How to Streamline Your Tenant Communications

In the storage facility industry, the tenant relationship is a big part of what makes businesses thrive. How, how often, and how efficiently you communicate with your customers directly translates to both retention and growth.

Facility management software (FMS) that has a tenant relationship dashboard with embedded communication features can help you improve their experience. It’s a cost-effective way to streamline communications, save time, and maximize efficiency.

Why You Should Invest In the Right FMS

COVID drastically changed how businesses communicate with their customers out of necessity, and those changes have become the norm. In the storage industry, contactless move-ins, remote account management, auto billing and payment, and digital communication quickly became popular with tenants.

The right FMS enables you to manage all that with one platform, maximizing labor without having to add employees. Even better, it effectively turns facility managers into revenue generators by giving them more time to collect payments, optimize pricing, market the business, and convert leads. The best FMS platforms require little technical knowledge to learn and operate, and they will enhance your established processes rather than disrupt them.

Choosing the Right FMS to Improve Tenant Communications

Whether you’re looking to try FMS for the first time or upgrade to one that can enhance your business more, look for these differentiators:

Features and Functionality

In addition to online reservations, billing, and payments, select FMS that can seamlessly integrate access control, has comprehensive reporting capabilities, and features a highly intuitive interface to help your business function efficiently.

Customer Support

How well do their people really know the product they’re supporting? Are they available when you need them? Your business operates seven days a week – you’ll want customer support that does too.

Scalability

Whether you have one facility or hundreds, running a storage business is complex. You need FMS that can manage your whole operation while being scalable for growth.

Data Security

Seek an FMS provider that prioritizes tenant data security. Look for tokenization, PCI compliance for credit cards, and hosting with multiple data encryption options.

Customization

Some platforms can be a little too “my way or the highway” when it comes to functionality. Others are much more flexible, allowing you to easily customize notices, delinquency stages, rates, and security levels. Find one that adjusts to your business rather than the other way around.

Efficient, Impactful Communications Can Maximize Revenue

When storage operators are happy with their FMS, one of the first things they’ll mention is the positive impact it’s had on their bottom line, largely due to the communication management capabilities they now have. You want FMS that makes communicating with tenants as easy as the click of a button. 

Text Messaging

Almost everyone uses a smartphone today and expects communication via text messages. It’s a perfect fit for the storage industry because it lets managers:

• Schedule mass messages about promotions and discounts
• Communicate about emergencies
• Send personalized messages regarding payments or other unit-specific information

Text messages have extremely high open rates and are proven to be especially effective both for reducing delinquency and collecting late fees.

Email

Cost-effective for reaching large audiences and easy to schedule, email is still a critical communication tool. Facility managers can:

• Create targeted campaigns to attract new customers and convert leads
• Communicate facility policies and news
• Send notifications of past due payments
• Provide documented communication in the case of disputes and misunderstandings

Email is also a great tool for collecting feedback and brand building.

Better Manage Your Tenant Relationships

Adopting FMS with embedded communication features can lead to significant improvements in efficiency, profitability, and tenant satisfaction, making it a worthwhile investment for businesses of all sizes. Start delivering more value to your customers and upgrade your self-storage investment.