Why Self-Storage Mystery Shopping Works So Well!

The Importance of self-storage mystery shopping

Before self-storage mystery shopping became popular in the industry, I began my career as a trainer for a large national company. An employee training expert, Donald Michalak, was brought in as a consultant to evaluate our 10-day training program at National Self Storage. He identified several ways to enhance our training effectiveness, focusing on the supervisors’ lack of follow-up training regarding telephone sales performance.

It was determined that the ability to sell effectively over the phone and in person was essential for the success of our storage properties. We only conducted training sessions once without ongoing performance evaluations or additional training. Dr. Michalak recommended implementing a monthly program to provide feedback on sales presentations and incorporate sales scores into the employee bonus criteria.

High Self-Storage Mystery Shopping Scores Lead to Revenue Growth

We observed that the managers who consistently achieved the highest self-storage mystery shopping scores were also from the stores that experienced the most significant revenue improvements. To address this internally, we shifted our discussions with managers from focusing on occupancy rates to emphasizing income generation. This was a substantial challenge, as many managers were accustomed to striving for an occupancy rate of 95% or higher. Additionally, area managers were crucial in supporting employees in managing the storage assets, focusing solely on income.

We continued our self-storage mystery shopping program and incorporated the shopping results into the employees’ bonus plan. The better the employees performed on monthly phone shop evaluations, the larger their potential bonus. Conversely, managers who performed poorly received a smaller bonus, possibly receiving none if their mystery shopping sales score was excessively low.

Occupancy vs Income

It’s surprising that many self-storage managers still think that a physical occupancy rate of 95% or higher means they are performing exceptionally well. However, when you analyze their reports, they often show revenue from a property that is only 70% occupied or even lower. This is a significant issue.

Managers must understand that consistently discounting rent can hurt a storage property’s income. This can impact the success of their investments. Providing training and feedback through self-storage mystery shopping is essential. This process helps improve your team’s sales and service skills. As a result, it can boost the profitability of your storage property. When managers sell at higher rental rates, the facility’s overall performance improves.

Sharpening Sales Skills and Performance is Our Speciality!

When managers listen to a SkilCheck sales evaluation, they receive valuable feedback from an external expert on their employees’ selling techniques and areas for improvement. Each evaluation includes embedded sales training to enhance these skills.

An effective training program offers constructive, unbiased feedback to improve employee performance. SkilCheck focuses on sharpening sales skills and overall performance!