What is it like to manage a self storage centre?

By Angus on April 7th, 2010 | 3 Comments

24-Hour Self Storage

Everyone who manages a self storage centre will be aware of the 24/7 nature of the job. Even when your centre is closed, you are still storing people’s things and you can’t help being conscious of that responsibility. You may get reminded of this by the police contacting you at antisocial hours for an emergency, or by worried users phoning to ask for emergency access.

Apart from the permanent nature of the job, there are three main areas that absorb your time – the customers, the physical condition of the premises which you are always trying to improve, and the book-keeping paperwork. Storage managers have the task of signing up new users and helping people to sort out their storage problems, and this is the most satisfying part of the job.

People really do come to a storage facility in all shapes and sizes – some are very gentle and just want your help; some are aggressive and on edge (mostly those moving house); and many are very business-like, simply wanting to know how it works and to sign up some space.

Many users ask for recommendations for van hire or man-and-van companies, so it is important to be ready to assist with information on reliable helpers. As the manager, you also become the trusted guardian of people’s possessions, and so you need to be confident about the security systems your centre has.

The physical side of self storage
The physical side includes major repairs, such as putting up partitions and shelves, as well as keeping the units and corridors clean and tidy. Actually, the mundane tasks are where a storage manager can stand out: hoovering the office and sweeping regularly makes a big difference to the feel of the site. We always want our customers to feel welcome, so we include items that will be useful. For this we have usually given away free cardboard boxes, packing tape and mugs.

The important thing is to put customers first, and to make sure that we are providing an excellent service and that we appreciate their needs. Mind you, offering help can sometimes be time-consuming – I once found myself spending three hours unloading a van with a user. This was okay in principle but it got me behind with all sorts of other jobs.

Paperwork is important so that you can help people keep up-to-date with their payments. There is often a lot of time between seeing customers when paperwork can be kept up-to-date, but increasingly it is screen-work that needs to be done – sending emails and keeping addresses current. With the collection of charges it is important to be understanding – many people genuinely have difficulty paying their bills promptly, especially if they are moving house, which is a time when they may have many other outgoings.

Our policy has always been to try to keep debtors to a minimum, and to avoid taking possession of people’s property if at all possible. This is much easier when the storage facility has plenty of vacancies – there is less pressure on space and, with plenty of spaces, allowing someone to stay well beyond their paid-for time does not mean turning away any customers.

Keeping the storage units full

Controlling vacancies is a critical part of the manager’s job. Whilst a few vacancies are useful so that you can offer a service, you generally want occupancy as high as possible. We also try to give flexibility: often people want to trade up to a larger unit or down to a smaller one, so in such cases it is obviously helpful to give them units close together, as furniture will have to be swapped between units.

Many of our customers come to us from personal recommendation, so it is important that we are always friendly and helpful. There are a hundred small ways we can help including, for example, cutting an extra key for the user’s spouse, staying late for our users to finish unloading a van, giving advice on stacking items, advising on local transport, giving users a lift to the nearest station, and making sure trolleys are to hand in case these are needed.

Very few people can run a storage centre single-handed so, for managers, an important consideration is how reliable and helpful their colleagues are. In working together you need flexibility, mobile phones and a good memory of who the various users are. The most rewarding part is when users take the trouble to thank us, and they occasionally write in to say how helpful we’ve been; these letters always get pinned up on the notice-board.

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