The Fifth Rule of Thumb – Manager Incentives help Occupancy Rates!

The best way to keep someone motivated is to offer them incentives. You want them to always be trying to get that next bonus. Incentives are a great way to keep your manager excited and working as efficiently as possible. If you don’t already have manager incentives in place, you should consider them. You want your manager to be as excited as you are about keeping the occupancy levels high.

When you are hiring your manager, tell them about bonus opportunities. Whether you set up a structure where they get a bonus for each unit that they fill or for a certain occupancy rate or both, you want them to be doing everything they can to keep your self-storage facility rented.

Never limit the number of bonuses that your manager can get in a month. You don’t want them to stop pushing your property because they can’t get any more bonuses that month. If they get a huge bonus, you are making a lot more money because your units are rented.

Once your property is completely occupied, then you will need to switch your bonus structure. You will still give them a bonus when they rent out the random unit, but now you need to incentivize them with revenue goals. This will keep them motivated to keep the units filled. This will help them try to upsell customers and collect rents. They will be more likely to reach out to customers who are late.

They will be on board with your system of regularly raising the rents. The more that they benefit, the more your bottom line goes up. However, you never want to make the goals unreasonable. If you are asking them to meet unreasonable expectations, they are likely to get discouraged or cut corners, or even cheat.

While you are incentivizing your manager, you also need to have a way to verify what they are telling you. You don’t want them to be tempted to cheat, just to get their bonus. Make sure that you know how to verify what they are telling you and how to check to verify that it is completely accurate.

The more incentives you provide to your manager, the more likely they are to keep your facility performing at optimal levels. The more they make, the more you make. Find a happy balance so that your manager is as excited about your property as you are. As always, happy investing.