Does anyone know of a successful owner managing their facility remotely (without an onsite manager)? Technology should be there, but I'm sure glitches exist.

We have customers here in Aus that do it. There is good tech that can allow for it. It really depends just how "remote" you want to be. If a site has an internet connection then you can remotely open and close a gate and keep an eye out for intruders with DVR.

At our facility, I am the manager and I am pretty "remote". We use an internet-based property management software and have installed a kiosk. I am only on site about 10 hours per week. The rest of the week I work from a different office. We plan to offer "remote" management for all our facilities in the future, since it seems to be working quite well.

How big is your facility? What kinds of obstacles have you overcome to achieve this.

I like the idea and am interested in learning more.

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Mel Holsinger, President
Professional Self Storage Management, LLC
3434 E. Kleindale Ste. E
Tucson, AZ 85716
O: 520.320.9135
F: 520.320.9435
www.proselfstorage.com

We could never do that here. We are about 97% full, but we have a tremendously high turnover....with 661 units, we move in and out between 80 to 100 units a month.

In addition, our customers seem to be slobs, leaving mucho trash, and also vacating rooms leaving half their stuff behind if someone isn't here to stop them.

We'd be buried in old wore-out mattresses if someone wasn't on site to make sure there unit is completely empty when they move out.

Plus my "cash-only" customers wouldn't be able to pay their storage rent if someone wasn't here to take their payment. In addition, we have a lot of customers who speak little to no English. Unless those kiosks "speak" about 20 different languages, they won't be much good here in Orlando.

I'm not sure how we would sell packaging supplies or rent trucks remotely either, both of which contribute significantly to our net income.

Finally, I'd say about one in 100 of my customers knows before walking in the door exactly what size unit they need.

If they could rent a unit by kiosk, they would all rent 5 x 5's, and then be severly disappointed. Most of them walk in saying "I need the smallest unit you have", then they look at my 5 x 5's in shock....and realize maybe a 10 x 10 or 10 x 15 would better suit them.

I'm with Lisa -- I have 650 units here and about 385 of them are SLOBS (the other 265 are either vacant or live out of state!).

I love the look on their face when you show them a 5 x 5 - it's priceless!! They tell you they only have a mattress and a few boxes - then they pull in with a 16' U-Haul truck packed to the gills and try to shove it all into an 8 x 10! I have had so many that needed to "Up-grade" while they are moving in!

We also sell a lot of moving supplies and locks - would hate to lose that income!

Everyone have a great Friday the 13th!!

Wayne

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Wayne
All American Self Storage
Palmdale, CA.
webmaster@all-americanselfstorage.com

Hi Wayne

I just loved your we "Upgrade" remark in dealing with a customer who thinks they know better then you do about the size unit they will require. Instead of maybe saying or at least thinking "If you would have only listened!" - your very comment shows me why you guys are so successful in a tough market. There are countless owners across the country that only wish that they had managers who were not afraid to raise rates and were as aggressive in their marketing. Keep the good times rolling in CA.

All my best,
MisterJim444

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Learning Never Ends

Our facility has 186 units. Our tenants were not familiar with the idea of remote management, so that has been an adjustment. They were used to our previous manager who was on site 40+ hrs per week, and only a 10-minute drive away for any last-minute payments or tenant situations.

The biggest obstacle has been (and still is, to some extent) getting our tenants used to the idea of sticking to what the lease says. For example, if you don't pay by the 8th of the month, you are overlocked. When you pay in full (at the kiosk), the overlock will be removed within the next two business days (I am not usually there on Saturday or Sunday). Many tenants didn't like this at first. They were used to the last manager who would come down and remove their overlock at 11:00 at night. But many have adjusted and are either paying on time, or accepting that they won't be able to get in immediately (I live 40 minutes away from the facility).

I know many people wouldn't want to handle their tenants this way, but we feel strongly that remote management is possible, can be successful (as far as economic occupancy as well as customer service), and ultimately, is convenient for the tenant or potential tenant. Afterall, our occupancy rate is good, and I as the manager am covering a lot of ground (this one facility and 4 others that we are working on developing now) which keeps me very busy

Sorry for quoting your whole text, but I couldn't figure out how to just quote a few lines
You brought up a lot of good points, but I just have a quick response to a couple of them, just FYI.

The kiosk does accept cash, and that's what most of our tenants pay with. They do like that the kiosk is this big solid machine, much like and ATM, and that their money is safe when depositing. I've had tenants pay thousands of dollars in cash at the kiosk before. (Don't ask why they owed that much...)

Also, the kiosk has a way that you can create a welcome-to-our-site-type video. So when someone walks up to it, there's a big button they can push that will play a video that you make. We're working on that now, for that very reason you bring up. We want potential tenants to see what the units look like and what size they need, what the climate-controlled areas look like, and what I look like too. Each available unit on the kiosk will display a little message that says "What will this size hold?" And then you write your own description for what a 10x10 will fit.

We have a somewhat unique business model for the self storage industry, but it fits perfectly with using kiosks, having a manager (AKA: me) full time that covers multiple sites (reducing management expenses), each site operating pretty remotely, and working with a call center soon. So you can take what I say with a grain of salt.

Very interesting, are you by chance going to be attending the Expo in Nashville? If so, I would like to buy you lunch/breakfast/coffe and spend some time with you learning more. I am intereted in this concept more and more, it might make sense for a couple of my future facilities.

Thanks for the feedback.

__________________
Mel Holsinger, President
Professional Self Storage Management, LLC
3434 E. Kleindale Ste. E
Tucson, AZ 85716
O: 520.320.9135
F: 520.320.9435
www.proselfstorage.com