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Our reps at PhoneSmart get to talk to a lot of current tenants at storage facilities. I know our main focus is to help the new rental inquiry callers rent at the store they called. But what would happen to your bottom line if you could increase your average length of stay for an extra month? The self storage association market study shows “Don’t need it any more” as the number one reason that people move out of storage. The problem with surveys is that people usually choose to answer a question in the least controversial way possible. “I don’t need it any more” is very similar to what you say when a retail sales person asks you if they can help you. You say, “I’m just looking”. “I don’t need it anymore” doesn’t tell you if the person had a bad experience or a frustrating experience and then chose to move out.

Part of our goal at PhoneSmart is to give current tenants who call a good experience on the phone. I believe storing is a basic pain and pleasure equation. If the pain of moving your stuff out of the storage unit is greater than the pain of paying, then you stay. So when current tenants vent some frustration on us, or when we are able to help a current tenant with a question in a quick and friendly way, then we have eased the pain of the experience. I would bet that each pleasant encounter with store staff or our staff increases the length of stay by one month. I also believe that a customer who complains and gets some satisfaction is more likely to stay longer than the customer who never complains. Marriott hotels did a study and found that the return rate of guests who complained and felt their complaint was resolved in a satisfactory manner was far greater than guests who never complained. So Marriott spent resources and training time on resolving problems quickly and effectively. They made problem response a top customer service priority. And you know what, their return rates took a very nice jump. So the fact that people said they moved out because they didn’t need a unit any more means a lot of people moved out sooner than they would have if your customer service response time and problem solving routines were better. The self storage association market study also said that 60% of renters stayed more than 7 months. That is powerful stuff. What if that number changed to 65% of renters stayed more than 8 months?

bye for now, Tron.

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