Three Must Do’s for Over the Top Success while Pre-Marketing your New Facility.
By: Garrett Byrd
1.) As soon as you have closed on the parcel you will be building your self storage facility make it a point to get your self storage coming soon sign up. Make sure you get permission and adhere to the city/county rules and regulations with signage. This will be your introduction to the community for the next six to eight months so make sure your hello to the community stands out and is inviting, remember less is more on a quick drive by sign. You will want to have your phone number on the sign where your future customers can call and receive information or leave their contact information phone and email to be put in your data base for your facility updates and progress. It’s a good idea to have your website on the sign as well, even if your website is in the beginning phase it’s nice to have a place where your customers can receive basic information as well as register their interest as your site progresses. As soon as you have temporary electricity, make sure you have spot lights or even Christmas lights on the sign. It’s the 15,000-30,000 cars driving by your parcel that well be your future customers you want to be as visible to them as you can. The average facility has 15-20 rentals and reservations, Storage Authority’s goal should is to have 50-60 hard reservations or rentals before you open your doors. If this isn’t your goal you are likely losing out on $60K in income your first year due to poor pre- planning.
2.) Join your local chamber and real estate associations. When you join these types of associations you must be involved and you should network all angles. You are networking, it’s not net-eating, net-socializing, or net sitting, it’s networking and you have very little time to make connections and utilize each other’s platforms to generate new business. For your local chamber, you want to attend as many events as you can, let them know your facility will be open soon. Business card exchanges luncheons, support any grand openings for your fellow chamber members. It’s important that you let them know you care about their growth just as much as you care about your facility’s growth. It’s the law reciprocity, people feel a sense of obligation to do something for you when you’ve done something for them. Help your fellow businesses achieve their goals and it will pay dividends to your facility’s growth. The realtor associations are important as well, self storage is a transition business and realtors are constantly in front of their clients who are on the move and in need of storage solutions. The realtor associations usually will let you sponsor their training classes for a luncheon or brunch. They will allow you to set up a table and give a five-minute information pitch about the self storage services you provide. Be sure to have some branded give a ways (totes, pens, marketing material) for the realtors and let them know you have a realtor resource center at your facility to help promote their business. Ultimately the realtors want to know if they are referring your self storage facility their clients are going to have a first-class experience.
3.) Community outreach to your local businesses with in your three-mile radius. This is critical to do before you open your doors. You want to prepare yourself with a branded marketing tote and have your marketing material in your totes along with a pre-leasing discount. Your objective is to visit all businesses in your three-mile radius, let them know your facility is opening soon and leave them a tote. You also want to take their business card as well and learn as much about their business as you can in your short visit. The key is to get the local businesses card for your contact list and let them know you hand one of these totes out to every new customer. You like to help to promote your local businesses so you include a coupon to their business to bring awareness to their brand. Let your fellow business owner know you are a transition business some of your customers are new to the area or on the move. There is no fee to promote their business with you all they should do is give you a stack of coupons to stuff in your totes. You always want to keep a master coupon with their business card, when you run low on their coupon you can give them a call and they will gladly swing by to deliver more coupons for you and thank you for handing them out.
Storage Authority Franchising is about owning your own hometown self storage business and having the professional systems and knowledge to assist and guide you. We like to say You are in business for yourself but not by yourself. If you are thinking about self storage you owe it to yourself to contact Garrett Byrd at 941-928-1354 or Garrett@StorageAuthority.com to learn more about the Storage Authority Franchise opportunity.
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