Chuck - I like the $8 special for 08, $9 for 09. I do believe right now you have to have something to offer besides excellent service! Our facility is in a small town also, but very near a big city. We have 3 facilities within 5 miles of us, and probably 12 within 10 miles, and people are willing to drive, even with the gas prices, a couple of extra miles to save $10! And also to get a free month. We have many customers come to us by word of mouth, and also many repeat customers that don't care about the free month, they know they are getting the best with us! But still, I had to "get on board" and at least offer the free month if people tell me others are - then I just tell them I'll match it at 2 months for 1/2 price, paid up front. We also offer a special if you pay 6 months in advance, you get the 7th free. That's always been a special here.

We are 8 years old and from what I can tell, we've been around 80-90% for the past 5 years. When I joined the company 10 months ago nobody had done an auction in quite some time, so once I cleaned up the mess that we had, we went down to 77%, but I've got it back up to 83% since, which I'm glad I was able to do that, but, I won't be satisfied until I'm at 95%!

I think you have to play the game sometimes to stay afloat!