July 1, 2003

2 Min Read
KEEP IT UP

When I was two years old, my parents purchased a lime-green Dodge Dart with dark-green interior. It had a beautifully smooth bench seat in the back on which I would slide from one end to the other every time we went around a sharp turn. It had a black hard top and sweet white-wall tires. It smelled like vinyl.

My father loved this car, and babied it, and carried on over it. He washed it at least twice a week and was meticulous about its service schedule. In fact, he took such amazing care with this vehicle, it was still in fantastic working condition when I tested for my driver's license at the tender age of 16. I drove that car until I graduated from college--no lie. I was none too thrilled with having to drive the "snot-green boat-mobile." But it got me from point A to point B, it was free, and damn if it wasn't the center of much attention.

Now, had my father been more lax with his vehicle maintenance, I might have been tooling around in a Chevy Cavalier or Ford Taurus. OK, maybe that's not glamorous either, but the point is, care and attention earned my family a car that lasted more than 20 years--much to my chagrin. And I learned a great deal about taking pride in ownership.

This is a good lesson for owners of self-storage, whose facilities project a message to the public on a daily basis. Your curb appeal, building exteriors, office environment, etc., communicate information to prospects about your business. What would you like them to say?

A well-maintained, clean and inviting property tells prospects you are conscientious and organized. Care for your property translates into care for their goods. On the other hand, cracked and broken pavement, chalky and faded doors, soiled carpeting and a foul restroom convey an apathy and disregard for tenants and prospects. If you treat your buildings with neglect, why would anyone believe you treat your customers differently?

In this issue, you'll find articles on ways to maintain building exteriors and doors, as well as the proper way to refurbish a roof with elastomeric coatings. ISS has also provided a series of handy maintenance checklists to help keep managers on track, from day-to-day practices to larger, less-frequent tasks. Maintenance is truly an area in which an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure; and there is no better way to sell prospects on your facility than to present them an attractive, well-preserved and notable site.

Happy upkeep,

Teri L. Lanza
Editorial Director
[email protected]

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