Lowering Rental Rates to Attract New Tenants

Businesses across the country are doing everything they can to stay afloat during this long recession. Many have endured layoffs, cut back on supplies, shortened business hours, put off remodeling or equipment upgrades—and the list goes on.

In the self-storage industry, one cost-cutting measure often talked about is lowering rental rates. The idea is to entice new renters by lowering rates by $10 or $15 per unit. But how do you handle a rate drop? What will you tell existing customers?

There’s an interesting discussion on the Self-Storage Talk forum right now on this hot topic. Forum member northsound wrote a rate drop is in the works to draw first-time customers to a newly opened facility, but has concerns about existing customers.

Jobesteph offered an interesting analogy: It is kind of like going to Wal-Mart and purchasing a DVD Player only to find it a week later with a little Smiley Face Mark Down. Does Wal-Mart automatically give you the price difference back??

While forum poster Autodoc writes he’s not a fan of lowering rates, when it’s a must, self-storage operators should make it a “limited” offer. Others also chimed in with solid advice.

To offer your two-cents, post a comment below or join the discussion.