Section 9 • Site Information


about once every two weeks and 17.5 percent access their unit more than once a week. The smallest percentage (9.7) visit their unit fewer than three times per year.


Word of mouth is the second highest


way that renters learned about a facility, with 19 percent of renters reporting


that they learned about a facility from a family member, friend, or coworker.


Understanding how renters first heard about a facility can


assist facility owners and operators in their marketing efforts. We’ve all heard the phrase “location, location, location” when it comes to real estate. This is especially true in self-storage, as evidenced in Table 9.6, where we can see that 27.7 percent of renters learned about the facility they chose by driving past it on the way to or from home or work.


Word of mouth is the second highest way that renters


learned about a facility, with 19 percent of renters report- ing that they learned about a facility from a family member,


 


Pricing 80.9% Size of Units


Availability of Units Location of Facility Hours of Operation Features of Units Other


Source: SSA 2019 Self Storage Demand Study


65.6% 57.3% 36.7% 30.3% 29.4% 0.7%


For example, at facilities managed by Universal Storage


Group (USG), which is based in Atlanta, 23.3 percent of all renters are made by way of referrals. According to M. Anne Ballard, president of marketing, training, and developmen- tal services, USG sends a check or a gift card for any referral. The amount paid is location-based and ranges between $2 and $100. The referral fee is paid once the new tenant has moved in, completed their paperwork, and have paid the first month’s rent. The check or gift card is either mailed di- rectly to the person who made the referral, or they come into the office to pick it up so they can have their photo taken with their referral fee.


In the early days of self-storage, the primary basis for find-


ing a facility was the Yellow Pages. Today, only five percent use this source. It has been replaced by the internet, with nearly 16 percent of renters finding the facility of choice online via a search engine. Moreover, 8.1 percent find a fa- cility from a self-storage website, and another 7.1 percent find out about a facility by way of an online review. Online aggregators account for 3.6 percent, and 3.1 percent find the facility on social media channels such as Facebook, Pinterest, or YouTube. That means a total of 37.9 percent of self-storage renters use the internet to find the facility where they rent.


Another important thing for facility owners and operators


to know is the first point of contact for new renters. As seen in Chart 9.6, most renters (42.6 percent) choose an in-person visit to the facility. Reaching out by phone was the method of contact for 38.5 percent of renters. Only 9.3 percent reached out by email, with 9.1 percent reaching out through a facil- ity’s website.


88 Self-Storage Almanac 2021


friend, or coworker. This is the very reason that many self- storage operators have referral programs to incentivize exist- ing customers to tell people they know about the facility.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152