Getting to 100% occupancy

JamesMcKenzie

as background...my son and I own and operate three small storage facilities in Canada all within 15 minute drive of one another. He manages one and I manage two. I use a great report that appears in my inbox every morning that lists all the vacant units at all three sites. This is invaluable to ensure we offer potential customers space in any of our sites. (It is a significant factor in maintaining our 96% occupancy). We could really step this up IF we had a report that ALSO lists scheduled move outs...or even a second report that listed just scheduled move outs AUTOMATICALLY. NOTE: this report exists but does not appear in the daily batch reporting list of reports available. Any ideas out there?  Would Sitelink be able to add this feature? Thanks in advance...

MamaDuke7

1.  You never want to be at 100% occupancy.  That means you aren't charging enough!  And that means you turn people away.  The sweet spot is actually 87% - 93%.

2.  The Start of Day batch reports has Scheduled Move-Outs as an option.

GlenMark

A list of scheduled move-outs, at least in my experience, still isn't very accurate. I can't guarantee, even with move out times expressed, that units will be emptied until I actually see them empty. So when we were sitting at the 100% occupancy mark for quite a long time, we'd keep inquiries in our Lead to Lease section on SiteLink and then keep in touch with them until units became available for them. Communication was key to keeping potential customers interested in storing with us. You'd lose some of course, but the remainders always appreciated the contact.

ronsmate

How do you make a report that includes all 3 sites? 

pacnwstorage

Being at 100% full can seem like a great thing when you go thru the facility and see a lock on every door but that also means when you get calls for units available, you have to say no. Then that person goes elsewhere. I have been there many times. Hated it. The conversation is very short when you are full. When I had to say I had no vacancies enough times I went out and did mystery shops on competitors and then I could hopefully help a caller out and recommend a facility I trusted. At least then the caller leaves with a positive attitude about their call to you.  

JamesMcKenzie

Thanks everyone. We do keep a waiting list through Lead to Lease...interesting point about the occupancy rate...I will have to do some regression analysis to find my own sweet spot. I have compared my rates with my local competition (4) and we are right in the pack.

pacnwstorage

JamesMcKenzie said:

Thanks everyone. We do keep a waiting list through Lead to Lease...interesting point about the occupancy rate...I will have to do some regression analysis to find my own sweet spot. I have compared my rates with my local competition (4) and we are right in the pack.

While I have found that price is a concern of many prospective tenants, I have also found and feel that location is just as important to that person. I am in an upscale low crime rate neighborhood. I am also former military and I do have a reputation as running a "tight ship" so to speak. Good thing since I was in the US Navy during Vietnam. I push security and location way more than price.

i43storage

@pacnwstorage I agree ... and Thank You for your service.  

prowlett

pacnwstorage said:

JamesMcKenzie said:

Thanks everyone. We do keep a waiting list through Lead to Lease...interesting point about the occupancy rate...I will have to do some regression analysis to find my own sweet spot. I have compared my rates with my local competition (4) and we are right in the pack.

While I have found that price is a concern of many prospective tenants, I have also found and feel that location is just as important to that person. I am in an upscale low crime rate neighborhood. I am also former military and I do have a reputation as running a "tight ship" so to speak. Good thing since I was in the US Navy during Vietnam. I push security and location way more than price.

#1 location #2 convenience #3features #4manager.......last is price. I argue that if your customer sees the value, price doesn’t matter. I have absolutely no problem being more expensive than my customers. Know your worth. I know we provide more and better services, so I charge more. That doesn’t mean I don’t have discounts or web specials. As long as the customer sees the value and determines that the value is worth the price, your competitors price doesn’t matter. It’s all about how well you can educate and serve your customers.