Creating Your Business Plan –The Fuel of Your Business - Marketing!

Every business needs something to drive it and move it to the front of the pack. You need something to make your business stand out from all of the other self-storage investment companies. When you are working with self-storage sellers, they have a lot of choices when it comes to someone to sell their property to. How are you going to stand out so that they choose you? You need to have a marketing campaign. Your self-storage business plan is a great way to lay out how you are going to market your business.

There are several ways to market your business to potential sellers. You need to decide what strategy works best for you. The important thing to remember is that no strategy works 100% of the time. However, by having multiple strategies, you are more likely to have a strategy that works some of the time. Each seller is different, and you are going to need to find the strategy that resonates with them.

Start by making a list of all the ways that you can reach out to potential sellers that resonate with you. Now write down all the ways that don’t resonate with you. You might have to get out of your comfort zone a little with this one, but it is important that you reach out to sellers regularly if you are going to stand out.

Direct mail is always a good way to reach out to other self-storage owners. This is a way to be consistent and it is a way to stay in the front of their minds. Not every mailer has to be, “I want to buy your property.” You can alternate mailers with economic information that you have gathered or an invitation to join a self-storage networking group that you like or that you are forming if you don’t have one in your area. Make sure that you place yourself in front of the sellers on a regular basis so that when circumstances change, you are the person they think of when it is time to sell their property.

Whenever you send out a mailer of any kind, let them know that they may not be interested in selling today, but to hang onto your card, because you will be interested no matter when they decide they are ready to sell. Make sure that whatever you are sending is high quality with no grammar or spelling errors. We have an excellent return on the mailer that we send out. We get a higher than average reply response.

Now that you have decided what you are going to send out now you need to decide how often. You can’t just send something once and be done. They will never remember your name. You have to follow up often and regularly. The more you follow up the more familiar your name will become to them. However, you don’t want them to associate you with something they hate. Find a way to send a balance of informative as well as marketing materials.

Are you going to always send mailers or are you going to follow up those mailers with phone calls and in person visits? Are you going to alternate your mailers between brochures, fliers, letters, and postcards? No matter what kind of mailing piece you send, it needs to be eye catching. You only have a few seconds before they decide if they are going to read it or toss it. You don’t want to reach out on a monthly basis, but annually is too far apart. Find a good pattern that creates a relationship without being overkill.

There are so many opportunities out there to talk to sellers. Make sure that you are finding ways that you can be consistent and feel confident with. As always, happy investing.