3 Mile Storage Management Saves on Payroll with Remote Manager

Company Boasts Improved Customer Service and Sales After Switch to OpenTech Alliance Solutions

PHOENIX, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, January 20, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- OpenTech Alliance, the PropTech leader in self storage, has expanded its partnership with 3 Mile Storage Management to help the company save an average of $4,000 per month in payroll costs with Remote Manager. In July 2022, after trying for over a year to manage customer calls internally, 3 Mile transitioned all managed sites to Remote Manager to save on customer service costs, improve the tenant experience and free internal staff to focus on other revenue-driving activities.

“I’m saving about four grand a month on payroll on average,” said Jim Ross, Owner of 3 Mile Storage Management. “We’re doing just as well, if not better, because now we’re answering the phone seven days a week, pretty much 12 hours a day on average – so we’re getting more rentals. And I’d argue that we provide even better customer service than we were before.”

Remote Manager, a service of the INSOMNIAC^® Live! Call Center, is a remote facility management solution that can support nearly all customer service elements of a self storage operation — at a fraction of typical payroll costs. A dedicated team of professional Remote Managers oversee multiple properties in a single portfolio and can manage move-ins, move-outs, collections and the auction process, customer inquiries, property appointments and more. These time-consuming yet revenue-driving tasks are critical to any self storage operation.

Jim Ross, owner of 3 Mile Storage Management, has been in self storage more than half his life. Ross started out as a regional manager in his early 20s, overseeing daily operations for several facilities across the US before branching into property management seven years ago. Well-known author of 3 Mile Domination book, newsletter and other industry-dedicated publications and podcasts, Ross has always had a passion to share his operations and marketing experience to help others in the industry gain a leg up on the competition. He’s built his operating model on a commitment to constant, never-ending improvement (1% each day) — a goal Remote Manager has helped him achieve by a much larger margin.

“For remote management as a whole, calls are the cornerstone of success,” said Ross. “If you don’t have people to answer the calls in place and actually doing a great job, everything else after that kind of falls apart. So that was a critical aspect when I transitioned over to this model.”

Ross felt compelled to pursue remote staffing solutions during the height of the pandemic to ensure his facilities could remain operational. Like many, he quickly uncovered new challenges. “I started doing my own internal call center, with managers taking calls,” said Ross. “I created a job in and of itself just running a call center, and that wasn’t what I signed up for. My time is better spent elsewhere, and after a while I sat there and said, ‘there’s gotta be a better way.’ That’s where OpenTech came into the picture.”

Before transitioning the self storage facilities in his portfolio to Remote Manager, Ross wanted to ensure the team, and service, would be a good fit for his operation. He reviewed service rates, historical call performance and call recordings to gauge quality.

“Obviously, the first two main criteria are you answer the phone and provide great sales presentations,” said Ross.

“You have a small team and that’s their sole focus. When it comes down to reps, I remember being a manager — sitting behind a desk, you’re lucky to get three sales presentations in a day. You just don’t get lots of opportunities to hone your skills with only a few sales calls a day. Remote Managers, that’s what they do day in and day out — it makes their presentations so much better, and you can hear it on the phone.”

Ross, who spent months researching solutions before pulling the trigger, has two primary pieces of advice for other operators. “This is one of those things where you just have to do it and try it. This is what OpenTech does. I'm all about finding your zone of excellence. Leverage your zone of excellence. OpenTech has this process down to a fine-oiled machine, because they’ve been doing it for years. I wish I would have done it a long time ago and saved myself the headache of doing my other call center and the stress and time and energy of doing that. But I couldn't be happier.”

Second, “quit framing it as a vendor. You're looking for a partner. OpenTech is more of a partner to help make the make the facility a success, not just a vendor you’re plugging in.”

Read the full story at opentechalliance.com/blog to see every advantage 3 Mile Storage Management has gained through the OpenTech Remote Manager service.

Kimberly Robinson
OpenTech Alliance
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3 Mile Storage Management Share Success with OpenTech Remote Manager Customer Service Solution