Sounds like it's too complicated, and most of it isn't something they can have any direct impact on. Paying $500 for extraordinary effort after a break-in? What do you want them to do...sit around hoping for a break-in?

I would prefer what we have here, incentives that are directly generated by our efforts.

We get 15% of all merchandise sales....and we have more then doubled our merchandise sales over the last year. No one rents a unit here without being asked if they are storing mattresses, and if so, mattress bags are sold to them. All you have to do is ask them how their coffee table looks if they don't dust it for 6 months, then ask them how their mattress will look without a cover if it is in storage for 6 months. Dust is in the air everywhere. If they buy boxes, you suggest tape, bubble wrap, etc. We sell a LOT of $27 shrink wrap by teaching people how to wrap their furniture properly.

We get 20% of U-Haul truck rental commissisions...and boy do we answer that U-Haul phone and make sure we get all the reservations we can....the commission is good whether we actually dispatch the truck, or whether we just enter the reservation in the computer and the customer picks up the truck elsewhere. Both the employee and the facility owner can make a lot of money just by spending 5 minutes talking to a customer on the phone and entering a reservation that is picked up elsewhere, you never even see the truck or trailer. Plus most of our storage customers need a truck to move in or out of storage. We've been the #1 U-Haul dealer in Central Florida almost every month that we've been here, and were #7 in all of North America this past winter. If we didn't earn that incentive, we would not be nearly as enthusiastic about the trucks, because they can be a royal pain, and the owner wouldn't be making nearly as much extra money for his share.

We also sit down with out district manager and prepare a budget for each coming year. Any gross revenue we make over budget, we make a percentage of. Again, that encourages us to keep incoming money up high, and outgoing expenditures down low.

All of these incentives we can have a very direct impact on to generate more money for us, and at the same time generate much more money for the owner. Every time we make 20% U-Haul commission for ourselves, the owner makes 80% U-Haul commission. Same for the merchandise sales and revenue over budget. It's not costing the owner to pay us these incentives, it's actually making more money for the owner.

We also have the opportunity to "win" other types of incentives...once a quarter the managing company sends a mystery shopper in, and if we score well on that, we get an additional $100. Also we get several mystery phone calls each month, and each of us can earn an additional $100 for doing well on the phone calls. This isn't a problem because we do the same thing on each visit or phone call, and almost always earn the additional money. Obviously this works, because our occupancy is very high, and we get a sense of accomplishment when our mystery shopping/phone call report is sent to us.

So my suggestion would be to treat your employees as sales people, because the bottom line is...that's what they are!

Break in bonus - I'm sorry, but I just about spit my morning coffee all over my laptop!

Our bonus structure is based upon rentals, collected fees, and merchandise sales.
Our monthly bonus has never been below $350 and has reached as high as $1200!! Now that will get anyone excited!
This is why I go over the top and spend my own time making banners and such - it helps me in the long run!

We also have a built in tier system for a yearly bonus. We have yet to miss that one

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

This was a very informative thread! I was going post a thread regarding managers/salaries, so it was just what I was looking for.

I'd love to hear more from other managers who live on and off-site...salaries, hourly wages, weekends off, gas reimbursement, etc.?

Also, the managers who are paid over $30k a year, how large are the sites you are managing?

Thanks much!

My wife and I manage a 650 unit facility - we are about 80 miles north of LA.

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

Phoenix Manager Couple 380 units / 9 RV spots

great management company / friendly owner
$11.00 hr each / Salary
paid overtime anything over 40 hrs
gas allowance .48 mile
off site
great insurance $45 a month
1 week vacation each year
All major holidays off/ Paid
no 401k but a good private retirement plan (SIMPLE)
No trucks or trailors

We have worked for this company before and will work with them again should anything happen. This company also lets you transfer to another site if you want they have approx 17 sites in Phoenix. We know of only one person that don't like this company because they were fired for calling in sick all the time.

We have a 661 unit drive up and climate controlled facility, with U-Haul rentals and merchandise sales.

We live on site, it's not much of an apartment though...didn't even have a dishwasher before we got here and asked for one. About 800 square feet, no balcony or deck, no dining area...we eat at the couch. It's ok because our kids are grown and we are saving fast and furiously for retirement, but the master bedroom is so small we can't fit our bedroom set in it.

We get one free storage unit up to a 10 x 15 climate, which is good because most of our furniture is in storage. My husband also keeps his motorcycle in the golf cart storage unit.

We get paid by the hour, plus overtime if necessary. If you multiply our hourly wages x 2080 hours, both my husband and I make slightly over 30 a year each, plus the previously mentioned incentives for merchandise, U-Haul, etc.

We work Tues-Sat, and have Sunday and Monday off. We have a part-time college girl who works here on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We are a very busy facility, between the U-Hauls and the storage.... over the last 4 months, we have moved in around 100 units a month, moved out about 80 units a month. We are full now, but still moving them in and out at the same pace....over 3 ins and outs per day. Lots of cleaning required, lots of business customers who are in an out several times a day. We usually have a line at the gate during the day. My husband does all the facility maintenance except HVAC, he programs our LED sign, and repairs the facility-owned "free truck" when needed.

We are required to visit our competitors once a month, and to make marketing calls to at least 8 potential customers each week. We are reimbursed for mileage at the going IRS rate. We have full benefits, health, dental, life, AD&D, 401K etc. 5 days vacation after 6 months, 10 more days after a year, 15 days at 3 years, 20 days at 10 years, plus 2 floating holidays and 5 sick days a year. 5 paid holidays off a year. We think the company we work for treats us fairly, and we, in turn, keep a clean, well-maintained facility, follow the policies and procedures in our manual, and do our level best to keep the facility full and bringing in more money each month then we did the month before.

Previously we worked for U-Haul, made a little less money, benefits and vacation were about the same, though there was a 6-month waiting period for those. Apartment was much bigger with a big patio, sales incentives were not nearly as good. A lot more paid overtime with U-Haul, and no holidays off.


I think we have been well paid and well benefitted in the storage industry so far, but then again we have worked at very demanding facilities and have given both jobs 110% of our effort. Neither facility has been the kind that you can watch the traffic go by. There are some days when I think I'd like to make less money and not have so many people in and out of the office each day. But when we do get one of those days, we get really bored fast.

Oh, and no, we don't get a break-in bonus (that was for Autodoc!)

Thank you all so much for your replies! I sure appreciate them!

Can you give some input and please, don't be TOO negative? I am looking for constructive criticism here.

We have 2 complexes, one in town with around 16,000 people. The other in an area with around 150,000 or so.

The smaller town management team handles about 522 units, one area has a gate that they open and close manually Mon-Sat. There are no heated units, etc. The office is not on-site, so they are reimbursed for gas mileage plus cell phone. They are paid $35k/yr combined. They work in an office setting Mon-Fri from 10am-3pm and the rest of the day they are "on-call". Currently, we offer no health insurance or 401k, however, they are already semi-retired and collect SS on the side. They get 3 days off each month, and during poor weather, are not required to drive to the office, but can choose to stay at home and field calls. No cold calling required.

The other complex, in the larger area, has 444 units. Again, no climate controlled units. We do offer 2 utility trailers for customer usage. This couple lives on-site in a 1800+ sq. ft manufactured home with a large 2 car garage and big private yard, all utilities paid. They are currently paid $1600/mo (they've been with us less than 1 year) with no insurance or 401k provided at this time. They do not have "office hours" per se, but are required to keep their cell phone at all times. They get one week vacation per year currently. No cold calling required.

We are really interested in implementing a bonus system. The main area of weakness at the larger complex is the cleanliness. The manager tends to leave garbage laying around longer than we'd like. The other management couple is doing wonderful and we are thrilled with them, however, we'd sure like to be at a higher ocucpancy.

I am wondering if bonus' should be structured around weaknesses to encourage the changes we want to see?

Thanks much for any input!

What state are your facilities located in?

I'm sorry! The larger facility is in a small town in Northeastern Oregon. The smaller facility is in the southeastern corner of Washington.

I'm not sure that cleanliness is something you can incentivize. Basically people are going to keep the place clean if that's the kind of people they are, or they aren't if they are not.

However, it wouldn't hurt to try it. But that does require regularly unscheduled inspections to see if there is improvement.

I think most companies would use a "corrective action" program to encourage the employee(s) to keep the facility cleaner. You know, where you sit down with the employee, put it in writing what your expectations are, and have him sign it. If it doesn't get better, then you have another sit down with them and outline the consequences of continued non-improvement. Facility cleanliness is one of the basic tenets of storage operations.