By Carol Mixon-Krendl, SkilCheck
AZSA Board Member

Did you know that 72 hours after training, an employee will remember:

• 10% of what they read
• 20% of what they hear
• 30% of what they see
• 50% of what they see and hear
• 70% of what they repeat
• 90% of what was repeat and perform

Successful training includes all of these methods of transmitting knowledge to your employees. And they are all within your reach!

Start with a Good Apple

Starting with first things first, frankly, the best training programs in the world won’t work if you do not have the right employee to mold. We tend to want to avoid turnover at any cost, so the hiring decision absolutely needs to be methodical and thorough in its process. You should make sure your training dollars are not wasted on a person that isn’t trainable or up to your company’s standard. You may want to have several people interview a prospective candidate to determine if they fit into your organization and in your storage market. There are certain characteristics and personality traits that most successful storage managers’ posses, and you should look for these qualities in your prospective employees:

• Honest
• Friendly
• Outgoing
• Dependable
• Needs little to no supervision
• Sales and customer service oriented
• Likes to sell on the phone and in person (this is a must!)

Training for Today’s Competitive Storage Market

In today's competitive business world, employee training is a must. Whether it's getting your employees up to speed on the latest technologies or making sure your employees’ salesmanship is allowing you to out-rent your competition. Training your employees allows you to accomplish these objectives

• Set standards of performance for employee’s job expectation;
• Teach employees the company philosophies;
• Promote efficiency and job productivity;
• Standardize your operations for more continuity;
• Improve employees’ ability to handle customers effectively; and
• Provide greater job satisfaction for employees, who are less frustrated and generally easier to manage when they are well trained.

And remember, good training is not a one-time event. Maintaining employee behavior that achieves your goals requires frequent revisiting, refreshing, and retraining. And it makes for happier employees and more successful businesses.

Training Material

There are a variety of sources of self storage seminars, workshops, and/or conferences, including AZSA’s many educational offerings. The Self Storage Association has two educational conferences each year in the fall and spring, including a certification program for self storage employees (www.selfstorage.org). See the Self Storage Association web site for a current listing of all the state associations.

Vendors in the self storage industry have a variety of training materials that will assist you in teaching your employees how to run a storage property, such as a manual for day-to-day operations, state specific lien sale guidebooks, telephone training, and marketing materials. 

A wide variety of online training courses address many topics. Webinar training programs can be found for not only computer training, but marketing, sales, service, and much more.

While you are training, keep in mind that a key factor in changing behavior and attitudes is involvement. Effective training should incorporate hands on exercises, such as actually looking at each different size space offered for rent. Also, simulation exercises are effective. For instance, have a new employee complete a rental as if the trainer was a real customer. Active learning exercises allow the learner to retain more knowledge than passively listening to videos or speakers. This type of involvement both coaches skills and impacts attitudes, which will ultimately change behavior in a positive manner.

Carol Mixon Krendl, self-storage industry expert, trainer, and owner of SkilCheck Services, has been involved with self-storage since 1984 and is the Chair of AZSA’s Education Committee.

Source: Behind Closed Doors, AZSA Newsletter Archives