Rethinking the Tenant Experience
In just a few years, multiple factors have reshaped the self-storage industry, leading facility owners and operators to rethink the tenant experience they need to provide to remain competitive and grow.
Since COVID, people have become more cautious about personal safety and hygiene. Many prefer a storage experience that minimizes physical contact.
That calls for meeting modern tenants where they are – online and on their phones. It’s not just something they want anymore, it’s an expectation that they’ll turn elsewhere for if they can’t get it from your business.
What Tenants Need From Self-Storage Operators Today
Tenants want to complete the entire rental process without having to visit the facility’s office. This includes:
- Unit selection
- Online lease agreements
- Contactless move-ins
- Auto billing and online payments
- Digital communication
- Remote account management
- Unique access codes to enter facilities and units
How to Give Tenants What They Want and Maximize Your Revenue
There’s a simple and efficient way to give tenants what they want without disrupting your operations. Facility management software (FMS) functions as an all-in-one tool that integrates and automates all these processes while optimizing your marketing spend and significantly amplifying revenue opportunities.
FMS helps you manage inventory, analyze occupancy rates, and leverage market demand to implement a data-driven strategy for optimizing pricing against competitors. It also enables you to analyze historical data and market trends to adjust pricing during peak periods and fill vacant units during slower times. You set the parameters and the FMS handles the revenue management.
Staff Availability and Fast Service
The self-storage industry has historically relied on customer service to be a differentiator. COVID didn’t change that. FMS will actually make what you already do even more impactful by enabling the efficient, contactless experience customers want.
The right FMS can help a lot more people flow through the rental process at once, proactively address needs, and provide detailed instructions every step of the way, freeing you to focus on providing even more value to prospects and customers.
Online Reservations and Move-ins
With tenants now expecting the ability to do everything online, your website needs to be optimized to quickly engage and show them you’re making it as easy as possible. FMS allows you to use your website as a portal to a great tenant experience and a sales platform that can promote your business, speed reservations and move-ins with integrated e-sign and payment, and communicate all information digitally.
Online Account Management
Once tenants move in, it’s critical to continue to provide a contactless, self-service experience. The more they can access online – account details, billing, documents, insurance information, the ability to add units, etc. – the happier and more loyal they’ll be, and the more you’ll boost your brand and create new leads.
Multi-channel Tenant Communications
People still want to be able to communicate in a variety of ways, so it’s important to make it easy, whether en masse or through personalized messaging.
FMS seamlessly integrates phone and call forwarding, text messaging, email, chat on your website (manually or through bots), and even social media. The more options you have to reach tenants in the ways they prefer, the more successful you’ll be at promoting your business, optimizing marketing spend, and reducing delinquencies.
Take the Tenant Experience to the Next Level
FMS saves self-storage businesses time by automating critical workflows and streamlining communications, optimizing marketing efforts, decreasing delinquent payments, and increasing revenue.
Just as importantly, FMS facilitates an exceptional, contactless tenant experience in a more cautious post-pandemic world, providing the edge owners and operators need in a highly competitive industry.
