“Every successful entrepreneur lacked some skills, knowledge or experience that had to be learned, gained or hired out before bringing all the pieces of their business puzzle together.”

Interview by Mike Sullivan of Sully’s Blog

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Tron Jordheim is the CMO at StorageMart, Director at PhoneSmart Off Site Sales Force, author of Rent It Up!, and a sought after business speaker.  Tron has been an entrepreneur from the start.  He began his first business in the sixth grade with a roll of paper towels and a can of window cleaner. As a boy, he had an interest in protection dog training and developed a business model that put him through college.  Tron was involved in helping New York City start its Police K-9 unit.  He ran man-dog contract security patrols for Pan Am airlines at JFK airport and was the team captain for the United States team that competed at The European Championship for German Shepherd Dog Clubs in 1982.  Later, Tron made his mark on the bottle water industry by growing businesses and skyrocketing sales. Ultimately, Tron came upon an opportunity to grow the PhoneSmart business from the drawing board. Tron not only grew the roll-over sales support end of the business but also launched a successful secret shopping/quality assurance business unit and an internet lead distribution unit.

Founded in Fall of 2000, PhoneSmart was created to serve its parent company, StorageMart and to offer off-site sales support to other companies in the self-storage and property management fields. PhoneSmart is an off-site sales force that helps boost revenue.  They have become an experienced sales support and training company, bringing impressive results to hundreds of client companies. The company can take on incoming phones calls, multi-channel marketing, sales team training and management; all while customizing their systems and programs to meet the specific needs of their clients. 

MO:
PhoneSmart has grown into quite a bit under your influence.  How did you come upon the opportunity to get involved with PhoneSmart and what were your initial thoughts?

Tron:
I heard that StorageMart was interested in starting a call center to drive sales. I was looking for a new opportunity and thought the idea of creating a top notch inside sales team sounded like fun. After learning a little bit about the self-storage business, I knew the plan would work. So I asked the principles at StorageMart for the chance to prove the concept and they agreed. The first thought was to simply apply all the basics of good selling and good lead management to an industry that never used those kinds of things before. As I became more involved in the marketing of the PhoneSmart business and more educated in the world of self-storage, it was a natural transition to also become the head of marketing for the parent company, StorageMart.

MO:
What changes did you make to PhoneSmart?  That is, how did you grow the roll-over sales support end of the business and introduce the new units?

Tron:
First we had to prove that you could sell storage over the phone and that people were willing to agree to set up prepaid reservations over the phone. Once we did that, I shared the story and the numbers with as many self-storage industry professionals as I could. We relied heavily on trade shows, self-storage conferences and other gatherings of storage operators, their upper management people and industry influencers. We made it easy for people to try our service with free trials. Once owners saw that they could increase their business 10 to 20 percent because of our contributions, using our model, or a model like ours, became standard fare among the larger storage operations.

MO:
You’re also the author of Rent It Up!, a book on self-storage sales and marketing.  What lessons from your experiences have you brought to the pages of this book?  What will readers gain from your insight?

Tron:
Hopefully people will see that is possible to turn your business into a sales and marketing operation. There was a time storage was only a space rental business. But like so many other businesses, “it” is now all about marketing and sales. Secondly, I’d like people to see that all you have to do to get started is to start talking like and start thinking like a sales and marketing organization; that is enough to start acting like a sales and marketing organization. I share some stories and some tried and true techniques that will help people get started and stay on track.

MO:
You went from the protection dog industry to a sales superstar in the bottled water industry.  Were there elements of your previous career that positioned you to be so successful with sales?

Tron:
One of the most important lessons I learned in pairing dogs with families and handlers was this: if I knew it was a good fit, not only was my client very happy, the dog was very happy, and my client would bring friends and acquaintances to me as new clients. I still occasionally get a phone call or an email from people I found a dog for 25 years ago seeing if I could help them find another dog. If I knew the fit was good, there was nothing for me to do, except get the dog and the person to spend a little time together. Sometimes the dog and the new owner knew it was a great fit immediately. Sometimes the new owner wasn’t sure. In that case, I didn’t have to sell any more than a trial period. I would often have people take the dog home for a week or two with no strings attached. I hardly ever got a dog back. So I have a simple rule for my sales and marketing endeavors. Whatever I sell, people have to love. Selling water was easy. Once people saw how easy it was to have good tasting, refreshing cool water delivered to them, they immediately saw the value and loved the service. What I had to teach other sales people was the approach. Self-storage is easy, too. When people realize how convenient it is to have storage, and how great it is to use a storage unit to keep life uncluttered and organized, they fall in love with their storage units.

MO:
Having had a lifelong entrepreneurial knack, do you feel that entrepreneurs are born or made?

Tron:
Entrepreneurs are made. If you are an independent, creative person full of ideas and dreams, you have to learn the business end. If you are an organized, rational person who is interested in building a solid business, you can learn to be creative and inventive. No one jumps out of his or her mother’s womb with a dream in one hand and an organized business plan in the other. Every successful entrepreneur lacked some skills, knowledge or experience that had to be learned, gained or hired out before bringing all the pieces of their business puzzle together.

MO:
You’re a member of the National Speaker’s Association and a frequent speaker.  What satisfaction or drive do you receive from these speaking engagements?

Tron:
I have a lot of preachers and teachers in my family tree. Give me a message and an audience and I am in my element.  I also have a lot of doctors in my family tree, so I love to offer up a diagnosis and a cure. The military officers in my family tree give me the urge to make a plan and give orders. When you mix all of that together, I have a pretty good time giving speeches, leading seminars and facilitating workshops. What really makes this all satisfying is when people I have worked with tell me how something I said, a question I asked or a suggestion I made, helped them figure out a business challenge and brought them success.