Running a storage renting business is not always as simple as it sounds. With many unique personalities, and increasing demand, yet a decreasing margin, operators are consistently challenged with finding a way to run their business more efficiently and effectively. Here are three major challenges faced by facility operators, and how to overcome them.
Lack of customer communication = higher churn.
A major benefit to running a storage business is passive income. And there are plenty of storage owners where employees work from home in their pajamas (thanks to COVID especially!). Employees can work with the customer over the phone via scripted lines and prices, but they never establish a meaningful trusting relationship.
To create a meaningful trusting relationship you need eye-to-eye contact and you can do this through video. You can now add live interactive video to your website and engage prospective customers with that face-to-face meeting without having onsite staff. Stand out from the pack, lower your operating costs, differentiate yourself, and become a leader through modernization.
Long-term employees that are not engaged = increased costs.
We’ve all been there. That employee who has been with the company for 10 years, but is starting to get checked out. Modernizing your employees is just as important as modernizing your technology. Train them up, or help them find something new and fresh, either within your organization or possibly somewhere else. It’s hard, but sometimes the best thing for all parties involved is separating and starting clean.
Don’t be complacent. It doesn’t take much to see your facility value drop. Your manager is the lifeblood of your operation. If s/he’s not strong, neither is your business. A cheap manager could care less how much money you make or lose. Invest in your managers! Audit their records. Give them goals. They are the one link between your customers and your bank account.
Poor online presence = lost opportunities.
Historically, walk-ins were the biggest source of new customer acquisition. People would drive past a storage facility, remember the location and return later. More and more, however, customers are turning to the internet to find storage options.
According to the 2019 Self Storage Almanac, the internet surpassed drive-by for the first time in 2017 as the largest source of tenants. Between digital ad spend, SEO and storage aggregators, there are many opportunities for storage units to be found and researched online. But are you actively converting those prospects into customers? Live video calling can be leveraged directly on your website to allow users to connect to your business with one click, and actually get the experience of being on-site, like they would have traditionally, but from the comfort of their own home.
You are in a changing world, particularly now. Drive revenue, reduce costs, talk to your customers, and invest in your people to take your business to the next level.