eKourier April 2019

FEATURE

NCY - WHAT IT TAKES

um 2016 was to grow our occupancy to 90% by 2020. A check centres achieving occupancy over 90% and a further 40 centres n 85.2% - 89.8%.

Hotspot. Where ever you can, try to make the use of a storage unit more of a destination rather than just one use. Apart from shelving, all the other services just mentioned are free to the customer and will make the storage solution become more attractive to the customer. It goes a long way towards distinguishing and communicating the Kennards value advantage. ‘ Knowing your competi- tors’ price is no longer enough. We need to be familiar with what they have to offer and look for a point of difference to distinguish ourselves from them rather than just price match. KNOW YOUR CPA AND USE YOUR INVENTORY STRENGTHS Knowing your competitors’ price is no longer enough. We need to be familiar with what they have to offer and look for a point of difference to distinguish ourselves from them rather than just price match. Customer objections or suggestions to use another competitor is really an opportunity to promote what we can do better however, knowledge is power and when you present with confidence, you are more inclined to gain the trust of the customer and secure the move in.

occupied unit sizes and then use the site visit to upsell to more premium units. Think to yourself how many times you may have seen a sales promotion and thought I will go and buy that and then end up buying something else. It is no different with storage, use the interest from your web enquiries to encourage a site visit and when they do it is more than likely you will get the business without even asking for it! Know your customers and keep in contact with them when they are on-site. It can just be a friendly hello and seeing how things are. Or you can follow up on anything mentioned in the past such as that unit size or location you mentioned previously has become available, or I see you have boxes stacked up everywhere – have you considered using the shelving option? It is the genuine show of interest or advice that does not go unnoticed and promotes the greater potential for a customer to come to you with a need or want rather than assuming nothing can be done and looking elsewhere and then moving out. PRESENT THE CENTRE THE BEST IT CAN BE It is often the little things that matter and are remembered. The basics like a clean rubbish free driveway, always having the office floor clean, ensuring the finger marks on the entrance doors are regularly removed and a clean bathroom are all signs of a well run centre. Vigilant attention to maintaining these areas will create lasting impressions and contribute to the theme that our storage centres are a nice destination rather than some tired generic looking commercial building that is not appealing. ASK FOR A GOOGLE REVIEW It is amazing how many times I hear storers who come to the end of storing PERSONALISE THE SERVICE

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with us and compliment the Team on how good their experience was. These are the gold moments when we should encourage them to complete a Google Review and hand them a Google Review ‘prompt card’. However, just like with a sales enquiry, we should be doing a follow up on a move out customer a couple of days later and check everything went well and then confidently follow up for a review. Even better, it is not just at move out stage that you can ask for one, I would think that all sites would have existing storers right now that you could go to and confidently ask them to complete a Google Review and it would be a great one! I am sure most of these points are not new to anyone however, I would challenge everyone to think how well we perform these tasks? The centres I have observed that maintain over 90% do them not just well but consistently well!

USE THE WEB PRICING STRATEGICALLY

Web pricing is now crucial to success, where you can, offer ‘a strategic hot deal’ to entice the customer in with less

Andrew Kirkham NZ Operations Manager

13 Kennards Kourier April 2019