Learning from large operators in the self storage industry is a great way to refine your own business practices. Of course, not everything that larger operators do can or should be replicated by small operators or all types of storage facilities! So, what lessons should be learned from these larger operators?
Hear it right from the source in this Gabfocus Spotlight as we're joined by Darren Kelley (Right Move) and Guy Middlebrooks (CubeSmart).
Question: "What can smaller businesses learn from larger operators?"
Check out the video clip below to hear their answers:
In this Gabfocus Session: Lessons from Large Operators, we hear from Right Move's Darren Kelley and CubeSmart's Guy Middlebrooks. They took the time to sit down with Tommy to talk about what small operators can learn from the industry's largest players.
Check out the full Session to dive deeper!
Don't want to watch the clip? Here's what Darren and Guy had to say:
If you are not queued in to the Internet and what you're marketing, what your yield is, how many rentals you're yielding, what you're spending, and leveraging that money to the best of your ability, you are hurting your business.
You need to get a consultant. You need to figure out something or whatever to get that fixed, because that's where it's at. That's the battlefield right now.
And you can learn.
Look what the REITs are doing. Look at their website. That's what I do. I look and see what they're doing. I look and see what trends are happening because you guys are doing the focus groups.
I'll be your Burger King, Mr. McDonald's. I'll be your Five Guys. No problem. I study Life Storage. I study Public. I study all my competitors, because you can very much learn something right now. Look what everybody's doing on the Internet, because if you're not competing, you need to be."
—Darren Kelley
"Never let a year—this is to the small business owners—never let a year go by that something doesn't change at your facility.
It can be physical. Maybe it's a new asphalt seal coating or a remodel of the office or the bathroom. Maybe it's a new website design. Maybe it's a reevaluation of your revenue management tactics and your existing customer rate increases. Maybe you hire someone to do your paid search and marketing or create a Facebook or a YouTube campaign. Maybe it's time to make a change with your staffing. Maybe they're not doing as well as they could.
Never let a year go by that you're not improving. And you can do it yourself, or you can use one of the vendors in our space, or you can consider third-party management. Any of the above.
Don't go a year without doing something positive at your facility. Even if things are going great this year, you still have to put money back in, and you have to put effort and energy back into your facility every year."
—Guy Middlebrooks
