The Digital Tools you Need to Modernize a Self-Storage Facility
Technology is here to stay, and self-storage operators must adopt the latest gadgets, gizmos, and applications to compete in a booming market. If you’re a self-storage operator struggling with how to bring your facility up to date with technology, read on as we share the latest automation that you should invest in.
From automation and systemizations, there’s no question that technology has permanently changed the way business is done. Anyone who owns or runs self-storage facilities can enumerate how technology has impacted how business is done. Modern upgrades can help grow your business and meet the demand of contemporary consumers. Many agree that the digital component has become the only way to stay competitive. Read along to see how technology has impacted the self-storage industry.
Updated Websites:
You can’t discuss technology without a website. If you haven’t paid attention to your website over the last ten years, it’s time to start noticing the modern way of websites. Today, a website is responsive and can interact with its visitors. Consider your website as the cornerstone of your marketing campaign.
The setup for your website is a direct reflection of your facility. It conveys quality, modern technology, and responsiveness. Hold your website to a high standard for visual appeal and user accessibility, just like you hold your physical facility to a high standard of cleanliness and safety for your patrons. When it comes to modern website design, less is often more as it’s easy to navigate and is without visual clutter.
Most business owners ignore the speed of their websites. The more links and clutter it has, the less it’s optimized for visitors. The biggest reason visitors bounce from a website is that it takes too long for it to load. When load time is slow, the bounce rate can be as short as two seconds! Today’s websites must be super responsive and load properly for different devices. The page should load vertically for smartphones and in landscape mode for desktops and laptops. This will keep visitors from bouncing off your site and landing on your competitor’s site instead.
In addition to a visually responsive website, and one that loads quickly, today’s websites have customer testimonials and reviews. That way, potential customers can avoid indecisiveness and click through to purchase directly from your landing page. Data has shown that 88% of customers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from people they know. That is why Amazon is so successful.
Another reason to improve your website is to make it easy for Google to crawl your page, which helps with SEO ranking. When someone searches on Google, when your website is SEO optimized, you will rank amongst the top 5 in the google search results. Think of your online presence as your virtual curb appeal. Keep it clean, keep it simple and keep it interactive.
Lead Capture:
Now that you’ve attracted customers to your website, you need to convert them from prospects to leads. Examples of good lead capture tools are pop-ups and discount sign-ups. They act like an online manager that helps to close sales. This means that once you have someone on your webpage, you don’t want to let them leave without collecting their email address so you can send them marketing collateral. That way, when they are ready to rent a storage facility, they choose you, not the competition.
Savvy storage facility owners and operators are adding pop-ups and sign-up forms to their website, so when someone lands on their home page, they can capture that person’s information. They understand the value behind every lead collected because it gives them the future opportunity to convert them into a sale.
Online Unit Rentals:
Online unit rentals are an excellent way to use technology to make renting units easier for your customers. When you make the experience frictionless, you convert more leads to sales. When you have a potential customer, having the ability to book and reserve a storage unit online can make the difference between going with your facility or your competition. One study showed that 25% of unit rentals happen between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. when no one is on duty as it’s after hours. With most people working flexible hours and remote work being all the rage, many business transactions happen off-hours or after hours. Renting a storage unit is one of the
Customer Service:
Once a new customer signs their rental agreement, there are still a few steps that technology can help with before they move in. The following is a short list of tools to make this process easier for the customer and storage facility operator.
- Text messaging: people can delete an email before it’s opened, but that rarely happens with text messages. Use that to your advantage. Use text messages to request user testimonials, to send out due date reminders, and any emergency information you want to disseminate.
- Autopay: another technology feature that will make life easier for your customer is the ability to set their account up for autopay. This also helps them avoid late payments, fees, and extra paperwork for the storage facility operator. Although this is not a must-have feature, it is one consumers have come to expect for recurring payments.
- Account Management: setting up online account management through a client dashboard or portal is another way to make life easier for your customers and the storage facility operator. The customer portal lets tenants view their billing history, update their personal information, and submit their 30-day cancellation requests.
Don’t shy away from technological advancements as they can ease day-to-day operations in the self-storage industry. As the storage facility operator, you need to find a balance with technology that benefits your business and keeps your customers happy. We listed a few that can get you headed in the right direction.
At The Tymac Group, we build facilities that are modernized and up to date. We use technology so that it’s easy for the facility operator and renter to have a smooth transition and experience. Visit us today at TheTymacGroup.com.
