Universal Management Company, a full-service self storage management company, is owned and operated by M. Anne Ballard and Norma Taylor, who together have almost fifty years of professional management and marketing experience. Universal Management's mission has always been to maximize profits for owners through excellent day-to-day operations, supervision, marketing and training services for its managers.
Universal celebrated its 10th anniversary in the storage business in October of 2003. Starting its business in 1993 with a staff of 20 and a portfolio of eight self storage facilities, Universal now manages approximately 30+ self storage facilities in nine states, including Elmwood Self Storage in New Orleans, Winner of the Converted & Overall Facility of the Year Award for 2004. Universal provides full-service management, marketing and financial accounting to its property owners. The company is continually listed as a Top Operator in the annual list published by Inside Self-Storage and in a similar survey by Mini-Storage Messenger.
Industry activism is an integral part of Universal's decade of storage experience and service. From co-authoring the Georgia Storage Owners Society copyrighted Rental Agreement and Employment Agreement, to assisting in changes to the Georgia Self Storage statutes that resulted in changes beneficial to Georgia operators.
In addition to providing excellent service and training to both owners and managers, UMC provides new-site design consultation, construction management, marketing and training services throughout the Eastern United States and, in the past two years, have consulting clients in Europe and the Scandinavian countries.
In early 1996, as its home market of Atlanta began to experience mild overbuilding of storage facilities, Universal saw a need for improved site layout, with an up-scale, retail oriented position focusing on curb appeal, access, and manager satisfaction. As a result, UMC's development clients are now in a more competitive position for the future, and UMC's employee turnover rate is far below the national average.
In the Company's effort to always be one step ahead, UMC keeps informed of the industries growth and needs by being an active member of: the national Self Storage Association, Texas Mini Storage Association, Massachusetts Self Storage Association and our state chapter, the Georgia Self Storage Association, among many others. UMC is also in constant contact with vendors and suppliers throughout the storage industry for continued updates on products and new technology.
One of the keys to Universal's success is training. In order to distinguish itself from other fee managers, Universal trains its on-site managers and relief managers to be Professional Storage Counselors. The drive to be the best through education and training has been incorporated into the management philosophy. UMC's managers, as part of the philosophy, focus on customer service and industry-specific knowledge. UMC knows that the customer must have faith and trust in the managers and the facility before considering doing business there. New employees are given an extensive 5 day training session at the home office and on site which includes: customer service skills, telephone skills, SiteLink software training, report processing, how to track numbers for success and outside marketing. At the end of the 5 day training period, each new employee has a one-on-one personal training day with Anne Ballard, the company President, to reinforce the goals and standards that UMC maintains for its employees. The managers must be adept at phone sales, and each must carry a positive attitude to become successful in the storage industry.
To supplement the initial training and orientation that each new manager is given upon hire, UMC strives to keep all of our managers in the field up-to-date and apprised of the latest trends in our industry, including Marketing, Telephone Techniques, Budget Management, and Site Maintenance. UMC is the first company in our industry to employ Online Training via our own UMC Online Communications Interface. This new web-based training and conferencing system is a UMC exclusive, and provides live video, audio, and PowerPoint presentations with an interactive chat area for up to 50 users at any given time. In this manner, UMC has effectively enabled & continues to encourage more effective communication for all UMC employees, as well as provide ongoing training and refresher courses for managers without the hassle and expense of bringing managers from all across the U.S. into a traditional classroom setting. Our UMC Video Chat Interface has made UMC truly universal. With innovative techniques such as this and by keeping our focus on continued industry growth, UMC's goal is to be the management company for those who choose to stand out, for those who choose to be market leaders, and for those who wish to set the industry standards for the future.
UMC also provides a unique service for our facility owners with our Annual Owner's Forum. This Forum is a one-day meeting and seminar in which the UMC office staff meets with all UMC Owners for a day of presentation, discussion, and education about individual facilities, market trends, and innovations in our industry. The Owners are provided with feedback directly from the managers of each facility in the form of the UMC Owners Books, updated yearly and tailored to each individual store by the manager. Owners are also given personalized notebooks containing extensive reports and summaries of all activity that occurred at their facility during the prior year. This once a year meeting is engineered to provide ample opportunity for discussion of all items so that all UMC Owners can give better and more direct input towards the management of their facilities.
In addition to training of UMC's own management team, UMC provides on-site training, seminars and audits to our consulting clients.
