Making Technology Work for You | Self Storage Virtual Workshop

Gabfocus Episode 73 | Making Technology Work for You

Are you making the most out of the tech at your facility? There's new tech coming out every day, and all of it promises to make your life easier... but not all new storage tech is a good fit for every facility. Join us as our guest tech experts share how you can make sure you're getting the most out of your current tech stack and how to know when something new is worth your money.

Featured Speakers: James Hatfield & Michael Brevdeh
Moderators: Tommy Nguyen & Melissa Huff

Category: Technology
Focus: Owners & Operators
Aired: July 3, 2025
Duration: 1:25:02

Overview

If you don't have time to watch the whole session, here are some of our favorite parts:

00:00 - Introduction
4:50 - What technology is essential to any self storage business?
9:50 - What self storage technology is the most underutilized?
17:20 - What technology are storage business using too much or not maximizing?
20:00 - How can tech help enhance your marketing and bring in more leads?
22:00 - How can technology improve your customer experience?
24:30 - How can you use self storage tech to optimize your operations?
26:40 - How can tech help you protect your facility?
28:30 - How can self storage technology help set pricing?
32:10 - What are unique ways you've seen operators use existing storage tech?
35:30 - What are the signs it's time for a tech upgrade?
38:20 - How do you decide which tech to upgrade first?
43:15 - How do you know if a tech upgrade is a good fit for your self storage facility?
46:30 - What are your green, yellow, and red flags when vetting technology vendors?
54:00 - What new self storage technology are you most excited about?
56:50 - What self storage tech isn't worth the investment?
59:20- How can you currently use AI in self storage?
1:02:10 - Is there tech that lets you track visits, log notes, and manage follow-ups?
1:05:00 - Is it true that Microsoft will stop supporting older versions?
1:09:30 - If you have all the newest tech, how can you still stand out in your local market?
1:20:40 - What single tech upgrade gives your self storage business the best ROI?

Resources

Gabfocus Takeaway

When shiny, new storage tech hits the market, it can be tempting to rush to upgrade and beat your local competitors to the punch. However, that tech upgrade isn't going to boost your business if you're tech foundations aren't solid and optimized. Make sure you're making the most out of your current tech before looking to upgrade, and then you will be better equipped to choose the specific upgrades that will really help you stand out in your local market and provide the best customer experience!

What are Gabfocus Sessions?

Gabfocus Sessions are virtual workshops for self storage owners, managers, and operators. Brought to you by the team behind Gabfest: StoragePug and Lighthouse Storage Solutions.

Each session features hand-picked industry pros who will dive deep into relevant topics surrounding our industry, share best practices, and explore trends in the market. It's our hope that these sessions help you navigate your self storage business better during these uncertain times.

Want to learn more about self storage? Join us on select Thursdays for Gabfocus.

Questions Answered in this Session

When it comes to storage technology, what do you consider essential to every facility?
What storage tech is most underutilized?
How can you use self storage tech to enhance your marketing, operations, and pricing?
What daily tasks can you automate with self storage tech?
Which daily tasks should you not automate?
What are unique ways you've seen operators use their existing tech?
What are the signs it could be time for a tech upgrade?
What should you upgrade first?
How do you know if new tech is a good fit for your facility?
What tech upgrades make the most impact?
What should you look for in tech vendors?
What is some of the newest storage tech out there?
What self storage tech may not be worth the investment?
What upcoming self storage tech are you most excited about
What piece of tech do you think will be the next facility essential?
Is AI useful to self storage operators?
What single tech upgrade provides the best ROI?

James Hatfield

LiveSwitch

Website: https://www.liveswitch.com/
Email: james.hatfield@liveswitch.com

Michael Brevdeh

Michael Brevdeh

Cubby

Website: https://www.cubbystorage.com/
Email: michael@cubbystorage.com

Resources from this session

Awesome Quotes

“Once your operation is in place, you can become more dynamic with your pricing, but that requires data. You need some method of being able to record the data that you need to know whether your price is in the right place - whether you need to move it up or start giving some concessions.” - Warren Lieberman

“I never want to downplay to what someone else is doing. I'm better than they are, then I'm going to be worth a higher price. That's what value is. If you go out to a restaurant and get really good service, would you go back? Yes! What if it was pricier? You'd still go back because you got better service and a better product.” - Jim Mooney

"It's good to be informed on your competition. I don't want to ignore them, but I don't want to respond too strongly to them either." - Warren Lieberman

"We did a survey of 10,000 facilities on their pricing. We found out that two-thirds of those operators didn't change the price of a single unit of the course of a month." - Warren Lieberman

“Rate increases and value pricing are the number one ways to grow your revenue.” - Jim Mooney

"Tenants in more convenient units tend to be less price sensitive." - Warren Lieberman

"The size of the unit is only one aspect of what people are willing to pay for." - Warren Lieberman

Highlights

Foundational marketing strategies to have in place - whether leasing up or stabilized:

Website
Set up listings (Yelp, Google My Business, Apple Maps)
Social Media
Establish Local Partnerships

Lease up marketing strategies:

Lead Generating Strategies (like digital ads)
Aggregators (Sparefoot, Storagefront, etc.)
Awareness Campaigns (like billboards, flyers, and sponsorships)

Your average customer value
Find the average stay length of all tenants. Next take your economic occupancy and divide by how many units you have. That will tell you what the average customer pays.

Multiply the average length of stay by what the average customer pays, and that's the average value of a customer.

For example, if a customer stays for 12 months and pays $100 per month, then their value is $1,200.

Your average lead value

Figure out your closing rate (or conversion rate) i.e. how many leads do you turn into tenants? Multiply that by your average customer lifetime value to figure out what your leads are worth.

Pro Tip: see which lead sources are converting the best. It may be that certain sources have a higher conversion rate, so those leads are worth more to you than a source that barely converts.

Typical Lease-up timeline

According to our panelists, it's typical to see a 3-4% increase each month, putting your facility at 36% after the first year, and 72% after the second.

Alternately, you can look at your lease up goals through the lens of your units, aiming for 20 units rented per month.

For Nick and StorageMax, they pro forma their economic occupancy at 85% with their sweet spot at 92%.