eKourier Oct 2009

Kourier Kennards

October 2009

Arson at Homebush Mobilises Team for Rapid Response

the knock-on effects made the problem more difficult and delicate. The contamination of the water with asbestos from the roof made the salvage and clean-up extremely complex. The situation unfolded on an hourly basis with new issues emerging frequently. The property had also lost power and we were informed we could be without power for up to one week, including T.H.Q. Lay over this hundreds of customers that were justifiably concerned and anxious about their goods. The fluid situation meant that our advice to customers had to be

In this issue Arson at Homebush Mobilises Team... New Team Member Profiles Fortitude gets a Face lift Tempe Close-down Underway Our First Frontline Management Graduate Customer Feedback Spotlight on ... Charity - Donated Boxes Assist Ugandans 9 Questions... Charity - Random Acts of Kindness V8 KSS Conversion Day Nev’s Notes Finance Team Celebrates... Dappled Cities Congratulations Next issue Deadline: 15th January 2010 Please send contributions to the editor Editor: Sharon Dux Email: sharon@kss.com.au Ph: 02 9764 9801 Distribution: 29th January 2010 Upcoming events 13-15/10 - Skillbuilder (QLD) 23/10 - Hawkes Bay Anniversary Day (Napier, Onekawa, Hastings NZ) 26/10 - Labour Day (NZ) - KSS closed 31/10 - Skillbuilder (NZ) 1/11 - Skillbuilder (NZ) 3/11 - Melbourne Cup (VIC) - PH hours 12/11 - Newcastle Xmas Party

Fire Damage photo taken early morning on Saturday September 19th

In the evening late on Friday September 18th, a customer entered Homebush and deliberately set his unit on fire with the assistance of some accelerant. The motivation of this act is not known. Minutes after he left, the sprinklers activated over the fire and this alerted the fire brigade, who quickly attended. The fire was put out and only six spaces were burned. Unfortunately, the fire itself was to be the least of our problems as

changed several times as the information changed. This was an additional source of frustration for customers, but was unavoidable. In general the understanding nature of most customers made the difficult process a bit easier. Throughout the event, it was great to see the response of the team. The Homebush team of Troy and Matthew arrived on site before 2am, as did Lynda. They then stayed for most of Saturday to handle the early issues as they unfolded. Darren, Michael, Orhan, Sarah Scanlan, Fiona and Darryl also came to Homebush early on Saturday. The CCC team were diverted to work at our Auburn centre and contact the affected customers.

19/11 - QLD Xmas Party 26/1 - S.A. Xmas Party 27/11 - VIC Xmas Party 12/12 - NSW Xmas Party

25/12 - Xmas Day - KSS closed 26/12 - Boxing Day - KSS closed 26/12 - Proclamation Day (S.A.) 1/1 - New Years Day - (NSW, VIC, QLD, ACT, SA, NZ) - KSS closed 2/1 - New Years Holiday (NZ) - PH hours 25/1 Wellington Anniversary Day (Palmerston North, Wanganui) NZ 26/1 - Australia Day - (NSW, VIC, QLD, ACT, SA) - PH hours

Cont page 2...

Clean up of units with worker in asbestos gear

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Kennards Kourier October 2009

Team Member Profiles

Matthew Obrien Assistant Manager Homebush NSW

Christine Bauman Customer care Centre THQ

Career background: Retail - KFC Duty Manager. Customer Service Industry for 19 years. Qualified Remedial Therapist for the past 5 years.

Career background: Studying Journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney. 2 years in to a 3 year degree.

Marital status: Married. Any children? Daughter called Eden who’s special talent is waking Daddy at 6am for work and the Wiggles! Hobbies/interests: Spending time with friends and family. Gaming and reading. Do you play any sport or have any special talents? At the moment I am teaching my daughter how to play soccer, but like Tennis and indoor rock climbing. Favourite book: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Favourite movie: Silence of the Lambs. Favourite restaurant/food: City Extra. Where did you grow up? Cabramatta. Great place to live with the same neighbours for 20 odd years! Any pets? No. Favourite holiday: Skiing at Perisher Blue is the most excitement I’ve seen lately!

Marital status: Not Married. Any children? God no! Hobbies/interests: Reading, shopping and going out to dinner with the girls gossiping! Do you play any sport or have any special talents? Love snowboarding. Going to Japan in February! Favourite book: The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak. Favourite movie: American Beauty. Favourite restaurant/food: Thai. Where did you grow up? Greystanes, Sydney. Lovely... Any pets? 3 cats, 1 dog, (2 brothers). Favourite holiday destination: Been to Fiji twice - overrated really!

Fortitude gets a Facelift ... Fortitude Valley has improved its looks with new signage. A long awaited facelift! Below you will see some before and after shots showing the differences. Before

Arson at Homebush Mobilises Team for Rapid Response cont...

It is impressive when I reflect how quickly and calmly people assumed roles to fix the situation. The team were extremely effective and worked very well together. It was later mentioned that much of the work we have pursued in culture and leadership bubbled to the surface during this event. As a result of the efforts of the team we were able to restore T.H.Q. power and I.T. systems on Saturday afternoon; contact the customers very quickly; initiate clean-up and repair work; and all while managing existing customers.

We even sold boxes and handled enquiries on the day.

I extend a big thank you to all the team that contributed and continue to do so, as we persevere with the make-good.

After

The police continue to investigate this pointless wasteful crime.

Sam Kennard

Kennards Kourier October 2009

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Tempe Close-down Underway

Nearby centres enjoy influx of new customers August this year witnessed a significant event as the sale of Tempe was settled with the new owners IKEA. This event brought down the curtain on a piece of self storage history. Tempe was the first purpose built Self Storage Centre of its kind back in 1980. Not long after settlement a notice to vacate was received from the new owners giving us until midnight, 25 February 2010 to vacate the property and hand over the keys so to speak. In September notification was sent to over 700 customers informing them of the sale, and the options available to them for their ongoing storage needs. Some customers have already relocated with the majority moving to Waterloo, Camperdown and Miranda. The relocation process is being coordinated by Michael Anthony and with only 150 responses to the 700 letters so far, Michael will have his work cut out for him contacting customers to find out their preferences. We expect the bulk of relocation to happen during October, November, with very little to happen around the Christmas period. January, February should be the final stage of the customer relocation process, before the centre clean up (removal of our equipment) ready for the hand over to IKEA.

Customer Feedback

“ Ultimo - Friendly and courteous, very helpful and supportive. Excellent communication skills informing customers of any issues or concerns with a caring and kind manner. Thank you very much I would highly recommend Kennards Self Storage.”

“ Mona Vale - Not a single complaint in over 4 years of dealing with you, just great!”

“ Richard at Petersham was extremely helpful, both on the phone and in-store. Explaining to me the difference between all your products. He helped me pack all the boxes into my car and was always cheerful! If I move back to Sydney I will definitely come back, thanks Richard.”

Darren Marshall

Our First Front Line Management Graduate! Congratulations Steve Dillon from Wentworthville Constantly learning and growing, commitment to developing inspirational leaders and high performance teams is part of the Kennards culture. In support of this, Kennards offers the Certificate IV Front Line Management course run by Australian College of Commerce and Management to all new and existing employees. The course is designed to help team members develop a wide range of customer service, leadership, administrative, time management and planning skills.

Pia Angelucci, National Training Manager, Australian College of Commerce & Management, presenting Steve with his certificate

Steve says “I would recommend the Certificate IV in Frontline Management to any new or existing staff member wanting to develop a new skill set or enhance current skills.

The course work was easy to understand and easily transferred into real life scenarios within the Centre environment.

The Tutors were easily contactable if I had any issues with the work, but they regularly called to see how I was progressing through the work. They couldn’t have made the process easier!

A thoroughly enjoyable course that I would recommend to anyone”.

Read more about the course on Kosmo or contact Delna Dugdale on 0408 850 656 if you are interested in the course. Delna Dugdale

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Spotlight on... Palmerston North

up. In this clean up they have come across a unit that had previously been used to store Customer’s personal records from many years ago (Fort Knox era). Among these records they found a whole lot of Firearm’s & ammunition. The Police have since been in & removed this. Turns out the customer this once belonged to skipped the country about 10 years or so ago.

in a commercial area of Palmerston North & only 2 Km’s to the Airport. We have a variety of different Customers. There are a number of different learning Institutions in Palmerston North with IPC (International Pacific College), Massey University, Teachers College & UCOL, which in November see’s our Occupancy grow with the influx of Students moving home for there summer vacation’s. Unfortunately the down turn of this is in February, our Move outs are rather high. The Team Recently with the sudden departure of the previous manager, a New Manager Sue Solly has been appointed, who comes from an extensive customer service background. Along with the assistant manager Linda Moore, they have been working together on improving the Centre by having a major clean

History Palmerston North Centre was built in 1995. Back then it was known as Fort Knox Self Storage. When first built there was only a block of approx 150 units. From then the site expanded over a period of 10 years & now we have 6 Blocks of units totalling 569. Currently we have 400 of these rented. We offer 23 different sizes. Site Features Palmerston North is approx 2 hours drive north of the Capital City of Wellington, with a population of approx 75,540. Our Centre is situated

Our current Occupancy is 74.85%.

Team Palmerston North

(L to R) Lynda Moore, Assistant Manager and Sue Solly, Manager

Donated Boxes Assist Ugandans Over the last year Kennards Self Storage have been continually helping out HUG (Helping Ugandan Generations) with the donation of boxes to pack their donated items in for the children of Uganda.

Alot of donations this time round went to Sanyu Babies Home, where unfortunately many abandoned children are left outside the gates on a regular basis. Many others have HIV and require a lot of medical aid and attention. As well as providing donated goods, HUG will focus on raising funds to help build schools, as many children can not afford to go to school. The work of Cate Altamura (the founder of HUG) is nothing short of amazing. Her dedication to helping these families and their children is selfless and compassionate. Kennards Self Storage will continue to help Cate and HUG. Its amazing how a few boxes can make such a huge difference. Sharon Dux

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Kennards Kourier October 2009

9 Questions... With Sharon Dux

Customer Feedback “I am most grateful to the team at Huntingdale for their outstanding customer service, enthusiasm and generous assistance over the years, many thanks.” “We have utilised your storage facility for several months now and have found the service provided by Petersham outstanding at all times. They have always provided prompt, courteous and efficient assistance with all our requests and needs. It has been a pleasure to deal with the Petersham team and would highly recommend KSS, particularly Petersham!” “ Virginia’s customer service was faultless and impeccable. Although your team was busy they took the time to explain and show everything.They were able to answer all our questions and concerns. I will definitely recommend this place!” “The whole experience was exactly as we were told. From when we arrived the first day, access was easy and the premises clean and tidy at all times, well done Kennards.” “I have just been through a very horrific time in my life and on top of that had to move all my belongings - which came to a whole house worth and a workshed, with no where to go. It is peace of mind to now my things are safe and that your staff at Gladesville were only too happy to help. They went out of their way to make it as easy as possible for me. Thank you.” “We were pleasantly surprised at the speed with which we received the pro-rata refund. Your manager at Vermont was courteous and helpful. More than happy to use your service again if required.” “ Very friendly helpful staff at Browns Plains. Having peace of mind that my belongings were being stored securely and I felt safe going into the facility on my own.”

Tell us about your role as Sam’s P.A.?.

My role as Sam’s P.A. is a rewarding one. The variety that crosses my path when it comes to my role and what I do is ten fold. I have the opportunity to learn all the time, developing my skills continually. I have been lucky enough to delve in to the advertising side of KSS and the merchandise and branding. Its not really your average P.A role! What have you learnt whilst you’ve been at Kennards? I have learnt the value of team work and the importance of great culture. I have worked in previous jobs where the team support and culture is poor. I can see the difference in the attitudes of team members and the motivation to do your best at KSS.

What are your favourite pass times?

I like to spend time with my family and friends. I love my music. I run/swim and generally like to be active. I also have an interest in cars and bikes. And love a good glass of shiraz (not merlot)!

Where did you grow up?

Dubbo, Bombala, Sydney. Have been in Sydney ever since.

What courses have you completed?

What did you do before Kennards?

2 Year Art Certificate Course - majoring in Design and Photography Calligraphy/Sign Writing Certificate Photoshop

Before KSS I worked in my x-husbands electrical contacting company for 5 years managing all office duties. And prior to that was a Production Manager and Special Projects Manager for a large photographic printing company. What are your long term professional goals? I always want to better my skills and learn as much as I can in whatever I do. I get great satisfaction working within KSS. If I continued working in this role, learning more and more, as I am constantly doing now, then I would feel satisfied that my goals where being met. Really, I couldn’t ask for a better job. It’s nice to be able to say you thoroughly enjoy what you do.

What is it like working with Sam?

I often wonder how I actually got to be where I am. I feel quite lucky to sit where I sit. It is a pleasure to work with Sam.

Tell us about your family

My immediate family consists of Myself and J (Jesse), my 9 year old son. He is of course my pride and joy, pushes the boundaries as they all do, but he’s my main man! I am also very fortunate to have a great family network around me. My wonderful and very patient mother and father just around the corner. I have 2 brothers and a sister, brother-in-law, sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews. They all keep in contact on a very regular basis.

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The Footpath Library Enjoys A Random Act of kindness!

Currently in V4 StorMan recognises monthly rent based on Agreements. In V8 StorMan recognises monthly rent based on Units. During the conversion StorMan will print off a report for all agreements where there is more than 1 unit occupied. Adjustments will also need to be made for agreements with multiple units where a pending rent increase applies. It will be the team member’s responsibility to work through this report and adjust the monthly rent for each unit which appears in the report. StorMan Support as part of the conversion process will demonstrate how to do this using an example from the report. Getting support via KOSMO We envisage an increase in support volume during the first few months after upgrading StorMan. To ensure KSS Support can manage and service 69 centres efficiently it is imperative that all support issues are submitted using the KOSMO Support Portal. THQ will be working directly with StorMan post conversion to resolve any issues and will base these issues by priority from the information tracked in the Support Portal. There is a high level of expectation that team members utilise the “learn more” feature in StorMan V8 for education and training purposes. This reduces the load on support answering questions which are freely accessible to everyone within KSS and better positions Support to resolve The Benjamin Andrew Footpath Library were lucky enough to be nominated and chosen to be on the recently aired Channel 9 series Random Acts of Kindness. Kennards Self Storage have been providing donated storage space at our Brookvale centre to help store books for the Footpath Library. We are now also providing them space in Melbourne. Random Acts of Kindness contacted KSS asking of the possibility of filming at the Brookvale centre where the

The much awaited V8 is here. On upgrade you will have slick looking Self Storage Management Software bundled with cutting edge features! What can I expect on Conversion Day? StorMan support will contact you by phone to let you know they are ready to upgrade StorMan. StorMan support will complete a structured and customised conversion which is specific to the KSS operating model. The conversion process will involve making backups (should something go wrong), converting the data, applying KSS business rules and the reconciliation of reports. Each conversion will be signed off by StorMan Support and a conversion checklist submitted for KSS for review. During the conversion process you will not be able to process regular tasks. Ensure that all transactions are processed manually and then entered into StorMan when V8 is ready to use. How long will conversion take? The conversion process will take up to 3 hours, you are able to use StorMan V4 before you are contacted by Support on the day but will not be able to use StorMan at all during the conversion. Why do agreements with multiple units need to be adjusted by team members? After the death of a young friend, Benjamin Andrew, Sarah Garnett decided to make herself useful by working as a volunteer. She started helping serve meals to the homeless and disadvantaged in Sydney’s CBD. One evening Sarah noticed a man sitting under a street light reading a novel while waiting for the food van. She started bringing him a few books and it was here the Benjamin Andrew Footpath Library began.

Footpath Library were storing their books. They surprised Sarah Garnett (the Founder) with new calico bags for the homeless to carry their books in, a new computer and monitor and a new van. The computer and van were presented at KSS Brookvale along with associates and friends present. Additional resources available to team members are the training manuals and tutorials handed out during training day and ongoing StorMan specific KDOCS which will be added to KOSMO. Our HUB centres will play a support role to some capacity, as yet this role has not been decided. When submitting support requests the golden rules will be to check KOSMO and StorMan’s knowledge base for answers first and always be as descriptive as possible when completing support requests. Phone support will only be accepted for “system down” related problems. What changes will immediately become effective? Immediate changes which apply will include: Merchandise Discounts StorMan V8 has Merchandise Discounts functionality which has been developed specifically for KSS. StorMan will calculate the discount value based on carton volumes and apply the transactions all by itself. This means that “carton-discount’ codes are no longer required and will be turned off during the conversion. Adjustments will need to be made on your carton quantities in StorMan so that physical quantities on hand are assigned systemic issues.

KSS V8 Conversion Day

to one analysis code only. Integrated Carton Returns

StorMan V8 now handles carton returns correctly using the “add credit” feature in conjunction with “other credit sales”.

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Kennards Kourier October 2009

Con’t next page...

KSS V8 Conversion Day con’t... Direct Debit AutoPay Automated Rent Increases

Dappled Cities ANOTHER KENNARDS FIRST An album launch in the storage units at Waterloo “DAPPLED CITIES” hosted a listening party to launch their album ‘ZOUNDS’. 12 local young & emerging artists were involved in a collaborative art project decorating 12 storage units to the theme of each of Dappled Cities 12 tracks. Over 400 fans attended & soaked up the atmosphere in each of the units. The launch featured in more that two dozen web sites as well as several magazines such as Kluster.

StorMan will add the stock back to inventory, tell you the amount to refund (based on KSS buyback price), and allow you to add the refund directly through the transaction tab from “other credit sales”. This means that you no longer require your “buy back” booklets, do not need to calculate the buyback refund amount, do not have to add an inventory purchase to add the stock back and do not have to reconcile buy backs in the bank reconciliation separately! What changes will apply in the near future? Centralised Refunds Petty Cash using “other credit sales” SMS Notices and Adhoc messaging

Automated Rate Reviews based on Occupancy thresholds What changes are coming in 2010 Version 9? Call Centre Module National Accounts Automation Promotions Module eCommerce and hundreds of more features! Where can I send feedback both good and bad about anything to do with StorMan V8? Good and bad feedback is encouraged. Send all feedback to jeff@kss.com.au or delna@kss.com.au

Jeff Xanthos

NEV’S NOTES...

“First Minute Panic” Avoiding Last Minute Panic by getting things done early

We all know what so often happens when we set out to go somewhere or do something. Typically we start out with plenty of time, but then start running late, ending up with that rush and stress of Last Minute Panic. We get there, or get the job done, but we scramble to meet the deadline. And in our last minute scramble we often take risks, make mistakes, leave things undone, and spend more than we needed to. “If only we’d had more time” is the lament. “Next time we’ll get organised earlier”, or “We didn’t get onto it soon enough”…….sound familiar? Examining the time we did have available, mostly we find that there was a period, or periods, where time just slipped away. Often this is early in the project (though it could be in the middle). To start reducing the stress, the mistakes and the extra costs of Last Minute Panic, I advocate some “First Minute Panic”. There are several benefits to First Minute Panic (FMP). Firstly, you can initiate it and be in control. You can stimulate a sense of urgency early. Secondly you can get some “Momentum” going - get things rolling early. Thirdly you will have time to consider how to improve your “project”, how to do it better, cheaper, easier. Fourthly, you can build in a “buffer period” - some time which can be used if things do start to run a bit late (as they invariably do). “Momentum”, once started, needs less effort to keep rolling than to initiate or restart, so when you start a project rolling early, some attention and energy is needed to keep it going, but not as much as with restarting, and far less than with Last Minute Panic. Whether it be some new storage spaces at KSS, a new kitchen at home or taking the family on holidays, some FMP in the planning and initiating stage can eliminate - or at least reduce - the chance of that awful and costly Last Minute Panic. Nev Kennard

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Kennards Kourier October 2009

Finance Team Celebrate End of Financial Year at the Alley!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Bernice and Warren Eriksson form THQ, on the birth of their 4th child Seth Malachi.

Next years budgets are completed, the Auditors are finished and the Financial Statements are done. The Finance Team enjoyed some relaxation and fun after their End of Financial Year workload peak!

The resident swallow at KSS Thornleigh has become quite the friend!

Congratulations to Darryl and Sandra Anderson (Browns Plains KSS) on their marriage at Forest Glen, Browns Plains on the 22nd of August .

KSS Prospect (above) were approached by Eyeworks Australia to use the centre to film an explosion for a series called Gangs of Oz. The explosion wasn’t as large as first thought, but went off with a bang!

Our friendly Python that hibernated at KSS Warriewood.

“It’s not the situation... it’s your reaction to the situation” Robert Conklin

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Kennards Kourier October 2009