eKourier Jan 2019

Kennards Kourier

January 2019

storage developments.

The other big themes to come out of the conference were Online Marketing, effective and efficient Google AdWord campaigns. Optimising your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) where you appear on the page for Google when someone searches for Storage. It’s all about out ranking your competition, to be noticed and encourage the click through. A highly competitive space because of the number of self storage operators in the US. Aggregators, websites that compare the prices of all storage companies in the market also remain a hot topic. Finally, pricing, I think it’s safe to say that all the mid to large operators have become very scientific with their pricing. They are all using sophisticated software with a Team of Price Analysts led by a Revenue Manager to set the price for incoming customers and existing customers. Using inputs based on ‘ improve our own business so that we may remain a successful self storage leader in our own market. ‘ The learnings we get help shape and

Tour de Storage

E very couple of years KSS plans a visit to the US to discover the latest innova- tions, trends and initiatives happening in the world’s largest self storage economy. That visit took place September last year with myself, Jeff Xanthos and Sam Kennard. The first stop was Vegas for the Self Storage Association Fall Conference held at Caesars Palace. The Conference hosted over 3,000 delegates and over 300 Trade Show Services exhibiting their products and services to the self storage industry. To give you some perspective, Australia had their recent conference for around

300 delegates and 30 Trade Show Exhibitors.

The Self Storage Industry in the US is big, and size by nature attracts new products and services all trying to get their piece of an industry that turns over billions of dollars every year. The themes out of this year’s confer- ence revolved around the state of the US economy and the Self Storage industry and the future of both. The consensus was economic conditions are positive. The challenges mentioned were the oversupply of storage in many markets and cap rate compression pushing up prices to acquire storage facilities, this may slow down new

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1 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

WHO’S WHO

Team Member Profiles

In this issue Tour de Storage

1

Trudy Boan Centre Manager, Burleigh Junction QLD

Team Member Profiles

2

10 Questions with... 3 Lessons Learned Through Research... 4/5 War on Waste 5 Online Audience Overview 6 What The Tech!! 7/8 Google Reviews 8 Tour de Storage 9 Customer Feedback/ Hot Tips 9 Kennards Kristmas 10/11 New KSS HUB Trainer Goes Live 12/13 Waterloo Huddle 13 Spotlight On... 14 Construction Updates 15 Podium Customer Review... 16 Sleep Under The Stars... 17 A Network of Support/ Fair Game 18 Customer Feedback 18 Nev’s Notes 19 Kennards Community 20 Next issue Deadline: March 15, 2019 Editor: Sharon Munro Upcoming events 26/1 - AUSTRALIA DAY- NSW/VIC/QLD/ACT/SA - PH Hours. 28/1 - AUCKLAND ANNIVERSARY DAY (NZ) - Mt Eden/ Three Kings - PH Hours. Tauranga closed 6/2 - WAITANGI DAY (NZ) - Mt Eden/ Three Kings - PH Hours. All other NZ centres closed 11/3 - ADELAIDE CUP - South Australia - PH Hours 11/3 - CANBERRA DAY - ACT - PH Hours 11/3 - LABOUR DAY VIC - PH Hours 19/4 - GOOD FRIDAY - KSS closed 20/4 - EASTER SATURDAY - All KSS, normal trading hours 21/4 - EASTER SUNDAY - All KSS, normal trading hours 22/4 - EASTER MONDAY NZ - Mt Eden/ Three Kings/ Wellington - PH Hours. All other NZ centres closed 22/4 - EASTER MONDAY AU - NSW/VIC/QLD/ACT/ SA - PH Hours. Email: sharon@kss.com.au Distribution: April 12, 2019

Career background: I came to Kennards from the crazy world of Smiggle. I have also worked at Woolworths and the Royal Australian Navy. Marital status: Engaged and getting married in April 2019. Any children? No children Hobbies/interests: Soccer - watching and playing, reading and researching family history. Do you play any sport or have any special talents? Not anymore. I was a state representative for soccer and athletics.

Favourite movie: Hotel Transylvania - all of them.

Favourite restaurant/food: Hogs Breath, I love steak and curly fries. Where did you grow up? Murwillumbah, a town which is inland from Tweed Heads. It was great. We lived on acerage, had motorbikes, bike jumps, animals, drove paddock bashers from around 10 years of age. Any pets? No Favourite holiday destinations: Love getting away to the Sunshine Coast. visiting Monteville and Eumundi Markets.

Kellie Robley Centre Manager, Browns Plains QLD

Career background: I Have been a Retail Manager at Toys R Us, Bunnings and a Spotlight Sales Rep. Any children? Three brats - Seth 16, Lucy 12 and Lucas who is 9. Hobbies/interests: My Vespa Scooter, upgrading and riding it. Ska music and Lego (just finished building the Roller Coaster). Do you play any sport or have any special talents? Allergic to sport! I used to swim for QLD. Favourite book/s: Wuthering Heights. Favourite movie: A Night to Remember. Favourite restaurant/food:

Turkish food. Where did you grow up? I grew up on the Sunshine Coast, loved the beach and my family all lived close by. Any pets? A black cat named Mao and a Border Collie named Rufus. Favourite holiday destinations: Japan was simply amazing!

2 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

WHO’S WHO

10 Questions... With Daniella Hopkins - Centre Manager Adelaide Airport

currently in the process of building two large homes I have custom designed and project managed, so that’s exciting and keeps me very busy. I’m also in the process of furthering my Auto CAD skills to extend to more 3D rendering. What would you say so far is your biggest achievement in life? Recently, after losing my father, I realised the biggest thing I can ever achieve in life is to make more people laugh than cry and always just do your best to be a good person, just as he was. Everything else pales in comparison. What are you goals for the future, short and long term? I have many goals but in general my main aim is to raise kind, caring children and enjoy life to its fullest. Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time? Hopefully spending more days of the week enjoying a glass of wine looking over the golf course satisfied with how I played the back nine holes instead of ready to throw my putter like Happy Gilmore. To sum up Kennards in one word would be? FREEDOM of course!

Myself with my son Hudson and husband Aaron

When did you start with KSS? I started in early 2014 part time after my first son was born. How many centres have you worked at and how many have you opened? I’ve worked at all the South Australian centres during my time as a TSM (Team Support Manager), then as an Assistant Manager progressing to Manager of Panorama and Thebarton for a short stint, then opened Croydon Park and now Adelaide Airport. What do you enjoy most about opening a new centre? What are the challenges that you might face? Opening a new centre is definitely a fantastic opportunity within KSS, however it isn’t for the faint hearted. Every unit number, every lock and clean tag, unit poster, light switch sticker etc. and every piece of equipment, point of sale, trolleys, kitchen equipment and appliances and merchandise is all set up and brought in by us. The challenges of running a centre whilst managing the reservations, enquiries and all required equipment and logistics isn’t always an easy task. However at the end of it all it’s extremely rewarding and I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to work with Michael (THQ Construction)

and the builders on both of the new S.A. centres. This brought more of a mini project management role to the last 12 months for me and gave me the opportu- nity to make small changes, liaise with trades and put in feedback during the process, which has been extremely exciting and brings my own personal passion for construction into my role. Before you joined the team at KSS what other jobs did you have? I was in Sales Management running a Sales Teams for a marketing company. Before that I was a dodgy used car salesman, just kidding… I sold dodgy new cars. What keeps you busy when you are not enjoying a day with KSS? I have two gorgeous boys who are five and two and if I’m not being “mum” then you’ll find me on the golf course or sketching construction design plans. We try to go on a Golfing or 4wd short holiday at least once a month and I enjoy horse riding and love a good wine by the fire or at the club bar… or wherever really. Do you have any hobbies or talents you would like to share? I have a big passion for building and construction, particularly design. I am

Brothers Hudson and William with Santa

Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

3

FEATURE

Lessons Learned Through Resear

B ack in 2010, we went live with what was then and still is in large parts, a cutting edge, ecommerce equipped website. Over the years we have added countless enhancements and functional capabilities with the customer experience in mind. In many ways a lot of those enhancements were based on our own interpretations and understanding for what makes a good modern design. In that time, we have learned a lot about consumer behaviour and digital marketing and have become pretty good in the complex area of systems integration. Of course, the world turns quickly, technologies change, and retail behaviours evolve as quickly as technologies allow. Sitting on top of all that is Googles influence, setting expectations around what great customer experience should feel and look like in the modern day where mobile devices are dominating the way digital is consumed. Those that follow Google’s best practises are rewarded with better search results, that’s the auto correcting nature of Google’s presence.

changes are difficult to make and difficult to scale across different devices (respon- sive design), a key ingredient which Google advocates. All these things combined, mean we have reached that tipping point, it’s time 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 prefer- ence but also to re-establish distance between us and competitors and improve our ranking performance and visibility online. Investments and opportunities like this are not the kind you jump in with both feet, they should be considered, and lessons leveraged through experi- ence, research and discovery. A type of research known as Usability Testing is one such way of getting a ‘good-bad- ugly’ account through objective participa- tion. Enter the CBA Innovation lab: A controlled environment fully equipped with eye-tracking devices, microphones, cameras and heat-mapping technology, allowing us to test key areas with customers across key functionality, like a Mystery Shop but moulded for a digital experience using these methodologies:

results using a desktop index (think of it as a library for web pages), that is up until recently. Now it’s moving to a mobile index, meaning all search engine results (SERPS) will be ranked based on the mobile version of those pages. For us, this presents a problem since we run two separate websites with mobile being light on content (by design in favour of function) in comparison to our desktop site. Investments and opportunities like this are not the kind you jump in with both feet, they should be consid- ‘

ered, and lessons leveraged through experience, research and discovery.

Under the bonnet, we have an 8-year- old web platform, by today’s standards

‘

Google has always ranked search

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4 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

FEATURE

ch For A Modern Website Platform

Given a simple brief to find and rent an appropriate space, six customers (three male and three females meeting certain demographic criteria) in total were appointed to participate. Aided by a facilitator, that asked questions throughout, their job was to perform an equal number of tests on our desktop and mobile sites while we sat, observed in an adjacent room. Oh boy! Our job was to note observations, categorising them by liked, didn’t like and coming together in the end to

surface themes and patterns.

confusion. • Unclear and missing information caused users to hesitate.

One of the great things about Usability Testing is that it removes the bias of designers and industry assumptions. You get real customer feedback instead. Extremely raw and eye opening. Here are some of the resounding headline themes which emerged and we will take into our next web platform and digital presence: • There was unfamiliarity with industry terms and industry practises causing

• Small hindrances impacted the ease of use and user’s enjoyment of the website. • At times there was too much informa- tion causing decision anxiety. Jeff Xanthos Chief Information Officer testing a very exciting new benefit which is hoped can be rolled out to almost all sites early this year. The key to always having the upper hand on WOW is to keep looking for a better way, where can we save time, effort, cost and energy or grow revenue? Going forward if anyone has an idea for the WOW, please email accounts@kss. com.au and we will get back to you on the next steps. No idea is a bad idea, let the creative juices flow. Look forward to your ideas. On behalf of the Finance Team thanks for all your support during the last year and we look forward to continuing the WOW in 2019. Anthony Rous Chief Financial Officer

I n the last Kourier I wrote about the War on Waste (WOW). There seems to be a bit of momentum in cutting out waste and I hear the term “WOW” used across the business. To date some of the areas we have progressed WOW are – • New electricity contracts for all sites have kicked off from 1 January 2019. In particular this will assist the larger sites.

• Energy saving lights at Waterloo and ongoing planning for other sites. Not only do we generate savings but we learn how we can do things better in the future.

• Reporting to sites on security and waste recovery.

• Time saving measures.

• Storman updates and efficiencies being rolled out. Macquarie Park is

5 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

FEATURES Online Audience Overview I t’s no secret that consumers are bombarded with messages every day and the web has just exacer- bated the situation. maximum number of centres, i.e. 50 centres in NSW.

change over previous years is that mobile technology is now the most common source of finding a storage centre.

Inquisitively, it pledges to answer two of the most vexing questions that have thwarted businesses since they started selling: 1) who buys what, when and at what price? and 2) can we link what consumers hear, read and view to what they buy? In this article, let’s have a brief look at what these customers - the online users to our website kss.com.au look like (please stay tuned for NZ insights in the next article).

The age profile of these users does not correlate much with the typical age profile of the Australian population. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, ours is an ageing popula- tion which means the proportion of 65+ is more than children under 15 years of age. Existing users have a much higher representation in the 25-34, 35-44 years of age category. Catchment areas with higher population in this age category are therefore likely to create higher levels of demand. The above profile emphasises the need for communication to be tailored to this age bracket.

Last year we have had about 383,464 users on our website (as on 26th Nov 2018) out of which 75.5% were new visitors. In terms of total traffic on the website the year before that, it has gone down by 3.36 %. This might be due to the aggressive $1 marketing campaign that we promoted that year in October and the rise in online competition. The peak months have been August and October in terms of new visitors, amounting to a total of approximately 77,000 new users. Most of the web traffic came from Sydney City followed by Melbourne. Probably because we have a

This is reflected in the above graph where we can easily see that clicks and conversions are more on mobile devices when compared with tablets and computer. Perhaps it’s no surprise that as people navigate their life from the palm of their hand and their voice, they have just become more curious, more impatient and are more likely to make quick decisions. Advancement in mobile technology has changed the way people search, when they want to know, go or buy something and in these moments, time and presence is of the essence. Our focus for the coming year is to harness the power of data and increase our online reach to capture these micro moments of need, attracting more customers to the business. Sonal Saharan Digital Marketing Manager

The gender distribution is almost equal, so it would be fair to say when it comes to storage women do play an important role in the decision making especially when it’s for personal use.

The next question is how do these consumers find what they need?

And we all know the answer, they just Google it. Google is the synonym for search these days. And when it comes to devices, mobile has been playing an ever increasing role. The most significant

6 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

FEATURE

What The Tech!!!

Information Technolgy Team: Juan Moran Diaz - ICT Support Analyst, Sean Bradley - ICT Manager, Jeff Xanthos - Chief Information Officer, Conor Kennedy - Desktop Support Engineer, Chris Bailey - Infrastructure Engineer

Y ou know that the Technology Team strive to provide support to your technical issues, but what you may not know is that we’re constantly working in the background to provide better systems and services as the technology landscape changes. We have a roadmap of initiatives planned that extends well into 2019 and I’d like to share some of that with you. Firstly, you would already know about the launch of the new Intranet. This is a key step in the removal of the legacy KOSMO intranet, which served Kennards well, but is not scalable for meeting the needs of the future. The Technology Team is working with an external organisation to put the finishing touches on the new system and you’ll be seeing the result very soon. Having a reliable Disaster Recovery Plan is an important undertaking for any organisation’s Technology Department and ours is no different. Historically, we kept our own disaster recovery infrastructure at THQ. As this infrastructure aged, it increasingly

the way we deploy and re-image PC’s as well as the way we install and update applications. The project is in our design and build phases, but we’ll be talking to some centres soon about a pilot phase. In order to support this, we’ll be retiring some of the older computer hardware currently deployed within the business with a view to managing the computer fleet under a typical organisational life cycle plan in future. Communications is a big part of what we do. There’s some interesting changes on the horizon in that field as well. We’re talking to our provider about software- defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) and IP Telephony technologies, which will provide increased network reliability and empower improved call handling capabili- ties. We hope to be in a position to set up some “Next Generation Infrastructure” pilot sites early this year. Unfortunately, we’ve seen more phishing scams getting through our email filters recently. We will be looking at better ways to prevent the email getting through, but ultimately there is no system

lacked support from software vendors and became a quite expensive capital spend to bring up to date. There’s a transition currently taking place to move the majority of our disaster recovery function to a cloud platform, which will provide us with functionality benefits and reduce long term costs. The last line of defence against the worst spam of the Internet is you! Microsoft ends their support for Windows 7 and Office 2010 in 2020. Amongst other things, this means that they stop making security patches for it. We plan to have a new Windows 10 operating system platform rolled out to the organisation before then and we’re working with the organisation that built the platform for our sister company (or should that be “brother company”), Kennards Hire. This will modernise ‘

‘

that catches 100% of spam and scam. The last line of

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7 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

FEATURE

What The Tech! Con’t...

oogle Reviews

“Initially I had personal storage at Kennards Waterloo. I then started to work from Kennards and run my wholesale stock business efficiently and cost effectively from the Kennards waterloo facility. The site is large, there is parking, its secure, 24hr access available, a concierge for delivery acceptance this is major plus, forklift available, pallet jacks and trolleys available for the larger deliveries. The best feature is the ability to pack orders and dispatch them from a very organised and efficient dock area. The staff are helpful and friendly and when there are issues management facilitates changes to accommodate customers, particularly the business side. Overall this is a great way to run a small business and not have unnecessary overheads. Highly recommend this particular site.” Dani “ Clint from Kennards Erina is absolutely brilliant! Three or four times now I have needed short term storage at very short notice - and Clint has saved the day every time! He goes out of his way to help in every way that he can and make the process hassle free, which saves me a lot of stress and enables me to focus on other aspects of my business. ” David “I’m in need of storage, was walking past and decided to go in to find out more details. Trudy at North Melbourne introduced herself straight away and listened to my needs intently. Trudy had a look and found several ideal units, we went and had a look. Trudy allowed me time to talk it over with my partner. I thanked her very much. I did use the facilities while there, and wow, were they sparkling, as was the entire centre. Please pass on my congratulations to Trudy for her excellent Customer Service, She rocks!” Melissa “We have been renovating for 12 months so needed somewhere safe, reliable and close to home to store a large number of household items. We were absolutely thrilled with the cleanliness, security surveillance, 24 hour access and professionalism. Highly recommend Kennards Self Storage Murarrie.” Tim “The whole process was super easy. Signing up via the site was great. The storage unit was clean, spacious and well priced. The staff in particular Jai (Roselle) was super friendly and helpful. He made going with Kennards a lot more attractive. He even went out of his way to tell me when the traffic was clear so I could safely leave.” Daniel “Since 1990 I have been renting storage space on and off from Kennards Self Storage as well as buying boxes and other packing materials from multiple facilities in Ultimo NSW, West End QLD and Murarrie QLD. I have found their facilities safe, secure, clean and convenient. Their staff have been very helpful and friendly. I would recommend using them to store your belongings.” Ripples “Excellent facility with easy access. The service was A++. The staff are attentive, helpful and happy to assist. They went over and above for me on a few occasions whilst I was interstate and even gave me a refund of unused storage time. I highly recommend Camperdown.” Naomi “Thank you KSS Cardiff for assisting us with our storage needs. At all times, your team was great in helping us optimise our rent space to keep costs down. The storage facility is always clean, secure and well ventilated, assuring us that our valuable possessions are safe and remain in good condition. The customer service on the phone, via emails and when we are present on site, are always consistent - courteous, helpful and responsive. We are happy to highly recommend your Facility to others. For us, cost is important but not as important as the total service we get, consistently.” Raja

defence against the worst spam of the Internet is you! Get Cyber Street Smart! Here’s a little list of Do’s and Don’ts that are good for both work and home: • Do play it safe if you’re not sure that an email is legitimate. Delete it if you weren’t expecting it, even from someone you know - if it was important, it can always be re-sent. • Don’t click on the link. Your bank is not going to close your account, you don’t have a voicemail message and there is no Nigerian Prince ready to give you half his fortune. If you’re not sure, open a web browser and go to your bank’s website instead of clicking the link in the email. • Do use strong passphrases. Yes, not passwords… passphrases. Take three or four short words that don’t go together and cram them together, like RedKnight4Drive (Don’t use that one - the whole organisation knows it now). Don’t re-use passwords and if you can, use Two Factor Authentication. • Do keep your work and private email separate and don’t use your work email to sign up for personal websites. • Don’t post personal information online. You’d be shocked how little information is needed for identity fraud. Oh, and if you’re participating in those Facebook “What day you were born on describes what you get for Christmas” posts, you’ve just given away a part of your birthdate. The next one will be “What was the number one hit from the year you were born?” Did you know that all a computer ever does is switch on and off. It just does it very, very fast... Sean Bradley ICT Manager I’ll leave you with this final thought -

8 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

REVIEWS

Tour de Storage Con’t...

“Outstanding service from the staff at Kennards Self Storage at Moore Park. Yesterday I placed an order online for boxes and packing materials, and they rang me within about two minutes to say it was ready for me to collect even though the website says to allow four hours before you collect. Same thing today when I needed to top up. And when I got home and realised I’d be given much less bubble wrap than I paid for, they immediately got in the car and drove to my house to give me what I’d paid for, because I didn’t have time to go back and get it. Brilliant.“ “Absolute fantastic customer service at Croydon Park! So helpful, kind and fun. Great pricing compared to other services I’ve used in the past. I highly recommend.” “Our first delivery of Lions Christmas Cakes have arrived at Kennards Self Storage Newstead. They are safe, dry, cool and mice free. The 24 hour access, large elevators and plenty of available trolleys made it easy for our volunteer members to collate cake orders, thanks for your support Kennards Self Storage.” “Awesome customer service at North Melbourne. Azam knows his centre very well and is a pleasure to deal with.” Customer Feedback HOT TIPS With the growth of Digital Agreements, you can check your Digital Agreements for licences and completed Easy Pay Agreements by printing your On Site Systems Review document from KOSMO. This will list all of your Agreements that are digital separately to paper. Is it time to reduce your folders with less paper Agreements, maybe a clean up of your folders is also possible.

historical data, current pipe line and closing data, combined with length of stay, customer profile and type of unit to name some of the ingredients that go into the final pricing suggestion. This was of interest for us, with 90 locations and 60,000 storage spaces our own dynamic pricing is becoming more challenging. After the conference we then travelled to Buffalo, New York State to spend time with Life Storage a large public REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) operating over 700 storage locations in 28 states across the US. Average occupancy 91.8% across same store. Our day with Life Storage included time with each of the different departments, executive level, marketing, pricing and the call centre. It’s interesting that Life Storage has just recently launched their own version of Rent Now digital sign ups that they are in the process of rolling out across their 700 locations. After Storage Life we then travelled west to Columbia Missouri, to meet with StorageMart a privately owned storage operator with over 200 locations across the US, Canada and the UK. Again, we spent time with each of their different departments. StorageMart are an innovative organisation never resting, always testing and trying new initiatives and ideas to a point that the idea may have a negative impact on business. It’s a competitive industry and they are

continually looking for that competitive edge, that point of difference that will see them out perform their peers. This makes them unique in my view. Then finally onto our last destina- tion going west again to Glendale Los Angeles, to spend time once again with Public Storage the behemoth of the large Storage REIT’s with close to 2,500 locations across 38 states in the US. Public Storage also have an impressive average occupancy in the low to mid 90’s across the group. We spent time with their new CEO, CFO and Revenue Manager. With a tour of their recently developed facility in Gardina California. The facility opened in February 2018 with an impressive 1,200 storage spaces. We are always amazed and grateful at how generous the operators are with the information and time they give to us each time we visit. The learnings we get help shape and improve our own business so that we may remain a successful self storage leader in our own market. The relationships forged on these visits become an ongoing resource for feedback and advice as we refine and improve our own systems and processes. Darren Marshall General Manager

9 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

FEATURE

Kennards

NEWCASTLE

BRISBANE

SUNSHINE COAST ABOVE

SOUTH AUSTRALIA ABOVE

VICTORIA

ACT BOTTOM RIGHT

10 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

FEATURE

Kristmas

SYDNEY

AUCKLAND NZ

ILLAWARRA

PALMERSTON NORTH NZ

WELLINGTON NZ

BAY OF PLENTY NZ

HAWKES BAY NZ

11 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

FEATURE

The New KSS Hub Trainer Goes Live

O ur Hub educators are an essential and critical part of the induction process. They are one of the most important influencers in how a new Team Member sees Kennards and for what they learn in those first few weeks.

passion that was present was awesome. We sincerely wanted to express our thanks for their efforts in doing this. We’re please to announce that the guide was launched in November last year. It is in use with several of our new Team Members right now! Keep an eye out for it in the hands of your new trainees as they make their way to your centres. It will be available to read at a later stage after the launch of our new intranet, just as the old checklists were available on KOSMO. For now, please feel free to review it with your trainee. Please check in with how they are going and feel free to share your feedback with the Hub educators. Some comments from the Hub Trainers that put the guide together: Glen DeSouza (North Lakes): “The reason the Hub Training Guide underwent a change was primarily to update it to meet the current needs as the company continued evolving. The new format came about after discus- sions to make it

This guide would be used by new Team Members to track each aspect of their training and be the resource for themselves throughout. At the same time, the Hub educators built a matching “Teachers Guide” with all the answers.

‘

‘ We are pleased to announce that the guide was launched in November last year. It is in use with several of our new Team Members right now.

As you can imagine, with 90 centres, building consistency in the messages and processes is a key to our success. With all the Hub educators in the same room we were able to update, check and where appropriate standardise best practice. A few myths were busted and several processes were updated. It was great to see them come together to produce these guides. It took a lot of hard work and discussion over several days to get to this point. To see and hear their input, the ideas that flowed and the

When training a new Team Member in the past we used the trainee folders and checklists. The new Team Member prepared some documents as well. These had served us well however there was an opportunity to do this better. In the middle of last year our Hub educators came together for a workshop in Sydney. Together they re-analysed how we did things and the tools used to produce a new Hub Training guide.

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FEATURE

at THQ as well as the Learning and Development Manager at the time, Bill

more user friendly and offer the new team member a useful tool to progress forward rather than give them a pile to Kdocs to go through. The aim was to keep it simple to understand and offer the Team Member ample space to capture what they were learning. The new booklet is fresher and it is great to see the new Team Members use this guide on a day to day basis. It challenges them to makes notes that they can read and understand and refer to them when needed. Also notice- able is that the notes entered are not one off and continue to be updated as they repeat daily procedures and get comfortable doing them. The How and Why and questions that are asked of the trainee sets them looking for answers. This also serves as a good feedback tool for the educator to know how the trainee is progressing. The Hub Trainers Guide on the other hand ensures consistency at all the hubs. As we are all aware, we don’t have rules and regulations but Best Practice to reach the desired goals. The comprehensive notes in the guide provide a framework as we partner with the new Team Member to educate them and set them up for success at their respective centres.” Mark Montgomery (Three Kings): “With regards to the new Hub Training Guide I feel this has been long overdue. Not to say that we didn’t know what we were doing and a lot of us could do it blind folded but with the evolution of our business and the changes that have happened over the recent years this was a must. More importantly for the new Team Members that come on board they can work through the guide with their trainer and because they are writing down the information it usually sticks in the mind better but also can be referred back to.” John Fenton (Abbotsford): “This year has seen many exciting and new developments with the Education and Development area of our business. All of the Hub educators had a series of meetings with the Operations Team

Waterloo Huddle

McLean, in the middle part of last year to come up with a new process and guidelines as to how we can more effectively deliver the program to our new employees. One that reflects the changes that are and have happened in our business over the years. What we found was that the old style manual contained information and /or links that were no longer relevant to us today and were missing areas that needed to be covered in the first few weeks of the employee commencing with

us, as well as other areas that were not relevant in the first couple of weeks. We had at times many “passionate” discussions as to the format the new guides would take and the result is a document that takes us forward and embodies our passion and delight in the education of our future Managers of this business.” Mike Howard (Kirrawee): “In the spirit of evolution and improve- ment we all set about reviewing how we can revise the current training model and standardise the way we set our new trainees up for success in the Kennards family. As processes change there is a need to re visit and change the way we motivate, inspire and educate and ensure that the way we do things is consistent across the company. All the Hub Managers spent a few busy days workshopping the way we do things, white boarding ideas. The changes resulted in a new Hub Training and Learners Guide. The new Guides are printed and are now being used. I am pleased and excited to have been part of these changes with my fellow Hub Managers and l look forward to the feedback.” Darryl Hodgson NSW Operations Manager

On the 23rd of October 2018 Waterloo hosted a wonderful Team Huddle. The night was filled with lots of yummy food, BBQ’d fresh off the grill plate by masterchef Stuart Smith. Thank you Waterloo Team for hosting and all that attended. David Summers (Assistant MGR Waterloo), Luke Vandenbosch (NSW TSM), Antone Boustani (Manager Waterloo), Jason Ferguson (NSW TSM), Brianna Burns (Assistant Manager Moore Park), Ross Woodward (Assistant Manager Camperdown), Darryl Hodgson (Operations Manager), James Suh (NSW TSM), Matthew O’Brien (Manager Camperdown), Bernie Garcia (NSW TSM), Stuart Smith (Assistant Manager Waterloo), Antonio Kitagawa (Assistant Manager Camperdown), Johnny Tov (Assistant Manager Moore Park), Fabian Salamon (NSW TSM), Fritz Holt (Assistant Manager Waterloo), Jelena Stricevic (Operations Manager), William Arbuckle-Hill (NSW TSM), Cole Heaton (NSW TSM), Cameron Rickie (Manager Miranda), Anthony Sharpe (NSW TSM), Duncan Robey (Assistant Manager Moore Park), Joseph Do (NSW TSM) and Fawaz Sari (NSW TSM/Coordinator) Pictured left to right:

13 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

PROPERTY Spotlight On Browns Plains

K ennards Self Storage Browns Plains is situated at 2-4 Anzac Avenue Hillcrest Queensland. We are located adjacent to busy Mt Lindsay Highway. The KSS sign is visible to approximately 13,000 cars a day. The KSS banners are positioned along Anzac Avenue where they can be seen by pedestrians and motorists. Our rental area is 6,587sqm and we offer 593 storage spaces with 515 rented. Browns Plains is located near Hillcrest Business Park and the Greenbank RSL. Surrounding us are many car yards and behind us there is a large residential housing estate opening up opportunities for the future. Browns Plains is an outer suburb of Brisbane with a lower socio economic demographic so the units we sell are larger household lots at targeted rates compared to Brisbane city. We have six competitors within two kilometres in each direction. Browns Plains was built in 2008, we have four buildings in our centre, three being two levels and one is a ground floor and mostly utilised by businesses. Our

we hate the colour Red and Green makes everyone happy!

largest Enterprise Space is 130sqm. We have various sizes in the centre both on the upper level, drive up and ground floor, with a capacity to accommodate boats and motor vehicles. Our business customers are seen as part of our business and we are part of theirs. We have 513 wonderful customers who make our day both interesting and challenging. The best things customers enjoy at our centre are easy access for long shipping containers, lots of car space and clean and tidy amenities with free WiFi. The current Team at Browns Plains are Kellie Robley, Centre Manager who has been at Kennards for eight months and Bol Kon, Assistant who has been with Kennards for six months (pictured above). Although we are both new we have a passion for service excellence and treat all customers as VIPs. Our centre sits around 90% occupancy and our insurance is over 40% for the second month in a row. We are focusing on increasing income growth because

Kennards Self Storage Browns Plains

Assistant Manager Bol with storer Craig Jones (OCJones Upholstery). Craig runs his business out of one of our Enterprise Spaces and has been doing so for three years now. He is a friendly face, always popping into the office to say hello when he makes his daily cup of tea.

14 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

PROPERTY

Expansions And New Centres

Castle Hill NSW - Now complete The Castle Hill centre is up and running. The imposing structure really brings some colour to the Hills District of Sydney. Bankstown NSW - Ground slabs down Total Construction have the ground floor slabs down and are working towards the upper floors. Pymble NSW - Big plans for Pymble A small, but important stage at Pymble is underway with Evergreen Constructions. This new stage is just the start of some very big plans for this hidden gem. Ultimo NSW - January Start Robertsons Remedial and Paint have won the tender to repair and paint this iconic Sydney building. Works start this month and should take around four months to complete. Coorparoo QLD - Works underway Hutchison Builders are progressing well with this five storey building. Progress is up to the third floor with the fourth floor to be underway early this year. St Marys NSW - Fit out underway Apex Builders are going well on site with the external walls almost complete and the internal fit out underway. Thomastown VIC - Demolition underway Demolition has commenced with Hutchison Builders. The project is a refurbishment and expansion of a previous bulky goods complex. Springvale VIC - Demolition underway Demolition has commenced with Total Construction. The project is an expansion of the existing KSS facility and includes a new single building, a new two storey building and a new Enterprise Space building. Penrith NSW - Fast food outlets begin A new venture for KSS is to expand into the fast food market. At Penrith work has begun on four new fast food outlets, with landscaping, car parking and the construction of a new two storey building to compliment the KSS Penrith facility. Initial bulk excavation has commenced with Forte Constructions, completion due mid 2019. For regular updates follow Michael on Yammer and Twitter. Michael Macheledt & Craig Henery Development & Construction Team

Sam Kennard overlooking Coorparoo construction QLD

Castle Hill NSW

Coorparoo QLD

Bankstown NSW

St Marys NSW

15 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

FEATURE

Podium Customer Review Software Goes Live

C ustomer feedback has always been centric to Kennards. Historically customers may have written a letter, more recently they were sent an email and replied with their comments. Consumer feedback like many things has been revolutionised with the digital age. If you have ever read the book “What Would Google Do?” You would know the increasing speed of feedback and power that good reviews have for your online credibility. Google Reviews has now made that feedback almost instant. Customers are increasingly relying on Google Reviews to judge a business and the people within it. What others write about your business is public and carries weight to other consumers when they are making purchasing decisions. Google Reviews are seen as the most independent qualified source of how good a business is perceived by consumers. The number and quality of the reviews also impact what Google thinks of your business and how it presents us in search results listings. We launched last year with the initiative to request customers to complete more

reviews. We introduced the “Review Us on Google” card and with your efforts we saw a steady increase in the number of reviews. Podium has allowed us to turbo charge the

Our interactions with customers leaving reviews has been virtually instant and seamless. The platform also allows your Operations Managers to instantly see the new reviews and respond with thanks or in the case of rare complaints, contact the customer and try to rescue the situation. We can see the progress of centres as their number of reviews and star rating grows. We can even see things such as the “Sentiment” where the platform tracks how many times customers mention key words like “Friendly staff” or “Cleanliness” etc. This is a big step forward for KSS. We are the first business in our industry for Australia and New Zealand to use this platform. Podium has allowed us to turbo charge the number of reviews and enhance the way we handle them, increasing customer confidence and creditability in KSS. The number of reviews since we introduced Podium each month are breaking records, almost doubling the number since before Podium launched. Darryl Hodgson NSW Operations Manager

‘

number of reviews and enhance the

way we handle them, increasing customer confidence and credit- ability in KSS.

We recently selected Podium as a platform to trial the automated sending of SMS requests for a review.

‘

Since mid-August last year, new move in customers have received an SMS inviting them to simply ‘click’ and leave us a Google Review. The simplicity of the service has significantly increased the number of reviews we receive for each centre.

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Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

CHARITY

Sleep Under The Stars And Help Homeless Youth

they are today. Their stories are inspira- tional and their spirit and zest for life is contagious. This year’s Sleep Under the Stars event saw over 650 people register with 448 attending. The goal to reach $400,000 was surpassed with a massive total of $455,000 raised. With the ongoing support from individuals and companies over the last four years, the fundraiser has come a long way since the first event back in 2015 which raised $75,000. Next year Stepping Stone House would like to see their Sleep Under the Stars event raise $800,000. Kennards Self Storage have been proud Gold Sponsors of this event since its inception, donating funds and supplying Kennards Boxes for everyone to build their shelters, while also joining in with their own sleep out team named the FREEDOM Fighters. Consisting of Sam and Claire Kennard, along with their three daughters, Lara, Lexie and Olivia and their friends; HK Tung, Fiona Harding, Jelena Stricevic, Anthony Heng and Sharon and Nigel Munro. Together raising over $17,400. To learn more about Stepping Stone House and how you can help go here http://steppingstonehouse.com.au/ Sharon Munro Executive Assistant to the MD

Over the years Stepping Stone House has created a practical and proven set of

developmental stepping stones to independence: Residential Care aged between 12 – 18, Semi-independent aged between 16-20, Independent aged between 18-24, Foyer Studio aged between 18-24, After Care aged up to 30 years and Alumni 30+ years. Sleep Under the Stars a Stepping Stone initiative, raising funds for homeless youth, which is now in its fourth year, took place this year beneath the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge. Bringing together people of all ages to share a basic meal, build cardboard shelters from Kennards Self Storage Boxes, and experience the challenge of sleeping out for the night, under the stars! During the event Teams can dream up any type of shelter they like, with each Team Member or individual given six Kennards Self Storage Boxes and tape. Some go for the simple one-man tent like structure while others build icons similar to the Opera House! Later in the evening everyone comes together to find out who has built the best shelter and hear from some of the great young people that are being, or have been, helped by Stepping Stone House and just how instrumental it has been in making them the person that

D id you know that 38% of all Australians experiencing homelessness are under the age of 25? The leading cause of youth homelessness is family separa- tion and breakdown. Sadly, young people often end up on the streets to escape situations of domestic and family violence, abuse and neglect. Many are suffering from emotional trauma and mental illness, making it difficult for them to succeed in life without adequate support. Founded in 1989, Stepping Stone House provides a safe and secure home, education and care for vulnerable young people aged 12 – 24. Unlike short-term shelters, they are a dedicated family, supporting young people from adoles- cence through to adulthood and beyond. Since its inception, Stepping Stone House has helped more than 400 young people become self-sufficient and educated young adults. Through educational development, adventure programs, community volunteering, mentoring, and counselling, they have gained the self-care and life skills needed to become independent and succeed in life.

17 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019

CHARITY

A Network Of Support For Children’s Health

Fair Game

Michael Bradshaw Centre Manager for Macquarie Park, with the next shipment to Labasa Fiji.

A hospital in the agricultural town of Labasa, on the island of Vanua Levu Fiji, which is still struggling to build up its resources after a fire that occurred many years ago will soon benefit from a shipment of medical neo-natal equipment through the Medical Repurposing Network’s (MRN) Care4Kids’ Health-Fiji project. The Network channels unwanted medical equipment from Australian hospitals to neighbouring communities in need. “The equipment is donated, people support with storage, and shipment that guarantees delivery ‘on the smell of an oily rag’,” says Wayne Leathem, MRN Director. MRN first heard about the Labasa Hospital need through a connec- tion with Mark McElrath, the Ronald

McDonald House foundation contact in Fiji. Marc has assisted with the delivery of other Neonatal equipment in the past, the last shipment being to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, Fiji. Regular contributors, the Mater Hospital (North Sydney) Maternity Unit provided a neo-natal humidicrib and Cosy Cot and the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network donated patient monitors and thermal lamps used with newborn children. Kennards Self Storage is a long-term supporter of the Medical Repurposing Network through an ongoing donation of free storage space at Macquarie Park, where donated items are held until there is enough to warrant a shipment. Sharon Munro Executive Assistant to the MD

Fair Game Australia is a grass- roots not-for-profit organisation that inspires healthy communities through donating recycled sports equipment, using it as a tool to deliver health and fitness education programs. KSS at Hoxton Park is proudly donating space for Fair Game Sydney, for the collected sports equipment before it’s placed with communities and programs who have asked for their services. Donating sports equipment is at the heart of what they do. It allows Fair Game to educate young Australians, improve access to sport equipment, reduce waste and improve the health and lives of children in under serviced communities. For more information about Fair Game Australia or if you know a community who may like their services, visit www.fairgame.org.au Sharon Munro Executive Assistant to the MD

18 Kennards Kourier Jan 2019