24/7 access offers so many benefits.
It's better for your SEO. It's better for your tenants. It's better for your marketing.
But it does come with its challenges. One of those challenges is security. Operators often wonder whether or not their facility will be as secure if they offer 24/7 access.
Aaron Harwell of SpiderDoor sat down with Tommy and Melissa to talk about self self storage security. Listen to his thoughts on 24/7 access!
Question: "Does 24/7 access make your facility less secure?"
Check out the video clip below to hear their answers:
In this Gabfocus Session: The Good, Better, & Best in Storage Security, Aaron Harwell of SpiderDoor sat down with Tommy and Melissa to talk about self storage security. They spoke on topics ranging from the best security amenities to thoughts on 24/7 access.
Check out the full Session to dive deeper!
Don't want to watch the clip? Here's what Aaron had to say:
Again, we have storage. I'm just thinking of one company that's got eleven locations.
They close at seven, and they don't let a human being in after seven. So logic, common sense tells you that—now, we've seen idiots go out and steal catalytic converters in the middle of the day. Cut them out, you know, but bottom line is—most people are going in there when it's dark, and they're trying to accomplish that in hours that people are not there.
So if you're closing your facility at 9:00 or 7:00pm. you're alleviating until the next morning, at seven, that gap.
So common sense tells me, I feel like, that that's going to be a worse time.
All my sites were 24 hours, but I wasn't having that problem. I'm not saying don't be 24 hours.
I think it's great.
But if you're asking the question of iis the potential worse for theft? I think so because the bad things happen.
Like my mom used to tell me, nothing good happens after midnight. What are you doing out? So that's, you know, I'm not trying to be out after midnight myself as a grown man. So, yeah, so that's my answer to that.
Do I think it makes it less secure? Yeah, but is it understood? And do thousands of locations do that? Yes. And they do it successfully.
And if you have good security in place, that does also help you do it successfully.
But keep in mind, you can offer 24/7 as an add-on as well.
If you have particular customers that do need special access, and they have a valid reason, upsell it to them. Maybe it's an extra $5 a month charge to get 24/7 access.
And you can still advertise that 24/7 access is available.
So it's just going to come at a little higher premium there. So it's definitely not saying that you shouldn't offer that extended time, just do it responsibly."
—Aaron Harwell
