I have a competitor right down the street that starts out his pitch with a 5 minute speel on water leakage/damage in steel buildings (which most in the area are, including mine) vs his concrete and wood roof buildings. It is very well crafted and pursuasive even if some of the things he says are very misleading or out of context. If I were a potential customer, I wouldn't even call a steel built facility after hearing his speech! In 5 yrs, we've never had a water issue, but i need to counter his pitch (and i am afraid we are losing even the oppertunity if they call him first). Any suggestions out there?

Competitors... who needs them! Buy some wooden cladding Ha Ha. Or you could always have his phone lines re-diverted to yours Ha Ha Ha.

Why be reactive? Why not be proactive?

Must you respond to his words, or can you instead market your facility's best features?

For example: We are known in our neck of the woods for our high level of customer service.

Recently an older, facility was sold yet again. The new owner did a few improvements, some new paint and a few other items.

They are now advertising "24/7 service". Okay, so people may stop by there, but they still end up renting from us.

We're established (11 years) with a wonderful reputation and we 'ONLY' provide 'service' officially for 9 hours per day. Their 24/7 service is a kiosk, not what most people think when they see the word service.

So like you, while I was tempted to respond to their misleading advertising I did not.

We do our thing and let them do theirs. Each type of facility has its' own type of clientele. We'll market to customers who like the added touch and human interaction; they can catch the ones who prefer machines over people. Yes, there are those out there that do prefer machines.

Promote yourself, don't give him free advertising with your dollar by countering his claims. Just my two cents worth, good luck and let us all know how things are in a month or two.

unleash a bunch of termites on him!!!!

__________________
Wayne Docktor
Manager
All American Self Storage
Palmdale, CA.
webmast@all-americanselfstorage.com
www.all-americanselfstorage.com

... for the wise insight- I echo her sentiments exactly! No matter what the "other guy" says about your site, it is up to you to sell YOUR facility to the self-storage shopper! Amenities are only part (and not the most important part) of the reason a customer will choose one facility over another. Sell yourself as manager and customers will beat a path to YOUR door... count on it!
Incidentally, your all-metal construction is "state-of-the-art" and "industry standard," if you care to address your competitor's criticism head-on...

John Roser

Obviously your competitor seeks to set their business apart from the rest with the pitch you have described.

What is your pitch? What do you offer that sets you apart from the rest? I am sure you can find something and it probably can be more convincing than your competitors story.

Also, what forms of advertising does your competitor use? Are you using the same methods? Perhaps you can advertise using different methods, (ex. the internet) than your competitor. Different advertising methods attract different customers. People who call you from these sources are probably unaware of your competitor.

When people call your store do you ask them what they are looking for from a storage company? You might also ask them if they have called any other facilities. These questions will give you the opportunity to address the customer's concerns and address the issue of water damage.

Good luck.

that's actually not a bad idea....tell your customers that wood construction has bugs!!!! That should be all it takes!

Steel construction is flame resistant

As a manager you should never talk bad about any other facility..ITS RULE NUMBER ONE.

It will not do your facility any good!!!!