..when challenges...are becoming a Problem
Assisting and interacting with Self-Storage customers personally is expensive because it necessitates the full-time presence of a member of staff, in every single location. The need for this presence is even more pressing for new customers - who have not been at the facility before and who are ready 'to be converted'. into paying customers. That 'conversion' requires the necessary (sales) skills. Obviously, this 'sales' task cannot be expected from other staff members who happen to be on site at the same time(housekeeping, technical, maintenance staff.) In addition to the information and sales part of the job, there is also the administration to be dealt with (registration, billing, payments,..). To make things even worse, there is a serious shortage of skilled and qualified labour.
The recurring cost (manpower) never goes away and keeps growing year-over-year. This rising cost is happening against a background of tough competition with downwards pressure on pricing.
There comes an end to the ability to be creative in terms of differentiation, in order to be perceived as offering a Unique Value Proposition. At the end of the day, price reductions, promotions and free services remain to attract new customers and to keep existing customers on board. But that has a direct impact on the bottom-line.
Clearly this is not a viable option going forward, especially when many locations and growth plans come into play.
The Answer
The Teleportel Self Storage Reception Suite has everything you could want when looking for the perfect service to your customers, while reducing costs to the lowest possible level. The many features and functionalities are modularly available. In other words, you pick and choose those options that are required to meet your specific requirements. Moreover, you can 'grow' the process and the configuration, as time goes by and as you gain new insights.
The essence of the solution is that - when a customer is in need of service - a qualified member of your staff, is on-screen, almost instantly. This co-worker possesses the necessary skills and tools to assist the customer, regardless the location or nature of the inquiry.BUT when there is NO CUSTOMER at the Reception, there should also be NO RECEPTIONIST present. In other words : the need for service is synchronized with the availability of 'Front Office Service Reps', residing in the back-office. To enhance the level of engagement with your customer, your Service Agent appears in the best possible circumstances; exactly as if he / she would be physically present. Personal contact at its best !
The Reception Kiosk
These steps will enable you to define the right solution for your specific requirements
Firstly you need to decide if you are planning to provide your own hardware or if you prefer to deploy professional kiosks (supplied by Teleportel).
The former solution is inexpensive and can be implemented very rapidly, even over night.
The Do-it-Yourself Reception
Here you can find more info on the Do-it-Yourself reception. MORE INFO
Teleportel enables Self Storage Facilities organizations to customize their D.I.Y. Reception. That applies not only to the screen layouts and the actual 'customer journey' process but also to the 'cosmetics' i.e. 'the outside' (how it looks like physically) of this 'video reception'. Here is an example.
Professional Kiosks for Outdoor and Indoor use
Follow this link to discover the kiosks available for Europe. This solution (i.e. 'professional kiosk') is more robust and looks more professional. Moreover, this hardware will enable you to integrate additional peripheral equipment, required to support your transactional processes. There are Outdoor Kiosks and there are Indoor Kiosks, depending on your requirements.
Follow this link to discover the kiosks available for North America
The Customized Process
Will this video-reception be used for Information and Sales purposes only ? Or do you also wish to integrate transactions within the process ? Those could include, for instance
- Identification & Authentication. For instancee ID, Passport, Drivers' License or other identification
- QR code scanning for recognition and promotional purposes, loyalty programs, etc..
- Printing tickets,labels or documents For contractual, legal or logistics purposes
- Sharing content with the customer
- Scanning, capturing and saving documents presented by the customer
- Granting access / Opening doors for the customer
- Selling consumables (paper, tape, boxes,..)
- Billing and Receiving Payments
- Signatures ('wet' or 'digital')
A few examples of 'transactional' kiosks. In all these examples, the live video interaction between your 'agent' and the customer, remains intact at all times. In other words your agent engages in real-time with your customer. 100% personal.
Payments
Selling Consumables
Printing & Document Scanning
Assisted Parcel Lockers
QR / eID / Passport / Labels & Ticketing
The Back-Office
Thirdly, you need to decide how your 'back office' resources will be organized, to act as your 'Front Office' using interactive video communication. Teleportel offers a wide range of possibilities to attend your receptions over distance.
The most common one, is where by your Agent uses her/his own computer. No need to download software : this is a cloud application and your agent could be anywhere in the world : working from within the building or from another office location, or from home.
When not at the workplace, the video-call can be transferred automatically to the smartphone, again regardless of location or activity. OR if no IP network / service is available, the call be converted into a telephone call (no video). These 'mobile' options will ensure that no customer has to wait unnecessarily or be left unattended.
Some Self Storage Facilities also make use of specialized call centers (i.e. outsourcing). These external, trained agents are called upon by the System - fully automatically - when no member of staff is available within an acceptable time frame (say, within 30 seconds) and/or for Service outside office hours and/or when special skills are required (for instance language).
Five High-Value Features
Walk with your Customer
The System enables your Agent to establish a live video connection with the mobile of your customer and 'walk with the customer' through the premises while keeping the live interaction going. This is how it works : following the live video interaction at the Reception kiosk, the agent sends your customer a private link. The Agent ends the live video interaction at the Kiosk and continues on the mobile of the customer, to walk - together - towards the right spot.
Scalability and Flexibility
The number of Agent Workstations and the number of Reception Kiosks are virtually unlimited. There is no real limit to the number of 'end-points'. Needless to say that, the more locations one agent can attend over distance, the more effective this service becomes. The Agent can easily 'switch' between locations if / when customers - in different locations - are in need of service at the same time.
The exact right response for every inquiry
For different types of questions by your customers, you could envisage involving different back-office people. You may dedicate specialized members of staff to the sales process (for new customers) while other co-workers could be called upon for the administrative part of the business. Or you may want to involve different language speakers. Dynamic 'routing' will ensure that your customer will be served by the exact right employee, for every single request. This allows you to offer your customer a few choices on the touch screen of the kiosk (for instance Language of Choice, Reason for your Visit ? First Time Here ?, Payment ? Need for Info, etc.)
This 'skills based routing' feature will not only improve your level of service considerably but it will also effectively tap upon your available resources.
Cyber-Security
The video communication is on a P2P basis and is encrypted. Moreover you can opt to use a private, dedicated server.
When it comes to Cyber Security, there is a lot of ground to cover. Many of the Building Blocks developed by Teleportel, have to do with Cyber Security.
We will not discuss any of these measures on this website but we will work closely with your IT Team to ensure full compliance with your own security standards and policies.
Reporting and Continuous Improvement Program
The Reporting module enables you to continuously improve the quality of your service and the effectiveness of the processes. The system provides raw data to be imported into your spreadsheets. This info will give you insight on all the critical components and key aspects of the reception process : number of visitors, type of visitors, time of arrival, distribution throughout the day/week/month/year, locations, waiting times, connection times, satisfaction levels of the visitors, utilization rate of the Kiosk, occupancy, performance of the agents, etc.
There is no finish line : there is always room for improvement.
