» Self Storage Management

  • Generating Extra Revenue with Your Storage Facility
    By jeff on March 4, 2011 | 24 Comments24 Comments  Comments

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    There are many keys to selling Etobicoke storage units and these are just a few. When you operate an Ontario storage facility, you really need to focus on bringing the customer a great storage experience. The first thing that you need to have is employees that are talented at selling. Some people just exhibit a natural ability at selling. They will be able to sell Etobicoke storage units like it is nothing. Some people need a lot of training the make them sales professionals.

    The key to handling the naturally gifted sales people is to make sure to keep them motivated. You can give them incentives for selling a certain amount of Etobicoke storage units and you must always set goals for them. The naturally gifted sales people also like to be recognized for their performance. You can keep things interesting for them by setting up fun contests to see who can sell the most.

    You will need to offer a variety of moving and storage supplies if you want to be the best. Most companies in Ontario offer a variety of moving and storage supplies and you need to as well. This will help you keep up with the competition. You should sell locks for the Etobicoke storage units as most customers will need to buy a lock unless they already have one. All storage units should have a lock put on them to ensure that they are secure. There are many different locks that you can offer and you should offer one for every customer. You may just offer a good, better, and best option to please most any customer.

    When customers rent Etobicoke storage units they will need boxes to put some of their odds and ends into. You should offer small, medium, and large boxes as your basic size selections. Some of the more successful companies will offer custom made boxes for any occasion. Wardrobe boxes are great if you are looking to please customers that are storing clothes and want to make sure that their clothes are taken care of when they store. The great thing about boxes is that they can be sold to customers who are renting a storage space or someone who just needs boxes for another reason. This will generate a lot of extra revenue for your company. With the economy in bad shape, you can use all of the extra revenue that you can get.

    There are also other items that you can sell. You should have plenty of packing tape on hand as people will need to seal up their boxes when they store. You should have plenty of packing material for safe storage of delicate items. This is also great for anyone who is looking to ship items. If you offer great prices, you may get customers who sell stuff on the internet and need to ship a lot of different things. Mattress covers are great for customers, as well. There are also things to protect furniture that you can offer. There are some customers that are on a budget and will pass on many of these things, but there are plenty of customers that will want to store the right way. They will be happy that you offer such a diverse selection of moving and storage supplies.

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  • Attracting Customers to Your Storage Facility
    By jeff on March 4, 2011 | 792 Comments792 Comments  Comments

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    Trying to attract customers can seem pretty difficult, but there are some things that you can do that are not really that hard. Selling Fairhaven storage units starts with a quality product. You should offer customers in Ontario quality units with great security at a good location along with great customer service. If you offer this to the public, you have already won half the battle. You will not be able to fill up your Fairhaven storage units anytime soon unless you combine this quality with great marketing.

    Marketing encompasses more than just advertising, but that is a huge part of it. You need to decide what channels you will advertise you Fairhaven storage units and what avenues produce the best results. You can go with methods that have proven effective over the years. In the past, radio and television ads were a great way to advertise your company and it still is but you must know that this is one of the more expensive ways to advertise. You may want to search for other options to more effectively spend your advertising dollars.

    The Ontario phonebook is a great way to advertise your Fairhaven storage units and get the word out about your company. You should take some time to come up with a good ad that you can put in the phonebook. If you can afford it, you should at least have a full page ad. This will actually get people to call you first as opposed to another storage company. Once they are on the phone, now you have to sell them on why your facility is better than the rest.

    You may want to advertise your Fairhaven storage units on social networking sites. This is one of the cheapest ways that you can attract customers and may be more effective than any of the others. People will see your name on their friends social networking link and think of you when it is time to rent a storage unit. You can also rent billboard advertisements if you find a good enough deal on one.

    The key to long term success is to develop a great company image by pleasing your customers in every way that you can. Word of mouth advertising is great, but it can take a while unless it is about something negative. If you cause a customer to have a bad storage experience, you can rest assured that they will tell their friends and this will cost you to lose future rentals. Make sure to take care of each customer so that you develop a good company image in your area. You may consider setting up a referral program that will benefit the renter and the person that they referred to your company.

    You should really focus on training your employees so that they know exactly how to offer great customer service. They should answer the phone right away when a customer calls in. Believe or not, a lot of sites do not even answer the phone before it is rolled into a voicemail system. This does not give the customer a good impression when they call in. It is obviously much better for them to get through to someone that is helpful and nice to them when they call in to ask about storage.

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  • Making Your Storage Facility the Best
    By jeff on March 4, 2011 | 1,167 Comments1,167 Comments  Comments

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    There are a lot of companies that offer Elizabeth Gardens storage units at a great price that are of great quality. They really know how to offer the customer a tremendous value when it comes to storage. You will need to be at the top of your game to compete with all of the Ontario storage companies that are around. You need to offer quality Elizabeth Gardens storage units and you also need to bring a great storage experience to the customer. Here are a few types that will help you give the customer what they want.

    The first thing that you need to focus on is security. If you do not give the customer a secure storage unit, then you are not taking care of a basic component of storage. You need to take care of the basics before you can focus on anything else. You should do a little research of what makes certain Elizabeth Gardens storage units safer than others. There are certain security features that you will want to store and they have been discussed in other articles ad nausea. You should have a proper gate and fence. Cameras and alarms may also be essential to keep your site safe. It kind of depends on where you decide to have your storage facility and the location. If the site is located in a bad area, then the site will be less safe as a result.

    The facilities that rent the most Elizabeth Gardens storage units in Ontario are often the locations that are the most conveniently located. This is obviously a decision that you will need to make early on. Choose a great location for your storage units even if it means spending a little bit extra on the initial investment to get things under way. You will reap the benefits and more than make up for the extra money that you spend to acquire land in a good area as opposed to one that is further away from where people frequent. You want to make it as easy as you can for the customer to get to your facility to rent with you. This will also improve customer retention because customers leave to find a more convenient location everyday. The number one factor for most storage renters as to why they rented a storage space is location and how easy it is for them to get to their.

    It has been said that Elizabeth Gardens storage units are not complete unless they are packaged with moving and storage supplies. This is also a great way for you to make some extra revenue and improve your balance sheet. You can sell locks as everyone will need to put a lock on their unit. Some storage space renters will already have a lock that they can bring in with them. They may have a good lock if they have stored in the past. You can sell locks to the customers that do not have locks. Make sure to offer a good selection that they can choose from so you can make everyone happy. Some customers will want to get the basic lock since they are storing on a budget. Some of the renters will want to get a lock that is of higher quality like a disc or cylinder lock.

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  • Designing Your Storage Facility
    By jeff on March 2, 2011 | 903 Comments903 Comments  Comments

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    Opening up a storage facility in Ontario can be a very trying experience for the beginners. If you already own several properties that sell Cundles storage units you may be familiar with everything that goes into opening up a new facility. There are a lot of things to consider. You must decide the location of your new property very carefully. The location will determine if a customer will store with you or not in a lot of cases. You also need to know what types of Cundles storage units to offer. If you just offer a bunch of units that nobody wants, then you will have trouble getting rentals.

    You should know what Cundles storage units people will want. If you are trying to appeal to customers in a rural setting, then you should have the bigger spaces as your featured units. If you are in a more populated area, then you should focus on smaller spaces like a five by five. Five by fives are very popular in metropolitan areas because people just do not have enough space for smaller items. They may need to store holiday decorations or snow tires when they are not in use. Since apartments in Ontario in populated areas can be very small in terms of square footage, these spaces will fill up pretty fast. They will fill up faster if you offer move in specials. This is a good idea since these customers will tend to look for more long term rentals.

    You will also need to focus on bigger Cundles storage units if you are appealing to rural customers. You should offer garage size spaces. A ten by fifteen is about the size of just a small garage and can hold about a two bedroom apartment. This is great for a lot of customers who are looking to clean out a garage or a basement. A storage space will allow them to have a place to sort through everything while getting the instant benefit of extra room at their home. A ten by twenty or a ten by thirty can store a whole house and is good for customers who might be going through a foreclosure.

    Climate controlled Cundles storage units are becoming more and more popular. Make sure to offer the option or renting a standard unit, as well because not all customers will want to pay the extra monthly rent to have their space temperature controlled. For example, a customer that is storing snow tires will not need to have a space that is climate controlled. The customer that is storing a whole house might like to have a temperature controlled space.

    You can also offer outside parking spaces. This is great for customers who have to put their bigger vehicles somewhere for a while. You will be able to rent these spaces out to customers who are storing boats, trailers, and RVs. If you really want to attract RV customers, you should put in wash bays and dumping stations at your facility. Some boat and RV customers may prefer to have inside spaces that are protected from the weather. Instead of building individual units of that size, you could just build on huge building that offered warehouse style parking to these customers. A valet service for bigger vehicles is always a big hit with customers.

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  • Improving Your Storage Facility
    By jeff on March 2, 2011 | 596 Comments596 Comments  Comments

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    If you own and operate a facility that sells Clairville storage units in the Ontario province, then you already know how competitive the market is. You will really have to work hard to set yourself apart from the rest of the properties in your area. After customers call around for Clairville storage units for awhile, all of the facilities all start sounding the same. There are some things that you can do to really set yourself apart from the rest.

    You should always make sure that the phones are answered at your facility in a professional and pleasant manner. A lot of facilities do not even answer the phone at all when customers call for prices on Clairville storage units as hard as they may be to believe. The sites are just not staffed properly for busy times of the month. They may have the same amount of people working whether it is the middle of the month, which is typically when there are very few calls coming in, or if it is at the end of the month. You may find that a lot of facilities in Ontario just route all of these missed calls, and missed sales opportunities, into a voice mail system. They will then call them back at a later time. By the time they call back, the customer may have already reserved a storage unit from another location. You can set yourself apart from the competition by always making sure that you have enough people on hand during the busier times of the year.

    The best thing to do to guarantee long term success is focus on customer retention. First of all, you will need to offer quality Clairville storage units that do not suffer from leakage or any other type of weather related damage. You will also need to train your employees on how to offer great customer service. You will need to pay a good wage to keep good employees and you will need to take the time to train them on how to effectively handle all types of customers. Some people that call in will want to socialize and talk, while some just want to get right down to business. Because of this, there are many different strategies that your employees must use to offer the best possible customer service.

    Most sites offer Clairville storage units with great specials. You should always have a few units that you feature for the callers who are simply looking for the best price. They do not care about things like climate controlled or how easy it is to get to their space. They just want to be able to save the most amount of money that they possibly can. You could feature standard units on the second floor since they are usually the last units that people will want unless they are looking for the best price.

    Any good storage facility is now a one stop shop for moving and storage customers. In order to make your facility like this, you need to offer a variety of moving and storage supplies to customers that call in. You need to offer boxes, locks, tape, and bubble wrap. You may also consider offering truck rentals at your facility or at least a referral to a company close by that does truck rentals.

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  • Some Do’s and Dont’s of Self Storage
    By jeff on February 4, 2011 | 1,237 Comments1,237 Comments  Comments

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    Westney Heights storage places in Ontario, Canada have a lot of stories to share about the storage industry. It is called self-storage, for those new to these terms, and it is when people bring their belongings to an outside place to store their things.  They do it themselves, thus the term, self-storage.  They rent the truck or pack their cars, drive up to the storage place and receive a code to get in and store their things.  The manager does not help.

    Most self-storage places though, including the ones in Westney Heights supply carts and big dollys to help them move their stuff.  The managers also give plenty of advice on how to move and the best ways to do things, if the customer wants.  A good manager knows how much stuff will fit in what size unit, just by looking at the customer’s stuff.  “That will fit in a ten by ten”.  A ten by ten is a storage space that is ten feet by ten feet.  Some are eight feet high, some six feet high.  That can hold a two or three bedroom apartment.  It can hold furniture boxes, beds bikes, and everything in between.  Customers can not store anything they want though.  Things that can cause fires, or hazard chemicals or things they do not own themselves.  For example, if a customer has a Sears hammer and tool set she or he is still paying on, and Sears wants their money or their product back, the customer needs to give it back.  Storing it in a private space does not give them the right to steal.  Animals can not be stored either.

    Westney Heights storage companies in Ontario, Canada do the same thing concerning animals being stored in storage spaces.  One might think this is common sense but a storage spot could be cheaper than a kennel or some times people are desperate and will do crazy things.  We have seen snakes being stored, weasels, ferrets, and even dogs and cats.  Cats are popular to store because of their nature.  The people will come around to feed them and give them water, but it is not a good idea for all involved.  Some do it just for a few days or weeks and may never be caught.  However, a good manager will know by walking around the property a couple times a day.  A manager may hear a barking dog or a cat trying to get out.  If a manager never walks around, more rules like this can be broken.  Some people have even tried to live in their storage spaces if they have hit on hard times.  It is a sad situation, but against the law.  A manager should follow these important rules if they want to rent storage units.  Animals and dirty properties, dirty hallways, and dirty empty storage units, are all bad for business.  Customers will not rent if they feel the manager is not a good manager.  You can not blame them.  We all feel that way some times.  A manager, who does not care or is lazy, is in the wrong business.  Maybe all business is bad for a manager like that after all anyway.

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  • How to Best Present Your Self Storage Company
    By jeff on February 4, 2011 | 22 Comments22 Comments  Comments

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    Your Edmonton self storage employees are your marketing department when they are talking with customers. Because of this, you should train them how to sell effectively and give them the confidence that they need to perform. The foundation of the sales process is vital. You need to have structure. The rapport building process is short, but important. The needs evaluation is important as well. These concepts are discussed further in other articles. Here are some things that you can teach to your Edmonton self storage to achieve your sales goals.

    After you have evaluated the customer needs, the time for the presentation has come. This is when you should get a little bit excited about what you have to offer. You are the best storage company in Alberta and there should be no doubt about it. If a competitor does something better than you, then you should do everything thing that you can do to improve on that area. Make a recommendation of a size and type of storage unit based on the customer needs. It may be necessary to make notes about what you talked about in the needs evaluation portion of the call so that you can tell each Edmonton self storage customer why you are recommending a specific unit. For example, tell them you are recommending a climate controlled unit because this will be the best way to protect their LCD TV and leather furniture from any temperature related damage.

    Remember that a recommendation is just that. It is not a demand or a command. The Edmonton self storage customer gets the final say. If they say that they want a standard unit even though they are risking damage to their things, then you should just go with it. During your presentation portion of the call you should also go over some of the great features that your site offers. Make sure to attach customer benefits to the features by, once again, referring to the notes that you made in the needs evaluation for the customer.

    Along the way, you will want to get as many buying commitments. Ask the customer if they see how security is important when they are looking for Edmonton self storage units. If you sell them on this, then they are more likely to look at the overall value as opposed to just looking at the price. If you have a good, quality facility, then you are not going to be the cheapest so you do not want this to be the only thing that they focus on. The more buying commitments that you get, the easier the close will be.

    The close should be the easiest part of the call. If you are having trouble in the close, then you are probably lacking in one of the previous parts of the call. They should be sold on your company by this point so you will just need to assume the sale. Do not ask them if they want to rent a unit, ask them how they would like to pay for the space. This may be difficult at first, but you will gain confidence after experience. If you ask them if they want to rent a space, then you are giving them an easier chance to say no. Assume the sale.

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  • Owning a Successful Self Storage Business
    By jeff on February 3, 2011 | 1,250 Comments1,250 Comments  Comments

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    Storage facilities are successful when the owner does the little things right. You may be thinking about getting into the Connaught self storage industry, but there are some things that you should know first. A lot of people think that it is easy money. In the past, this may have been true. You just buy some land, put up a building and collect the rent money. Tough competition and market saturation have led to a Connaught self storage environment that is only profitable for the very best. The big companies may have the edge on you because of deep pockets, but there are some ways to ensure quality without breaking the bank.

    The first mistake that many storage professionals in Alberta will make is to assume that location is not the most important thing. Most people renting storage state location is the most significant determining buying factor. This can be a little misleading. People do tend to rent storage units at Connaught self storage facilities that are close to their homes, but you will still miss a lot of sales if you make mistakes. Make sure that you have a clean facility. Many people see storage as dirty so you need to make sure that you routinely clean your property. This is cheap, but time consuming. Do not make the mistake of being lazy when it comes to taking care of your property. It is very similar to keeping a clean house. Just do a little bit of cleaning each day so that you are never overwhelmed.

    Every storage owner wants a lot of customers, but most are not equipped for that many Connaught self storage customers. If you are offering a good service to the community, the word will spread. Do not just sit on your money, you can grab a lot more of the market share if you continue to build and expand your storage facility. You may go with what you can afford when you first start, but be careful not to have cheap units. Cheap units leak and cause damage due to molds and mildews. You will develop a reputation in your area one way or another. You just want to make sure that you have a good company image. A bad company image will doom you to failure. If you have many customers in Alberta, you will only hold on to them for so long if you offer bad quality. For example, instead of building a hundred cheap units, start out with fifty quality units. This will set your storage operation up for long term success.

    The average Connaught self storage customer will rent more than three times in their lifetime. That means that you need to impress and delight your customers when they rent with you. The status quo will not get the job done. You will need to exceed expectations in order to gain repeat customers. You will also get a lot of referrals if you delight customers. Birds of a feather flock together as they say. If someone needs a storage unit, then most likely they will know other people who will need storage in the future. Referrals are easy sales. They typically will only make one phone call unlike those who are just shopping around since all storage facilities are the same to them.

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  • Starting Your New Self Storage Business
    By jeff on February 3, 2011 | 1,267 Comments1,267 Comments  Comments

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    Do not be afraid to start small. Your Douglasdale self storage enterprise does not need to be that flashy when you are starting off. You can make up for it with quality storage units and great customer service. Your storage employees should be trained on how to sell effectively. They should also be briefed on the company mission so that everyone is on the same page. You may find it helpful to have one on one meetings with employees to make sure that they are committed to your Douglasdale self storage company goals.

    Everybody is different. Some people are born to sell and some will require a lot of training. You could just hire a bunch of people and see who can sell and who cannot. This is the path of least resistance. It is a fact that some, if not most, of the best salespeople in Alberta started out very poorly in the sales field. Through persistence and a desire to learn how to sell they are able to develop the skills necessary to achieve lofty sales goals. Typically, once they get it, they will be hard to catch.

    The problem with natural born salesmen is work ethic. Since it always came so easily, they never had to work as hard as some. The best salespeople will typically have the best work ethic so do not give up on someone just because they do not sell. Pay close attention, though. They will still need to have a few traits to be a good Douglasdale self storage employee. They will need to have a great attitude and a willingness to learn. Some people will never be good because they do not have the desire to be great. After a little experience, you should be able evaluate which Douglasdale self storage employees will be successful. Be careful, though, because there are many ways to sell effectively so make sure to give everyone a chance.

    People skills are a must. They must be able to get people to like them fast. With more involved sales calls, there is more of an opportunity to build rapport. In storage sales, it needs to happen fast. The average storage inquiry will only take about six minutes. There is no time to waste. The initial greeting needs to be positive, but not over the top. Imagine talking to a high school friend that you have not seen for awhile. You do not want to be over the top like a late night TV pitchman. This is excessive and may scare away may Douglasdale self storage prospects from the word go.

    A lot of your business will come from people in Alberta who have fallen on hard times. They do not want to talk with someone who is jumping through the phone. They may not trust what you have to say. A warm greeting is enough. After you talk with the potential customer for a little bit, you will be able to gauge how to best handle the call. A calm approach may work best for some callers, while an exciting sales pitch and presentation may be better for others. You will probably want to be the most enthusiastic when you are going over specials that you are currently offering. Calm it down a bit when you are evaluating needs of the customer.

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  • Improving Your Self Storage Business
    By jeff on February 3, 2011 | 1,419 Comments1,419 Comments  Comments

    Training can be the most rewarding thing that you do this year for your Dover Glen self storage company. You may be rolling right along just fine, but a few adjustments could improve your business even more. There is always room for improvement. Your company is either growing or dying. Look at the huge corporations in the world. They never get comfortable and say that they are happy with where they are. They continue to grow and expand. You could expand, but improving your existing stores may be just as good.

    You must teach your Dover Glen self storage employees how to sell. If you were to pick up the phone and call ten storage facilities, chances are great that you would run into a few that do not answer the phone, even during operating hours. Make sure that your employees jump for the phone when it rings. There are times when they will not be able to get to the phone, but that is very rare. You will also run into a lot of order takers. This is when you ask for a price and they say a hundred dollars a month. This is definitely not selling. The caller would just hang up and call the next Dover Glen self storage company. Structure each call a certain way and build on that foundation.

    Everyone sells in a different manner. Respect the different styles, but also instill a good structure for them to follow. The first step is rapport. In many sales industries, this is a ten to fifteen minute process. You can ask them what they do for a living or about their family. With a Dover Glen self storage sales call, you will have to do this a little more subtly. A friendly smile will go a long ways. Even if the person you are talking to is the grumpiest person in Alberta you should still be positive as opposed to mimicking their attitude. They will typically become friendlier as the conversation unfolds. Some as simple as asking them how they are doing is a not something that they will get a lot when they are calling around for prices. They will usually thank you for asking.

    Read the situation at all times. Acknowledge their request before anything else. If they ask for prices, let them know that you would love to help them out and get out your storage list. After you acknowledge their request, you could then ask them how they are doing. The next step is the needs evaluation. Let them know that you are going to ask them a few questions to establish their needs. Every Dover Glen self storage caller is unique and will have different needs. They may need and value the climate controlled units or it may make no difference. They may want to have a drive up space for easy access or they may be looking to save money by getting a unit on the second floor. There will be a perfect size for them and it is up to you to determine what that size is to the best of your ability. You will never be able to determine their needs unless you ask. Some people will need to see the space before they know what size would be best, so some may find it helpful to offer two different sizes.

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