“People come into my store just hungry for help,” said Sherri Phillips, a StorageMart manager in Merriam, KS. “They’re usually stressed because they don’t rent storage every day – but I do, so I can easily help them through the process,” said Phillips, who has been providing self storage service for two years.
Though managing a Merriam storage facility is like managing a hotel, there are some key differences. “I’m a staff of one,” she cheerily explains, “who takes care of customers, manages paperwork and some marketing, and all the cleaning. I can’t say that cleaning is fun but it’s part of making a positive impression on our customers. After I’m finished cleaning, the pride that I feel makes it worthwhile too,” said Philips.
Sherri’s Career Journey
Sherri spent most of her career in the food business, even owning a small chain of BBQ restaurants for a decade in Illinois and Iowa. “It was a lot of hard work but if you had the passion it was a lot of fun.” Some long-term road construction and a post 9/11 economy were reasons she chose to close her restaurants.
“Now I run a business that feels like it’s my own,” said the manager, who lives on the site. “There’s always work to do and never a dull moment.”
“Helping people is what I like best,” explained Phillips, who makes friends of strangers at her site no matter how long tenants rent storage space. A recent customer wrote a letter to share his satisfaction with Sherri’s work.
“Last spring, my wife and I needed to temporarily store our entire household pending closing on our new home. Sherri went way above and beyond her duties to accommodate us and make our move as easy as possible. She relieved a lot of stress for us. In a time when customer service is a forgotten skill, Sherri is a shining example of what it should be,” wrote Mathew Warren, a Kansas City resident.
Mr. Warren’s not the only one who is happy with Sherri’s work. “Sherri’s a pleasure to work with and I am very fortunate to have her managing a store in my region,” said Hector Garcia, Sherri’s regional manager. “Her property is well-kept and she’s helped train new employees. She’s also had more than 30 positive Google reviews since she’s been managing her new store.”
“I just helped the Warrens like I do all my customers,” said Sherri. “People in Kansas City are sometimes surprised at how fast their homes sell and they suddenly need to move into an apartment or studio. They need space to store everything they own until they can move into their new home.”
Although StorageMart is pleased to promise easy, clean, service at every location, another customer had the last word on Sherri’s performance. “One happy woman told me that I was a storage diva – I wasn’t expecting that!”, she said, smiling.