Why staff training really adds up

For many storage facility owners, staff training sits lower down on their list of priorities. To them, it seems like one big cost that doesn’t really add that much to their bottom line. But let’s look for a moment at some of the reasons why renters choose one self storage business over another in the first place. 

Price, facilities and location can all play a role in their decision. But if there’s market parity on some or all of these things, or you don’t want to be the cheapest, what’s actually going to give you that edge to attract and retain customers? What will be your point of difference in the market?

It’s service!

The level of service your staff offers to not just your existing clients, but also to potentially new renters can be the most important factor in the decision to stay or buy new space. It’s the only real emotional appeal you have to people and one that can easily separate one business from the rest.

Remember, people (humans with emotional desires) buy your space, and quite often fill it with memories and other things they cherish. The service they receive from your staff helps build that emotional connection and establishes greater trust in the minds of consumers.

Service is directly related to your staff’s knowledge and confidence about your business.

Everything they know about your business, its processes and facilities helps improve their expertise, helpfulness with clients and salesmanship – which can be a deal maker or breaker.

Every business evolves with the market, and so should the development of your staff, who are the biggest driving force in your business. Ongoing training is one of the best ways to keep their development and your level of service continually improving. It also helps your business maintain that edge over competitors.

Training is essential in helping ongoing skill development which leads to more confident, more professionally fulfilled staff who are more productive and tend to stay longer. In fact, regular training is well worth the investment because building up the knowledge skills within your business effectively improves your bottom line.

Here’s 8 big benefits of training

1. Maintain a competitive edge: Constantly upgrading the skills of your staff means your business will continue to move forward and remain competitive within the marketplace. Remember, standing still is the best way to kill off a business.
2. Staff stay up to date on industry changes: Workplaces and industries are in a constant state of change, so it’s important for businesses to evolve and develop their skill base to avoid being left behind. Training ensures you comply with any self storage industry regulations (such as those set out by the Self Storage Association of Australasia), and to ensure your employees’ skills and knowledge are up-to-date.
3. Stay at the cutting edge of technology: Every day we see new technology developed & improvements made to the tools we use regularly (such as Storman). Regular training ensures your staff are not only comfortable with, but are aware of the latest technology. Ensure you & your staff keep up to date with our ongoing training sessions, free PowerSessions and our Knowledgebase articles.
4. Better productivity: Appropriately trained staff know what they need to do at work and know how to do it right the first time. They’re more confident with tools like Storman, and with your business processes in general. This confidence can then flow through to existing and potential customers who usually prefer dealing with businesses that know what they’re doing and do it well.
5. Reduced costs: Training ensures the right procedures are followed by your staff every time. It means fewer mistakes are made and costs are significantly reduced. It also equates to less time being wasted correcting human errors.
6. Spot weaknesses and fill gaps in skills: Training can help a business identify any holes in the market and skill gaps within their existing workforce. By spotting these gaps early, you’ll have time to train staff in these areas so they can fulfill their role effectively.
7. Encourage employee skill growth: Providing basic level skills is a great foundation to build on. Staff that know more actually bring a great deal more to the table, allowing your business to reap all the rewards. For example, do your staff know how to ask for, analyse and act on customer feedback?
8. Less staff turnover, higher productivity & improved profitability: Training can lead to higher job satisfaction and motivation levels at work. This can result in lower staff turnover and increased productivity, which directly improves the profitability.

Ongoing training is important not just to employee development, but it can also affect the ultimate success of your business. The benefits of training far outweigh the costs, providing an excellent return on your investment.

Just remember, a business is only as strong as the employees who represent it. Make the most of your management software & take advantage of a Storman Training course today!