Gabfocus Episode 20|Ask Us Anything: Meet Your Hosts
Our amazing hosts, Tommy Nguyen and Melissa Huff, have been guiding us through Gabfocus Sessions all year, so we thought it's time we hear from them! We brought in special guest hosts, Chad Lundberg and Alonna Ross, to turn the tables and make Tommy and Melissa share their expertise on Marketing, Operations, and all things storage.
Featured Speakers: Melissa Huff & Tommy Nguyen
Moderators: Alonna Ross & Chad Lundberg
Category: Marketing & Operations
Focus: Owners and Managers
Aired: November 19, 2020
Duration: 1:12:26
Highlights
If you don't have time to watch the whole Session, here are some of our favorite parts:
- At 6:00 Melissa and Tommy give us their self storage origin stories
- At 13:35, they talk about the biggest operational changes they've seen happen from COVID and which changes they expect facilities to stick with
- At 17:51, Tommy and Melissa talk about Google Reviews and remind us that "Google's job is to give users accurate information"
- At 23:50, Melissa tells us why her tenants are still her best advertising and talks to us about what word-of-mouth marketing she does
- At 31:05, they tackle the big question, "what kind of marketing should I be doing if I'm at full occupancy?" and Chad chimes about how to consistently raise your rates
- At 43:05, Melissa tells us how to start setting up your Google My Business profile
- At 44:26, Tommy tells us how often you should be checking your website metrics and what you should be looking for
- At 54:10, Chad tells us the difference between physical occupancy and economic occupancy
- At 55:33, Melissa tells us why she doesn't offer permanent discounts and which referral programs she prefers
- At 1:04:00, Tommy and Melissa our Question of the Week
Question of the Week
We asked Tommy and Melissa: What’s one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned about self storage?
“First, if you're new to self storage, go do a feasibility study. Don't do your own! Just because you own a shopping mall or apartments doesn't mean you understand self storage demand. Secondly, learn about the seasonality of self storage. If you did launch your first facility in 2020, unfortunately you had a wild year. But, you need to know there are slow seasons with storage. Thirdly, we aren't as much of a 'set-it-and-forget-it industry as everyone thinks we are at first. To really grow and thrive as a business, you have to put in the hard work to get it done." - Tommy Nguyen
"This industry changes constantly. Stay up on your education. Don't ever get the mentality that you know everything. If you go looking for it, you'll always be able to find new things to learn and new ways to grow your business. Another thing I'd say, if you're new, don't be afraid when someone moves out. It's all part of the process!" - Melissa Huff
Gabfocus Takeaway
It doesn't take an expert to realize that there's a lot going on in self storage. We love Tommy and Melissa's closing advice, to put in the hard work and never stop growing. From raising rates to updating your Google My Business profile, from improving your operations to keeping up with the latest lien laws, this session taught us a lot and reminded us that the best way to tackle it all is little by little. Connect with colleagues, reach out to experts, and stay a student of self storage, because this isn't a "set-it-and-forget-it" industry.
