A hard lesson that all Self Storage staff need to learn is that customers often promise to rent but don’t. If and when you follow up with customers, you soon discover they rented elsewhere. It’s a lesson that transfers to online move-ins in the Self Storage industry, and it’s one I learnt the hard way when I was starting out as a car salesman.
Customers would often say “we’ll be back later”, and as a naive young salesman, I would fall for it every time. A colleague used to get these customers to sign the ‘Be Back’ book, and while we all know it was probably a useless tactic, it was worth a try at the time!
Fast-forward into today’s digital world, the Internet has its own ‘Be Back’ book: “reservations with no obligation”.
Online Move-ins are always better than No Obligation Reservations
No obligation opens the door for further shopping and comparison. imagine bidding on an item on eBay with “no obligation”?
When customers reserve something, they’re saying they want to buy it, but not right now. It’s setting businesses up for cancellations and all the associated costs especially when they start to shop around again. And they do!
Are customers who make reservations really committed to buying?
The commitment is helped by a deposit. Terms like ‘non-refundable’ controls desire to reserve anything, but there’s actually a much more reliable option in the Self Storage industry: online move ins.
RapidStor is one of the Self Storage industry’s leading online rental tools. RapidStor has rented over 30,000 Self Storage spaces since it was created for the Self Storage industry, and it integrates in real time with SiteLink Web Edition.
RapidStor research reveals there are two types of Self Storage users: those who are ready to rent shortly, and those who want to rent later but are ready to commit now.
None of these are ‘reservations’ – they’re bookings! They’re commitments to rent either now or in the near future and it’s important to understand the distinction.
Some industry reservation systems promote the ability to ‘reserve with no obligation’ or ‘reserve with no deposit’. These types of reservations set up Self Storage businesses to give away potential move-ins, with abandonment and non-completion being major issues.
Would an airline ever let you ‘reserve’ a flight without any commitment, financial or otherwise, to take that flight? Of course not! It simply wouldn’t work for their business, and it doesn’t work for Self Storage either.
RapidStor research reveals the vast majority of online enquiries turn into an online move in within 48 hours. With a targeted campaign driving potential renters to your online booking system that works to securing an online move in, your Self Storage business can be renting spaces out 24/7.
