High-Tech Meets High-Touch: How training shapes the customer experience 

Self-Storage Management

When Mini Mall Storage Trust was established in February 2020, creating a unique customer experience was top of mind. The self-storage industry is fragmented, and with that fragmentation often comes varying levels of service. Mini Mall knew they could set a new standard for the industry and worked to define a consistent customer experience online, over the phone, and in person. 

Over the last three years, Mini Mall has seen significant growth with operations throughout seven provinces, 15 states, and over six million square feet of storage space. With each new facility or market, the company has recreated its seamless experience by taking an omnichannel approach with comprehensive training and technology. 

Hubs and Spokes 

Mini Mall operates on a hub-and-spoke model, which means that in every market, its facilities are no farther than a half-hour drive from a management centre. Even with self-serve, unmanned facilities, customers who want an in-person interaction can request someone to be on-site quickly.  

This mix of in-person and digital operations is possible thanks to state-of-the-art technology that enhances security and automates administrative tasks, allowing customers to find the right unit, get a quote, sign a lease, and move in through the website or call centre. Facility staff are there to offer support if there are questions or challenges — or if the customer just prefers to interact face-to-face. And in those situations, staff have easy access to information and guidelines about a range of scenarios.   

“Our goal is for any one of our Mini Mall representatives to be able to access the information they need within three clicks,” says Tadek Sampson, Director, Operational Training. “We want to make things easier for our staff because when we have a happy team, they’re able to make sure we have happy customers.” 

People Skills are Key 

For Mini Mall, adopting innovative technology is only part of the story. While customer relationship management software, security systems, and interactive apps have transformed the self-storage landscape in recent years, people skills are still a vital piece of the customer experience. Onsite managers must be both tech- and people-savvy to ensure they can develop customer relationships and effectively solve problems. The automated, online experience must match seamlessly with the in-store, in-person experience — and that requires training. 

Onsite managers have traditionally been responsible for bringing new staff up to speed, but with such significant growth the company saw the need for a standardized program to help managers and their staff quickly understand policies and procedures. The MMSP training program is designed to support customer service employees across both in-person interactions and technical software. It also takes into consideration frequently asked questions and most-often-encountered scenarios.   

“We learned pretty quickly that our best resources were the people working on the front lines, with our customers,” says Tadek. “In some cases, these people have worked at a location for years — decades, even — and they truly know their customers.” 

Tracking Outcomes 

There are many factors at play when measuring the effects of training. Mini Mall reviews how employees are performing in training modules so they can optimize the program to best fit the team’s needs while simultaneously bolstering customer satisfaction levels. The training team assesses staff during their first 30 days, and again during ongoing refresher training. The goal for 2022 was to bring the average score of 76% during onboarding to an average of 85% in refresher training. Today, the current scores exceed that goal, tracking well above 90% for staff in service and sales refresher training. 

As the company has progressed, the team has also found ways for employees to share their experience and insights. Top performers are invited to join the panel in a bimonthly webinar, where they can share stories of their successes, their learnings, and their best practices. “We’ve found that by giving employees a platform to lead their peers, we get better adoption from the field than if managers or trainers share that information,” says Tadek.  

Continuing to Evolve 

As technology advances and customer demands continue to change, the self-storage industry will continue to evolve, and Mini Mall will adapt to meet those needs. Innovations in technology may mean some of the heavy lifting becomes automated, but there is always a need for personal interactions, in every demographic. Mini Mall plans to continue to support managers and its team of storage concierge specialists with training programs, tools, and knowledge sharing to ensure everyone has the skills to navigate a high-tech environment and provide an industry-leading high-touch experience.  

This commentary and the information contained herein are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities or related financial instruments. This article may contain forward-looking statements. Readers should refer to information contained on our website at https://www.avenuelivingam.com/forward-looking-statements for additional information regarding forward-looking statements and certain risks associated with them. 

Mini Mall Storage Welcomes Two Leadership Team Members

Dallas, TX and Calgary, AB, February 2, 2023 

In the midst of significant and strategic growth across North America, Mini Mall Storage Properties (MMSP) is focused on delivering operational efficiency and superior customer experience at every location. With that in mind, the company is announcing the addition of two new members this week: Joe Colavecchia is joining as SVP, Operations, and Lee-Ann Emment as SVP, Business Operations. Both leaders bring a wealth of experience working for major brands in their respective functions, and their contributions will help guide the strategic growth as MMSP embarks on a promising 2023.  

Joe Colavecchia has decades of experience in operations and leadership, having built roadmaps to drive efficiency for major automotive rental and mattress companies. He actively invests in people through training and mentorship to deliver superior customer service — which is already a tenet within the Mini Mall strategy. Colavecchia is looking forward to helping MMSP develop operational plans, training, and procedures to support field teams and create a consistent customer experience. “Mini Mall’s solid foundation and aggressive expansion excites me,” says Colavecchia. “The hub-and-spoke model and state-of-the-art technology set Mini Mall apart, and I’m looking forward to being part of building the company’s future growth.” 

Lee-Ann Emment brings 30 years of experience in business operations and has held various leadership roles for major companies in retail and financial services. Emment’s background in project management, operations, and corporate strategy will be instrumental in helping Mini Mall improve its in-house processes and ensure smooth operation across different business functions. “The consumer goods and services industry is constantly evolving and businesses are affected by different economic situations and external drivers,” says Emment. “As a company, you need to adapt to meet customer needs and I’m eager to enhance the tools and insights at Mini Mall.”  

“We continue to refine our operations and focus on our customers as we gear up for another exciting year,” says Adam Villard, Chief Executive Officer of Mini Mall Storage Properties. “We’re fortunate to have Joe and Lee-Ann join us to evolve our teams and advance our business practices. I’m confident their leadership skills and multifaceted experience will add tremendous value as we work to deliver industry-leading self-storage to secondary and tertiary markets across North America.” 

This commentary and the information contained herein are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities or related financial instruments. This article may contain forward-looking statements. Readers should refer to information contained on our website at https://www.avenuelivingam.com/forward-looking-statements for additional information regarding forward-looking statements and certain risks associated with them. 

This Year’s Most-Read: Our Top Content in 2022

We’ve gathered the blog posts, articles, and white papers that garnered the most interest from our readers last year. They cover a diverse range of topics, from our partnership with the Canada Infrastructure Bank to the complexities of the private rental housing market, but they all come back to one thing: understanding the real estate investment landscape. As investors seek opportunity in a changing market, it’s important to explore and analyze the fundamentals that impact our industry to refine our strategy and provide value for our residents, our investors, and the communities in which we operate.

PRESS RELEASE:  

CIB COMMITS $120 MILLION TO AVENUE LIVING — THE FIRST REIT ADDRESSING MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL RETROFITS AT SCALE

This announcement is the next step in our commitment to ESG — one we officially started when we began a relationship with PRI (Principles for Responsible Investing). Our partnership with Canada Infrastructure Bank will allow us to undertake capital improvements that reduce our carbon footprint and provide comfortable homes for our residents, without compromising affordability.

WHITE PAPER:  

RE-EXAMINING A HEDGE AGAINST INFLATION: Multi-family Residential Real Estate 

This paper examines the effects inflation and rising interest rates have on affordability, and how investors may find opportunities in multi-family real estate. 

PEER-REVIEWED WHITE PAPER: 

PRIVATE RENTAL TARGET MARKETS: A COMPREHENSIVE SPECTRUM 

Our founder and CEO, Anthony Giuffre, collaborated with the University of Regina’s Dr. Grant Wilson on this examination of the North American rental housing market, identifying the lifestyles, demographics, and value propositions that make up six major groups in the housing spectrum. The peer-reviewed paper was published in the International Real Estate Review in April 2022. 

WHITE PAPER: 

DIVERSIFICATION WITH AND WITHIN REAL ESTATE  

This white paper explores how diversification in real estate portfolios — across asset types and markets — can enhance value for investors, helping them minimize risk and maximize the potential for returns. 

BLOG:  

WHY WE SEE OPPORTUNITY IN THE WORKFORCE HOUSING MARKET 

We examined factors that make the workforce housing market an attractive investment opportunity and  why it’s the focus of our multi-family strategy.  

This commentary and the information contained herein are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities or related financial instruments. This article may contain forward-looking statements. Readers should refer to information contained on our website at https://www.avenuelivingam.com/forward-looking-statements for additional information regarding forward-looking statements and certain risks associated with them. 

Avenue Living’s 2022 Year in Review

In 2022, Avenue Living grew in more ways than one. In addition to expanding our footprint and operations with new offices in Toronto and Dallas, we improved our customer satisfaction through active management, invested in technology, and elevated our ESG efforts.  We’re also entering our third year as signatories for PRI and since signing on, we have partnered with the CIB to sustainably retrofit nearly half of our multi-family portfolio. In 2023, we look forward to commencing phase one of the project and making a positive impact. 

How Avenue Living’s formidable 2022 provides solid base for 2023

With a cycle-tested business model and a steadfast commitment to the everyday, Avenue Living continued to make great strides.

In 2022, accelerating inflation and rising interest rates created a challenging investment environment, with negative returns flashing across the asset spectrum. Still, that didn’t stop Avenue Living’s 16-year growth streak.

After ending 2021 with just over $3.1 billion in total assets under management (AUM), the organization grew by 48% to reach $4.6 billion AUM. It achieved broadly diversified growth across its multi-family apartment, farmland, and self-storage real estate portfolios — all while staying true to its strategy of investing in the everyday.

“It speaks to the durability of Avenue Living’s business model across multiple market cycles,” says Gabriel Millard, SVP, Capital Markets – Equity & Research. “2008 (GFC) and 2014 (Commodity Crisis) were lost years for many other players, but they were periods of growth for Avenue Living as we leaned into the opportunities. 2022 was another very formative year for us.”

A win-win in the multi-family residential space

Avenue Living entered the apartment space as owner-operators in 2006 with a relentless focus on the resident experience. The company has continued to grow while offering an institutional level of service to those who call its buildings home. A pivotal strategic development was the establishment of the Avenue Living Real Estate Core Trust, which has grown into the first North American Workforce Housing Fund in just five years. Today, Avenue Living’s residential portfolio includes over 15,000 multi-family suites across 3 Canadian provinces and 5 U.S. states.

While headlines around real estate investments tend to revolve around high-growth markets — the likes of Toronto and Vancouver — Avenue Living leans into moderate growth markets, such as the Prairie provinces, where assets are valued at a relative discount. Its vertically integrated business model has also allowed it to control operational costs.

Those factors have enabled Avenue Living to responsibly raise rents in pace with higher inflation and interest rates, without hurting residential stakeholders. “We’re achieving our targeted returns while still maintaining affordability for our residents,” Millard says. “We’ve seen collections improve, occupancy continued to tick up, and we have wait lists at over 100 of our buildings.”

Growing opportunity in Canada’s breadbasket

Meanwhile, Avenue Living’s farmland holdings have expanded from 49,000 acres of Saskatchewan farmland at the end of 2021, to over 83,000 acres today. 

In terms of global output, Canadian farmland represents a large portion of durum wheat, peas, and other important base crops. Saskatchewan is a big piece of the agricultural puzzle, as it accounts for approximately 40% of the cultivated acres in Canada.

“We’re witnessing a breakdown in the global food supply chain,” Millard says. “Canada has a real opportunity to be a world leader in ensuring food security.”

With a history of outperforming inflation over the past 30 years, farmland is also growing more attractive as a diversifying asset class. That’s bolstering Avenue Living’s bullish view on Saskatchewan farmland, which remains at a steep discount compared to neighbouring provinces.

Great strides in self-storage

The Mini Mall Storage Properties Trust has also cemented itself as a premier player in the secondary and tertiary markets of North America’s self-storage industry.
From just over 2 million square feet at the end of 2021, the trust has grown to nearly 6 million square feet of self-storage space. That expansion was partly driven by Avenue Living’s ability to introduce its proprietary technology stack and operating expertise into all the new locations it enters.

“A lot of innovation has happened in the primary downtown, new-development segment of self-storage over the past decade,” Millard says. “We’re taking that approach and applying it to older legacy-run assets that have traditionally operated as mom-and-pop, cash-and-paper businesses.”

Avenue Living is pushing for more growth through a new office in Dallas, where it has hired key industry leaders in the self-storage landscape.

“Our expansion into Texas has taken us from a smaller, scrappy Alberta-based company into a truly North American player,” Millard says. Mini Mall Storage is now a top 25 self-storage operator in North America.

More milestones

Above the 49th parallel, Avenue Living has arrived on Bay Street with a new Toronto office. With that new foothold in Canada’s financial hub, the company is positioned to further reinforce and broaden its capital base in the years to come.

With about $160 million in expenditures made toward capital improvements in its residential properties, Avenue Living is also sharpening its focus on maintaining a superior resident experience and providing great customer service.

After becoming a PRI signatory in 2021, the company is doubling down on sustainability through a partnership with the Canada Infrastructure Bank, which includes a $150-million co-investment on deep energy retrofits on its older-style multi-family assets.

“Real estate – especially older stock properties – represents a significant portion of GHG emissions in Canada,” Millard says. “Our goal is to reduce GHG emissions by at least 49% through deep energy retrofits”.

Leveraging its unique perspective on workforce housing, Avenue Living has also published industry-leading papers and research. That includes a peer-reviewed paper on the residential housing spectrum, which unpacks the nuances of typical renter demographics, as well as their needs in terms of rental housing.

“We’ve published a number of white papers on the importance of affordability, and how a changing cost of capital affects real estate across different markets and asset classes,” Millard says. “We’re really solidifying ourselves as thought leaders within the industry, while continuing to advocate for our residents and provide value for our investors.”

The way forward

Avenue Living has built a strong capital stack. Coupled with a diversified equity base and the use of longer term, fixed-rate debt instruments, Avenue Living is focusing on innovation and investment to ensure strong same-door performance and operations in 2023. It also plans to continue focusing on active property management to deliver the best possible results for residents and investors alike.

“We’re heading into a world with a lot of dark clouds, but we’re seeing opportunities in the market. We’re in a defensible position, and we are aiming to take advantage of any disruptions that may come,” Millard says. “2023 is going to be an interesting year globally, and a very exciting year for Avenue Living.”

This commentary and the information contained herein are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities or related financial instruments. This article may contain forward-looking statements. Readers should refer to information contained on our website at https://www.avenuelivingam.com/forward-looking-statements for additional information regarding forward-looking statements and certain risks associated with them.

Avenue Living Wins Gold in 12th Annual Best in Biz Awards

The organization demonstrates a commitment to innovation, sustainability, and customer service excellence. 

Calgary, Alberta – December 7, 2022 – Avenue Living Asset Management (“Avenue Living”) has been named a gold winner for Company of the Year – Canada by the Best in Biz Awards. 

By investing in the everyday and adding value to its properties, expanding the organization’s footprint, and focusing on its workforce and brand advantage, Avenue Living has demonstrated the ability to be defensible, stable, and strategic in its daily operations and long-term vision to drive value for its customers and stakeholders.  

The 12th annual Best in Biz Awards saw more than 700 entries from public and private companies of all sizes and represents diverse industries and regions in the U.S. and Canada, ranging from global brands to the most innovative start-ups and local companies. This year’s judges highlighted the winning companies’ visionary leadership, innovative strides in the use of new technologies, and the adoption of workplace best practices. Many winners also continued to invest in environmental and corporate social responsibility programs. 

“We’re incredibly proud of the resilience our team and organization showed throughout 2022,” says Jason Jogia, chief investment officer of Avenue Living. “Being named a gold winner for Company of the Year by the Best in Biz Awards is a testament to our team’s commitment to excellence and sustainability in the multi-family industry.” 

Since the program’s inception in 2011, winners of the Best in Biz Awards have been determined by independent judging panels assembled from some of the most respected national and local newspapers, TV and radio outlets, and business, consumer, technology, and trade publications in North America. The 2022 judging panel included, among others, writers from AdWeek, Computerworld, Forbes, The Globe & Mail, Inc., The Oregonian, and Portland Tribune. 

“The depth and breadth of this year’s nominees in Best in Biz Awards – and especially the winners – demonstrate savvy business acumen among the leadership and represent the type of entrepreneurship powering today’s economy,” said Dustin Klein, Smart Business, judging his first Best in Biz Awards competition.

After reviewing hundreds of submissions, the judges were impressed with Avenue Living’s growth, both in terms of employee numbers and assets under management. They highlighted Avenue Living’s focus on serving all stakeholders, including offering new features such as integrated payments through its fin-tech platform, Zenbase. Its resident retention and Google reviews clearly showcase how this has resulted in high resident satisfaction. In addition, the panel emphasized Avenue Living’s commitment to sustainability and its involvement in the United Nations-supported organization, Principles of Responsible Investment, to spearhead environmental retrofits, implement smart solutions, and update aging assets. 

For a full list of gold, silver and bronze winners in Best in Biz Awards 2022, visit: http://www.bestinbizawards.com/2022-winners.  

About Avenue Living Asset Management 

Founded on the principle of investing in the everyday, Avenue Living focuses on opportunities that are often overlooked by others, having grown to $4.25 billion CAD in aggregate assets under management across four private real estate investment mandates. The Avenue Living team includes over 900 professionals with expertise in real estate operations and transactions, property management, research, investment origination, and capital markets, as well as a suite of subject matter experts to support Avenue Living’s growing portfolio of multi-family residential, commercial, agricultural land, and self-storage assets. In addition to 15,000 multi-family units located in Canada and the United States, Avenue Living and its related entities own over 496,500 square feet of commercial space, 82,900+ acres of productive farmland, and more than 5 million square feet of self-storage space.   

About Best in Biz Awards 

Since 2011, Best in Biz Awards has been the only independent business awards program judged by a who’s who of prominent reporters and editors from top-tier publications from North America and around the world. Over the years, judges in the prestigious awards program have ranged from Associated Press to the Wall Street Journal and winners have spanned the spectrum, from blue-chip companies that form the bedrock of the global economy to some of the world’s most innovative start-ups and nimble local companies. Each year, Best in Biz Awards honors are conferred in two separate programs: North America and International, and in 100 categories, including company, team, executive, product, and CSR, media, PR and other categories. For more information, visit: http://www.bestinbizawards.com. 

This commentary and the information contained herein are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities or related financial instruments. This article may contain forward-looking statements. Readers should refer to information contained on our website at https://www.avenuelivingam.com/forward-looking-statements for additional information regarding forward-looking statements and certain risks associated with them.