A self-storage customer survey is an effective strategy for gathering personal insights from your clients. This valuable feedback contains information about customer experiences that can revolutionize your business operations.
In addition it’s helpful to understand the evolving needs of the self-storage industry and how you can keep your competitive edge. Given that a self-storage customer survey may give you the actionable data necessary to optimize your operations or implement exciting changes.
We’ll dig into why you should conduct a self-storage customer survey the types of surveys to implement and the mistakes that could distort your results. So—are you ready to uncover hidden gems and leverage patron feedback?
The Strategic Value of a Self-Storage Customer Survey
Are you looking to improve the overall experience of your self-storage facility? Are you considering offering additional services and looking to gauge interest? What about evaluating your security measures and gauging the needs of your customers?
Self-storage owners and operators looking to optimize their operational effectiveness and competitive edge can utilize a customer survey to gather feedback before making changes. A customer survey can inform you about security considerations identify unit features or concerns or help refine your renting process.
For example this feedback can reveal operational inefficiencies so you can improve your rental process. Moreover you can get more information about customer experiences with your security measures—and learn how to make them more effective.
In short collecting customer comments and opinions gives you access to critical insights that might otherwise remain undiscovered through standard performance metrics. Further this allows you to strengthen relationships with your clients and boost long-term business success.
5 Reasons to Implement a Self-Storage Customer Survey
Gathering feedback from your customers is vital to the long-term growth and success of your business. Certainly the benefits outweigh any potential disadvantages from your efforts. In fact the positive feedback might help you understand your strengths and what your customers appreciate about your business which is no small reward.
Our top five reasons to conduct your self-storage customer survey show how you can improve your business performance and operational efficiency:
1 - Identify Customer Preferences
If you’re looking to stay competitive and reach as many qualified customers as possible it’s vital to conduct market research. Understanding what features your audience values tells you why they might choose your facility over a competitor. There are several features that could affect their decision:
- Security
- Accessibility
- Climate control
- Unit sizes
- Additional amenities
2 - Enhance Facility Features with a Self-Storage Customer Survey
Your current customers might have ideas for enhancements to your facility. For example they might want different unit sizes enhanced security or extended hours. Conducting a self-storage customer survey like this can boost your customer relationships because they can see that you’re interested in their opinions. Plus new ideas can help your business thrive and stay competitive in the self-storage industry.
3 - Evaluate Staff Effectiveness and Performance
Self-storage customer surveys that focus on staff performance can give you insights into the experiences your clients have with your employees. Depending on the results you can uncover gaps in your training practices which can help you refine your approach. Conversely it can inform your hiring procedures and set expectations in the onboarding process.
4 - Understand Seasonal Storage Demands
A self-storage customer survey that includes questions about seasonal needs can give owners and facility managers insight into the annual cycle of storage needs. The time of year can cause self-storage needs to fluctuate. To illustrate understanding the reasoning behind customers’ ever-changing needs can help optimize your business operations when high-demand periods approach.
5 - Gain Competitive Insights and Define Your Advantage
Customers who share feedback about why they chose your facility over a competitor can help you understand what your industry advantage is. These insights can also illuminate the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors allowing you to boost your operations.
Effective Self-Storage Customer Surveys to Implement
Knowing the impact of a customer survey is just the beginning—choosing the right one (at the right time) is next. Certainly there are many options available so we’ve created a list of examples that might inspire you to create your own.
Post Move-In Survey
This self-storage customer survey is an effective choice to implement when you’re looking to understand the initial customer experience. Ideally you should conduct this survey soon after the move-in is finished so that the first impressions are still fresh.
These experiences can include several scenarios:
- Rental and check-in process
- Unit condition
- Communication
Timing: Within one to two weeks after the customer has moved into the unit.
Overall Customer Experience Survey
A self-storage customer survey to gather overall feedback can be helpful for customers who have met certain milestones or have been customers for a specific time. This one can help you gather their experience at different touchpoints. In short your survey could include questions about these situations:
- Staff communication
- Ease of facility access
- Facility maintenance
- Security measures
- Payment processes
Timing: After a specific length of time as a customer annually or based on your goals.
Facility Condition Survey
The condition of your business can encourage continued use—or cause customers to choose a competitor. So this self-storage customer survey can help you gauge how your customers feel about the physical condition of the storage facility. These are some topics to consider and inspire your questions:
- Cleanliness of units and grounds
- Security measures
- Gate or access function
- Lighting condition
- Climate control functionality
- Parking availability
- Signage and direction
Timing: Any point during the customer’s visit after their initial move-in or based on your business goals.
Safety and Security Self-Storage Customer Survey
It’s important for customers to feel safe and secure when renting and visiting the facility as this can affect your long-term success. If there are concerns about their well-being or the potential theft of their property you’re at risk for revenue loss or even criminal investigations. As such it’s ideal to consider these topics when creating this survey:
- Perception of security measures
- Surveillance coverage
- Satisfaction with lighting
- Gate access
- Overall feeling of safety while on site
Timing: After initial move-in based on business improvement goals or periodically during the customer’s stay.
Pricing and Value Survey
This self-storage customer survey can give you valuable insights into the customer perception of your service. A value survey helps you gauge your value and how competitive you are in the self-storage industry. To understand what your customers see consider some of these topics when preparing your customer survey:
- Satisfaction with pricing
- Comparison to competitors
- Value for money
- Service reliability
- Willingness to pay for additional features or services
Timing: After customers have rented for several months following pricing or service changes or based on your business goals.
Customer Survey Mistakes That Skew Your Data
The benefits of a customer survey are clear. Not only do you understand your business and customers better but you also have the opportunity to refine your operations and build long-term relationships. In contrast some mistakes can cause your customer surveys to be inaccurate. To ensure usable data avoid these potential pitfalls:
- Limited options: Limiting your answers to “Yes” or “No” means foregoing middle ground options like “neutral” “N/A” or a point system. This mistake can force the customer to give an answer that doesn’t accurately reflect their opinion.
- Incorrect audience: Targeting or not appropriately segmenting customers based on their specific experience can cause issues with your survey. Making this mistake can give you irrelevant or skewed feedback.
- Overloaded question: Packing too many topics in one question is known as asking a “double-barreled” question. Taking this approach is ineffective for getting true data on each point because they likely have different opinions regarding each topic.
- Survey fatigue: Creating surveys that are too lengthy and have too many questions can cause burnout. This mistake can cause customers to lose interest and give up or provide thoughtless or incomplete answers.
- Poor timing: A timely customer survey can increase your chances of high-quality results so it follows that incorrect timing comes with risks. Customers might provide incomplete information if sent too soon—or if you wait too long customers may not recall specific details of their experiences.
Go DIY or Partner with an Agency—What’s Right For You?
Much like choosing which storage unit size to rent based on your specific needs taking the right approach depends on your situation.
Design Your Own
Writing your customer survey takes several steps:
- Brainstorm and commit to your goals and objectives.
- Write relevant questions that adequately support your goals.
- Decide how you plan to conduct your survey to reach your customers. This could be by email phone call text online or paper/mail-in.
- Start your customer survey and provide it with a clearly-outlined due date.
- Review the results of your survey as you receive them.
- Implement changes or refinements based on customer feedback.
Plus your customers like to know that their comments were considered. So be sure to thank them for their contributions and share how they help make your facility better.
CX On Demand
Alternatively you can conduct a self-storage customer survey by partnering with CustomerOptix and creating your own customized survey.
- Choose a pre-set industry-specific template.
- Decide your frequency whether annually or monthly.
- Complete your five additional custom questions.
- Add the information for each location including email addresses and phone numbers for the reporting.
- Finalize the information and place your order.
Once the order is completed you’ll receive an email with access to a QR code or web link to implement your survey. These can be added to your invoices printed on signs around your facility or sent via email text or postcards. You’ll get an email with the results each time a customer survey is completed. It takes as little as 10 minutes to complete and is simple to use.
A Self-Storage Customer Survey Unlocks Hidden CX Potential
Conducting a self-storage customer survey is one of your most powerful business tools for gathering feedback from your customers. These insights highlight critical information about customer experience and can transform how you run your business. Certainly understanding the ever-changing needs of the self-storage industry can help you stay competitive and allow your business to thrive long-term.
Furthermore a customer survey can benefit your business when you want to expand your services or make major changes. In short a customer survey can provide the actionable data to make informed decisions. Also by taking the right approach you can avoid common pitfalls that compromise your results and gather accurate meaningful feedback.
Are you ready to take the first step in gaining powerful insights by connecting with your customers?
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