So you've got the clean storage units, great curb appeal, a working website, and a crew of friendly and professional staff.
Everything looks great, except... you're not selling enough units.
You may have most of the ingredients for a successful storage facility, but if you're missing the ability to sell, then none of it matters (especially in a competitive market).
In this blog, Grace Totty, the Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Absolute Self Storage, offers her best tips and tricks to help you convert leads and fill more units.
The product you sell may feel exactly the same as the one your competitor across town is selling, but your facility is different.
Totty says that at the end of the day, you're selling space, but highlighting your differentiators will make you stand out.
Take Bluetooth access. Totty says an operator or manager can point to this feature and explain how Bluetooth access means that customers can easily access the facility without leaning out of their vehicle and reaching to punch in a code, especially in the rain.
So, it's not just about highlighting the differentiator, but also how it benefits the customer directly.
"The differentiator is going to be in sharing with that potential customer, that potential tenant, why that matters," Totty says.
"So talking through the impact of those features is really, really helpful and, of course, making sure that's on your website - that'll help generate those leads."
And if you don't have any fancy technology at your facility, you can still differentiate your business from the competition.
Think about drive-up access - most facilities have it. But showing how this helps could be the key to converting a lead.
Other features you can highlight include:
Sure, your competitors may have some of these features, too, but are they selling them? Are they explaining the benefits to their leads? If not, then they could be missing out!
If you aren't sure what to say about your facility, ask your existing renters!
"What made you choose our facility?" can give you valuable marketing angles.
And if a renter is moving out, ask them for feedback. What did they like? What did they not like? Getting this input can be a great way to see exactly what made your facility stand out to your renters.
Now that you know what your selling points are, you've got to teach your team.
If your team doesn't know what to highlight or why it matters, they don't be able to convince leads to rent.
"Your staffing can be a differentiator, and this has been another industry trend over the last six years," Totty says. Your team must know why your facility is different and how to convey that to customers.
Your team should also know how to respond to questions quickly. Swift responses show knowledge and confidence, which can make potential renters feel more comfortable storing their belongings with you.
Training your staff can make a huge difference. The more your staff knows about your facility, the better they'll be at selling it.
While answering questions and conveying information well is important, your team should also spend time on taking care of the property.
Despite all of the great amenities you have, leads might turn away if they show up to a dirty, run-down facility.
If you have squeaky clean pictures on your website (which you should!), then your facility should be squeaky clean in person, too. Your staff should be looking out for trash and debris outside, dirt and dust in the hallways, and other daily maintenance.
All of these elements come together to help your staff present and sell your units to potential leads, roping them in to become new renters!
What's a "normal"conversion rate?
Totty emphasizes the importance of not just counting how many leads you have, but tracking the move-in rate to see just how many of these leads become renters.
"If you're not able to convert 20% of your leads into rentals, something is probably broken. Either it's your tracking system, your follow-up system, or your sales pitch itself. 20% is a red flag to start research," Totty says.
There are many reasons why a lead may fall through the cracks, and sometimes the fall is out of your control. You may have a lead that is simply browsing for units but isn't ready to rent quite yet. They may have decided not to rent for other personal reasons.
However, if you aren't converting 20% or more of your leads, there's a problem within your sales process or another area of your business. The culprit could be one of the following:
If your rates are significantly higher than your customers are expecting, it may be time to do a competitor analysis and price audit. Are you overcharging for your market? Are you bringing in the wrong kind of customer? Can you highlight more premium qualities about your facility?
Leads may also fall off because of sales skills issues. If your staff is waiting until the next day to contact a lead, then there is a good chance that the lead will call another facility.
If your sales team can't answer simple questions or highlight important features, then a lead may walk away unimpressed.
You could also be asking for too much information during the online rental process. Operators want the online rental to be as thorough as possible - but customers don't!
Keep your rental experience as quick and easy as you can. Save additional steps (like collecting ID or proof of insurance) for a follow-up email or in person when your new tenant arrives for the first time.
So, how do you hold onto your leads?
There are a couple of different ways to convert leads, even the most apprehensive ones.
First and foremost, calling a new lead as soon as you get contact information is crucial. Totty advises operators and managers to call back leads within 4 hours, but preferably even sooner.
When your team gets a hold of a new lead, take the time to learn about their needs and implement assumptive language, rather than just telling them what is available.
Using assumptive language is a great tactic for your sales team to hook a new lead. This type of language acts as if the lead has already agreed to rent with you, rather than asking if they are ready to rent.
Check out some examples Grace Totty shared in our Storage Academy Live session about sales strategies for self storage operators.
Totty said that when helping a lead select a storage unit, some of her favorite phrases include, "I'll lock that unit and price right now so that nobody else grabs it, what's the best credit card to use?"
She didn't ask the lead if they were ready to rent or when they wanted to rent, she had simply assumed that they would be renting.
Totty said this assumptive language can be paired with urgency, such as explaining to a lead that the rate they want will only be available for a certain period of time.
Emphasizing the restricted time frame for the current units and rental rates might convince an apprehensive lead to rent sooner rather than later.
If you have a lead that is still on the fence about renting, you might need to get creative.
Instead of letting them walk away, offer them a special discount. If they're looking for a storage unit size that you don't have, consider offering them a unit in the next size up for the same price as the unit they originally wanted.
"If I walk in wanting a 10x10 but you don't have a 10x10, that's when you need to get really creative with me," Totty said.
"Think about what's best for the business. If I don't have a 10x10 but I have 10x15's, I would say it's in the best effort to rent that 10x15 at what that 10x10 would have been, or maybe what your competitor's 10x10 is."
To offer unique deals and discounts like these, you'll have to ask yourself, is a discounted rental better than no rental at all?
If you want to learn more about sales tactics in self storage, you can watch the full Storage Academy Live video and hear more expert advice from Grace Totty.
Check out these other pages to learn more about technology and self storage:
At StoragePug, we build self storage websites that make it easy for new customers to find you and easy for them to rent from you.
