Thoughts From the Road 7233

Thoughts From the Road

By Jim Chiswell

This pastsummer provided me many unique opportunities. My consulting work, along with some personaltravel, gave me the chance to criss-cross America's Heartland, mostly by car. The highwaysof Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri helped me to record more than 4,000miles in my Bonneville.

My point in explaining this journey is not to give you a travel log or to rant abouthigh gasoline prices, but to give you a framework for the following observation. Invirtually every community I drove through, I saw established self-storage facilities aswell as those under development. These facilities are not just in urban and suburban areasbut, more importantly, across the rural landscape of America.

Signs for facilities names such as "The Cubby Hole," "A Little ExtraSpace," "Space R Us" and "Extra Shed" jumped out at me as Idrove. Many facilities were just a single building perhaps 30 by 150 or 200 feet. Most hadno office on site. Many were not fenced or paved. However, most appeared to be near fullcapacity. Following a trend that's being repeated hundreds of times in communities allover the United States, entrepreneurs are building facilities. Most of thesemicro-projects are not being counted in the mysterious number of "total facilitiesnationwide," which seems so difficult to establish. It was exciting to see all thesefacilities.

I mention this because I believe these owners may be more critical to our industry thanever before. The manner in which these new owners conduct their business is crucial in anera when the self-storage industry is seeing increased legislative initiatives andcustomer litigation.

It is important for all of us to embrace these new owners. We need to seek anaffordable way to involve them in the activities of our state and national associations.As established owners, we need to reach out and share our expertise. Being a mentor couldprovide untold benefits for new owners as well as the industry as a whole.

If you are a new owner of one of these smaller facilities, do not hesitate to call onanother owner near you. Make sure your occupancy agreement complies with your state'scurrent standards for dealing with customers. Make sure your late-fee policy does notleave you open to possible future complications. Make sure your lien sales are conductedin compliance with your state's lien law so that "wrongful-sale" litigation canbe avoided.

I'm excited to see how our industry is touching every community. The importance ofself-storage to both our residential and commercial customers is undeniable. I am proud tobe a part of this industry and trust that you are, too. Working together, we can continueto expand market opportunities while limiting our collective exposure to overzealouslegislators and litigation.

Holiday Planning

It is not too early to begin planning your facility decorations for the year-endholiday season. Yes, that's right: holiday decorating! What a perfect opportunity to deckyour buildings, fence line and trees with attention-grabbing lights. This is anopportunity, for just a few extra dollars on your electric bill and the one-time cost ofdecorations, to make the local community take notice of your facility.

Over the years I have seen very few projects dress up for the holidays. Sure, somecreative managers have done a wonderful job of making their offices look festive, but theexterior generally continues in a "same-old, same-old" way. I just can'tunderstand this, especially when we are constantly seeking new, creative methods to marketour businesses year round. In addition to creating increased visibility for your rentalprospects, holiday decorating will cause your existing customers to share in the holidayspirit you create. Your office should also tastefully reflect the joy of the season.

You don't have to be part of a specific religious persuasion to enjoy a holiday displayof lights or a festive atmosphere at your facility, but don't force employees to executeyour preconceived decorating strategy. Involve them from the beginning of the planning andimplementation of your holiday decorating. Have fun and don't be afraid to go a littleover the top in your display. Perhaps residents will actually slow down a little as theydrive past to look at your handiwork. And don't forget to include that all-important sign:"Happy Holidays From Everyone at 'Your Name' Self Storage."

Electronic Signatures

At the end of June, President Clinton signed into law the "Electronic Signaturesin Global and National Commerce Act." In short, this legislation gives formal legalstatus to an electronic signature on a contract or other legal document. This should clearthe way for self-storage owners who are aggressively using the Internet to obtain a signedoccupancy agreement from a customer. It may also provide an avenue for the sending ofdelinquent notices via the Internet, but that is a future opportunity that may presentitself. If you are interested in complete details on the law, you can searchhttp://thomas.loc.gov and under "Senate Bill 761 (S. 761)."

Grandpa Jim

On a personalnote, I would like to close this column with a special thank you. On May 19th, at 7:28a.m., Courtney Elizabeth Johnson joined the Chiswell family. Her parents--our oldestdaughter, Christie, and her husband, John--have given my wife, Jackie, and I one of thegreatest gifts in the world: a grandchild. Now I can point to Courtney as the reason whyher grandpa acts so crazy at times! She has already brought joy to so many people. I justwanted to say "thank you" to Courtney, and her Mom and Dad, for helping merefocus on life's priorities.

Jim Chiswell is the president of Chiswell & Associates Ltd., which has provideda full range of consulting services to the self-storage industry since 1990. Mr. Chiswellcan be reached at his office in Buffalo, N.Y., at (716) 634-2428; e-mail [email protected]; www.Jimdot.com.