SpareFoot, an online marketplace for self-storage consumers, has reduced the size of its call-center staff to better align resources to handle large increases in online reservations. The layoffs come after the company announced earlier this year it was expanding the number of call-center agents, known by the company as Amazing Customer Experience (ACE) Team members.

August 10, 2015

3 Min Read
Self-Storage Directory SpareFoot Downsizes ACE Call-Center Team

SpareFoot, an online marketplace for self-storage consumers, has reduced the size of its call-center staff to better align resources to handle large increases in online reservations. The layoffs come after the company announced earlier this year it was expanding the number of call-center agents, known by the company as Amazing Customer Experience (ACE) Team members.

Recent improvements to the company’s website “resulted in huge swaths of our customers completing their transactions online instead of picking up the phone,” co-founder and CEO Chuck Gordon said in a letter to SpareFoot employees. “Unfortunately, this means the call center we envisioned and started to build several years ago is no longer practical in today’s environment where so many more of our customers are transacting online. Therefore, SpareFoot is substantially reducing the size of our ACE call center. This is a very painful moment for not just those on the ACE team, but for everyone else at SpareFoot who is not directly impacted by this change.”

The company will keep an internal staff of about 10 ACE Team members and maintain its relationship with an unnamed third-party partner, according to the letter. ACE members handle self-storage inquiries via phone, e-mail and Web chat, helping customers determine what size storage space they need and rent moving rucks, according to a previous news release. They also book and manage storage reservations.

In January, SpareFoot announced plans to hire 30 new agents to bring its call-center staff to 105. In February, the company announced it had hired 20 employees since the beginning of 2015 and expected to add 80 more by year-end, primarily for the company’s ACE staff and Development Team. In 2014, it expanded the ACE Team from 58 to 75 members.

In March, SpareFoot received $33 million in venture capital from investors, which was earmarked primarily for product development and engineering. Its work in those areas has helped increase its online conversion rate, Gordon said. “More of our customers transacting online means they are finding what they need faster and more easily, and our cost to service them is substantially lower,” he wrote in his letter. “People who reserve online have a substantially higher move-in rate, which results directly in more revenue for our clients. And it’s a big scalability win for the business that will allow us to invest more resources in making our product even better.”

In addition to severance pay, SpareFoot will provide those who lost their jobs with career and resume counseling, health insurance through the end of the year, and introductions with other local companies to help find them new positions, Gordon said.

Founded in 2008, SpareFoot.com helps consumers find and reserve self-storage units, with comparison shopping tools that show real-time availability and exclusive deals. Since its launch, the company has raised $59 million in venture capital. With a network of more than 10,000 storage facilities ranging from mom-and-pop operations to real estate investment trusts, the company reaches prospective storage renters though partnerships with brands including SelfStorage.com and Penske Truck Rental.

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