10 ways your Self Storage Management Software can automate your business [eBook]

Having worked in the self storage industry (more specifically, with self storage management software) for almost a decade, I’ve had the chance to visit many self storage facilities over the years.

Sometimes, my visits are to train facility staff & managers on new tools available at their disposal, whereas other visits are to help a new owner make sense of the beast they’ve inherited or purchased – which have, at times, been in such bad shape that I’m surprised it stayed in business for as long as it had.

But regardless of the state of a business, I often come across self storage companies & marinas that probably use less than 30% of the software tools available to them. As such, they’re missing out on a bunch of cool stuff they’re paying for!

So let’s take a look at 10 great ways you can use the tools in Storman to help you automate your business. Not only will this let you earn brownie points with your boss (“Hey look what I implemented in Storman today! …I can have a pay-rise now, right? Right? Hello…?”), but it’ll save you time & make your life easier… and who doesn’t want that?!

 

1. Automate your welcome

The last thing that someone who’s moving house wants to do is carry around a bunch of important, often confidential, paperwork that they might leave in the removal truck, or worse – lose.

• Use Storman to send your new customer a copy of their completed paperwork via email.
• Use Storman to generate electronic agreements (see item #5 below) and send your paperwork electronically, too.
• Setup Storman to email a bunch of stuff to a new customer X days after move in.
• Use Storman to design a follow-up email to send 1 day after move-in, which confirms the storers website password, their gate PIN, and so on.
• Use Storman to send an email survey link after a month. This may help you iron out any kinks in your move-in procedures.
• Are you a Storman user? Find out how to send these…

 

2. Email merges

Speaking of emails and surveys, why not use StorMan’s data merge tools to send an email merge, SMS merge or printed (mail) merge? You can use this for surveying customers, sending important communications, advising of closures on public holidays (Easter, Christmas, etc).

• Use Storman to send an email survey link to your entire customer base (or a select set of customers using our search query tools).
• Use Storman to design & send SMS communications to your customers in emergencies.
• Create printed mail merges in Storman when you need to send updated agreements to your customer base.
• Are you a Storman user? Find out how to send these… (client-only link)

 

3. Rent increase rules

Configure rent increases to run constantly in the background; thus ensuring your rent increases are “rolling” – as opposed to ad-hoc, whenever you run a wizard. For example, you could configure an always-running rent increase rule such as: Increase rent by 5% as soon as the customer has been with you for 12 months.

 

These “always-running” rent increases run all the time with Daily Processing – constantly checking for customers that match your criteria before prompting to apply an increase. This enables you to get more money sooner – and also covers any short-term renters. Learn more: Traditional rent increases vs. rent increase rules.

 

4. Automate your farewell

Just like sending a welcome email when a new customer moves in, you can do the same upon move out…

• Thank the customer for their patronage & send them a refer-a-friend voucher using Storman …or include a coupon (you can make these in Storman & track their usage, too!) for a discount should they ever decide to store with you again.
• Use Storman’s design tools to include a link where the customer can like your company on Facebook, leave a review on your Google+ page, and more. Of course, Storman’s powerful Daily Processing system always displays documents before they are sent to your customers – giving you a chance to prevent a communication from going to a customer that may leave a negative review!
• Use Storman to send a customer survey link upon Move Out. If you need a survey tool, try Survey Monkey.
• Are you a Storman user? Find out how to send these…

 

5. Electronic auto-fill agreements

Save time and money by importing or setting up association legal agreements into Storman. Print off blanks if required, or let Storman pre-fill them for you. Are you a Storman user? Find out how to do this… (client-only link)

 

Download my free eBook

I’ve created a handy eBook with more details that you can refer to from time to time. Why not challenge yourself to implement a new idea from the list each week?