Open Q&A: Marketing & Operations | Gabfocus | Self Storage Virtual Workshop

Gabfocus Episode 15| Open Q&A: Marketing & Operations

This Session, we hold our first Open Q&A - a full hour of attendee questions, discussion, and surprise guest experts. We cover everything from referral programs to avoiding auctions, from self storage associations to third part management. Check it out to hear what your self storage colleagues are thinking about!

Featured Speakers: Melissa Huff & Tommy Nguyen

Category: Marketing
Focus: Owners and Managers
Aired: September 10th, 2020
Duration: 1:09:49

Gabfocus Sessions

Gabfocus Sessions are virtual workshops for self storage owners, managers, and operators. Brought to you by the team behind Gabfest: StoragePug and MR 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 more tools for your managers? Join us on Gabfocus weekly on Thursdays.

Top Questions Answered in this session

How do you suggest competing with the bigger companies as a smaller operation?
How important is a Self Storage Association?
Is it worth it to have a 3rd-party company manage a small 80-unit facility?
How do you make the sign up process as easy as possible?
What are best collection practices that can help us avoid having to get to the point of having auctions in the first place?
I'm iInterested in Every Door Direct Mailing, what are some good "call to actions" to put on the front of your mailout?
I am working on an operations manual for my company’s portfolio. Is there anything you recommend when taking on this task? Are there any operations manuals that can be viewed to give an idea for what to build off of?

These are just a few of the questions answered during this session! Get your pen and paper ready!

Melissa Huff

Owner at MR Management & Consulting LLC

Website: https://mr-mgmt.com
Email: melissa@mr-mgmt.com

Tommy Nguyen

Co-founder of StoragePug

Website: https://www.storagepug.com
Email: tommy@storagepug.com

Resources from this session

Awesome Quotes

“If you want to avoid auctions, communication is key. The first time you get that letter back as ‘undeliverable’ you hunt them down. Call them every day until you get a response! Autopay is great. Have multiple forms of communication: phone, email, text messages.” - Alonna Ross

“I really rely on my managers to know what’s going on in the community and stay connected. Word of mouth marketing is huge for us. For us, grassroots marketing and social media are our most important marketing strategies.” - Melissa Huff

"One of the #1 advantages that a smaller operation has is that you know your market better than anybody else. A bigger company may have hundreds or even thousands of facilities, and there is no way they’ll know your city, or especially, your neighborhood like you do. That’s your advantage." - Tommy Nguyen

“As a smaller operation, we can react a lot faster than any big REIT can and make adjustments on the fly because we don’t have to run it up the ladder.” - Jim Mooney

"We say this every week, but it’s because it’s true. Your #1 digital asset or tool is Google My Business. If you don’t have anything else, have Google My Business. We track all the leads that come into our sites, and in the last 90 days, 40% of leads came from our clients Google My Business accounts." - Tommy Nguyen

Resources Mentioned

Self Storage Webinars

QR Code - Free Generator

Google My Business

Storage Structures

Question of the Week

We asked our panelists: What Marketing idea are you loving right now?

“Social media is definitely where we’re focusing right now, so we just hired someone to really take our visuals to the next level: photo, video, and posts. We’re trying to make it more personable and be more intentional with it instead of it just being more organic.” - Melissa Huff

“Facebook retargeting! It actually works really well. Think about your customer. Renting a unit is a chore, and they want it done right away. If they visited your website but didn’t do business with you there, there’s a chance they’re off checking out your competitors. If you can catch them while they’re on social media with retargeting, that’s a great, easy way to get them back to your site.” - Tommy Nguyen

Gabfocus Takeaway

This Session, we covered a wide range of questions and topics, but doing so reminds us that there are rarely clear-cut answers. Each facility and each market has its own unique challenges and opportunities. Staying connected to colleagues and hearing whatever other operators are doing can help you make the right decisions for your facility! Don’t try and reinvent the wheel, reach out, and the self storage community will be happy to help.