Publicly traded, U.S.-based self-storage real estate investment trusts (REITs) Life Storage Inc. and National Storage Affiliates Trust (NSAT) were among the companies recently honored by Newsweek Media as America’s Best Customer-Service Brands for 2020. Companies were recognized in 160 categories. NSAT ranked No. 7 overall and No. 1 among “storage centers.” Life Storage was No. 2 in the self-storage category, while SecurCare Self Storage, a participating regional operator of NSAT, notched third.

Disney Cruise Line was the No. 1 overall customer-service brand, followed by Neiman Marcus and The Ritz-Carlton. NSAT was behind L.L. Bean. Winners were selected based on the evaluations from more than 20,000 U.S. customers who have either made a purchase, used a service or gathered information about a product or service in the last three years.

“We are honored to be recognized as the top-rated customer service provider in the Storage Centers category,” said Arlen Nordhagen, CEO of NSAT. “NSA has been committed to excellence since we founded the company in 2013, and this is another acknowledgement of our entire team’s above and beyond efforts.”

Life Storage is a repeat honoree. “We are honored to be recognized by our customers with this award for the second year in a row,” said CEO Joe Saffire. “Life Storage associates across the company work hard to deliver a best-in-class customer experience each and every day. This award is a direct result of those efforts.”

Among the criteria considered, survey participants were asked whether they would recommend brands to friends or family, as well as evaluate brands in five areas related to the customer experience: quality of communication, professional competence, range of services, customer focus and accessibility. A total of 115,115 evaluations were collected, according to a press release.

Based in Buffalo, N.Y., Life Storage operates more than 800 self-storage facilities in 29 states and Ontario, Canada. Its portfolio of owned and managed facilities comprises more than 56.5 million square feet.

Headquartered in Greenwood, Colo., NSAT is a self-administered, self-managed REIT focused on the acquisition, operation and ownership of self-storage properties within the top 100 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The company has more than 700 self-storage facilities in 35 states and Puerto Rico comprising more than 46 million net rentable square feet. It's owned by its affiliate operators, who are contributing their interests in their self-storage assets over the next few years as their current mortgage debt matures.

Sources:
Life Storage, Life Storage Wins Newsweek’s 2020 Best Customer Service Award
National Storage Affiliates Trust, National Storage Affiliates Trust Named by Newsweek and Statista as One of America’s Best Customer Service Brands for 2020
Newsweek, America’s Best Customer Service 2020