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Xenia Self Storage Owner Opens Business Center Near Ohio Facility

Article-Xenia Self Storage Owner Opens Business Center Near Ohio Facility

Dan Wilson, owner of Xenia Self Storage in Xenia, Ohio, has opened a business center with 40 offices about half a mile from the storage facility. Wilson created Xenia Business Center by converting a vacant building at 2380 Bellbrook Ave. into office space ranging from 81 to 912 square feet. The center also includes a large conference room.

Wilson is hopeful the center will attract small businesses including those in retail, education and medical. “[I want to] create jobs,” he said. “It seemed to fit our business model. Small business is an area that we can grow quicker. Small business is integral to [economic] growth. The economy is picking up.”

Individual offices and groups of offices can be customized to make spaces fit interested businesses’ needs, according to Gale Hutchinson, who is handling business development for Wilson.

The converted building was previously used as medical offices, a school and even a skating rink, according to the source. The center has multiple entrances and features a repaved parking lot in addition to other renovations. The conference room is available for rent by the general public as well as building tenants.

Wilson also owns Centerville Self Storage in Centerville, Ohio.

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Big Yellow Self Storage Commemorates WWI Centennial With Rooftop Poppy-Seed Planting

Article-Big Yellow Self Storage Commemorates WWI Centennial With Rooftop Poppy-Seed Planting

U.K. self-storage operator Big Yellow Group PLC has planted thousands of poppy seeds on the roof of its facility in Hounslow, England, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I. Company officials are hopeful the flowers will bloom by Aug. 4, which coincides with Great Britain’s entry into the war, according to the source.

The flowers are meant as a reminder to the human sacrifice endured during the global conflict, the source reported. The seeds are arranged to form the numeral “100” when they bloom.

“We wanted to mark this year in a unique way,” said Daniel MacAuliffe, managing director of Wild About Roofs, which did the planting. “By sowing the poppy seeds and watching them grow over the coming months into a spectacular and bright 100, this is a great way to show our support to the 100 years of remembrance.”

The planting was done in partnership between Big Yellow, Wild About Roofs and the Hounslow Chamber of Commerce. The project also included sponsorships from local companies.

Once the flowers are in bloom, a special event will be held at the Big Yellow storage facility to unveil the “100,” MacAuliffe said.

Big Yellow Group operates 66 self-storage locations in the United Kingdom under the Big Yellow Self Storage brand name, with most concentrated in Greater London. The portfolio comprises 4.2 million square feet.

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Self-Storage Directory SpareFoot Launches Disaster-Relief Fund for Tornado Victims

Article-Self-Storage Directory SpareFoot Launches Disaster-Relief Fund for Tornado Victims

SpareFoot, an online marketplace for the self-storage industry, has established the SpareFoot Storage Industry Disaster Relief Fund to help victims of the recent tornadoes in the South and Midwest as well as assist victims of future disasters. The company is inviting self-storage operators, vendors and other professionals to contribute. Donations can be made through the Sparefoot page at fundraising website Crowdrise.com. All proceeds will go directly to the American Red Cross.

“The recent tornadoes devastated so many communities in the South and Midwest. Storage facilities that are part of our network operate in many of these communities,” said SpareFoot CEO Chuck Gordon. “We thought the best way SpareFoot could help would be to set up this fund for the storage industry to pool money and collectively show the industry cares about victims of these tornadoes and future disasters.”

Based in Austin, Texas, and founded in 2008, SpareFoot helps consumers find and reserve self-storage units, with comparison shopping tools that show real-time availability and exclusive deals. With a network of more than 7,000 storage facilities ranging from mom-and-pop operations to real estate investment trusts, the company reaches prospective storage renters though partnerships with brands including SelfStorage.com, Apartments.com and Penske Truck Rental.

 

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ISS Blog

Hiring Your Next Self-Storage All-Star

Article-Hiring Your Next Self-Storage All-Star

By Nick Lackner  

“Everyone whom I spoke to at City Center Self Storage was friendly and helpful.”

“The staff has gone out of their way to ensure my needs as a customer have been met and exceeded.”

“He is extremely helpful and easy to work with. Five stars!!!” 

When was the last time you looked at your online reviews on Yelp or Google+? What are customers writing about? Is it about your climate control, surveillance system or newly improved website? Probably not. Chances are, they’re writing about your customer-service team. At least, that’s our experience. All the other considerations are secondary. Or, if not secondary, they certainly were not forefront in their mind when they wrote the review. Customer service—that is what people remember.

If that’s true, then recruiting and training is arguably the most important responsibility of a self-storage owner or general manager. But how and where do you find good people? Word-of-mouth and employee referrals are one source of leads, but they tend to dry up pretty quickly. Other intensely “customer-service” establishments are a great source of talent. Baristas, retail clerks and fast-food franchises can be a good source of candidates looking for extra spending money.

However, we found Craigslist to be the best and most cost-effective source of prospective employees. For $25, you can post a job opening, complete with pictures, a map to your location, and a thorough description of the role.

Once the job is posted, prepare for a deluge of responders. We received dozens of resumes the first day and a steady stream since. Winnowing down the field to the best few was a three-step process.

The first cut was made on the basis of relevant experience and the overall impression that came through in their e-mail response and resume. We looked for enthusiasm, friendliness and examples where they went out of their way to put the customer first, especially in highly charged situations.

The second cut was based on a phone screen. To move the process along quickly, we developed a short phone-screening questionnaire. Like most self-storage operators, we have a very high close rate once the customer is on site. Getting them there is the most important step, and the phone (and to a much lesser extent, e-mail) is our principle tool. If an applicant is able to sell themselves on the phone, the prospects are good he’ll be able to sell the merits of our Pittsburgh self-storage facility.

We invited the best applicants in for face-to-face interviews and again had a series of pre-defined questions and “what if” scenarios to see how people would handle specific customer situations. In addition, we administered a computer literacy test. Good skills with the computer are essential to our business. Staff must be able to manage truck reservations, sign up storage clients on our iPad, conduct research on the Internet, and write and send e-mails to customers and prospects.

It’s hard to get a definitive answer when you ask someone if he has good computer skills. People are inclined to overstate their ability, so the best way to get an understanding of someone’s skill level is to run him through exercises to assess Excel, Word, e-mail and the Internet.

The entire process took approximately three weeks. We identified several qualified applicants and hired the one with the greatest schedule flexibility. Training starts this week and will continue for the next four weeks. If we’ve done our job correctly, our string of five-star reviews on Yelp!, Google+ and other sites is assured.  

Nick Lackner is the general manager for City Center Self Storage in Pittsburgh. A Pittsburgh native, Lackner graduated from John Carroll University and joined CBRE, one of the nation’s largest real estate service companies. In 2006, he received an advanced degree from Columbia University in real estate studies and development. To reach him, e-mail [email protected]. For more information, visit www.citycenterselfstorage.com.