I am currently conducting a POLL to determine what makes a secret shopper tick. Is it the commission for each secret shopping call made or is it the chance of winning a prize? We will soon see, so click on my SECRET SHOPPING POLL to make your choice.

This is your chance to make your voice heard, and maybe we will adjust the way you are rewarded for doing such a great job every month making our self storage secret shops.

Don't forget to check out what POLLS your friends might have and create your own!

Catch Ya'll Later,

Sarah Little, TQA Director

Self storage unit locations  : http://www.Self-storage-unit-locations.com

Secret shopping is an excellent way to make sure that your employees are adhering to your guidelines even when you are not actually monitoring them.  It is a great tool to use to maximize profits as well as quality.  An increasingly popular form of secret shopping is done over the phone.  This allows one person to shop stores thousands of miles apart within minutes.  This means there is not limit to what a single person can do.

How to get quality work out of your employees has been a question many managers have asked themselves in many different fields.  You can offer them incentives, but why should you have to pay them more to do their job?  Well you won’t have to do that anymore.  Instead of paying extra money to your employee when they do their job correctly, consider sales training and quality control from secret shoppers.

The secret shopping field is growing in popularity thanks to the free exchange of the prices of goods or services.  There are fewer and fewer instances that Americans are going to places because they only have one option.  Since there is so much competition it puts a premium on quality.  Even if you have the quality, you must be able to explain that to a customer over the phone.

Secret shopping will train your employees on how to be a better manager because they never know who they are talking too.  They will always strive to do their best because they know there is a chance they are being graded.  For well less than the cost of a storage unit everyday you could have the piece of mind that your employees are performing to their fullest potential.

Self Storage-Quote : http://www.Self-storage-quote.com

Secret Shopping is a great way to earn some extra cash!  Self organizers this is for you!  It’s not just a way to earn extra money; it also helps determine how a business is operating. Have you ever been on the phone or at a store and an employee did something that made you never go or call back? This happens all of the time and managers and owners are unaware of what is going on. A secret shopper keeps the people who need to know in the loop. It is very important that a manager knows that their employees are not operating to their potential, and in some cases not operating at all. That’s where the secret shoppers come in!  Becoming a secret shopper is actually very easy! We have websites where you can go get signed up. You can help shape the business world and bring customer service back!  Mystery shops help keep employees on their toes and it allows you to monitor your employees whenever you are not around.

Self-storage search engine  : http://www.Self-storage-search-engine.com

I just have to say how impressed I was by Daniel - our newest hire to the self storage PhoneSmart call center. He has jumped right on board with many of our PhoneSmart self storage projects, including Secret Shopping, Outbound Canada calls, Blogging, and this very Social Network.

What was so impressive was when he came back today to wrap up a few secret shops for us that he had attempted last week. He was able to recall specific details like, "Oh, Betty answers as BJ, and I already shopped her." and "Such and such (see, even I can't remember now and it was like 10 seconds ago) answers as Logan so he's done too."!

Daniel is going to do great here and I predict he will be moving up the self storage business ladder in no time!

Thanks Daniel!!!

Self storage bin  : http://www.Selfstoragebin.com

~ Sarah Little, TQA Director

Some times I think I should become a Secret Shopper, listeing to storage companies tell me about their store.  I really would love to work in my PJ’s and slippers.  But I have stayed home in the past and I am no good at it.  The last time I tried to stay home I ended up volunteering 1000’s of hours.   I need the social interaction of working with bright and intelligent people. 

I have to say everyone at Phone-Smart fits that bill.  I was amazed when we did our little game how diverse our employees are.   How many countries has our staff been too?  How many languages do we speak collectively?  How many years of schooling have we had collectively?  I am sure that it would astonish most of us.  I don’t think there is a question or a problem that we can not overcome with our intelligence, our creativity, and our greatest resource YOU!  Each of you that work’s for Phone-Smart.

It is a pleasure and I always love learning from each and everyone of you in each of our encounters. 

Thank you,

JULIE

Self-storage unit provider  : http://www.Selfstorageunitprovider.com

Hey Everyone,

For some of you who dont know we are changing the way our secret shopping works.  Dont be afraid!  I know a lot of you are scared of change, but change can be a good thing!  We have set our new mystery shopping jobs system up so that people can be mystery shoppers from home all month long.  The calls are posted online so that anyone can view them, and give them a try.  The way to get involved is to come see either me or Daniel and we will give you a little training (about 5-10 minutes if you have already done secret shops before) and we will send you an invite and you will be one your way.  Its a great way to take a break from explaining storage, and its also a great way to learn a little extra if your a newbie.  We need all the help we can get, so come see us, send us an email, call us, do whatever you have to - get some shops!

Self-storage comparison  : http://www.Selfstoragecomparison.info

Apparently Labor Day is a big moving day for people moving into apartments or houses.  Last year I was in Pompano Beach Florida.  I went from Pompano Beach Florida to Columbia missouri!  What was I thinking?  Anyway...I was doing some secret shopping on Sat. and the Storage places sounded pretty busy.  I was on hold for quite a while on a few calls, and others told me they were out of specific sizes.  I guess it is the last warm holiday weekend you will have before the cold comes.  I guess not too many people really want to move their things while it is freezing cold outside.  I did hear from a few reps that Labor day was quite busy, which is really great for anyone who had to work on that day.  You might as well make some money while your working!  I know that secret shopping was going well, I was getting in touch with people who had been slipping through the cracks all month.  Sometimes i think some of them hide, maybe they have some sort of spidey sense when the phone rings, it seems like it anyways!

Self-storage unitprovider  : http://www.Selfstorageunitprovider.com

Well as I am doing some work from home it has led me to shop around for self-storage.  One thing I have found is that every call as we already know is not the same.  But if you take all the components of a great call and use them in each call then you should not have a problem.  As I have secret shopped around I have found that several different self-storage facilities may answer the call several different ways.  Some to increase sales some are not so focused.  If all self-storage facilities answered the phones the same ways they may have better luck increasing their occupancies.  Otherwise they are just answering the phones and answering a customers questions not really selling their self-storage facility.  In order to maximize profits they will have to be more assertive in their phone abilities.  Possibly training each employee on how to do that would help.  But if the owner does not know how to do that they cannot extend that to their employees.  Training each and every employee on how to answer calls for self-storage would not only maximize profits it would let each customer know that the staff are knowledgeable in the self-storage industry. 

Self storage bins  : http://www.selfstoragebins.com/

Teresa was an aspiring designer. She fashioned beautiful handbags out of recycled materials such as old vinyl signs, woven baskets, and fabric scraps, embellishing each one of them in unique and eclectic ways. Her favorite design so far had been a tote that at one time served as one of her favorite books. Clothing and accessories, such as shorts and old hats, even discarded prom dresses were coveted by Teresa and used as the materials for her future designs, along with various buttons, patches, costume jewelry and beads. 

She was a self confessed handbag maniac, and ever since she was a child she could be found rummaging through the closets of everyone who would let her peek, pulling out and adoring the purses that she would stumble across. Teresa wanted to make her living as a handbag designer, but at the moment, it just wasn't happening. She had taken to doing some secret shopping work as a part time income, and had been busy with her assignments when one hot August afternoon on a whim, she decided to stop into a new local fashion boutique that had recently opened, to talk to the owner. Perhaps she could sell some of her handbag creations there. 

The owner was out for the day, but Teresa learned when she would be in again, and three days later after yet another secret shopping assignment, this one at a coffee shop and bagel bar that happened to be right up the road, Teresa stopped in and met Mandy, a stylish woman in her late forties whose first words to Teresa, aside form her initial greeting, were I love that bag! Where did you get it? 

Teresa beamed with pride as she told Mandy the reason for her visit, and by the time she walked out, she had agreed to bring several of her handbags up to the boutique the following day to show them to Mandy, who was thrilled to have the opportunity to see them. Secret shopping had been Teresa's bread and butter for the last few months, as she had been having a difficult time getting any sales for her handbags in the local shops. Teresa loved the flexibility of her secret shopping assignments, and as such she opted out of doing an early morning assignment on the day she was to show her designs to Mandy.

Boat Storage Unit  :  http://www.boatstorageunit.com