eKourier Jan 2016

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Successful Centres

KSS Culture Receives More Recognition Con’t...

T eam members who set targets around occupancy focus their behaviours each day on achieving that target. A focus like this is an extremely powerful tool towards achieving desirable outcomes. Keeping your goal or goals simple provides clarity on the direction of what needs to be done. The goal provides the focus on the behaviours for achieving the outcome. I have asked successful Teams who achieve, in some circumstances, instant results- “What is your secret?” In almost all circumstances Teams respond by saying we have a goal to achieve 85%, 90% occupancy or 500 units rented. The goal is generally associated with Occupancy. With the power of keeping it simple you can achieve anything Perhaps this is because the Manager has been positioned at a centre that is performance challenged with low or wavering occupancy. Then I ask “How do you achieve that goal?” And overwhelmingly the response is always “Through great customer service.” When you dig deeper into such a simple statement it’s about fostering relation- ships with existing customers. This may be by simply knowing a customer’s name and saying hello, asking how they are going or posing a more specific query ‘

with regard to their storage – followed by “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Another opportunity is new or potential customers commonly referred to as ‘Leads’. Building a connection during the enquiry process with the potential customer is a powerful tool. A lot has been said around this and as a practice, we ask Team Members to capture the customer’s story. The successful Manager knows that each new enquiry is an opportunity to get them closer to the goal of increased occupancy. It’s this simple ideal that drives a positive outcome. Another question I’m often asked is “How can I achieve all my KPI’s?” My simple answer to this is Occupancy; focus on your occupancy. Strong occupancy provides the leverage to influence many of the KPI’s such as rates, revenue, other income and insurance. Without occupancy, influencing your KPI’s becomes a lot more challenging. Keeping the objective simple allows conversation around the goal to be uncomplicated and easy to make part of your daily chat (vernacular). Everyday successful Managers come to work thinking are we closer to the prize, or will today be the day! They walk in, say their hello’s, ask how you are and how is our occupancy and how are we looking today. Every day without fail, this becomes embedded into the psyche of the Team. With the power of keeping it simple you can change and achieve anything. “Simplicity is ultimately a matter of focus.” Darren Marshall General Manager

KSS Culture 2015 To this end, we consciously decided to remove any aggravations and abrasive edges, particularly where they impacted our customer directly. One example was the self storage industry practice of requiring two weeks’ notice from a customer if they intend to vacate their storage space. If the notice was not fulfilled (and it often wasn't) we would retain two weeks’ worth of storage rent. We realised much conflict and dishar- mony arose from this petty business rule. When a customer leaves they should feel delighted with the experience, not bitter. We changed this to a 'pay only for the time you store' approach, so now we refund all unused rent. I do not know what revenue we surrendered with this change; it was not something we ever quantified. We just knew it was something that did not serve us and had to change. From the outside, this sort of change may seem obvious, but to people in a business who have lived it, don't often recognise the obvious and challenge the status quo. The culture journey has been challenging and we have asked our Team to grow, expose their weaknesses and embrace personal development. The recent Award we received from Human Synergistics for our sustained constructive culture is a wonderful recognition for the entire KSS Team for their engagement and commit- ment to KSS and efforts to create a company that is a little bit different.

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Sam Kennard Managing Director

4 Kennards Kourier January 2016