by guest blogger Bob Copper of Storage 101 (Catch Bob at the TSSA Convention on Monday, October 18 speaking on the topic: “How to Conduct an Effective Self-Storage Audit“)

My 16-year old son came into the living room the other night while my wife and I were watching TV and announced, “Dad, we have to talk.” Now, if you have a teenager, you know how those words can instill a high degree of fear and discomfort into even the most macho of men. And yes, I felt that fear and discomfort. What was it? Drugs? Sex? Expulsion? An accident? My heart raced in trepidation, knowing that my life as I knew it was about to take a dramatic turn.

I looked at my son and whimpered, “What is it?” He replied, “You’re watching Project Runway and that’s just wrong.” How quickly one’s self esteem can deflate. My son, a 16-year old high school junior with a bit of acne and raging hormones, had just found out that his dad only pretends to be cool. I was caught watching Project Runway, a reality show in which budding designers compete each week to create fashion through various challenges. One by one, the designers are eliminated (think The Apprentice) until one lucky designer is left standing with the promise of getting to show his or her clothing line in various media, including magazines and fashion shows.

In an effort to be more “sensitive” and attentive to my wife’s “needs,” I’ve been hooked into the drama of seeing Michael Kors wannabes (he’s a BIG deal in the fashion world) create women’s clothing with inspiration from various items ranging from plastic to flowers to food. I hate myself for it but I can’t help but watch for all the drama. It’s kind of like watching NASCAR just for the wrecks.

Watching the episode on that fateful night, one of the judges made the comment, regarding a clear fashion disaster, that the outfit was a “hot mess.” Although I understood that that was not necessarily a compliment, I wasn’t altogether sure what that term meant, so I looked it up on the web. On UrbanDictionary.com there are many definitions for “hot mess” but my favorite is When ones thoughts or appearance are in a state of disarray but they maintain an undeniable attractiveness or beauty. What the judge meant was that although the garment looked great on the outside, underneath the façade it was poorly thought out and poorly constructed. And immediately I thought, “That perfectly describes the self-storage facility I recently audited!”

Actually, it describes a large number of self-storage facilities I have audited. While many operators “maintain” an appearance of attractiveness or orderliness of their facilities, there in fact exists a “state of disarray.” Everything on the outside looks great, but a closer look reveals an operation tittering on the brink of disaster. Consider the facility I audited just a week or so ago.

The owners of a large facility out west had NEVER had their facility audited and just assumed everything was running smoothly. Only after persistent urging by one of the partners did the others finally agree to have someone conduct a third-party operational audit, and they contacted me.

Upon arrival at the site I saw a great-looking property with perfectly manicured landscaping, recently painted parking lot stripes, debris-free drive aisles, and an orderly boat and RV parking area. The employees I met were friendly and well-groomed and the office was clean and appeared to be well-organized.

And then I started looking at the details.

Turns out the manager, who has been in the self-storage business just over a year, took it upon herself to rewrite the lease agreement because she “didn’t like the old one.” She had no idea if the lease was legal or not. A disaster waiting to happen.

I found a lease on which the manager had lined through the “Limit of Liability” clause and written in “No Liability on this Unit” and added her initials. Another disaster waiting to happen.

We mystery phone shopped the employees and they all failed miserably. There was no attempt to rent space, and the calls were a clear interruption of the employees’ other tasks like texting on their cell phones and checking Facebook. If one didn’t know better, it would have been easy to assume the owners no longer wanted spaces rented and didn’t care that the employees were wasting time on their payroll. But I knew better.

The manager told us that her two closest competitors were “just too high’ when comparing rates and she thought it was much more important to “be competitive’” and not be too high. Those two competitors are over 90% occupied and charging 40% higher rates. And did I mention that the subject site was 95% occupied, including 100% in climate? And she thought the competitors were fools.

The facility DID have a waiting list, but the manager was holding vacates until the end of the month “just in case a tenant want[ed] to use the space another day or so.” Some of the waiting list units were on the holding vacate list. And the 15 “unavailable” units? These were units that the part-time maintenance person had not yet “certified” as being rent-ready, so they could not yet be rented. Again, several of the waiting list units were on the “unavailable” list and anyone with a broom and five minutes could have made those units rent-ready. But the manager and her assistants don’t sweep out units.

I could go on, but you get the picture. This facility, great looking on the outside, was a budding disaster on the inside. This facility was one “hot mess.”

How about your facility? Take a closer look.

By Emily Mathews, TSSA Director of Education & Meetings

I’m a frequent customer of Starbucks, but I think their coffee is awful.
It’s too strong.
Actually, it’s downright bitter.
It tastes like it’s been sitting there for days.
The employees are too cheery.*
And we all know it’s grossly, offensively, insultingly overpriced.

But they’ve got a stranglehold on me and my wallet. I’m there at least a couple of times a week, trying to improve my cup of yuck with lots of cream and Splenda. Why do I do this?

It’s the power of branding. Branding might not be what you think it is (it’s not about your logo) and I’d like to let my acquaintance, marketing guru Jay Ehret of The Marketing Spot in Woodway, TX, take the idea of branding further (see below). But first allow me to explain why a coffee chain with crummy coffee has me and will likely have me for life.

You probably guessed it: It’s the experience, man. It’s the smells. It’s the sounds. It’s the jazzy music playing (I love jazz). It’s the cushy seats (actually, those are sort of movie-theater-seat gross, but that’s okay. I usually grab a table anyway). It’s the fact that I can get any caffeinated concoction I want, exactly as I want it. It’s a place to which I escape, and that’s a huge part of the experience.

It’s great for rare “me time.” When my son is finally asleep and my husband is playing a nerdy computer game, I just grab a huge fashion magazine and I am OUTTA there. Hunched over Vogue with my white cup with the green logo, I’m in heaven (though I ought to work on my posture).

It’s a time killer while I’m waiting to meet with a hotel sales rep (many hotels now have a Starbucks in the house, including - YAY! - The Omni Fort Worth, our convention hotel).

It’s a destination I can walk to from my house, when I need some exercise (which is always). At the end of a long walk that hurts my feet, it’s a reward.

But it’s lunacy to reward oneself with something gross.
It’s nuts.
It’s insane.
Yet it’s fun.

That’s how much they’ve got me.

Now, I know it’s silly to compare Starbucks with your storage facility. People are not likely to come to your office and read fashion magazines, even if you have a comfy couch (well, I might), and even if you have coffee available. And unlike Starbucks, you’re not on every corner. But I’d like to entertain the idea of making storing with you an experience. Like I said, I know it won’t be some kind of treat or escape for anyone. Moving stinks, and storing can be hard work! But think about how you can be a place about which people say to friends and family, “Yeah, it was a pain moving last weekend. But the place where we stored our stuff made it much easier. It was strange, in a good way; it didn’t feel like a storage place, you know?” You get the idea.

I also know that this is not a new concept to you, the fact that the lure of a brand can be so strong that people will overpay for bad coffee, or literally not be able to leave a Target store empty-handed (the price of admission to Target is about $60. If you’ve ever spent less, I want to know). All I’m saying, in a roundabout way, is this: have you given lots of thought to the “tenant experience” at your facility? Have you really got a hold on your customers? Go get ‘em.

Now take a look at What Is a Brand? by Jay Ehret. You can also catch Jay at the TSSA convention this October!

*Actually, there’s a Starbucks near my house with an employee who literally will not smile (or if she does, it looks like it pains her). She is my personal project: I am going to get this woman to genuinely smile and laugh if I have to die trying.

by Silvia Pendleton, Director of Marketing and Membership

I recently heard a comment that stopped me in my tracks. The comment was something along the lines of “I’m doing more marketing than ever. Marketing has overtaken advertising.” Huh? As a marketing professional, I take exception to that kind of thinking. Perhaps that’s why so many people find marketing to be such a challenge and something to be avoided and seen as a last resort.

Let me try to clarify. Advertising is a component of marketing. Marketing is a process that encompasses many activities, including advertising, public relations, sales, promotions, and all communication activities. If you narrow your scope and idea of what marketing is, you’re missing out on the full benefit of what it can do for your business.

Marketing is anything that either helps you rent a storage unit, sell boxes, rent trucks, or keeps you from reaching that goal. Is your sign visible from the road? Is your facility hidden behind another building? At night, is your facility well lighted and visible? Is your phone number visible? Do potential tenants have to drive through a construction zone to get to you? Are they guessing about your office hours? Are they reaching an answering machine every time they try to reach you? Does your office look abandoned even in the middle of the day?

The list could go on and on. These are the things that either enhance or detract from the renter’s experience when they try to rent or buy from you. What you do to enhance or remedy the situation is the marketing process.

Training your employees to answer all calls before the second ring is part of the process. Teaching them how to close the sale is also part of the process, as is making sure your sign is working and visible. When a customer walks in the door, a simple greeting and acknowledgement might seem like common sense, but if it enhances the customer’s experience, it becomes part of the overall marketing process. If this one step is left out or ignored, all the advertising in the world will not make up for it.

Keep this in mind the next time you’re going to the bank wearing your facility’s logo on your shirt, or driving your vehicle with your facility’s name on the doors; you’re part of the marketing/advertising process. How you interact with the tellers at the bank is as much of an advertisement about your business as your ad in the phone book. And, it’s more memorable too.

If you find that you’re getting better results from one marketing effort over another, then you can concentrate on doing more of that particular activity. Perhaps that’s the meaning behind the comment I overheard. More than likely, the activities such as face-to-face meetings, civic involvement and sponsorship of community events produced better results over traditional advertising. All of these activities are part of marketing. Don’t neglect one over the other without careful tracking and analyzing.

As for me, I’ve learned my lesson. Next time I hear someone commenting on their marketing efforts, I’m either going to ask more questions, or I’m going to turn up the volume on my iPod and keep on walking.

By Delia Passi

So what do women want? That’s a loaded question but considering I’m tasked with focusing on what women want in self storage we can scratch the surface today and dig even deeper in our next blog and for sure at the conference.

Let’s consider the facts. Given that women are responsible or at least highly influential for the vast majority of household decisions, it makes sense to give a lot of attention to attracting her interest in your facility when making marketing plans.

Are you thinking about the woman of the house when you itemize the benefits of your facility? Women are just as concerned about how much you charge and how convenient your location is to her, but she will give greater consideration to other factors than most men will in a similar decision making situation.

Women will be more conscious of the security of your facility, not just as it concerns her stored belongings, but as it concerns her personal safety and that of her family members when they are at the facility. Your marketing should give lots of information regarding both the physical and personal security aspects of the facility. How many cameras do you have? What percent of the property inside and out is covered by them? Are they being watched at all times?

Your website is a great place to demonstrate the security you’ve put in place. Show lots of photos of the property, and include a layout diagram. Put a link to an aerial view of the property if it is helpful in showing her the security benefits and the surroundings. She can find these on the web herself, but if you offer it she will know you care more by showing it.

Another concern for your women customers is the ease with which she can load, unload, store and transport her belongings. Do you provide any additional conveniences that she might appreciate? If so, then give it attention in your list of benefits. Tell her about carts, dollies and assistance she can get to make bringing or taking her belongings easier. You might consider offering recommendations on moving services she could use. Make sure those moving services are women friendly (or preferably WomenCertified®) as well.

You should also know how to treat her with respect, concern, and dignity when she comes in contact with your employees. Yes, I’m talking about WomenCertified. The training your employees get when they are WomenCertified will ensure that they know how she wants to be treated, how she ommunicates her preferences, and how she makes a decision to use you or stay with you.

Stay tuned. In my next blog ‐ how decisions are driven by life events.

Delia Passi is CEO and founder of WomenCertified Inc., a business that helps other businesses become more women friendly, and helps women find those businesses. If you want to show women that you care about them and their business, you can learn more at www.womencertified.com.

by TSSA Director of Marketing and Membership Silvia Pendleton

Read what John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing, has to say on the topic…

Mobile Payments as Marketing Strategy
from The Duct Tape Marketing blog

The mobile device continues to evolve and one trend that’s finally picking up steam in the US is the act of making and accepting payments via mobile payment systems. Mobile payments are already very common in other parts of the world where less infrastructure friction (read: entrenched industries that don’t want to change the game) allowed for faster adoption.

The question marketers of all kinds need to start asking is if their customers are mobile, how mobile does the business need to be? I get push back every time I mention text messaging and SMS, but like it or not you can’t sit this out, you’ve got to start getting serious about every aspect of mobile marketing, including this one.

While mobile payments may seem like just another way to accept money, much like checks and credit cards, I think you’ll start to see integration that other forms of payment don’t offer. It’s tough to integrate with someone’s checking account, but on a mobile device loaded with a database, GPS and compass, well, you’ve got the makings of a location aware loyalty program with the ability to offer loyalty specials and club and membership perks through an electronic wallet kind of approach.

The first adoption will come with more convenience. Recently, I was selling books at an event attended by eBay sellers and was able to offer “bump” payment with the PayPal iPhone app to those that wished to pay that way. No credit card reader, no paper slips, instant transfer, and more secure than written forms. Of course the person sending the money must have the same technology in order to play.

I’ve signed up for and ordered my Square account and reader – a tool that plugs into the iPhone, iPad or Android headphone port that reads credits cards and allows merchants to accept mobile payments without the need for a credit card terminal or technology from the sending party.

Companies like Colorado based Mocapay have begun to offer creative approaches to mobile payments as a part of the overall marketing puzzle. Using the tool you can push out text messages to encourage purchase, personalize follow-up messages and track and reward frequent purchases with rewards programs.

Guest Blog by Randy A. Smith, Director of Operations • Another Closet Self Storage, McAllen, Texas

I firmly and absolutely believe you can create demand for self storage. I know this is a contrarian view to all the “industry experts” out there and goes against the grain of mainstream self storage marketing thought, but I believe it’s possible and our company is doing it.

At Another Closet Self Storage in McAllen, we are currently ranked as a top 100 Operator in the USA (#83) with just over 600,000 square feet of storage. We’ve got another facility coming on-line late this year, and are looking at two other locations to build facilities on.

Our occupancy rates have never been higher. The last quarter of 2008 was the best quarter of 2008. 2009 gave us an 18.6% increase in gross revenues company-wide over 2008. At properties with stabilized occupancies we saw an 8.2% increase in revenue with occupancy up 7.2% for the year 2009 over 2008 numbers.

I went to the National SSA Convention in Dallas last year and heard nothing but gloom and doom.

But for us, 2010 looks great. As of May 31 this year, gross revenues at properties with stabilized occupancies are up 13% vs. this time last year.

Defying the odds
Now, we don’t live in a bubble. Our area of operations in the Rio Grande Valley is in one of the poorest parts of the state, with the fifth highest unemployment of all Texas counties. And our foreclosure rate is among the highest in state.

Household income in three mile radius around many of our locations is less than $30,000 per year (household, not per capita!)

But if you look at our financials, you’d not see one bit of evidence that we’re in the Great Recession. None.

The difference?

I think we’re “creating demand for self storage” and renting lots of units to prove it!

Case in point
I have a store that’s 90% occupied (68,000 sq.ft. occupied), with no residential neighborhoods to speak of within two miles, right next to a competitor facility that’s only two thirds as large and never been over 65% occupied. (And been on the market for sale for three years).

Our company is experiencing phenomenal growth. We’re hiring people. We’re expanding facilities. We’re getting ready to build more. 2009 was a banner year. 2010 is shaping up to be even better yet.

So what’s my secret? Our marketing approach and advertising is “creating demand” for self-storage. And demand for our facilities in particular (that’s the whole point, right?). I know everyone says, “You can’t create demand for self-storage. People either need it or they don’t.” Well, I say that’s the biggest myth in the self-storage industry today! (I hope my competitors keep believing it though!).

by TSSA Director of Marketing and Membership Silvia Pendleton

This is tough for me to admit but I’m having trouble handling rejection…not from friends, loved ones, co-workers or business contacts…I can’t handle being rejected by Facebook fans! Sad but true. Let me back up a little.

I’m a reluctant Facebook user. I jumped into the social media fray when we decided it was important for TSSA to have a social media presence. I started slowly, feeling my way through the Facebook landscape, and slowly I began to get hooked. This thing is, I’m hooked on monitoring the activity on TSSA’s page, not my personal Facebook page! Every time I log on and see that a few more people have discovered and liked our page provides me a little thrill. I completely identify with Sally Fields and her plaintive Academy Awards acceptance speech…“You like me, you really like me!”

I’ve eagerly watched as the TSSA list of friends and fans inches its way to the 200 mark. I find myself thinking up ways to entice more people to our page. I’m constantly looking for juicy, interesting items to post, but resist the temptation to veer off course with redundant information. I only want unique tidbits of information to feed to our fans. I even get overwrought on slow news days when the myriad RSS feeds that I skim let me down. I find myself casting a wider and wider net looking for news!

But the ultimate low is when I post something and no one has commented or even given it a “thumbs up!” I can’t describe the feeling of rejection that overcomes me. Why didn’t they like it? Maybe they didn’t see it? Should I send out an alert? Will they get upset if I push that button too often? Then I have to find something else to top that latest post! I must find something to erase that shameful reminder of our fans’ silence.

What’s to become of me? Am I destined to be one of those people you see wandering through the mall peering at their phones, oblivious to their surroundings? Will I find myself in a crowded restaurant sitting with a group of people while we all fiddle with our phones? I’ve always wondered just what could be so important. Now I know! They’re checking on their Facebook status wondering why no one is commenting, posting, poking or giving them the “thumbs up!”

I must not be cut out for this anonymous and distant communication form. It isn’t conversation if it’s one-sided. So, if you want to save me from myself and keep me from starting my own 12-Step Program for Facebook addicts, stop by the TSSA fan page and post something!

Silvia Pendleton, TSSA Director of Marketing and Membership

One of my friends is a realtor in a very competitive market. Since we don’t live in the same city, I don’t see her very often and our communication tends to involve short emails and Facebook updates. We recently had the rare opportunity to visit over lunch and catch up. Naturally, I was curious how she was faring in this down-economy, tight money and record foreclosures. Her answer was enlightening and very true to her nature.

She admitted that her business is down slightly but not because of the economy…she acknowledged that she slacked off on her marketing efforts during the fourth quarter last year and therefore her prospects have dropped off in the first quarter of this year. “You’ve got to keep that pipeline filled,” she said.

This applies to every business, whether you sell homes or you sell space. You’ve got to be visible, consistent and continually marketing your business. My friend’s excuse is that she’s in love and busy planning a wedding. What’s your excuse? Is it the weather, the holidays, the economy, or the (fill in the blank)?

How do you avoid this symptomatic avoidance? I suggest using a marketing calendar. If you’ve taken the time to set up a marketing calendar, it’s much easier to keep that forward momentum. You’re not as inclined to let the daily grind wear you down when you already have something scheduled, and in the works.

Make adjustments to your plan throughout the year, but always keep that “pipeline filled,” and you won’t have to fall in love and plan a wedding as an excuse for not having a marketing calendar keeping you active and visible.

by Ginny Sutton, TSSA Executive Director

I just returned from a trip to Corpus Christi, where I attended the monthly luncheon and visited a number of self-storage facilities. I really enjoyed meeting TSSA members in this laid-back but business-focused setting.

After visiting several stores, I started noticing a trend that continued through the visit: Every store seemed to offer services or products aside from space for rent. No, I’m not talking about moving supplies or locks, though they had those, too.

I’m talking about completely different businesses, being operated from the self-storage office.

Take Advantage Public Storage, for example. Owners Pat and Amy Nolan also have a security company, as well as a Wienerschnitzel hot dog restaurant franchise. All three businesses happily cohabit one office, and the staff does double duty (in this case, triple duty), handling inquiriies for all three enterprises.

Down the street, a sign for Fox Garden Center caught my eye, partly because I love plants, but also because just below that very large sign was another sign that read “Fox Mini Storage.” I visited the self-storage site (and I sheepishly admit I also popped in to ogle the flowering plants at the garden center), and the manager, Margaret Ortiz, told me that in addition to renting storage space, she handles inquiries for stacks of wood for Ed’s Firewood, for sale year-round, presumably for building beachside fires. Ah-ha! I had noticed the stacks of wood just outside the large office window, and the question that flitted through my mind about the connection to self storage was suddenly answered. The storage site and wood service are just two of this owner’s interests; he also owns the restaurant where the day’s luncheon was held! (Baja Coast on Staples).

Next stop, Security Self Storage on the north side of Corpus (also known as Calallen). Owner Jack Taylor also owns a Farmers Insurance office, which he houses next door to the self-storage site. Each business has a separate entrance, but once you enter, you quickly notice that the office is open from one side to the other. Jack walks easily back and forth from the insurance side to the storage side without missing a beat. He also owns the shopping strip center where the businesses are located, and is landlord to the other business tenants housed there. Jack says the fact that all his employees are like family and have been with him for 10 years or more helps him to manage what I consider his own “business empire.” A modest man, he certainly wouldn’t have used those words, but I couldn’t help notice that there were many irons in his proverbial fire. And when you are juggling these various businesses successfully, as he obviously was, you are doing something right in my book.

And that thought stuck with me throughout the day–that many TSSA members are entrepreneurs of the finest sort. And, they are extremely diversified in their various offerings to the customers who happen by, and always looking to add something customers need or want.

Another store I visited, The Storage Place, sported an obviously new addition, with freshly nailed wood trim not even painted yet. Upon entering, I immediately noticed these old-fashioned mailboxes, the likes of which I used to see at the old post office in my home town in Taylor, Texas. The Nolans own this store, too, and already offer private mailboxes at one of their other stores as a service. Manager Justin Davis lamented that the only problem with promoting the new mailboxes was the strong coastal winds that kept carrying away the banners he put out front to attract drive-by attention.

I found myself marveling at the business acumen, and let’s face it, sheer guts, that it takes to start all these different business ventures and manage them successfully. Though I hadn’t seen it quite so evident in other parts of the state, partly because I don’t always have the time to visit stores, there is no doubt that many of our members are involved in other businesses, from car washes to convenience stores and from moving services to insurance agencies. Sometimes the services seem like a natural compliment to storage (like the moving business), and sometimes the symmetry isn’t quite as obvious. One member even owns a funeral home that fields call for self storage. Now, there’s a twist you don’t see everyday.

Contact TSSA at 888-259-2902, or visit www.txssa.org. TSSA is always looking for interesting news about forward-thinking trends and new types of ancillary services at storage facilities.

by Kenny Pratt, Crescendo Properties

Recently I learned a great lesson when I was visiting one of my stores and talking to a customer who had just finished renting a storage space.

Janet was shopping around for storage on the Internet on a Sunday. Unfortunately for me, my stores are not open on Sunday, so her e-mail inquiry languished for a day in the unattended inbox. One day is like an eternity in Internet time. First thing on Monday morning my on-site manager replies with an upbeat message offering some basic details about our location and inviting Janet to call or e-mail with questions.

Then the bad news… Janet replied that she had already been contacted the day before (the day we were closed) by a competitor and had made other arrangements. Bummer.

Well, my on-site manager is pretty awesome and was not deterred. She told Janet that we would love to have her business, that we were offering some pretty good move-in incentives on the size she was looking for, and that we would be glad to reimburse her for any reservation charges she may have already incurred. She asked Janet to consider us if she hadn’t already moved into the storage space she reserved on Sunday.

Janet was interested in saving a few bucks and the e-mails turned into a phone call from Janet, and a deal was negotiated that had Janet moving into my location and not the competitor’s. All because my on-site manager was persistent and was willing to make a deal.

We rented the storage space to Janet on a Tuesday afternoon.

The moral of the story is two fold. First, sometimes a little persistence pays off. Second, you must follow up with your prospective customers.

Janet teaches us that even when you think you have a commitment to rent, you are still vulnerable. Follow up is also effective when your prospective customer is actively shopping. If they are still shopping, you may be able to win their business because you do the best job of building a relationship over time. No sales skills needed. You can win with a little persistence and some simple actions that show your prospective customers that you care.

——
Kenny Pratt gives away his best ideas on his self storage sales training blog. He is also President of Crescendo Properties, a self storage investment and management firm operating 14 properties in the western United States (his Round Rock Self Storage is near the TSSA headquarters).