A Comprehensive Marketing Plan

What you should be doing each day, week, month, quarter and year

By Fred Gleeck

One of the three biggest mistakes I see made by self-storage operators is nothaving a comprehensive marketing plan. Over the past several issues, I've sharedinformation about specific marketing techniques. But in addition to individualtechniques, you should have a plan in place for their implementation.

As a self-storage operator, you fall into one of three categories: a) you areconsidering opening a storage facility; b) you are already building aself-storage facility; or c) you are an existing owner of a storage facility. Nomatter which category you belong to, you need a marketing plan for yourfacility. Those considering getting into the business should create one to seeif they are willing to do the work. Those who are building should do so toensure they open the doors and have people flock to them. Exisitng owners shouldhave a marketing plan to move occupancy rates in the right direction or keepthem steady.

You say you have a marketing plan in your head? That's not enough. You musthave a written plan. The plan should list actions that should be taken daily,weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly. Let's look at each time period.

Here is a list of things you should be doing on a dailybasis:

1. Track all incoming calls to determine their sources. Without accuratemeasurement, you have no idea what's going on in your business. Keep track ofthe total number of calls, sources of the calls and the percentage of calls thatturned into visits.

2. Speak with your manager once a day to see if he needs any help. Supportyour manager. I met a CEO on a plane not long ago, and I asked him what he felthis primary mission was. He said, "To be a broom. I'm here to sweepproblems out of the way for people who report to me."

3. Make at least five to 10 outbound calls each day to drum up business fromcommercial accounts. All managers should have a quota of outbound calls to make.If they don't like the idea, they are in the wrong business. This is a salesjob, not a caretaker job.

4. Send out postcards to those people who called during off hours. Use acaller ID device to record the phone numbers of people who call when the officeis closed. Use an online reverse directory to get their addresses. Then mailthem a postcard with a time-sensitive offer. Calling those people back might beperceived as intrusive. A postcard is not.

On a weekly basis, you should:

1. Call all the "centers of influence" in town to remind them youexist. Call the real estate offices, truck-rental places and all of the otherfolks who have the potential to send you business. The key is"non-pushy" persistence. If you keep reminding people you're there,they are less apt to forget you.

2. Call your own facility and disguise your voice to hear how your employeesreally handle themselves when they talk with customers. I'm amazed at how fewowners call their own facilities. This is such a simple but important thing todo. I got one owner to call his facility, and he was appalled at what he heard.It was only then he understood why occupancy was down.

3. Look for opportunities to get coverage by the local media. There arecountless opportunities to piggy-back storage onto a current-events news story.Find one angle each week and send out a press release. It's not that difficult,and if you get coverage, it's well worth it.

4. Consider running specials to rent slow-moving units. Look at those unitsthat aren't moving and make weekly adjustments if necessary. Waiting until theend of the month may not give you enough time to properly react to yourcompetition or the changing market in your area.

On a monthly basis you should:

1. Call and/or visit your competition to see what they're up to. You say youhave done this? How many times? This is an activity that needs to be done atleast once a month. To defeat your "enemy," you must know him. Ifyou're uncertain, read Sun Tsu's The Art of War.

2. Conduct regular training sessions with your managers to keep themup-to-date. Conducting monthly meetings for your managers and other employeesmakes a lot of sense. Most managers are willing to learn, but most owners claimthey don't have the time to teach. Make time for this activity and you'll makemore money in the long run.

3. Read industry trade magazines to keep abreast of current issues. Ownersand managers must be committed to staying up-to-date with the latest industryinformation. If a manager isn't willing to read and discuss the tradepublications, you have a problem.

4. Schedule a monthly coaching session by phone with an outside self-storageexpert. Managers will listen to experts above owners. Using an outside expert togive basic feedback is a great idea. Doing this over the phone takes an houreach month and pays off in spades.

5. Go to monthly networking events, such as at the chamber of commerce.Managers and owners should make an effort to get out into the community tonetwork, but most networking is done incorrectly. There should be a purpose.Networking should be done to get business, not just schmooz people.

6. Review occupancy rates by unit size to make necessary price adjustments.Most people tend to look only at the overall occupancy rates and adjust pricesupward or downward on that basis. That is misguided. Instead, look at youroccupancy rates specifically by unit size, then adjust accordingly.

7. Hold a contest for your managers, and vary them from month to month. Yes,your managers are already getting paid a salary, but you need to keep themmotivated. Give them some realisitc goals to shoot for and then reward them formeeting those goals. This strategy is inexpensive and effective.

On a quarterly basis, you should:

1. Hold unannounced, random events for your customers to thank them for theirbusiness. There is no better way to get a buzz going about your facility than todo some random act of kindness for customers. For example, wash the car of eachone of your tenants who comes into the facility on a given day.

2. Create seasonal fliers. Fliers are inexpensive and effective. You cancreate them for any and all services at your facility. In addition to handingthem out off-site, you can design ones you put under people's unit doors toannounce various promotions

3. Test a piece of direct mail on a targeted group within five miles of yourfacility. Direct mail and Value-Pak mailers can be effective. Make sure toconstantly test new offers. I've seen promotions that pulled nothing and I'veseen those that pulled a 7:1 return on the dollar. You won't know until youtest.

4. Find an additional item to sell at the office based on customer feedback.If you aren't selling retail items in your storage office, you're losing a lotof potential revenue. You've established a relationship with your renters, nowsell them something. Listen to customers and test the items on a limited basisto start.

5. Work at your own facility one day each quarter to find out how thingsreally work. Owners sometimes never even see their storage facilities. Workingat your own facility is the single most-effective means I've seen for owners tounderstand what really goes on in their businesses.

Once each year, you should:

1. Go to the annual self-storage conference and expo in Las Vegas and bringyour manager. Not only is it the best convention of the year, there are greateducational seminars. The trip can serve as an information-gathering event aswell as a thank you for your manager's efforts throughout the year.

2. Have a qualified consultant do an external marketing audit of yourfacility. Looking at your business yourself is a worthwhile endeavor. Butnothing can beat having an outside expert visit your facility and providefeedback. An expert can usually discover some hidden profits. One word ofcaution: Be sure to hire someone with a valid reputation.

3. Review your numbers with a qualified expert to see what areas of yourbusiness can be improved. You'll be surprised what a well-trained pair of eyescan find.

If you think this is a lot to do, you're right. But if you have a marketingplan soundly in place, you'll keep your occupancy rates high and experience lessof the yo-yo cycle so many operators encounter. You don't just need marketingwhen times are tough, you need it when things are going smoothly. This will helpkeep occupancy and profitability high.

Fred Gleeck is a self-storage profit- maximization consultant. He helpsstorage owners before and after they get into the business. His is the author ofSecrets of Self Storage Marketing Success--Revealed! and numerous othertraining items for self-storage operators. To get regular tips on self-storage,send Mr. Gleeck an e-mail at [email protected];call 800.345.3325.