2021 has just about come to a close. We took a chance to catch up with some familiar faces, wrap up the year with some final thoughts, and to talk about what waits ahead in 2022!

Featured Speakers: Alonna Ross, Jim Mooney, Stephanie Winfree, Chad Lundberg, & Grace Totty
Moderators: Melissa Huff & Tommy Nguyen

Category: Marketing & Operations
Focus: Owners & Operators
Aired: December 16, 2021
Duration: 1:18:24

Overview

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

• At 9:00, our panelists answer our first question: What changed during COVID, and are you going back to any of your "old ways"?
• At 9:34, Alonna, Chad, and others agreed that the pandemic has given them time to catch up on tech and other improvements.
• At 10:50, Stephanie makes the point that customers have become more accustomed to online payments and services.
• At 13:50, Stephanie goes further, claiming that customers have started more readily accepting text messages from businesses.
• At 15:10, Tommy references that the rate of adoption of technology in self storage has apparently accelerated by 5 years.
• At 17:00, Chad says he is still seeing owners and managers slow to accept new tech—and warn they'll be left behind.
• At 18:00, the panelists discuss how the landscape of the industry has changed regarding unattended vs. attended facilities.
• At 20:25, Alonna and Stephanie agree there is no longer a need for kiosks—we have mobile phones that can do the same.
• At 20:50, Jim explains how his facilities use QR codes.
• At 22:31, our panelists answer whether or not they still accept cash payments.
• At 28:20, Jim talks about his mystery shopping procedure.
• At 29:30, the panelists discuss the strengths they discovered in their own businesses over the last year.
• At 38:40, panelists discuss the housing market and their predictions or observations about its imapct on self storage.
• At 42:30, Grace claims that continued construction delays are contributing to more need for storage.
• At 44:02, the panelists talk about how they use value pricing.
• At 46:00, Tommy and Grace agree that the use of value pricing is dependant on the market.
• At 48:00, our experts discuss their plans for building in the near future.
• At 52:50, we learn about some of the crazy things our panelists have experienced in self storage.
• At 58:30, our panelists answer our Questions of the Week!

Questions of the Week

We asked our experts: What’d we learn in 2021? and What’s coming in 2022?

In 2021, I learned that people matter. We've got all these systems in place... which are all very import and very helpful. But the people matter. Your technology can't work if people aren't fully bought into it." -Grace Totty

Expect the unexpected... Things are changing daily." -Jim Mooney

Patience and compassion. I really had to step back and learn some patience, but you also have to realize there are people less fortunate than all of us, and you have to have some comapssion towards people." -Chad Lundberg

Getting out of my comfort zone... I've got to expand my network of new people." -Alonna Ross

The last two years have been crazy for everyone. A lot of changes have come about due to COVID, and we are still figuring out what changes are temporary and what changes are here to stay. It's not all been bad—it's given us time to catch up on things we were neglecting, and it's helped some people realize the value in technology and the internet. There is still a lot of waiting and watching to do in order to see exactly what new things are sticking around, but there's no time to sit around with a new year right around the corner. 2021 is just about over, and 2022 is sure to see more changes that anyone involved in self storage will need to be ready to adapt to.

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 Affordable Storage Guys Management.

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.