the question is changing

Welcome to the self storage blog, where we let you in on the experiences we have at PhoneSmart dealing with the world of self-storage.

We are taking some time to examine how consumer behavior towards self storage is changing and/or staying the same. When we started five years ago, nost callers started by saying, “I need to store my stuff. What do I do?”. About two and a half years ago we saw the balance was shifting towards an opening question like this: “How much is a storage unit?”

We are starting to see a change. More and more people are asking first: “Do you have any specials?”

We still get some people who say they need to store and ask for help figuring out what they need. We still get plenty of people who lead off the conversation with a price question. But if the trend continues, the specials question may become the majority.

I know that people in the apartment home business are sensitive to this quesiton. It has been the prevailing question of callers for some time, as overbuilding and the unprecendented rise in home ownership has put pressure on the apartment industry. Their situation is a little different, as amenities mean a lot more to an apartment renter than a storage renter. You might disagree, but you are a little more particular when you are going to live somewhere as oppossed to just leaving your belonings somewhere. Apartment leasing pros still do not have a graet way to get someone enthused about renting with them without a special offer.

The fact that people ask about specials may mean that there are enough newer and luxurious storage facilities in most markets, that they are all starting to look alike and the newness and the neat features are less interesting than they were two years ago. It may mean that people are doing more “shopping around” than they used to and whoever they talked to earlier made it seem like the special is the “Thing”. I know some large companies work very hard to promote its specials. Maybe they have been successful enough that callers are conditioned to look for specials.

Whichever the case may be, you have to give buyers what they want. We certainly have more success creating leads and reservations for stores that give us specials to offer.

How does this fall into play with how we revamp our selling proceedures?

Tell me your thoughts about specials.

bye for now,
Tron

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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