Does your self storage facility make use of waitlists
What do you do when a lead comes to rent and you don’t have the storage unit they’re looking for? Do you turn them away? Direct them to a competitor?
Waitlists offer a way for self storage facilities to maintain connections to leads, stay in their mind, and potentially convert them at a later date once a unit is available.
Waitlists, in their most basic form, are lists of customers that expressed interest in a storage unit you didn’t have available.
It could be that you are full. Maybe they wanted a 5x10 and you only had 10x10s available. Or maybe they really needed a climate-controlled self storage unit for sensitive items, but you only had your non-climate drive-up units available at that time.
In the end, the “why” doesn’t really matter. What matters is how you handle that customer.
There are basically three ways to handle this scenario:
Using self storage software, waitlists are able to be maintained in a much easier way today than they were in the past.
Rather than taking down names and contact information in a spreadsheet, you’re able to create customer profiles for these leads in most self storage software. You can maintain a digital database for your waitlist, and you should be able to manage communications all from that software.
You’ve worked hard getting that customer interested in your storage unit—add them to a waitlist instead of losing them.
So, why should you use a waitlist?
The answer is simple: You spend time and money on marketing efforts, and each lead has its own value.
By turning a customer away, you’ve effectively lost the entire value of that lead. Since the value of a lead is based on math surrounding their chances of converting, their average length of rental, and the cost of your units, every lead you have to turn away effectively hurts the value of all leads at your facility.
Sure, self storage waitlists don’t completely solve this problem. Your customers can’t always wait for an opening.
Having the waitlist there as an option, though, at least provides a route for your to salvage the lead and potentially convert them into a paying customer at a later date.
If you’re implementing a waitlist, here are two important tips to keep in mind:
There are so many options for self storage software these days. That said, a piece of self storage software you should already have may very well allow you to manage a waitlist.
That’s your property management software.
Before anything else, check whether or not your PMS has a software-based waiting list function.
Beyond that, your self storage software can also help you with another important aspect of managing your waitlist: staying in contact with your leads.
If you are maintaining a waitlist, you have the opportunity to put an email sequence in front of your waitlist leads to make sure you stay at the forefront of their minds when it comes to self storage. Build your brand, make sure they don’t forget about you, and show them the reasons your facility is worth waiting for!
Even more importantly, you are going to need to reach out to them when their desired unit is eventually available.
Your self storage software can typically handle that, too!
Automate your communications with waitlist leads that way you can get the maximum benefit from your list in the most efficient way possible.
Pug Pro Tip: Make sure to establish policies for early notice of move-outs. Then, place reminders of the policy around your facility. This way, you are more likely to know in advance when a unit may become available for someone on your waitlist. This is especially important if you don’t do daily walkthroughs.
This part may seem obvious, but it’s incredibly important:
Know the exact (correct) size storage unit your waitlist leads require.
Now, this may seem like an obvious one. Whatever method you use to sign customers up for your waitlist—whether it’s a software-enabled form on your website or something more manual—you probably try to take note of their needs.
That may not be enough.
The truth is that many self storage customers won’t know exactly what space they need. This is especially true if it’s their first time renting a storage unit.
You should make the effort to provide examples they can visualize so that they give you the right size to start.
Otherwise, you run the risk of them waiting just to find out the unit won’t work for their needs.
Let’s say you’ve already got a waitlist—great!
Now, what happens when there is a move-out? When you process the move-out in your self storage software, does it go live on your website?
The chances are the answer is yes.
The problem is that it means the unit could be rented before the leads on your waitlist are informed. Sure, you end up getting a move-in and monthly rent either way, but it doesn’t look great for your reputation or the trust in your waitlist process.
Thankfully, there are two ways you can handle this situation depending on what self storage software you use:
Some of the leading self storage software platforms actually have this all thought out for you!
With the right software, you can send a direct link for rental completion to the next relevant person on your waitlist.
These links allow leads to complete a rental and secure their unit without it going live on the website.
Waitlists are a great way to minimize leads lost to competition due to high occupancy. That said, make sure to maximize the effectiveness of your waitlist with good communication and proper use of your self storage software!
Find out more about running your facility with these posts!
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.
