To accommodate the average resident’s 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. work schedule, St. Joseph implemented the Live! Call Center Rollover and After Hour solutions so every call gets answered.
St. Joseph Self Storage is a two-facility portfolio managed through Arium Co. Located in a town with the same name in rural Missouri, St. Joseph services a 70k+ resident town and prides itself on being part of the tight-knit community.
Founded: 1997
Portfolio Size: 2
Based: St. Joseph, Missouri
Interviewed: Faye Miester, Sr. Property Manager
Products
Use Case: INSOMNIAC Live! Call Center, XPressPay
St. Joseph Self Storage is a Missouri-based operator with two locations in St. Joseph. A family-owned business managed by Arium Co., St. Joseph Self Storage serves a 70,000+ person strong factory town situated on the borders of Andrew and Buchanan counties, where most residents work 7 AM – 7 PM shifts.
“These times don’t always align with our office hours,” explains Faye Miester, the Sr. Property Manager for St. Joseph Self Storage.
This, on top of Miester’s busy schedule, is why the operator decided to implement The Live! INSOMNIAC Call Center Rollover and After Hour services. “With OpenTech, people getting off work late can still make calls and get support, whether to get a gate code or make a payment. This capability has been huge in our area, and it’s been amazing to have someone there to service our customers when the office is closed.”
The data backs this up: St. Joseph tenants used INSOMNIAC XpressPay to make 542 payments in 2023, amounting to over $60,000 collected via the automated payment portal. Storage Counselors also helped drive more sales, completing 81 move-ins and answering 201 sales-related calls.
“It’s nice to have the call center for our college students too,” she says. “When they’re back home for the summer, they can call to make a payment or pay online.”
Miester, who has been with St. Joseph since 2021, says self storage is one of the most exciting industries she has worked in, mainly for the sheer amount of different people and local businesses she gets to work with.
“It is great to play a part in so many aspects of our community, even in a small way,” she says. “When you’re in a small, family-owned business like ours, you have a lot of face time with your customers. Self storage has helped me get out and about, travel to my properties, and meet with my managers.”
Between her day-to-day travels, training and documentation tasks, Miester does not always have time to take phone calls. “It’s hard to balance my time when I am working to resolve an issue at a site or help out a manager,” Miester explains. “It definitely helps having the call center there.”
In fact, in 2023, the Live! Call Center took 1,000+ calls amounting to 55 hours’ worth of talk time for St. Joseph’s two locations.
“It’s amazing how they always put their best foot forward for us,” Miester says. “We’re not missing out on those calls while also providing the top-notch customer service experiences our tenants have come to know us for.”
— Faye Miester, Sr. Property Manager
The Live! call center is not designed as a one-size-fits-all solution, and the OpenTech team works closely with St. Joseph Self Storage to ensure agents exude the company’s core values and deliver an excellent customer experience. One way they do this is through “call calibrations,” a meeting where St. Joseph can listen to calls taken for their sites and adjust if needed.
It was during her first call calibration with OpenTech that Miester first met her customer success manager, Sarah. “Sarah has been fantastic,” she says. “We never have any complaints with the call center, but it is helpful listening to calls with someone else like her just to make sure we are giving the best feedback to the call center team.”
With an eye to the future and growth on the horizon, one thing is clear for St. Joseph Self Storage: Their calls will be covered by the Live! call center.
“I would absolutely recommend OpenTech over any other options,” Miester concludes. “Making those customer contacts outside our normal business hours is pertinent to maintaining a good relationship with tenants. Anyone could benefit from having an extra set of hands at their facility. The call center is like an invisible set. It’s been valuable for us.”
Wondering if outsourcing your calls to a self storage call center is right for you? Contact OpenTech Alliance to get in touch with a team member.