kourier April 2017

FEATURES

KSS Achievement Dinner August 12th, 2017

Teammates and congratulate them on a job well done. With Freedom Awards (Adding Values), Service Awards and SCOTYS presented, we can all celebrate the Achievements made throughout the year. Please remember you can nominate a Teammate that you feel has added value to KSS at any time during the year. We look forward to another great night.

This years Achievement Dinner will take place at the Stamford Plaza Sydney Airport once again. We have found the Stamford over the last few years to be a great venue. The Achievement Dinner is a wonderful opportuntiy to meet new Team Members and catch up with some old favourites. It’s a chance to support your fellow

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FEATURES

Have Boxes, Will Travel!

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With an exceptional online customer experience and delivery capability, we believe that KSS can be the market leader for online boxes and packaging materials.

B ehind the scenes we have The KSS Box Shop is making it easier for Australians to purchase the number one Brand of boxes and packaging products with a click of a few buttons. And as time progresses we will see even more changes in the pipeline. SO WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING? KSS Box Shop customers can now purchase online, whether it be with their mobile phone, laptop, desk top or tablet, with an option to click and collect instore or have their purchase delivered. Our Delivery service levels have been reviewed and we have introduced a new courier partner, Australian National Couriers (ANC), with added Box Shop locations and provided support centres to assist Box Shop locations. In April we will have 76 Australian Click and Collect centres and 21 delivery centres; this is up from nine in November last year. been quietly sneaking into the lounge rooms and offices of Australia.

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With an exceptional online customer experience and delivery capability, we believe that KSS can be the market leader for online boxes and packaging materials. Carolyn Coates Operations Manager NSW

The majority of online purchases for delivery are greater than $100, with the largest order received being $3000! KSS Box Shop customers trust our Brand which provides the confidence to shop online. The best experience for the online KSS Box Shop customer is for cart completion, and this occurs if

all items are in stock. centres can contribute to the growth

and success of the online Box Shop by ensuring all products we display online are in stock and available in any 24 hour period.

Centres will be receiving two

banners this month to further promote the Box Shop and online delivery.

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TRAINING

Effective Centre Management Steps Up To Operational Excellence

T he opportunity to develop Team Members skills within Kennards Self Storage has been an ongoing commitment from the business since day one. In the past Effective Centre Management Skills Training was the course of choice for new and aspiring Centre Managers. This course was good for its time however it has become dated and a review of its contribu- tion highlighted a need to move forward and update. Change is always exciting and Operational Excellence was the program to move forward with. This program in its current form will be five sessions; Sales Excellence I, Leadership Excellence I and II and Business Excellence I and II, with scope for the program to grow. Each session consists of one day to be conducted at THQ. We do have scope to conduct sessions at other sites and this has been well recieved by Teams. One of the considerations in structuring this program was that we wanted Team Members to take the skills learnt in the

training environment and with the support of the Operations Managers put those skills into practice in the workplace.

- Trust - First Person Exchanges - Listening to recorded calls to improve skills - Determining the customer’s story - Objection handling and follow up - Leadership Excellence I Leader vs Manager - Vision and Achievable Goal Setting - Successful vs Effective Leadership and the skills of an effective leader. Sales Excellence and Leadership have already had pilots conducted and the feedback has been positive. Our commitment to learning and develop- ment of our people will continue. Along with our programs, improving and changing to remain relevant, educational and interesting. Should you be interested in attending these sessions please feel free to speak to your Operations Manager. Bill McClean Training & Development Manager

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One exciting aspect of Operational Excellence is that Team Members create SMART goals to complete, using what they have learned over the day to implement when they return to their centres. With the support of their Operations Manager this can only set the individual, their centre and the business on the road to success. ‘ Change is always exciting and Operational Excellence was the program to move forward with.

Sales Excellence includes: - The Sales Process

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PROPERTY

Construction Pipeline In Overload

Driveway in progress - Petersham NSW

Drainage culvert - Chullora NSW

Chullora NSW - Earthworks Well Underway Earthworks and drainage channel are well underway and initial services are being connected. Thomastown VIC - Awaiting Approval From VCAT This is still in the hands of VCAT. We are still hopeful of an April approval then we can start on construction. Croydon Park S.A - Demolition Underway Storco have won the tender to fitout this existing building into a new centre with demolition work already underway. Camperdown NSW - Construction Has Commenced Construction has started with demolition of the old roof line and the old tenants office space at the rear. Coorparoo QLD and Wairau Valley NZ - In Design Stage New acquisitions. Currently working through design concepts. For regular updates follow Michael on Yammer and Twitter. Michael Macheledt & Craig Henery Development & Construction Team

Warrawong NSW - Construction Commenced Site strip and levelling of the site is now complete and services are being re-aligned. Site filling is underway. Petersham NSW - 90% Complete Storage fitout 90% complete, driveway works, painting, lifts and landscaping in final stages. Waterloo NSW - Final Testing Underway Almost complete with final testing being carried out. Floor coverings are being installed. Hawthorn VIC - External Painting In Progress All concrete works are completed, the roof is also completed including roof sheeting. The basement fitout is complete and the ground and first floor has commenced. External painting of the building is underway. Seaford Meadows S.A - 95% Complete The storage fit out to the three buildings is 95% complete. The concrete floor to the new building is finished and the Builders have started to stand up the structural framing. Murarrie QLD - Concrete Works Complete All concrete works are complete with the roof structure underway. Ground floor fitout 80% complete

Demolition underway - Camperdown NSW

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Kennards Kourier April 2017

PROPERTY

Spotlight on Flemington

F lemington Kennards Self that stops a nation, the Melbourne Cup. Flemington is a busy centre because of where we are situated on busy Racecourse Road and we are also down the road from the Melbourne Show Grounds, where the show is held every year. We have a lot of extra storage customers when these special events are on. Storage is just down the road from Melbourne’s famous race track where we have the race

first floor, nearly doubling our storage capacity. At the moment our occupancy is a fraction off 90% and doing really well. Our Team here comprises of Assistant Manager Azam Muhammad, and myself Trudy Iacobucci, Centre Manager. Between us we have over 14 years’ experience with Kennards. Azam starting as a TSM and then came to Flemington about five years ago. I began at Port Melbourne then moved to North Melbourne for a short time and then to Flemington for the last three years. We enjoy giving great customer service, helping the customers have an enjoyable and memorable experience. Trudy Iacobucci Kennards Self Storage Flemington

Flemington has a long history and is quite an old suburb. We are located right beside Bolte Bridge and the Tullamarine Freeway which can take you anywhere in Melbourne. We have

an interesting array of customers from all over the world as a lot of new Austral- ians live in this area. Flemington was previuosly one of the Millers sites before being acquired by Kennards in the year 2004. We extended about four years ago to add large driveway units and smaller units on the

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CHARITY

Disadvantaged Communities Feel The Love

Rotary’s partnership brings a wider network of services to MRN projects and with the addition of the ‘Wish List’ area on the MRN web site it has allowed benefi- ciary hospitals to ask for what they really need. Having a well managed and secure location to store and pack is such an asset to MRN and we acknowledge the support KSS has given us. “Sometimes it’s not always possible to get all the parts for a consignment together just prior to dispatch, so that’s the real benefit of KSS. We can then store, select and match items without the rush of meeting a shipping date,” Wayne comments. MRN and Rotary are both not for profit organisations and their efforts in supporting the disadvantaged communi- ties is commendable and we will gladly continue to support their initiatives. To learn more about MRN visit: www.mrnetwork.com.au Facebook - Medical Repurposing Network ‘

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Wayne Leathem with Mazen Trabolsi at KSS Macquarie Park

I f you have been to a hospital as a visitor or patient, you would have seen all types of monitors and systems that go buzz and beep. All good things for the doctors and nursing staff to tell them how you are progressing. Well, many of these systems become redundant through upgrades and health standard changes. So, what happens to the older and still very functional systems and does anyone really care? Medical Repurposing Network (MRN) cares and has done so for the past seven years. Wayne Leathem, a Theatre Scrubs Nurse at the Mater Hospital North Sydney, founder of MRN, has volunteered countless hours of his own time sourcing and delivering discarded medical equipment and supplies for

health care services in disadvantaged communities in Timor-Leste, PNG, Philippines and Fiji. However, Wayne’s backyard and front porch in Balmain was no place to keep item prior to shipping. So, MRN approached Kennards Self Storage to see if we could donate some space to store, consolidate and load items to be sent to their beneficiary hospitals and clinic. Wayne said “Having a well managed and secure location to store and pack is such an asset to MRN and we acknowl- edge the support that KSS has given us.” “MRN support the companies that support them so KSS signage is on all of our shipments, web site and Facebook page.”

Sharon Dux EA to the MD

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NEV’S NOTES

Nevs Notes... Where there’s a queue, there’s a business opportunity ‘ Queuing is a price we pay. We may not see our waiting time, our queuing, as part of the price, but it is. S ometimes when I am waiting in a queue I ponder, “What would I pay to not be waiting here, but to be in a fast lane?” This can happen at traffic lights, doctors’ waiting rooms, airport check-in, airport security and wherever else the government is running things. At airline check-ins, the long queue is mostly at the economy class counters, as business and first class give their premium-paying customers the benefit of some queue-jumping. At doctors’ waiting rooms, the waiting-time is a price we pay for “free” healthcare. At traffic lights, the queue-time is the price we pay for “free” roads. the queuers pay), gets resolved. The business opportunity presented by the queue is grabbed by an entrepreneur. With government-provided “free” services, the price mechanism is not allowed to work. The costly (in time) and inefficient government mechanism is to offer “free” stuff and ration the supply with a hidden price — of time in queue. Local councils have the “customers” (they don’t call them this — they may call them “clients,” but often see them as nuisances) waiting for approvals on development and buildings applica- tions. This is very expensive and adds to construction costs and development costs. ‘

Nev enjoyed expressing his ideas in this section of the Kourier. These little gems have been appreciated by many in KSS. We will continue to publish his ideas that we have in stock. Enjoy!

Obviously, the facilitation fee could be formalised and legalised allowing urgent and important applications to be fast-tracked. There are many other ways for government departments to speed up the queuing time, and the very best, of course, is to eliminate the regulation that courses the queue in the first place. The next best is to privatise the approval service so that “authorised approvers” do it for profit. The tragedy of the commons remains a relevant concept, and as governments take control of more and more, of our lives, our jobs, the economy, there are more and more “commons” and likely to be more and more queues, and increasing temptations for corruption/ facilitation fees. Queuing is a price we pay. We may not see our waiting time, our queuing, as part of the price, but it is. It is a cost (in time and inconvenience) we pay. In free markets, queues get resolved pretty quickly. In government services they don’t, and people wait, for example with “free” healthcare, sometimes for months or years, for their treatment — a price they must pay for this “free” or subsidised service.

Queues at counters of shops don’t persist for long. The shop owner sees the queue, which tells him that his product is popular, or under-priced, and he does something about it: he may put on another employee, or he may increase the price. Or a competitor opens up. Either way the queuing problem, the queuing-price (the time-price that

So, how to take advantage of the business opportunity presented when there is a government-induced queue? One way is corruption. Pay a fee (bribe?) to jump the queue. It may be very economic to pay a “facilitation fee” — over the counter or under the counter.

May 4th, 2011

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