eKourier July 2011

Kourier Kennards

July 2011

Yeerongpilly Now Open! Our 70th Location!

kilometres away and resulted in Storage King vacating 100% of their customers. The next closest facility is Storage King Salisbury which has benefited from the Rocklea site being out of action. Storage King Rocklea will be closed until August/ September when they will reopen 100% empty and provide some fierce competition. Until

In this issue Yeerongpilly Now Open Team Member Profiles Web Word Perception Survey Results are in Spotlight on... Business in NZ Gains Momentum Kennards Reflections Customer Feedback KSS to sponsor Lifestyle Home Show Helping to Share-A-Book Next issue Deadline: October 7th, 2011 Please send contributions to the editor Editor: Sharon Dux Email: sharon@kss.com.au Ph: 02 9764 9801 Distribution: October 21st, 2011 Upcoming events 10/8 - Royal QLD Show (Bris Metro only) (QLD) - PH Hours 13/8 - ��� ����������� ������ KSS Achievement Dinner 13-17/9 - Skillbuilder - (NSW) 20-24/9 - Skillbuilder - (NSW) 1/10 - Skillbuilder (NSW) 3/10 - Labour Day - (NSW, ACT, SA) - PH Hours Nev’s Notes... 7 Questions... KSS Achievement Dinner Congratulations

K ennards Self Storage opened its first dedicated storage centre in Fortitude Valley Queensland. In 1980 this pioneering leap was also the first ever centre in Queensland storage. Another milestone site for Kennards Self Storage is the new Yeerongpilly centre in Queensland which opened its doors on the 1st of June 2011 to become the company’s 70th storage centre. Situated at 757 Fairfield Rd Yeerongpilly, the centre is approximately 5 kilometres from the Brisbane CBD. It enjoys a mix of demographics and great access and proximity to many established inner urban residential neighbourhoods and the Rocklea and Salisbury industrial hubs. This state of the art centre is a two storey design with stage one now completed, featuring over 300 units ranging in size from lockers to easy access driveway units. The property will also include an open storage area suitable for boats, caravans and other recreational vehicles. Future needs have also been catered for with the ability to develop stage two when demand requires. The Brisbane floods destroyed the Storage King centre at Rocklea less than 2

“This state of the art centre is a two storey design with stage one now completed, featuring over 300 units ranging in size from lockers to easy access driveway units.”

5-7/10 - Skillbuilder (VIC) 7-8/10 - Skillbuilder (S.A.) 12-14/10 - Skillbuilder (QLD)

21/10 - Hawkes Bay Anniversary Day (Napier, Onekawa, Hastings) (NZ) - PH hours 24/10 - Labour ��� �� � �� ��� ������ Day NZ - NZ KSS Closed

their refurbishment is completed, we will be looking to fill the large gap in the current market and believe Yeerongpilly will rent up quickly. Sandra Anderson who has previously managed Chermside, Milton, Fortitude Valley and who opened the Browns Plains centre has taken on the task of renting up Yeerongpilly with Assistant Manager Jasmin Brice. Glen Bayley

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Kennards Kourier July 2011

Team Member Profiles

Wayne Mclaren Assistant Manager - Newstead

Susan Chow Customer Care Centre - THQ Career background: Worked for Lincraft in retail and have also had some experience in Network Marketing. Marital status: Single Any children? No. Hobbies/interests: I enjoy going to the gym, reading books, shopping

Career background: My whole working life has been in retail one way or another. Marital status: Partner. Any children? No. Hobbies/interests: Watching movies and TV. Also like sleeping! Enjoy watching bad TV shows. I also follow V8 Supercars. Do you play any sport or have any special talents? I am a bit of a freak when it comes to solving jig saw

and socialising with friends. I also have an interest in Health Supplements. Do you play any sport or have any special talents? Play badminton occasionally. Love to watch tennis. Favourite book: “Emma” by Jane Austin Favourite movie: “The Notebook” Favourite restaurant/food: Japanese. Sushi Samari at Neutral Bay. Where did you grow up? My younger years were spent in Newtown, Sydney. Our neighbour had 20 cats! I then moved to Greystanes.

puzzles! Favourite book: Any autobiography Favourite movie: Wizard of Oz Favourite restaurant/food: Huongs at West End - Asian food. Italian and hot chips.

Where did you grow up? Brisbane Southside. Any pets? Bichon Frise (Bentley) and a Lorikeet. Favourite holiday destination: We have a caravan, so anywhere we can go in that. WEB WORD! - Where’s the Website and What’s on Google? W e are happy to announce with the launch of StorMan V8.2 and recent work on building the website and improve in content. Social media will play a bigger part and will have to integrate professionally with the website.

One of the behind the scenes features of the new Website is that we will be able to track many of the activities, rankings etc, understand what marketing methods work and see what things people choose to do inside the website. We’ve never had access to this type of information before so it should be very exciting once the statistics start flooding in. Whatever insights come from this data is where we’ll be placing our SEO efforts in the next few months. This could be something as simple as refining the position or colour of a button on a page. The future rate of change means the website will never be done but always a “work in progress” - getting better with each and every improvement. Next Steps? After the initial launch and changes we are currently refining our strategy for where to next.

A mobile friendly site and YouTube channel are key enhancements that will help our web footprint and marketing. Their development for 2012 will feature heavily in our plans. For now keep the Google feedback coming. Solutions to poor ranking search results will vary. For some we may start a pay per click. Others we have to wait a couple of weeks until Google re-indexes our changes. In some cases we may need more local market knowledge from you. Don’t forget to “Like Us” on Facebook and “Follow Us” on Twitter. Darryl Hodgson a “work in progress” - getting better with each and every improvement.” “The future rate of change means the website will never be done but always

links to the new StorMan many of the roadblocks to us launching the new website have now been removed. We are in the final throws of building, checking and refining in readiness for an August launch. The build has been slower than expected and like many of us we are sure you are all keen to have it available for our customers to use. While we’re on the subject of the Web many of you will have noticed the changes to Google places and maps when doing your new Google searches as part of the CPA now. Each listing for your sites has been updated, claimed, photo’s and video added along with a bunch of details about opening hours, payment methods and so forth. Some have had immediate improvements however there are a few where we are waiting for Google to re-index them before your positioning improves.

Many new sections of the website will have the opportunity to grow

Kennards Kourier July 2011

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Perception Survey Results are in...

enjoy working here.

decisions and their fellow employees.

People were encouraged to also provide written text feedback about the best and worst behaviours they have seen in the company. The best behaviours are fantastic they relate to team work and commitment. People talked about “staff going above and beyond with customer service”, “working hard towards common goals” and “always a happy, smiling face to clients”. The worst behaviours related to an absence of team work and commitment. People talked about “poor customer service”, “lazy, unproductive people who sit and do nothing” and “poor attitude by some people”. Compared to other companies the worst behaviours were very tame indeed. engagement with staff and customers and that engagement drives bottom line results. We now know that you have good leaders and strong engagement but this means nothing without superior results. People should be encouraged to revisit their targets and goals and to focus the motivation and commitment to be high achievers which is the only way we can grow our business and secure our future. Peter Berry Peter Berry Consultancy Pty Ltd Our philosophy at Peter Berry Consultancy is that leaders create

Site Features Wentworthville has great street exposure where the centre can be seen from the M4 and Great Western Highway. We can accommodate 20ft’ and 40ft‘ containers which attract short and long term customers. With 24hr access and a large variety of different size units, many being drive-way units. We have had positive feed back from storers, customers and even delivery drivers about the new renovations. We have a few interesting storers at Wentworthville. Dr John Miles Burkitt with his red Ferrari. John will be taking the car to China to compete in a Rally this month. Not a typical storer at Wentworthville and always up to date! Compared to other companies Kennards is very strong on values, key performance indicators and sharing the business plan. Most of the time people can balance work/life commitments and health and safety rated favourable. The level of trust is high and people really The point of doing the survey is to confidentially measure the culture of the organisation and to identify strengths and opportunities. Kennards should be congratulated for running the survey so that people can have their say without fear or favour. You quality of service to customers is second to none and people really care about the future of the company. Areas for improvement include a review of equipment/technology and better career and development opportunities. People would also like to see a review of pay at the appropriate time… as does every worker in Australia! “We now know that you have good leaders and strong engagement but this means nothing without superior results.”

C ongratulations Kennards Self Storage, you have achieved the highest employee opinion survey results of all of our clients in the last 2 years. Your score of 81% engagement has smashed the Gold Medal standard which is 75%. You are definitely an employer of choice and compared to other companies your culture is far superior. This does not mean that everything is perfect, there will always be areas for improvement. The best things about working for Kennards are the interaction with customers, the fact that the company is a good employer, the ability for people to take initiative and make

Spotlight On Wentworthville...

There is also a rock band named “Good Enough” that practice here at night in their unit. The Team Geoff Turner is the Manager at Wentworthville and Will Tieu (new to Kennards) is the Assistant Manager.

Wentworthville Manager Geoff Turner (left) and Assistant Manager Will Tieu (right)

History Millers started with this site in 1986 with Husband Ray and wife Margaret and their two German Shepherd’s. They lived onsite in the flat behind the office. This is now the new office.

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Kennards Kourier July 2011

Business in New Zealand Gains Momentum…

S ince our last edition of the Kourier, Christchurch experienced another major earthquake. The general media consensus was the NZ economy would nose dive as the ongoing damages added up and take resources from the rest of the country. Keeping in mind that Christchurch is the second largest city in NZ, approximately 15% of the country GDP. The result, fortunately for us, has resulted in more business for our sites. As we close out the financial year, a number of our NZ sites have achieved individual milestones that deserve mention. Palmerston North and Mt Eden sites reached their highest rent per square metres, while Hastings and Wanganui have their highest number of rented units since we acquired the sites in December 2007. Well done to all of the team members for there contributions in asking for and gaining the business!

Christchurch is the movement of families away from disaster to other locations in NZ, perceived to be safer. We are now seeing a

gradual increase in momentum around the cities where we have facilities. This has resulted in more storage enquiries with the teams converting these opportunities into move-ins. “The Canterbury Crusaders making the Super 15 Final against the Queensland Reds, simply a precurser to the inevitable All Black success at the Rugby World Cup.” The second half of the calendar year will be exciting for us Kiwis. The

Canterbury Crusaders making the Super 15 Final against the Queensland Reds, simply a precurser to the inevitable All Black success at the Rugby World Cup, plus add in the increased employment opportunities from the government programme to rebuild Christchurch. All in all this should create favourable conditions for the greater economy to rise above the GFC conditions that have hung around here for far too long and improve the profitability of our NZ facilities this year. See you all at the Achievement Dinner! Andrew Kirkham

The positive effect of the tragedy in

Kennards Reflections L ooking back over past Kennards Kouriers, this edition takes us to Christmas 1994 with the new addition of our 14th storage centre at Marrickville. It is interesting that todays Kourier now celebrates our 70th Location! The front page article written by Sam Kennard, mentions occupancy of over 90% and the certainty that this centre will hit that mark quickly. It also mentions the space to have just over 300 units built. Today Marrickville has 377 units with over 300 rented. Inside this edition other stories included: Getting and Keeping Commercial Customers; Caring - The Missing Element; The introduction of a new Director and Deputy Chairman - Leigh Norman; a 1995 Development Program outlining what’s in store for the coming year, including more units at Sandgate, Newcastle, Erina, Artarmon, Kirrawee and Wetherill Park. There is also an article from Neville canvassing the “Learning Company” philosophy of KSS. This edition of the Kourier, though 16 years old now, shows that Kennards shared the same values, culture and inspirations back then, as we do today, striving for that “Famous Household Name” while making sure we have fun achieving it at the same time!

Kennards Kourier July 2011

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Property Development Pipeline Yeerongpilly – was handed over from the Builders on 31 May 2011 and despite the floods and heavy rains the project was completed ahead of time.

Customer Feedback...

KSS will sponsor the Lifestyle Home Channel for the month of July. Showing our standard TV advertisement along with a new 10 second advertisement especially tailored for the Lifestyle Home channel. The 10 second spot tells a story of moving house and storing your belongings with KSS. It took a day of filming and photography to get the footage on site at Chatswood KSS. Lifestyle Home is on channel 119. The channel is all about home renovation, gardening, moving house, auctions and more. This offers a nice natural fit with us and the viewers. If you don’t catch the advertisement on Lifestyle Home, go to: http://www.kss.com.au/pdf/ LSHomeIDTVCKennards.mov to see the full advertisement. “Love everything about Kennards, specifically the fact that I can drive my Outlander all the way inside to the front of my unit. The Use of free trolleys is great. Lock it up and have peace of mind as I enter my security code and the gate closes on my way out. Great job Maribyrnong.” “ The service was perfect, the follow up when I left was perfect, the answering of my questions was perfect. A big thank you to David at Warriewood. I could not have been helped anymore.” “Everything was great at Moore Park! Clean storage, great systems, exceptional advice, professional and clear staff, great rebating policy and exceptional efficiency.” “Kiaora Sam, The friendly reception we received on our first contact with Wanganui was most helpful. Also the explanation of the Terms and Conditions were very clear, thanks.”

“Everything was great a Miranda. The personal service was fantastic! All questions were answered and dealt with easily. The automatic refund without me having to pop into the office was great. Within 40 minutes of the removal truck leaving Kennards I had confirmation that the unused funds would be in my account. Everyone was so helpful. So easy to recommend to others.” “ Very good, wonderful service at Three Kings and nothing was a problem for your staff, very friendly. We would have no hesitation in recommending your company. The building was clean and tidy.” “Your generosity and hospitality was admirable. The staff were well presented. Whatever you are doing, keep doing it Wentworthville!” “ Friendly people at Mona Vale and helpful service over the 4 to 5 years of having various storage units.”

Wollongong – Total Construction have now established the site after some early demolition works. The first stage of this project should have us opening November 2011.

KSS to Sponsor Lifestyle Home Channel

Prospect – Steel Storage have been onsite now for almost 2 months. Progress so far includes digging up the old driveway and pouring part of the new driveway and ground floor slabs. Stage 1 is due to be completed September 2011.

Office Upgrades – Other smaller (but just as important) projects includes new offices for Moore Park, Milton and Fortitude Valley. These upgrades are due for completion in July 2011.

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Kennards Kourier July 2011

Helping to Share-A-Book

Over the last three months, ALNF have had just under 100 people who have assisted ALNF staff members in organising and packing books so they can be sent to communities in need. A cohort of volunteers have met fortnightly to volunteer for Share-A-Book (SAB). In the first half of 2011, ALNF has sent several palettes (1000 + books) to each of the communities on Groote Eylandt (NT), Palm Island (QLD) and Kempsey (NSW). They also ensure that SAB’s are ready to be delivered to other areas where there is a need that has been expressed. Kennards Self Storage have been supporting ALNF for over a year now, supplying free storage space at our Chatswood centre for their Share-A-Book programme. The storage spaces are used for storing all of the donated books and also for packing palettes to be sent around Australia. Sharon Dux

implement and sustain innovative projects for individuals, families and communities. ALNF teaches marginalised Australians how to read and write. ALNF also supports a broad range of individuals (teachers, carers, healthcare workers, community workers, volunteers) in building on their skills to develop good literacy practices in their families and communities.

Nev’s Notes... On Punctuality... T he Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) is dedicated to raising language, literacy and numeracy standards in Australia and raises funds to develop, Photo courtesy of ALNF, featuring a little girl from Palm Island enjoying one of the delivered books .

Share-A-Book is one of the many programmes that ALNF run. Providing new and quality pre-loved books and magazines to Indigenous, refugee and marginalised communities.

apprentice carpenter. Being early has many benefits: - You have some buffer time in case things go wrong. - You may be useful in helping others. - You allay fears about whether you will be on time. - You can relax. - You don’t have to dream up excuses for being late. Having a reputation for being punctual builds goodwill with others; they respect you and know they can rely on you. When you build this reputation you are putting money in your Reputation Bank; you are demonstrating reliability and building trust. Then when something goes wrong people will accommodate and make allowances, and that is better than having people say - “is always late; we can’t rely in him”. And if it looks like you could be late, it’s best to advise your “appointee” early; this shows respect. Being punctual is a very basic example of reliability and that you “Do what you say you’ll do”. If you are trustworthy with

P unctuality is about the most basic of the Courtesies. Being punctual shows to those you are meeting that you respect them. Being unpunctual is a discourtesy to the others, sending the message that your time is more valuable than their time, and that they don’t really matter to you. Being late is a sign of disrespect. It is just plain good manners to be punctual. Being punctual asks that you get organised. It requires some forward planning. To be at an arranged place and time requires thinking and planning ahead, allocating the necessary time to do what you say you’ll do. In this a bit of “First Minute Panic” can help: put the urgency at the front end rather than at the last minute. “On time means being five minutes early” a friend was told by his Master on his first day on the job as an

your appointments people will start to trust you with other things. And mostly punctuality is a habit that gets easier as you practice the habit. When it becomes a habit, you don’t have to think about it any more. I love to be early; I can then relax, plan my meeting, my day, have a cup of coffee, sit quietly, do something else. Being early brings peace. Neville Kennard put the urgency at the front end rather than at the last minute.” “In this a bit of “First Minute Panic” can help:

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Kennards Kourier July 2011

7 Questions... With Sam Noyes

of it last summer after dislocating my shoulder in a game. I love spending my weekends by the beach or in the water no matter what season it is. Being a new team member at Kennards, tell us about your perceptions of the culture here?

Tell us about yourself?

I’m 22 years old, and recently completed a Bachelor of Construction Project Management at UTS. I still live at home with my family, I’m single and I spend most of my spare time hanging out with my mates. What type of work did you do before coming to Kennards? In my school years I worked on a part time basis as a kitchen hand at Red Rooster, and then later on in the timber yard at Bunnings. For the past three years, whilst studying at Uni, I worked for a large Contractor undertaking roles involving OH&S, Quality Assurance, Site Supervision, Design Management and Contracts Administration. During this time I worked on a few very large projects with values in the hundreds of millions of dollars, including some luxury apartments on Darling Harbour, a hospital and a shopping centre. Currently I am assisting Michael Macheledt on a number of projects. Some of the larger projects which are currently underway include the new Wollongong centre, Prospect expansion, Miranda Fitout and the Ultimo 2 roof replacement. In addition to this there are a large number of projects in the pipeline which are currently going through the planning phase which includes new centres to Chullora, Warrawong and Klemzig, wine storage to Newstead, Milton and West End, Fit- outs to Brookvale, Ultimo, Moore Park & Chatswood. I am a huge sports fan, in particular for the Cronulla Sharks, however it is rare that there’s anything to cheer about with them. During the winter time I will normally have a game of touch footy once a week and in the summer I spend most of my time watching and playing cricket, although I didn’t get to play much Tell us about your interests and hobbies? What projects are you currently working on??

Compared to other places I have worked I believe there is a very positive culture here at Kennards. Everyone is very open

and approachable and all seem to be genuinely happy to be at work. I have found in particular that people are given a lot more trust and responsibility to complete their duties, which I have found is a lot more efficient and offers far greater satisfaction then my previous work, where it seems there is manager upon manager, overlooking everything you do. It’s probably a long while off but in the long term I would like to be a Property Developer. If not, I want to remain involved in Development and Construction as I love that feeling of seeing something created from nothing. I also have an ambition to travel. So far I haven’t travelled much further then countries such as Thailand and Bali, so over the next few years I have an ambition to travel more, particularly to Europe and South America. What is your role at Kennards Self Storage? My title is Assistant Project Manager, and my role came about as a need to assist Michael Macheledt (Development and Construction Manager) due to the increasing number of construction projects being undertaken. My role involves obtaining council approvals, sourcing and reviewing construction tenders, overall project management of the smaller scale projects and assisting Michael on some of the larger projects. What are your long term goals?

KSS Achievement Dinner

The Achievement Dinner is fast approaching, with less than 1 month before we all come together to celebrate. It is a night filled with reward for team members that have Added Value to KSS over the last financial year. We recognise individuals and centres for their contributions and hard work. We also recognise those team members who have been with KSS for 5 years, 10 years and 15 years. It is a chance to catch up with other members of the team that you may not necessarily see day-to-day. This is always a great night and we look forward to seeing everyone again this year.

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Kennards Kourier July 2011

Congratulations!

Great QLD Customer Feedback “ You provided us with free storage for our furniture salvaged from our flooded home in QLD for up to 6 months. Provided free boxes and even a free lock! We are very grateful and will tell everyone of your company’s generosity at every opportunity. Thank you West End.” “Your company has been a life saver for us after the QLD flood devastated our home in January this year. We have just been able to move back in (camping style) and have really appreciated the peace of mind Kennards Self Storage has provided during our rebuild. I would like to thank you on behalf of my family for the generosity Kennards has shown in the wake of the January disaster. At every opportunity, we tell people about the fantastic help given by your company to the flood victims.” Congratulations! Congratulations to Brett (Springvale KSS) and Michelle Cleland on the arrival of Brielle Maureen Cleland, born 14th April, 2011. Weighing 4.66 kg.

Customer Feedback “Personal contact was very nice. Loved the escort to my place of storage. Very friendly and helpful service, and showed genuine interest in my needs. Thanks Newcastle West” “Good service by the staff at Castle Hill, good prices. Love the tea, coffee and biscuits! Also great to have bathroom facilities.” “The service was friendly and professional at Warriewood. Nothing was too difficult. Both Bob and David were excellent. “ “Everything was done well! I am impressed with your business, your systems, your professionalism and your friendly staff at Huntingdale. My dealings were with Gordon, and nothing was ever too much trouble. I am a very happy customer and will definitely use Kennards again, thank you.” Some 3 months ago a good looking couple came into our Langridge Street Centre, and asked to buy some boxes. I asked the purpose of theses boxes and the below pictures are the end result! Frank Peniguel (TSM)

Congratulations to Simon (Acquisitions Manager THQ) and Charity DeGaris on the birth of their 4th child, Kobi Konrad

DeGaris. Born 21st May, 2011, weighing 3.5 kg and 52.5cm in length. Mum, Bub and all the family are doing great!

“ It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be” Paul Arden

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Kennards Kourier July 2011