2016 is here. Are you ready? Have you thought about how your approach may need to adjust for a new year and changing conditions? Here are 5 items you can start working on now to help your 2016 be excellent.

1. 5 New Year’s
Resolutions for Self
Storage Owners
Tron Jordheim
January 1, 2016

2. 1. Put your employees first.
Look at the companies we admire the most.
Most became admirable because they put
employees first.
 Your customers can tell if your employees are
pleased with their jobs or not.
 It transmits over the phone, it comes through in
an email, and it is obvious face to face.

4. Your employees are in charge of valuable
assets and make a huge difference every
day in your ability to:
 collect revenue
 grow your customer base
 maintain the property
 manage risk

5. Just ask yourself a few simple questions every time you
make a policy, create a work flow or set up a task:
-Does this help the staff people do their jobs?
-Does this empower staff people to be more self sufficient
and effective?
-Does this help the employee feel more valuable to the
organization?
If the answer is yes to all three, you win.

6. 2. Put your customers second.
Do your customers feel valued, appreciated and even a
little pampered?
They should.
Even if you have strict policies and push rate increases
vigorously, your customers should still feel:
 they have made the best choice for a storage solution
 they are dealing with the best people in the business

7. Customers don’t mind if you run your business as a tight
ship and try to maximize your revenue …as long as
they feel:
-they are getting a fair value
-they feel as if they are being valued.
It is not that hard.
-Be nice to customers.
-Communicate with them a lot.
-Keep reminding them that your storage place is a great
choice and that your staff people are wonderful.

8. 3. Think revenue rather than occupancy.
Would you rather be 95% full making 85%
of potential gross revenue or at 85% full
making 95% of potential gross revenue?
It should be an obvious answer.

9. The mindset, the policies and procedures, the
employee incentives and the marketing focus
differ dramatically between the two strategies.
Don’t just say you want to focus on revenue
over occupancy. Work to root out all the
policies, procedures, sales language,
marketing noise and everything else that
promotes occupancy over revenue and adjust
accordingly.

10. 4.Make sure your phones are answered well.
I know I have been preaching about this for at
least thirteen years, but I still get voicemails
when calling around. I still hear IVRs that have
so many convoluted options that I can’t keep the
press 1 from the press 5 straight in my head as I
am trying to make a choice.

12.  I still hear people answering my call without a
smile on their faces. I still talk to “storage
experts” who sound bored, uninterested and
sometimes even uninformed. I know everyone
is excited about the promise of online rentals,
self service mobile phone rentals, kiosks and so
on.
 Your telephone is still the number one driver or
profit.

13. Whether you are talking to prospective
customers or current customers, your
phone tactics and your phone skills can
earn you a lot of extra money or make
you sound terrible.

14. 5. Great ready for the next shift.
Times are good for storage operators. Even if
you completely ignore these five resolutions you
are still going to make money in 2016. You
might even make a lot of money in 2016.
But as you know, the only constant thing is
change.
What is next for our business?

15.  Will further mobile and wireless advances
change how we operate?
 Will over-building come quickly or more slowly to
your market?
 Will there be some changes in regulations or
taxation that could rock our worlds?
 Will you need to stop thinking operations and
start thinking about new development and or
new acquisitions?
 Will the slow Federal Reserve overnight interest
rate increase actually do anything to the financial
side of our business?

16.  What new consumer habits will develop?
 Can consumers continue to spend under the
increasing financial pressures they are under?
 Will the 2016 elections mean anything at all to
how self storage does business, or to the
economies in your markets?
 Will climate change have an effect on your
business?
 There is a lot to think about.

17.  I hope you take at least a few of these
resolutions seriously and remember where
they came from.
 Don’t forget to reach out to me if you want
to talk storage, or are curious about how
Store Here Management might help you
keep these five resolutions for 2016.

19. Wishing you the best year ever...
 Tron Jordheim
Store Here Self Storage Management