Guardian Storage - Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year

Company: Guardian Storage, Pittsburgh, PA
Entry Submitted By: Mindful Kreative
Company Description: Established in Pittsburgh in 1987, Guardian Storage has grown to be the market leader of storage services. With a strong focus on customer service, Guardian prides itself on its variety of solutions, amenities and security. Today, they have 18 Pittsburgh, PA properties and 5 Denver, CO properties. Altogether, Guardian owns more than 14,000 storage units that equal over 1.7 million square feet.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year - Other Service Industries

Nomination Title: Guardian Storage's Front-Line Customer Service Team

Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved since the beginning of July 2017 (up to 650 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Guardian Storage is a privately-owned, self-storage company established in Pittsburgh in 1987. Today, we have 18 Pittsburgh, PA properties and 5 Denver, CO properties. Altogether, Guardian Storage owns more than 14,000 storage units that equal over 1.7 million square feet of rentable storage space.

Most of our customers come to us during a stressful life transition, including moving to a new home or renovating one, downsizing elderly parents, preparing for a new baby, combining or separating households through marriage or divorce, cleaning out a deceased loved one’s home, etc. Guardian Storage was built around the idea of helping make those transitions as easy and stress-free as possible. As our attached reviews demonstrate, we are committed to delivering on this promise. In fact, our customers are often surprised at the level of support we provide.

We invest substantially and regularly in the quality, security and cleanliness of our properties. However, what sets us apart from others is our dedicated, long-tenured team of professionals. Each of our properties has a highly-trained, full-time property manager, associate manager and maintenance specialist on site.

We are known for warm, friendly professionals who take pride in their work. Guardian Storage employees are well compensated to go above and beyond for customers – which could mean staying late to help a customer, showing them how to downsize to a smaller storage unit by packing more efficiently, or even offering a shoulder to cry on. Our team knows their tenants by name and makes sure the people on site actually belong there. We provide extensive training and support to our team and in return, they keep our properties spotless and lend a helping hand and compassionate ear to our customers.

We also back up our service with a long list of features and amenities, including:

-Clean, modern, well-lit properties (see attached photos)
-Free use of our moving trucks for tenants
-Large, covered loading docks, moving carts and dollies
-Free wi-fi, package acceptance and conference rooms
-Free coffee, tea and bottled water
-Fully gated properties with passcode protected entry
-Individual unit alarms, smart sprinkler systems and proactive pest control

In addition to caring for customers, we take pride in giving back to our communities. Here are a few of our ongoing programs:

-We pay to hold free, annual, community-wide Shred-it events at all our Guardian Storage properties
-We are a drop off location for recyclable electronics
-We support local education by adopting schools and providing critical school supplies to more than 600 low-income students through Pittsburgh’s The Education Partnership and Colorado’s A Precious Child.
-We donate storage space and manage donation collections for disaster relief including house fires, floods and other natural disasters
-We collect Suits for Soldiers and gently used prom attire for disabled students attending their “A Night to Remember” prom
-We hold fund raising events for community members battling terminal diseases
-We donate more then $100,000 worth of storage space each year to dozens of non-profit organizations

Despite our continued growth, our owner and CEO, Steven Cohen continues to apply a hands-on approach to all aspects of the business. His passion for providing the highest quality products and services has steadily guided the Guardian Storage strategy for more than 30 years. It is also the reason our current growth rate is only 3-5 new properties per year. Every new Guardian Storage property is the result of extensive research, planning and careful construction.

Here is a snapshot of our brand reputation as tracked by Reputation.com. During the assessment period (7/1/2017-10/31/2018) 95% of our 779 reviews were positive (4 or 5 stars.)

Based on our strong commitment to our customers and communities, our heartfelt reviews (see attached,) and strong percentage of referral and repeat customer (24% total,) we hope you’ll agree that Guardian Storage is a great candidate for a Stevie!