Menu
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
End of dialog window.
Sign in below to keep watching.
Whether there's a big REIT in town or your market is feeling a little crowded, dealing with competition is tough. How do you set yourself apart? How do you make sure new customers are choosing you without dropping your prices? In this Session, we talk about strategies and tools you can use to stay competitive - no matter your market.
Featured Speakers: Stephanie Winfree & Jim Ross
Moderators: Melissa Huff & Tommy Nguyen
Category: Marketing & Operations
Focus: Owners and Managers
Aired: February 18, 2021
Duration: 1:08:26
If you don't have time to watch the whole Session, here are some of our favorite parts:
We asked our experts: What’s the most important thing I can focus on to stay competitive in my market?
"Put yourself in the customer's shoes. Do exactly what a customer would do to rent a unit. Put your finger on the pulse of your market, and everything else will start to fall in place from there. If nothing else, know your market." - Jim Ross
"Focus on your facility. What's sad? What's tired? Does your landscaping need to be done? Is there fencing that needs to be repaired? If your place is sad to look at, they're not going to stop in. If it's warm and welcoming, they'll want to." -Stephanie Winfree
"Back up and take a big picture look at yourself. Is what you're presenting about your facility consistent wherever someone would find you? Have you been focusing one area too much and neglecting others? Take a step back and make sure everything is connected and going the same direction." - Melissa Huff
Self storage competition is growing everywhere, and if it hasn't started in your city, it will. But, this isn't something to be afraid of, if you're willing to put in the work. More facilities opening in your market means that there's demand for storage, so you need to get out there and be excellent.
The good news? The tools and strategies you need are available. In fact, as a smaller operation, you can implement and adjust your tools and strategies way easier than a bigger company or REIT. Use this to your advantage!
The big two quotes of the Session were "don't be lazy" and "accept change." Operators who are willing to work hard can find success, even in a crowded market, if they are also willing to pay attention and adapt with the ebbs and flows that an ever-changing industry demands.
Gabfocus Sessions are virtual workshops for self storage owners, managers, and operators. Brought to you by the team behind Gabfest: StoragePug and Affordable Storage Guys Management.
Each session features hand-picked industry pros who will dive deep into relevant topics surrounding our industry, share best practices, and explore trends in the market. It's our hope that these sessions help you navigate your self storage business better during these uncertain times.
Want to learn more about self storage? Join us on select Thursdays for Gabfocus.
Our panelists will be happy to answer any questions you have. We hope you enjoyed this Gabfest Session. Talk soon!
“Once your operation is in place, you can become more dynamic with your pricing, but that requires data. You need some method of being able to record the data that you need to know whether your price is in the right place - whether you need to move it up or start giving some concessions.” - Warren Lieberman
“I never want to downplay to what someone else is doing. I'm better than they are, then I'm going to be worth a higher price. That's what value is. If you go out to a restaurant and get really good service, would you go back? Yes! What if it was pricier? You'd still go back because you got better service and a better product.” - Jim Mooney
"It's good to be informed on your competition. I don't want to ignore them, but I don't want to respond too strongly to them either." - Warren Lieberman
"We did a survey of 10,000 facilities on their pricing. We found out that two-thirds of those operators didn't change the price of a single unit of the course of a month." - Warren Lieberman
“Rate increases and value pricing are the number one ways to grow your revenue.” - Jim Mooney
"Tenants in more convenient units tend to be less price sensitive." - Warren Lieberman
"The size of the unit is only one aspect of what people are willing to pay for." - Warren Lieberman
We asked our panelists: What’s the biggest hurdle to introducing value pricing to my facility?
““Manager buy-in is going to be the biggest hurdle to overcome. ” - Jim Mooney
“Embracing the concepts and believing that this can really work. If you don't, you're going to find all sorts of reasons not to do it. After that, the next biggest hurdle is just ranking the units. You don't want to do it alone. Divide it amongst your team, and get help.” - Warren Lieberman
Traditional pricing for storage units has centered around size. A smaller unit costs less than a bigger unit. Right? In this Session, we learn how pricing can be dynamic and really depends on what matters most to a customer. Borrowing insights from other industries, Warren and Jim discuss how significant convenience and availability can be when pricing your units, as well as a whole host of other features and amenities. In short, the value of your units isn't static. Introducing dynamic value pricing to your facility, can not only help you get more out of your units, but it lets your customers prioritize and choose the qualities about your units that matter to them most.