Self Storage Customer Service

I have written a few blogs about how to handle difficult callers when you are working at a self storage call center.  Part of the reason that I keep doing this is because, well, there are a lot of angry people who end up on the phone with you.  If you do not know how to handle them, and if you let them catch you off guard, then you are going to end up losing control over the conversation and getting angry yourself.  Thus, you have to read as much as you can, practice as much as you can, and ready yourself for these puppies.

I do not think that I can adequately stress the significance of maintaining a level tone of voice as you are dealing with these customers.  If you lose your cool and raise your voice to someone who is already angry, you are giving them cause to get even more angry than they already are.  By keeping your voice down and by addressing them with respect, you can eventually win them over.  Maybe they are not going to love you at the end of the call, but they are going to understand that you are a human being, and that you are doing what you can to bring a resolution to their problems.

It is also very important that you answer the call with a good, happy greeting.  This is something that you should be doing each and every time that you answer the phone, anyway.  When you have a nice, positive greeting, you establish with your caller that you are interested in having a civil, productive call.  You are announcing the fact that you are not trying to fight, and that you would like to be of service to them.  If they start screaming at you, then they are going to feel bad.  Even if they do not realize it right away, it is going to get to them over the course of the call.  If you are lucky, they are going to treat you with some respect eventually.

Finally, you have to be sure that you are not creating any further obstacles for your self storage customer.  Let us say that your caller has just found out that she is going to have the contents of her unit auctioned off.  The last thing that you are going to want to do, here, is step in with your own opinions and your own take on the situation, because you are only going to rile her up even more.  Cut to the chase, and put your customer in contact with the people who matter.  If she has to speak to her property manager about the situation, kindly tell her that you can transfer her to the property manager.  Tell her to leave a detailed message, and that someone will contact her about it when they are available.  Do not waste your breath when it comes to explaining the situation to a caller.  You are not going to win that battle.  Not now, not ever.

When you sharpen your customer skills, you know that you are not going to be at risk of losing your temper.  It is never going to be fun for you to field these calls, but that does not mean that you are not going to be a pro if you practice a little bit.

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.