eKourier Jan 2010

Kourier Kennards

January 2010

KSS Christmas Cheer!!!

Below - Aldo Gortan (TSM), Steve Jansen (Rydalmere) and Kyle Haustorfer (TSM)

Marinus Blom (Kingsgrove) and Lynda Walsh (THQ)

In this issue 2009 KSS Christmas! Team Member Profiles KSS Camperdown has a Curvey Neighbour Training & Development New KSS Website Underway Spotlight on... Charity - ClothesLine Next issue Deadline: 9th April, 2010 Please send contributions to the editor Editor: Sharon Dux Email: sharon@kss.com.au Ph: 02 9764 9801 Distribution: 23rd April, 2010 Upcoming events 1/2 - Auckland Anniversary Day NZ - (PH Hours (Mt Eden, Three Kings, Tauranga) 6/2 - Waitangi Day - PH Hours (NZ) 8/3 - Adelaide Cup - PH Hours (SA) 8/3 - Canberra Day - PH Hours (ACT) 8/3 - Labour Day - PH Hours (VIC) 2/4 - Good Friday - KSS Closed 3/4 - Easter Saturday - Normal Saturday Hours 5/4 - Easter Monday - PH Hours (NSW, VIC, QLD, ACT, SA) 5/4 - Easter Monday - (NZ KSS Closed) 9/4 - SCOTY Quarterly Results 7 Questions... Skillbuilder II Nev’s Notes Congratulations

Above - Jim Kennard (Chatswood), Brad Hampson

(Mona Vale), Phil Howe (Waterloo) and Roddy Kennard (CCC)

Team CCC - Roddy Kennard, Matoa Bell, Andrew Bauman, Christine Bauman, Fiona Harding and Jo Woodhouse

Above - Lucy Cheng, Mary Nessek, Therese To, Angela Lu (THQ)

Right - Adam Snowdon (Miranda), Darryl Hodgson, Delna Dugdale (THQ) and Jim Kennard (Chatswood)

Bill Bartlett, Roddy Kennard (CCC) and Sam Kennard

Above - Brett Leary (THQ), Patrick Norrish and Kim Connolly (Hornsby)

Michael Macheledt (THQ), James Burns (Wetherill Park), David Todd (Kingsgrove)

Above - Andrew Bauman (CCC), Matoa Bell (CCC), Simon DeGaris (THQ), Jim Kennard (Chatswood) and Michael Macheledt (THQ)

Above - Jeff Xanthos and Shathish Gopinath (THQ)

and Adam Snowdon (Miranda).

Matoa Bell (CCC) and Orhan Guzel (THQ)

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Kennards Kourier January 2010

Team Member Profiles

Rob Aubrey Assistant Manager Waterloo NSW

Bronwen Ault Centre Manager Bankstown

Career background: After leaving the Navy, went to the bank industry then started with KSS. Marital status: Single

Career background: I originally worked for a child’s play centre, then for Civic Video. Then I started with KSS at Petersham and then moved onto Bankstown as Manager.

Any children? 2 sons - Jordan, 21yrs living in Brisbane and Taylor - 19yrs, living with me. Both love being able to swap homes at will!! Hobbies/interests: Renovating my home, performing in shows, fundraising, movies and catching up with friends for lunch. Do you play any sport or have any special talents? I am a TV sports man - beer in hand!! Favourite book: Not a big reader Favourite movie: Anything to do with space, i.e. Star Trek, Star Wars Favourite restaurant/food: Mexican - Agave at Surry Hills Where did you grow up? Born in N.Z. Small town, never a dull moment! Any pets? Millie, a tortoiseshell Persian cat Favourite holiday: Chicago USA. Have friends there. Summertime is best.

Marital status: In a relationship for 10 years Any children? No. But have 2 nephews that I spend as much time with as possible. Hobbies/interests: I rock’n’roll dance, but not as much as I would like! Do you play any sport or have any special talents? I play basketball every Monday. Have been for the last 15 years with the same team. Favourite book: Tomorrow When War Began, Twilight and Harry Potter. Favourite movie: Oliver, Wizard of Oz, Twilight and many more. Favourite restaurant/food: Thai. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Heathcote in the Sutherland Shire. Any pets? At my parents I have a dog called Chase. Favourite holiday destination: Europe. Have also been to N.Z. and Thailand. There are so many places I want to go!

That’s right; KSS Camperdown has a new curvaceous neighbour. Curves, a women’s only gym and fitness centre has relocated its Camperdown gym in our building. KSS Camperdown has a Curvey Neighbour!

Curves now occupy a 132m² area located on the frontage of Booth Street. The gym is housed in an area that was formally leased to Wine Ark as a wine auction room/office in 2004. It had been unused until 12mths ago when Simon visited Curves former location and enticed the Gym owner Elaine to relocate to Booth Street. A little about curves…… Curves gyms give a complete fitness and nutrition solution. The Curves 30 minute workout exercises every major

muscle group and burns up to 500 calories. Curves Smart™, a personal coaching system that individualises and customises each workout by monitoring heart rate, workout intensity, and repetitions is a unique tool available to curves gym members. Curves Offer Curves Camperdown owner Elaine Saunderson has kindly decided to offer all Kennards Staff a special offer. Until the end of February 2010 the usual $245 joining fee will be waived for Kennards employees and their families who wish to join the Camperdown gym. If you would like more info please call Elaine, Ashlee or Vera on 02 9519-6404 Simon DeGaris

(L to R) Owner Elaine Saunderson & Vera

Kennards Kourier January 2010

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Training & Development

Nicholas Bactis from Prospect recently completed his Front-line Management Certificate IV. Nicholas says “The Front-line Management Course taught me various skills that I was able to apply to Prospect and will also be able to

Customer Feedback “Everything was great at Huntingdale, the staff, clarity of explanations, cleanliness, accessibility, location of facility - excellent. Your staff members without a doubt are tops!!” “Full compliments to Barbara at Castle Hill, she always knows the customer by both name and company. Explains everything clearly and is an absolute pleasure to deal with.”

use in my career in general in whatever position I hold.

“Johnny Vaman at Rozelle is always courteous, polite and very friendly. I use the serviced office 3 to 4 times a week, and it is always spotless! I am welcomed every time I come in, which actually makes me look forward to doing my work!”

It was a great experience that I would recommend to anyone who wants to further their skills as a manager. The course was well structured and it was easy to complete the modules that were required. If I was ever in need of help I knew that I could rely on the great support that the college offered.” If you are interested in this course contact Delna Dugdale the Training and Development Manager at delna@kss.com.au.

New KSS Website Underway

scoping to ensure the function of the new site will reflect our core values and philosophy. That being “Store with People Who Care”. With this in mind we are aiming to ensure the new site is simple, straight forward, easy to understand and navigates the customer to where they want to go as simply and quickly as possible. We expect them to want to do more actions and transactions online. A key feature of this will be the benefits we can achieve having the new site link directly to and from StorMan. The Web is such an important part of our future. As more customers conduct their lives online, the website will undoubtedly have an impact on our brand and business, equal or greater than all current advertising. Stay tuned for more updates about the website over the coming 6 months. Darryl Hodgson

Continuing on from our objectives at Momentum 08 to capture more customers online and now with the launch of StorMan V8 almost bedded down, we have begun developing the kss.com.au, kennards.co.nz website(s). A key driver of this project is the age and function of the existing site. It has served us well but it is now at the point where we can fix it no more. This is particularly important with the increasing amount of online advertising we are doing. Those of you in the know will be aware our current site is made up in a format called ‘frames’. Being very brief, this format is no longer favoured by the WEB industry, especially the likes of Google and Bing. Their systems have trouble reading our site and as a result this negatively affects our search rankings.

market with the aim being to select the successful tender in February and launch the new site in the middle of this year. This has been a long time coming. Over the past year we spent our time testing the market, researching customers and scoping the new site - all just to get to the point we are at now. We did over 800 surveys of customers asking them how they found us, what they did on our site and what they wanted to see on the site in future. We have also been tracking the performance of the current site. Some interesting trends have been emerging. For example: Customers that use the web to find us is now double that of the customers using the Yellow Pages. So what can we expect from the new site? We have worked hard in the

Tenders are currently out in the

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Kennards Kourier January 2010

Spotlight on Ultimo...

customers, from our regulars that like to come in for a chat, to the not so regular eccentric locals. We are also the preferred centres for some famous faces - Jon Stevens, Penny Wong, Axel Whitehead and a heap of Home and Away stars. It is fair to say that we have had some challenges in occupancy and income. Currently our occupancy is 85% and 77% respectively. A lot of our commercial customers experienced some tough times in their own business and moved on. Lately however we’ve seen a shift back and are getting more enquires and move ins, so we are looking forward to a more positive business environment. The Team Ultimo is certainly not the newest or most trendy looking centre in the chain but we do have a fantastic location and offer a great customer experience to all who visit us. Our team consists of 4 full time team members. Alex Shapiro - Manager, Diana Pena, Dominic Allen, and Karen Bell, Assistant managers .

Site Features What really makes Ultimo special is the location . We are officially in the CBD precinct of Sydney just behind Darling Harbour and we are the only self storage facility in the area, with no immediate competitors. As the buildings are tall they can be seen from many vantage points around the city. For a long time the area was

(L to R) Dominic Allen, Alex Shapiro, Diana Pena and Karen Bell.

History At Ultimo we have 2 separate buildings which are 100 metres apart divided by a busy road. Both buildings were old Millers sites and were converted to Storage in (1980 - U1) and (1985 - U2). (Both were built in 1937). Prior to this the buildings have had various uses including wool stores, fabric storage and Grace Bros Stock room store for the flagship Broadway Store which was down the road.

strictly commercial, however, over the last 5 years it has changed into residential. There are 731 units in Ultimo 1 and 569 units in Ultimo 2. There is an even spread of commercial to residential customers, with a huge number of them being international students. We run both centres out of the one office at Ultimo 1.

We certainly have an eclectic mix of

Donated Space for ClothesLine “To support homeless and needy Australians, by providing them with new or good quality used

KSS were recently approached by the charity organisation ClothesLine, to help store their donated items for the homeless. KSS were able to help out by donating some warehouse space at one of our centres in Sydney. clothing and other essential items such as blankets and toiletries. Our aim is to make a noticeable difference to their lives, by improving their comfort, self image and employment prospects.”

The founders of ClothesLine have been involved in feeding and providing support to Sydney’s homeless for several years. During that time, it became apparent that there was a desperate need for a new, mobile support service, which could provide disadvantaged people with good quality clothing and other essential items such as blankets and toiletries. It is widely accepted that good clothing can make a noticeable difference to the lives of homeless and disadvantaged people. KSS are happy to be helping ClothesLine, hopefully making their endeavours a little easier and the lives of the homeless a bit happier.

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Kennards Kourier January 2010

7 Questions... With Steve Jansen

Customer Feedback “We were very pleased with the attitude and help given to us by Christine and Peter at Vermont. They knew and understood the problems with moving/ packing/ unpacking. The tea making and toilet facilities were also an added bonus.” “ We dealt with Leanne Nassif at Artarmon2. Leanne was extremely helpful and courteous. I have rarely had customer service that comes close, so many thanks Leanne!” “John and James were very polite and professional at Wetherill Park. They took the time to show me what I needed. Not only making me feel like a customer but more like a resident of KSS. Thank you for a great experience!” “Leonie at your Maribyrnong centre was amazing. She was extremely helpful and efficient. She is an exceptional employee and a true asset to Kennards.” mean if you approach the gate - hair on end and teeth on show. We also have 2 cats - Whiskey, the old grumpy one; and Dallas the kitten, a no nonsense attack cat who will take on anyone. What do you do outside of KSS? I own 3 Trombones and play with Parramatta City Band - the leading entertainment brass band in Sydney. I also play with the Yagoona Brass, plus Bass Trombone with Leichhardt Celebrity Brass and Balmain Sinfonia Orchestra. I also hope to be joining the Blacktown Salvation Army Band before Christmas. Brass banding is a big/widespread community and we often find ourselves helping one another on jobs and in competitions if we can. I adore Thai and Chinese food, or pork chops on the bbq. It is well known I do like my red wine! Do you have any pets? Banjo the 5 year old Labrador- cross-Border Collie who looks pretty

It is encouraging to see TSM’s grow and take on management roles in centres. The catch up and re-rostering that follows is usually quite stressful, but I will always encourage staff to apply for positions they want in their KSS life, and beyond. I enjoy a great deal of support from the Ops Managers who assist me with rostering challenges. I also appreciate those TSM’s who often travel a little further to a centre in need, as well as some centres who have been kind in adjusting their plans when we are really stuck. This certainly is a team effort on a grand scale. What did you do before KSS? My working life started with Big W, Tamworth at age 15. I left home at the age of 22 and moved to Sydney. I was recruited as part of the new store setup department manager crew, travelling all over Sydney. Upon reflection, I think it was because we worked nearly 24 hours a day with no overtime and having only beer and pizza, I finally became a Store Manager. Eventually I ran several stores over many years. I left Big W in 1997 and joined Peter Sheppard Footwear, managing their main store in Centrepoint. PSF had the largest range of ladies footwear in Australia, with thousands of very pricey shoes. My store had 20 full time ladies. Sometimes I was required to travel to Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth stores. Year 2000, I realised shoes weren’t for me long term and that’s when I found Self Storage. Tell us about your family I have been married for 21 years. I met my wife Suellen when I was opening Big W Blacktown. When news got out we were an item the store manager transferred her to Woolworths, so that my “career path wouldn’t be distracted.” Suellen now works at William Clarke College in the uniform store. We have two beautiful daughters, Alexis (19) who plays a mean electric guitar and is very creative with her drawing; and Natasha (15) who also plays electric guitar, as well as piano and drums. She is also a fabulous dancer.

Tell us about your time with Kennards and Millers. I joined Millers Storage in Dec 2000, starting as a Centre Manager for Bankstown. In 2002, I wanted to open a new centre and went to Rozelle. It was exciting being involved in the planning and setup for a brand new centre. There were a lot of decisions to be made about the layout and setup of what was essentially a dusty, empty shell when I started. In 2004, the news came that Millers was up for sale and thankfully I got to stay on, proudly wearing the new KSS uniform now. Since then I have moved twice more, transferring to Gladesville in October 2005 and then Rydalmere in March 09. During 2006, I was invited to take on the role as Team Support Co-ordinator, as well as managing my centre. The TSM Coordinator is responsible for programming coverage through the team support roster to handle leave and roster gaps arising from resignations, sickness etc . Originally there were only 3 TSMs and now we boast 8. What are some of the challenges you face in this role? I can’t deny that this role is extremely challenging. I guess the most difficult part is time management. Balancing the unpredictable nature of storage enquiries, the running of my centre and then addressing all leave applications and enquiries. Tell us about your roll as TSM co-ordinator

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Kennards Kourier January 2010

Spotlight on Thebarton... History

has dropped to an average of around 87%. As a result of the recent economic challenges reflected throughout KSS. The past 3 months though have seen an upturn in business. This combined with some recent marketing initiatives such as ‘Try Before You Buy’ for new wine storers

KSS Thebarton, or ‘The Barton’, as it is often referred to by interstate freight companies is situated on Port Road, only 2km from Adelaide’s CBD. Port Road is one of the major arterial roads in Adelaide. This offers us great exposure, particularly to commercial customers, who make up a large percentage of our cliental. Kennards purchased the property in partnership with Richard and John Stevens in June of 2000. The previous owners were Amcor, who used the building as part of their paper manufacturing and distribution network. The property was converted to storage by Total Construction over an 8-month period and was ready to commence trading around March of 2001. Site Features The team here at Thebarton comprises of Robert, Mike and Rudy. Thebarton has a total of 965 units comprising of 330 wine cellar units and 635 general storage units. Total occupancy has traditionally been around 90%. This percentage

KSS Goods and Handling option as part of their National Agreement. We are kept exceptionally busy putting parcels and pallets into units on a daily basis. This is a small price to pay for all the added benefits our centre generates from these National Account customers. They comprise of around 585 square meters of our current occupancy and the Other Income generated through rubbish disposal for example is extremely beneficial on a monthly basis. If you’re ever in Adelaide, drop in and say hello.

and the addition of specialty storage solutions like Safety Deposit Boxes, hopefully will see our occupancy increase consistently to that 90% goal again. Thebarton is the Training Hub centre for South Australia. We are also the people to ring when centres require lockers delivered and installed Australia-wide and the centre to contact for any OH&S related issues in South Australia and Victoria. Thebarton is somewhat unique in the fact we have 36 units occupied by National Account customers. Of these 36 units, 33 are units that utilise the

Robert, Mike and Rudy @ ‘The Barton’.

KSS Christmas Cheer!

Victoria Celebrates...

Back Row - Dracula Employee, Janenne Cosier (Ivanhoe), Daniel Huntington (Abbotsford), Brett Cleland (Springvale), Gordon Guthrie (Huntingdale), Dracula Employee, Sue Best (Flemington). Middle Row - Eli Savic (Maribyrnong), Frank Peniguel (TSM), Leonie Burnham (Maribyrnong), Tomas Runciman (North Melbourne), Wayne Birch (Vic Operations Manager), Charles Shepherd (Flemington), Steve Cidgey (Huntingdale), Dracula Employee. Front Row - Alan McDonald (North Melbourne), Mark Montgomery (Port Melbourne), Jim Howarth (Ivanhoe), Peter Grimes (Vermont), Christine Cutler (Vermont), Nick Ley (Abbotsford), Trudy Iacobucci (Port Melbourne), Sam Kennard, Phyllis Jallais (Abbotsford1)

Above - Sue Best (Flemington), Alan McDonald (North Melbourne), Sam Kennard, Charles Shepherd (Flemington), Nick Ley (Abbotsford)

Nick Ley (Abbotsford)

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Kennards Kourier January 2010

Skillbuilder II 09 - Launching Storman V8

Brooky Passes 1000!

October saw the start of the second SkillBuilder for the year. This training was focused around the new features and functionality of the long awaited V8 version of Storman. 131 team members attended 18 sessions in Sydney, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. As always, it was great to receive your ideas and suggestions during training. Skillbuilder gives me an invaluable insight into opportunities we can capture for on-going training and development and of how training can constantly be improved. It was a result of the feedback received from the Victorian centres last year that prompted a change in venue this year to the conference room at the Self Storage

Association.

Thank you all for your active participation and constructive sharing; as these are critical in making training effective and relevant. Some feature requests for V8 enhancement received during Skillbuilder have already been incorporated into Storman V8. Keep those ideas flowing! HOT TIP: Before putting in a Support Request: Remember to use the Technotes on Kosmo and check the ‘Known Issues and Change Requests list (IT & Storman Help/ Support & FAQ/Technotes – Storman Version 8). The Storman ‘Learn More’ feature is also a terrific aid to help with your questions and queries. Delna Dugdale

TSM Sarah Hopkins with our 1000th storer at Brookvale, Kate Potter.

Brookvale reached 1001 units rented in December, with the help of storer Kate Potter who took out a half garage and a wine cellar, tipping the number to 1001! Well done Brooky!

NEV’S NOTES...

“Being a Good Customer” We are all customers. We shop, we buy things, we are consumers. As customers we experience a range of experiences. Sometimes our experience as a customer is good, sometimes it is less than good. Sometimes it may be excellent – exceeding our expectations. When we get some excellent service it raises the bar a little and we start to expect such service from other stores and suppliers. This is good, this rising level of service; if we can support and encourage it, our experience as a customer will be enhanced; we will be more likely to go back to that store, and to find shopping as an enjoyable experience. It is nice on such occasions to compliment the employee, the manager or the owner. Staff don’t get a lot of compliments so they are delighted to get a pat on the back, and it will help to lock in that level of service for the next customer.

When our experience is disappointing, it is easy to just not go back. I suggest that as customers we have a duty to complain when things aren’t up to our expectations. If we don’t complain and bring our disappointment to the attention of the sales clerk, the manager or the owner then we deserve what we get. So how to complain in a positive way? You don’t want to be a whinger or to get angry – that’s not likely to get results. When we have a problem it needs to be calmly and rationally brought to their attention. We want their attention and we would like to get satisfaction. Be polite, be respectful, be positive, perhaps with a suggestion. You may even be complimentary about some part of the shopping experience or the product, and then be objectively disappointed about the problem you are having. You won’t always get satisfaction. So then persist, try again, go higher, speak to the manager, write a letter or email. I find putting things in writing is a good discipline to calmly express and suggest. A written complaint is a document that the manager or owner can use to address the problem with his supplier or staff. So in summary, to be a good customer, compliment, be courteous, complain positively, persist – don’t be thwarted. Behave as you would like one of your customers to behave. Nev Kennard

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Kennards Kourier January 2010

Congratulations...

KSS Out and About!!

Feroz Brouwer (above, first on the left) from Mt Eden N.Z. KSS, in China representing New Zealand

at the World Cyber Games (WCG) 2009 for Counter- strike 1.6. WCG has roughly 40 countries present every year in different venues all over the world. Feroz’s team is called parallax. “My team use to be sponsored by Redbull, Microsoft, Playtech Computers and quite a few smaller companies. At the moment we are with and have been for about 8 years, Midcity Computers in Auckland. Midcity have helped us fly to China, Italy, Seattle, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, and Melbourne quite a few times now for Australian Nationals.” Feroz says. ”This year we beat Singapore, Serbia and France. We lost to Russia in single elimination but came 5th-8th. We hope to do better next year in L.A.” KSS and the Spirit of Christmas!

Mark Wilson from Westpac with one of the village “Chiefs” at the Shangri-La Resort in Fiji. Mark couldn’t resist taking Kennards with him! Well done Mark!

Congratulations! Congratulations to Ananda and Jim Kennard (KSS Chatswood) on their marriage on October 3rd 2009.

Congratulations to Melanie and Ben DeVlam (TSM) on the birth of their daughter Joceline, pictured here with her sister Kristy. “My wife and I wish to thank you all for the well wishes we have received. It is very heartwarming and most appreciated. Special Thanks to the Kennards for the lovely flowers and of course the baby bonus. Thank you Sam.” Kind regards, Ben de Vlam -TSM.

Orhan Guzel (THQ) and his son Aydin at the Torres de Paine National Park (South Chile). Proudly sporting the Kennards theme!

Castle Hill and Moore Park

“If I always do what I’ve always done, then I’ll always get what I’ve always gotten”

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Kennards Kourier January 2010