AAAA Self Storage Management Group added a 48,240 net rentable square foot facility to its management portfolio. The property, in Newport News, Va., was purchased by an investment partnership based in Virginia Beach. Stuart Wade negotiated the transaction between the seller and the purchaser. The property has 436 units and is slated for several capital improvements to include an office renovation, new signage, security cameras and drive-aisle resurfacing.  For more information, e-mail [email protected].

Employees are the face of our businesses: The way they dress, speak and act toward customers can make or break us. But once you’ve hired and trained your frontline, how do assure each member represents your business in the best way possible?

Open Communication

Regular employee performance evaluations access individual performance, of course, but they are also a great way to improve communication between superiors and subordinates. Most employees have a desire to do a good job; by evaluating their job performances regularly, they are motivated to do so.

In short, evaluations give the supervisor the opportunity to discuss the employee’s performance, give guidance in the areas that need improvement and, just as important, offer a pat on the back for a job well done. It doesn’t cost an employer a cent to give encouragement; however, it goes a long way to cement good employer/employee relations. Positive feedback builds loyalty to the company. Moreover, happy employees are usually productive employees who’ll contribute to improving your business.

Accountability

Employee evaluations can be used as a good counseling tool. If your employee doesn’t know he needs improvement, has never been evaluated or told how to improve, how can an owner expect a different job performance other than the one given every day? No feedback at all can be debilitating to staff. If no one ever shows/tells you a better way of doing something, you will keep doing it the same way and getting the same results.

In this respect, employee evaluations hold supervisors accountable. If you have an employee who keeps making the same mistakes, perhaps you need to take a long hard look at yourself. Do you lack the expertise or communication skills to train your staff? Looking at the evaluation’s results can be like looking in the mirror. Maybe it’s time to train yourself to be a better leader or hire a consultant who can. The industry has plenty of resources; don’t overlook them.

Staffing Status

Evaluations can be an invaluable means of assessing staffing needs. Your assessments will give an overview of who needs further training, which employees are good candidates for future growth and which need to be replaced.

Evaluations become vital documentation for meeting Equal Employment Opportunity requirements or for human resource purposes, too. If you have an employee who’s been evaluated, counseled, re-evaluated and still falls short of a passing score, termination may be imminent. Evaluations can become the backbone of defense in a wrongful termination suit or determining eligibility of unemployment benefits.

Timing and Preparation

There are no rules about evaluation scheduling, but professional human resource directors typically slate the first one at the end of a 90-day probationary period. This is a good time to assess if an employee has achieved initial goals and is performing at expected standards. Retrain, if necessary, and always provide constructive criticism in areas needing improvement. If you don’t, how does an employee know where he stands? More important, how can you ever motivate an employee to succeed if you don’t point him in the right direction? Be clear and encouraging with your directives.

At the very least, conduct evaluations once a year. Throughout the year, keep record of employees’ performances. Use e-mail communications, site visits and inspection reports to help build a full overview. It’s impossible to remember everything, so make a concerted effort to note successes and failures through the work year to be recalled easily during the evaluation period.

Ask other employees and supervisors for input when piecing together the annual evaluation, especially if they work more directly with the employee than you. This also enables you to create a balanced and objective review.

Before sitting down with the employee, go over your documents so you are fully prepared and don’t overlook important points to share—for better or worse.

Self-storage management duties are possibly more varied than a lot of management positions. Facility managers must possess good customer service skills, have superior sales abilities, be skilled at collection calls and the lien-sale process, oversee daily office operations and be handy at maintenance.

It may be difficult to find an employee evaluation sheet that fits the self-storage manager’s job duties to a T. Get your hands on a good generic evaluation form and “tweak” it to fit your facility and the manager’s job duties. You might find one on the Internet or through a software program, but you can also elect to outsource your evaluation task to a human resource company.

E-Day

When the paperwork is complete and you are comfortably knowledgeable with the materials you’ll share with the employee during an evaluation, call him and schedule a time to meet in your office. This sets a tone of serious importance in addition to guaranteeing you’ll have privacy and few interruptions, not an easy thing to do when the phone is ringing or tenants are coming and going.

Plan 30 to 60 minutes of dedicated time with each individual. Be sure to give each employee a personal copy of the evaluation to read along with you, and then have each employee sign your copy of the review. This will become part of their employment file, and should be pulled again to compare with next year’s evaluation form.

During your evaluation, ask the employee for input. Are there areas he would like the company to improve upon, such as the work environment, company policies or procedures? Maybe your assistant manager knows how to build a better mouse trap and streamline operations. Be prepared to listen and act on any productive ideas generated from these meetings, which can improve operations simultaneous to strengthening your employer/employee relationship. If you empower your employees this way, they are more apt to take the job seriously, which can never hurt when they stand at the frontline—dealing with tenants every day.

Finally, an evaluation is a good time to reward deserving employees with a raise. That’s not to say a raise is expected or required, but it does afford you the opportunity to reward some with an hourly raise or a bonus, or even redesign your existing bonus program. Remember, conducting employee performance evaluations are not always an easy task. It takes time and thought to prepare and conduct them correctly, but you’ll find it is usually a positive and rewarding experience for both you and your employees.

Pamela Alton-Truitt is the owner of Mini-Management, a nationwide manager-placement service. The company also offers full-service and operations-only facility management, training manuals, inspections and audits, feasibility studies, consulting and training seminars. For more information, call 800.646.4648.

On Dec. 14, US 41 Self Storage of North Fort Myers, Fla., will host a photo-op event featuring Santa and Mrs. Claus. Both will be available to take pictures with children or pets from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. In addition, the holiday function will include a food drive for the Harry Chapin Food Bank. Refreshments will be provided and photos are free of charge. People are asked to bring donations of non-perishable food items. For more information, call 239.656.0728, e-mail [email protected].

MiniCo Publishing has announced the winners of its 2008 “Self-Storage Facility of the Year” awards, which are honored in six categories: overall, construction, conversion, new facility, specialty storage and international. The awards are sponsored by the self-storage trade magazine Mini-Storage Messenger (MSM). This year’s winners and honorable mentions are:

Overall

• Winner: Security Self Storage of Westlake, Ohio, owned by Norman J., Constance M. and Norman A. Kotoch
• Honorable Mention: Clima Storage of Ingram, Texas, owned by Kelly and Ueli Schlunegger

Construction

• Winner: Aloha Island Self Storage of Honolulu, Hawaii, owned by Aloha/King LLC
• Honorable Mention: Presidential Self Storage of Las Vegas, owned by Joan Papadakis

Conversion

• Winner: Magellan Storage of City of Commerce, Calif., owned by The Magellan Group Inc.
• Honorable Mention: A+ Storage of Nashville, Tenn., owned by Tim Stone and Tommy Pierce

New Facility

• Winner: Plantation Storage of Myrtle Beach, S.C., owned by Chase Storage II LLC/Charles C. Chase II
• Honorable Mention: Hoover Self Storage of Hoover, Ala., owned by William D. and Jack Daniel Nix

Specialty Storage

• Winner: StorSafe Self Storage of Apollo Beach, Fla., owned by StorSafe Apollo Beach LLC
• Honorable Mention: Bermuda Dunes Self-Storage and RV of Bermuda Dunes, Calif., owned by Robert Lee and Webb Wallace Sing

International

• Winner: Public Storage (Entrepot Public) of Laval, Quebec, owned by Public Storage Canadian Properties
• Honorable Mention: Just Right Self Storage of Ottawa, Ontario, owned by MetCalfe Realty Co. Ltd.

Full-length articles profiling the winning facilities are featured in the December 2008 issue of MSM. For details, visit www.ministoragemessenger.com.
 
MiniCo Publishing is a division of MiniCo Inc., which provides specialty insurance programs, publications, and other products and services for the self-storage industry.

Barry Comiskey and John Owens of Westar Commercial Realty represented the seller of Triple S Self Storage in Lubbock, Texas. The 40,600-square-foot facility was a redevelopment project situated on 5.8 acres. Comiskey and Owens are Argus Self Storage Sales Network broker affiliates in the West Texas market. For more information, visit www.selfstorage.com.

 

James Vanco joined CB Richard Ellis' Self Storage Advisory Group as vice president, concentrating on seller/buyer investment representation of self-storage facilities nationwide. Vanco brings more than 29 years of experience in commercial real estate to the position, along with a thorough understanding of due diligence, financial analysis and negotiating skills. For more information, visit  www.cbre.com/ssag.

When I was going through my early college years I remember a professor who gave me some advice that I have never forgotten. He told our economics class on the first day that whatever we learned from his course, we should never think for a minute that we would be qualified to speak intelligently about economics until we have lived the experience.

Just as important, he always told us to remember economics is a never-ending subject, and we should engage in learning as much as possible about it and the ramifications of the past, the potential of the future and the application of our knowledge today.

As a self-storage owner/management company executive/facility manager/assistant manager or whatever role you have in the industry, can you really ever learn enough about our products, customers, facilities, markets, competitors, etc? In my humble opinion, the answer is “no.”

Seek Training

At any level, training for our respective positions can come from many sources. For example, we have a “training manager” who teaches all employees about the company policies, procedures, computer system, marketing program, preventive maintenance program, administrative responsibilities and, in general, the way we want them to manage the facility.

The training program encompasses four to seven full days in most cases, with follow-up training lasting another two to three days. Is this realistic for everyone? Of course not, but if you happen to work with a management company the advantages are tremendous. By having a corporate training program, procedures and policies can be changed as needed, professionalism in our stores increases and innovative ideas are presented to employees.

If your company doesn’t have the resources to provide a corporate training program, but you would like your managers to learn more about the business, other resources are available. For example, say you are interested in learning how to answer the telephone more professionally, how to compete with the larger facilities in your market, or would like to save money through preventive maintenance programs.

First, research firms that offer specialized self-storage training programs. There are numerous resources, including the Inside Self-Storage Buyer’s Guide and website, and your state and national association newsletters and periodicals.

Many self-storage vendors also offer training sessions either onsite or via the Web. The advantage to using consultants is they have vast experience by working with a variety of companies and can teach you what they’ve learned to be successful. Often, hiring a training consultant is more affordable than you would think. Consultants also have no biases and tend to be objective.

The Tradeshow Circuit

If hiring an outside training consultant just isn’t in the budget, there are still other avenues you can pursue. How about attending a tradeshow? It is amazing how many people are in this industry yet less than 10 percent have ever attended any kind of industry or state-sponsored tradeshow.

For a real reasonable cost—including travel, hotel, meals and registration—you and your managers can attend a tradeshow over the course of two to five days. In addition to attending seminars with specific topics of interest, you’ll be able to visit with industry vendors on the tradeshow floor and during cocktail hours. The networking is always terrific and the opportunity to share with your fellow self-storage managers/owners/experts has great value.

Online Training

If you are still not able to afford one of the above methods of training or are not able to travel for an extended period of time, what options do you have? Enter the magical kingdom of the Internet. If there was ever an educational tool that has truly changed the world, this is it. You can take online courses, attend “live webinars,” participate in chat rooms, read blogs or ask questions to get almost instant answers from experts of every imaginable skill set from all over the world.

There are numerous sources for online courses—from industry specific to accredited college courses. Some are free, others are relatively inexpensive, and most can be taken at any time from any computer. I have taken an online course and participated in live webinars and chat rooms, all while traveling. It is truly amazing what you can learn and how easy it is.

Of course, let us not forget our industry publications. The tremendous amount of archived information is readily accessible and relatively easy to get. You can find many articles online, or you can purchase past issues for a nominal cost. Obviously, continuing to subscribe to industry magazines should be a priority. Look at how much you’ve learned just from this issue.

Training is an ongoing task. No matter what combination of tools is available to us, it is and should be a never-ending challenge. By continually learning new techniques, applying new ideas and trying new things, you will surely become the educated one and, in all probability, successful in your self-storage career.

Mel Holsinger is the president of Tucson, Ariz.-based Professional Self Storage Management, which offers self-storage facility management, consulting and development services. He is also a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a regular contributor to Inside Self-Storage. For more information, call 520.319.2164; visit www.proselfstorage.com.

The French self-storage (self-stockage) market is still in early development with only 200 facilities nationwide. The balance sheets of many main operators have often been in the negative, and bankers haven’t identified storage as a viable real estate investment or business. There are no international investors ready to put their funds in French self-storage operations such as in the United Kingdom, which has the advantage of its maturity.

The Credit Crunch

Self-storage operators here are struggling due to a number of unfavorable factors including soaring global oil and food prices, the impact of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and credit crunch. France hasn’t managed to avoid the credit crunch. It’s now very difficult for entrepreneurs to find financing.

In France, strict consumer laws require lenders to lend in such a way that a subprime market is not possible. Although there is no subprime crisis in France, French banks invested heavily in securities backed by U.S. subprime mortgages. These banks are now shaken by losses linked to the U.S. subprime loan crisis. France’s third- and fourth-largest banks have reported slumping results from the credit crunch; Natixis lost about $1.5 billion and Credit Agricole revealed a 94 percent profit drop.

Financing Changes

A few months after U.K., Spanish and Irish financial institutions adopted conservative lending policies, the French banks changed their lending behavior. Banks and investors became wary of lending funds to corporations. There is a significant reduction in the general availability of loans, coupled with a continuous increase of interest rates. Entrepreneurs need a good performance record to obtain financing and usually banks will try to share the loan with other institutions.

Loans also take longer to obtain. This will prevent small operators from creating new business for a while. But operators with secured financing will be able to take advantage and buy prime real estate with reduced competition.

Property Value Concerns

The economic situation has had significant negative consequences to the property market. It is widely recognized that property markets in Spain and Ireland are tumbling and, in France, it has softened dramatically. But the French property market appears to be more stable, helped by factors like a prudent approach to credit and mortgages, less speculative buying and social and demographic factors.

Part of the reason for France’s seeming resilience is that the subprime crisis has left the French mortgage market less scathed, and the provision of credit has been tighter than in Britain or Ireland. Average French household debt was 47 percent of gross domestic product in the third quarter of 2007, compared with 59 percent for the Euro zone and 97 percent in Britain, according to Standard and Poor’s.

The other factor is that interest repayments are tightly regulated through instruments like the taux d’usure—an official ceiling set by the Bank of France for the rates that lenders can charge. Banks will generally not lend more than 33 percent of gross income. Mortgages of 100 percent do not exist and the majority of home loans—about 85 percent—are fixed rate. Variable rate loans come with caps, limiting repayment increases when rates rise.

The Housing Market

In France, the majority of people live in rented accommodations, and laws strictly control rent increases. Residential transaction volumes are down by 10 percent this year, and more houses are waiting for buyers. People have taken a wait-and-see position. People who need to move, don’t wait long to find a new house and thus don’t need storage. And there are now indications of people either downsizing or losing their homes in France. French homeowners worry about the value of their homes and that prices could fall.

Throughout Europe, soaring prices have had a dramatic impact on families’ purchasing power. In France, many in the middle class feel unfairly caught by this. Frustration with this is rising along with the prices as people try to reduce their expenses. Inflation is at a 17-year high.

The French self-storage industry experienced 20 percent less occupancy rates this year. Factors driving this include no household downsizing, an excess of available homes on the market, and the reduced purchasing power of the population.

So far, there is no evidence of facilities adjusting rates to the market, apart from some price reduction here and there. But there is a trend of small operators joining Homebox or Gess, the largest storage companies, to benefit from a national network. ISS

Philippe Peyrot is president of Annexx SAS, a French self-storage company, and founder of Self-Stockage.Info, an online publication about self-storage in Europe. For more information, visit www.annexx.com and www.self-stockage.info.

Sean Delaney and Jesse Luke of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services represented Herman & Kittle Properties in the purchase of two A American Self Storage facilities in Illinois. The first, a 38,325 square foot self-storage facility in New Lenox, was purchased for $3.4 million from Schoolhouse Storage Partners LLC. Built in 2000, the property has 337 storage units on 5 acres of land. The second property, in South Chicago Heights, has 48,500 square feet. The facility was purchased from Sauk Trail Partners LLC for $2.7 million. Built in 1999, the property has 321 storage units on nearly 3 acres. For more information, visit  www.marcusmillichap.com.