Competing with the REITs can feel impossible at times. They’ve got expensive marketing teams and what feels like an endless budget to push their product. But you have something they don’t, something that separates you from the big chains–and all it takes is a little passion and ingenuity to utilize your secret weapon.
Imagine this.
Three weeks ago, Sarah found your storage facility, rented a unit online, and came by to drop off some things. Because she’s a busy mom, she brought her son with her. Your manager immediately saw a problem: Sarah needed to unload some heavy furniture, and her son was clearly in hangry mode. Imagine Sarah’s surprise when your manager swooped in with some cheap office snacks and a chat about her son’s favorite TV show.
Your manager probably didn’t mention it to you. It’s just a little hospitality for a tenant. Sarah, on the other hand, mentioned it to every one of her friends. Because that small gesture meant a world of difference that day.
Now you’ve got tenants coming in with goodwill already built. Sarah became a Champion of your storage facility, all for the cost of a pack of trail mix and a friendly manager.
It’s no secret that customer service is one of the most important aspects of any business. This is as true in the self storage industry as it is for any other. And when a great self storage customer service experience improves your customer's journey, it turns your tenants into Champions that bring in more business!
Going the extra mile for your customer service converts your tenants into a grassroots marketing campaign.
So what exactly is a Champion? They’re someone who promotes your product–not because you asked them to, but because something you did really impressed them. They’re spreading goodwill for your facility, either to people who already trust their opinion or in reviews online. Either way, going the extra mile for your customer service converts your tenants into a grassroots marketing campaign that establishes you as something the REITs only wish they could be.
What does good self storage customer service look like, though? What takes your service from good to great? If you’re a manager or owner of a self storage facility, you might know that you need better service but struggle to think of ways to provide great customer service in self storage. Exceptional service goes beyond greeting customers with a smile, and often it’s the small things that make the most significant difference.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can make sure your customer service gives people something to write home about!
A good sports team doesn’t just drill advanced plays–they make sure their mastery of the basics doesn’t slip between games. When it comes to how you treat your customers, having the basics down sets you up for success.
What does this mean for customer service in the self storage industry?
First and foremost, it means putting forward the best face you can for customers. Greet them with a smile and show them how much you appreciate them stopping by! If you give them the impression that you really want to talk to them and help them, they’ll remember how that made them feel. Use the customer’s name to greet and converse with them, and ensure they feel like a person rather than a unit number.
Remember that no matter your position at the facility, you represent the entire company every time you interact with a customer. The way you greet, converse with, and otherwise interact with customers will flavor their perception of the facility itself–which translates into their reviews!
Not every self storage customer is going to have the same expectations when it comes to customer service, and some customer trends and expectations might surprise you.
Do they expect a friendly but professional reception, or would they prefer personable and down-to-earth?
If you’re running a family-owned business that banks on that fact as its appeal, your customers will probably appreciate a more personal or familiar touch to the service they receive. Being too professional could come off as stuffy or distant.
On the other hand, some customers prefer a professional atmosphere when doing business. If your company’s image invokes professionalism and a sense of modern big business, you probably want to maintain that image when interacting with customers.
This intentional “casual versus formal” approach also influences how you present your facility. The way you talk about your units as a casual facility may highlight convenience, for example, whereas a more formal facility may lean into talking about premium amenities. In either case, you’re taking care of your customers–it’s just a matter of having intentional language for how you let them know it.
Choosing a focus on casual or formal lets you play to your strengths, but there’s a secret here that people don’t often talk about: you can do both. Though personal and professional are often framed as opposites, consider the best service you’ve ever gotten. What was personal about it, and what was professional?
It’s likely that whoever delivered that service gave you the best of both worlds. Decide what that looks like for your facility and deliver it with intention. Your customers will feel the effort you’ve put in.
A cheerful, friendly personality is the basic expectation customers have. But they also came to you with a goal. How, then, do you reach beyond the basics and impress your self storage customers with outstanding service?
Make yourself helpful.
The basic form of helpful is the service you’re already providing–offering self storage units solves the problem of not having enough space. But your customers, like anyone else, will have multiple problems pop up every day, and helping to solve those will turn them into Champions of your business. Helpfulness can come in various forms, and some may be more feasible for your business than others. Still, let’s take a look at some of the ways you can upgrade your self storage facility’s customer service:
How many times have you contacted a business looking for answers and been unable to get anywhere? Maybe the response was vague or unhelpful, or perhaps you couldn’t even get ahold of anyone to begin with.
After a few rounds of unresponsive customer service, you might avoid even calling when you have a problem–meaning your problem doesn’t get solved. And a customer sitting on an unsolved problem is…well, the opposite of a Champion.
Don’t let this be your business.
Make sure you are available to answer customer questions and address their concerns–let communication with your customers teach you what problems you can solve for them.
Set up multiple lines of communication, and allow tenants and potential tenants to choose the most convenient option for them. Customers are shifting toward text and voicemail as their preferred communication method, with others looking to chat with an app or social media platform.
Customers are happiest when reaching you is easy.
Regardless of which modes of communication you provide, all customers are happiest when reaching you is easy. Most importantly, make sure you monitor and respond to those lines of communication!
Have someone available to answer the phone during business hours and to respond to messages. Clear out your voicemail inbox. If you struggle with keeping up with emails, set yourself daily reminders to get to them–or delegate that job to someone with a knack for it!
Responding to a query could be the difference between converting a lead or losing it to your competitor. And when it comes to current tenants, putting yourself in the right place at the right time to solve their problem with speed and empathy will help them on the path to becoming a Champion.
So you have a friendly persona, you’re well-known for solving problems, and you’re great at picking up the phone and responding to messages and emails. What’s next? How do you level up your customer service in the self storage industry now?
Time to earn those bonus points and turn happy customers into Champions.
The way forward is simple. To take the extra step and go that extra mile, all you have to do is care about your customers and let that care show. The impact of those interactions will stand out to them enough to tell people about it. Here are some great ideas to implement:
Champions can effectively work as an entire marketing team that you didn’t pay for. Compared to that, the cost of converting a tenant into a Champion is well worth it. But in solving all these problems for your tenant, you may already have anticipated a new problem.
How does your manager perform this level of personalized work as just one person?
The answer to this will depend on the scale of your operation. Maybe you can rely on an absolute superstar of a manager in a smaller facility to listen, check in, and go the extra mile for your tenants. But to perform this on a larger scale, one set of hands performing this level of personalized service is going to feel overwhelming.
That’s why taking your customer service game to the next level means you need a team dedicated to it. There’s no beating around the bush here–that can be a big ask of time, money, and training. But consider the outcome: by raising a team of exceptional customer service professionals, you’re also netting a team of Champions who drum up local business for you just because they want to see your business grow.
Let’s see the big chains try to keep up with that kind of grassroots marketing.
We’ve explored many ways to give good customer service in self storage, and it might seem like a lot to take in. What it really comes down to, though, is being intentional and caring about your relationship with customers. Good service may get a Google review, but great service creates a customer who will go to bat for you.
You don’t need to be every customer’s best friend–just show up for them in ways that are personal and practical. Taking the extra steps to be helpful, available, and empathetic makes a significant difference in the customer’s experience.
Nurture your relationship with your customers, and you may be surprised at how quickly even a new tenant can turn into a Champion.
For more articles about Community Outreach, check out:
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. With Insights, our self storage marketing platform, operators get the data and digital tools they need to make the get out of their website and their self storage investment.
