Creating a Marketing Plan

When you are running any business, one of the number one thing that you need to focus on is a marketing plan. How much are you going to spend on marketing? Where are you going to market to find self-storage? Who is your target audience and what are the best ways to reach them? Every business owner wants to know this.

When you are looking for properties, the answer is pretty straightforward. You want to talk to people who own self-storage. Therefore, you can focus on owners. However, when you are trying to fill your self-storage facility, your clientele is so diverse that it is difficult to pinpoint exactly who is going to be renting from you. There are a few commonalities that your renters do have. This makes it so that you can focus on these types of individuals.

Starting with a marketing plan for finding additional self-storage properties. You need to talk to the people who own the self-storage. There are only 3 ways to do this. You can show up at the property, you can call the owners, and you can send direct mail.

The problem with showing up unannounced is that most facilities are run by an office manager, not the owner. The manager is probably not going to give you the owner’s contact information and they are unlikely to pass on your information to the owner. You are wasting your time and your gas going to each individual property hoping to talk to an owner. However, going to each property to see the location, the condition, and to take pictures for your database may not be a terrible idea. You need to remember that by the time the owner is ready to sell, the property will have changed, and you will need to do it again. Take the pictures off of Google Maps and spend your time doing things that have a better likelihood of getting you in touch with the owners.

Second, you can call. Calling is another way to reach owners. This one is often more successful than showing up. Many managers are gatekeepers. You need to find a way to get past the gatekeepers. If they think that you are a salesman that is going to waste the owners time, you are never going to get through. On the other hand, if they think that you are someone that the owner might want to talk to, then you have a better chance of getting transferred. Make sure that you have an elevator speech that will get the manager to want to transfer you to the owner. Show them your value. Let them know that it is in the owner’s best interest to develop a relationship with you.

Finally, you can send direct mail. Yes, direct mail has a terrible rap. Most people do not open their junk mail and you have wasted time and money sending your mailers. However, we have over a 10% success rate with our mailers. The reason for this is the way that we send out our mailers. You have to create a mailer that the sellers will want to open. We teach how to do this in our training classes. You also have to be consistent. If you send one mailer, you are going to get lost in the owners’ memory. You need to send out multiple mailers that will catch the owners’ attention and get them to hang onto your information. The entire goal is to start a conversation so that you can build a relationship.

When you are creating your database of sellers you want to include every self-storage property in the area. There are companies that will give you pre-scrubbed lists of self-storage owners. This way you are not wasting your time finding all of the properties. Each time you send out a mailer, you will get returned mail. This allows you to update your database so that it gets better with every mailing. If you want to build your database yourself, go to the internet and start a list of properties. Make sure that you get addresses and pictures so that when an owner calls, you can say something like, “The property with the green building out front.” This way they know that you know their property.

Create a script for yourself. You want to be able to build a relationship with these owners. They may not be in the market today. They may only be calling to ask you to take them off of your list. Have a way to turn that into a conversation. You may be able to create a working relationship with them so that if their circumstances change, they will want to work with you. If you can get them to call you, you have won half the battle already. Remember that they are full of knowledge and years of experience that you can learn from.

Direct mail is a great way to reach out to self-storage owners when you are looking for properties. Make sure that you have a strong mailer. Make sure that you have something that will peak their interest so that they open it to see what it is. You need to be consistent. Finally, be prepared to have a conversation when they call you. Sound professional and ready to network with them. As always, happy investing.