PT THE AUDITOR


Increase Your BottomLine – Sell Those Empty Spaces


I


AUDIT A NUMBER OF GARAGES THAT are half-empty.They have literally thousands of parking spaces that are never filled.My owners see this as a fact of life, the economy, or just what parking is all about. They see parking as


an amenity that is provided to tenants and visitors to their buildings. Fair enough.


However, a number ofmy customers own freestanding garages.


They look at it differently. They want every space filled every day. Now whose responsibility is that? The owner says the operator should get out there and sell parking. Sure – like that’s going to hap- pen.There are a couple of issues. First, the operatormay be competingwith itself. Say the opera-


tor has a month-to-month contract with my owner, but has a lease on four garages within a few blocks. How is it to the operator’s advantage to sell space in my owner’s garage, when they could sell the space in their leased garages? When they do so, they make 100%of the monthly fee in their leased garage and little or nothing in the contract garage.


Second, there is that “little or nothing.”


How can you expect an operator to launch a marketing pro- gram in a garage with no incentive to do so. They have to advertise, hire staff, perhaps install new equipment, and the issue is, “What’s in it for them?” Running a marketing program isn’t easy. First, you have


to figure out what you sell. Easy, you say; you sell parking. But is that really the case? Do you sell a full-time 24/7 space? Do you sell space


only “after-hours and on weekends?” Do you sell space only during the working day? Do you sell space on the “roof?” Do


If you want the operator to sell spaces for you, you have to incentivize them.


you sell “covered” or “uncovered” space? Do you sell “stor- age” where stack parking would be appropriate? Are you interested in increasing daily parking (theaters, restaurants, stores) and the resulting validation revenue? And the list goes on. Who are your customers?Are they fleet operators like


government agencies? How about rental car companies?Are your customers workers in the surrounding buildings, or per- haps park-and-riders that use a nearby train station?Are there apartments or condos without parking available and folks who need to park only after-hours and on weekends? How about firms in nearby buildings that pay $200 a month per space and you could offer the space a block away for $150? Do you advertise? Local throwaways, card decks, radio,


TV, newspapers, bill boards, handouts, mail attacks?Which one works best in your neighborhood? Do you use a “rifle shot” or shotgun approach. Let’s get back to the first two issues dealing with your


operator. If you want the operator to sell spaces for you, you have to incentivize them.Give thema percentage ofwhat they sell. If you give them enough so that it makes sense for them to invest in the project, they will. Don’t scrimp on this. Remember you have empty space that is getting you nothing. If you decide to provide a lower percentage, offer to pay


the expenses involved in the program. If you provide a higher incentive, the expenses can be included in the deal. Worried about the operator competing with itself?You


should have thought of that when you hired them. If your goal is to increase your numbers of daily or monthly cus- tomers, keep that in mind and ask hard questions when you hire your operator. Find out if they are interested in increasing your num-


bers, or in just operating your garage. If their nearest location is 15 blocks away, it’s probably OK. If they have locations on


36 MARCH 2010 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


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