In a recent article on Insideselfstorage.com a number of self-storage operators were interviewed to reveal how they are approaching business in this difficult time. The article stresses that those in our industry have always supported each other and idea shared during other high stress times in our history. 9/11 and the Great recession were mentioned as examples of times when we all pulled together and shared advice.
―Lara Anderson, Director of Marketing, Beyond Self Storage, was quoted when asked; What is your company doing to protect and assist self-storage tenants in this time of national crisis spurred by the coronavirus pandemic?
“From the beginning, we made the decision to protect our team members and our customers as much as possible. It made sense to take advantage of technology and limit interactions. This quickly evolved to fully conducting business virtually. We do the entire reservation process online or over the phone, and we are also performing daily checks on our store and customer units, cleaning and refilling sanitizer stations and preparing for move-ins. Customers can pre-purchase packing and moving supplies, and we will put them in the unit for the customer. We also provide Beyond Bundles, which are pre-portioned moving kits. We have technology-based solutions for access to the building, so this eliminates touching keypads and doors, and we also offer online rent payments.”
―Marc Goodin, President, Storage Authority LLC responded to the same question with;
“Owners must be clear—even put it in writing—that extreme cleaning is required multiple times a day. They also need to provide the cleaning supplies and specifics. It’s OK to point out the obvious, such as clean the phone but better yet, clean and then use the speaker phone.
The same goes for social distancing. It isn’t enough to simply say “maintain six feet of separating distance.” You must provide a way to rent where the manager and renter aren’t just separated by the counter. Barriers should be provided to ensure customers are at least six feet from the manager when he’s entering information into the computer. If your office is open, remove the candy dish and suspend free coffee and soda. Provide physical barriers so clients can’t roam the office and touch products.”
A number of additional self-storage operators were interviewed to read this article in more detail please Click HERE
