Are you looking for a way to improve your self storage business’s customer service?
What if you could reduce your individual workload while improving your customer service?
Chatbots are an increasingly common tool used to improve the customer experience without making the burden on owners and employees even heavier. Let’s look at the benefits of using a chatbot for self storage and how to decide if they’re right for your business!
If you just need the highlights:
Before we dive in, let’s make sure we’re all familiar with what a chatbot really is.
By now, you're probably familiar with AI chatbots like those powered by ChatGPT. It seems everyone is starting to hop on the trend, with both Bing and Google finding more ways to integrate their versions (Copilot and Gemini) into their search platforms.
Chatbots utilize AI-powered software or pre-defined rules to provide a certain level of automation to the customer service experience.
The goal here shouldn't be to replace human interaction. Instead, chatbots help handle the bottom-level customer service needs that are a drain on businesses and their teams.
There are three main types of chatbots:
Rather than tell you which one you should use, I'd like to help you understand each model so that you can choose the one that best fits your needs.
Rule-based chatbots are simple bots that read a query and respond based on a set of pre-defined rules. Usually, these will just look for keywords in the user’s text and offer up the solutions that the owner of the bot has associated with those keywords. For example, a user might ask: “Do you have any storage units available?” The bot reads “storage units” and “available,” and provides a link to your rates page for the user to see what you have!
AI-powered chatbots are a little more complex. They have some pre-defined rules as well, but they also are a little bit better at reading the intent of the user’s query rather than relying purely on keywords. Sometimes, these might be full-on generative AI chatbots that will go beyond pre-programmed responses. But you need to be careful with generative AI support: A 2024 study showed that ChatGPT, a generative AI chatbot, would give incorrect information up to 26% of the time.
Menu-based chatbots are at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to support. They are very rigid, only offering pre-set options for users to click through. Often, a user will have a specific query and this kind of chatbot won't have an option that relates to it, frustrating your customers.
So, how much do these chatbots cost?
The answer, you probably won't be surprised to read, depends on the vendor you choose and what type of plan you opt into.
There are also three basic payment models:
Here are some general ranges to expect:
There's no simple yes or no answer to this question. It entirely depends on your business's needs. But let's talk about some statistics and other facts to help you decide.
There are two main considerations: The needs of your customers and the needs of your team.
Before deciding to use a chatbot (or almost any other customer-facing tool), you should think about how useful it will be for your customers.
If it will improve their experience, that's a win. But if it will complicate or otherwise hurt their experience, why would you do it?
When it comes to chatbots, the reviews are mixed. Most people prefer other forms of communication with a business, but chat. A 2024 report on chatbots determined:
Point #3 doesn't mean you shouldn't get a chatbot. Ask yourself this: Are you able to answer the phone instantly 24 hours a day? Is a call center able to assist with the kinds of concerns people are calling about after office hours?
Assuming the answer to either of those is no, then a chatbot may be right for your business!
A chatbot also needs to be the right answer for you and your team. Ask yourself some of these questions:
By asking these questions about your self storage business operations, you can probably start to get a clearer picture of whether or not a chatbot would help you out.
If your managers often have a lot of extra time on their hands, then maybe you aren’t in dire need of an AI assistant for your customer service.
But if freeing up your team on the customer service side gives them an opportunity to get other work done finally, or to give more attention to customers with more complicated situations?
Well, it might just mean that a chatbot is right for you.
Let’s wrap up by talking about some of the benefits of a chatbot.
If you have considered your team’s workload and your tenants’ needs and are still on the fence about a chatbot, here are some of the key advantages of using one to help you make your choice!
These are just some of the most important and self-storage-related benefits of using a chatbot.
Most importantly for self storage operators, chatbots automate time-consuming tasks and allow your customers to interact with you 24 hours a day.
If a storage customer has questions about your facility after office hours and doesn’t get a response until the next business day, it’s very possible you’ve already lost them to a competitor.
Even better, with some self storage software providers, you can even integrate your chatbot or set it up to interact with customers via SMS!
If you're thinking about a chatbot, you should look at products that are specifically geared towards businesses like yours. Chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini aren't designed to be customer support tools.
Still into the idea of ChatGPT? Here's a list of how to use ChatGPT for your self storage facility:
Keep in mind that you want to heavily proofread these templates and scripts if you use ChatGPT to generate them!
A self storage chatbot won’t be the right answer for every business. That said, it’s important to consider the technology and whether or not it can benefit your self storage business.
If you think a chatbot is right for your business, see if you can find one that integrates with your self storage software or one that can be customized the way you need for your facilities!
Here are some other great posts from StoragePug!
At StoragePug, we build self storage websites that make it easy for new customers to find you and easy for them to rent from you.
