• September 29, 2023

15 Aug, 2023

Should On-Site Managers Have Dogs On Their Properties?

I have to start out by saying….I love dogs! I can’t remember a time in my life that I didn’t have a dog and I understand the beauty and companionship that dog owners feel about their pets. So, I can understand when facility managers bring their pets to...

Read More

9 Jun, 2023

The Self Storage Data Sharing Dilemma

It can be stated without hyperbole that the quality of data in the self-storage industry is severely lacking. Since the inception of the industry, we’ve seen the proverbial chicken and the egg situation: Owner-operators complain that industry data isn’t...

Read More

8 Jun, 2023

Job Culture: 3 Ways to Reduce Turnover | MSM

Having the specific skills for a particular job is important, but even the most qualified job applicant may not pan out if there is a poor “fit” between the position and the workplace. Whether one wants to call it job or corporate culture, work...

Read More

6 Jun, 2023

Be Small & Nimble for Optimal Growth | Mini-Storage Messenger

When I set out to start my company, I knew it was important to choose the right mix of employees. I wanted a group of smart, creative, problem solvers with open minds and strong work ethics. Ideally, everyone on the team would get along, be invested in...

Read More

18 Mar, 2023

Kings Of Customer Service: 2022 Managers Of The Year

Many businesses live by the notion that “the customer is king” and strive to provide exceptional customer service befitting of royalty. Others stand by the claim that “the customer is always right,” thus employees should do whatever it takes to make the...

Read More

21 Feb, 2023

StoragePRO® Management is the first management company to join Everbrite’s Top Operator Program

Rancho Cordova, CA, January 20, 2023 – Everbrite Coatings, the manufacturer of the industry’s most durable restoration clear-coating, officially announces that StoragePRO Management is the first self-storage management company to join their Top Operator...

Read More

3 Jan, 2023

Look Who’s Talking – Kraig Haviland, co-founder of Haviland Storage Services

Within the self-storage industry, many of the most successful operators live by the notion that their property managers are their greatest assets. Considering that the managers represent “the face” of the facility, interacting with a site’s customers on...

Read More

3 Jan, 2023

Leveling The Playing Field: The Evolution Of StoragePRO Management®

Though it’s not always immediately apparent, evolution is all around us. The items we use are continually being improved, updated, or upgraded. Buildings are renovated. People, plants, and animals mature. Habits, lifestyles, and trends change....

Read More

31 May, 2022

Pulse On Performance: Are Your Operational Goals On Track?

It’s a great time to be in the self-storage industry, isn’t it? It is also a great time to check on where you stand with your goals and take actions to correct any deficiencies or give yourself a pat on the back for exceeding your goals!

With leasing...

Read More

31 May, 2022

Focus On Commercial Tenants: Adding Profits To The Bottom Line

The self-storage industry has developed dozens of specialty products over the past decades to add an element of product diversity and accommodate the needs of specific markets. To attract business customers, some operators find that offering leasable...

Read More

3 May, 2022

Going Once, Going Twice... Are Live Auctions Fading Away?

The writing has been on the wall—at least on the walls of the internet for several years. Most business activity is being conducted online. The self-storage industry has seen much of their business convert to online, and that includes the business of...

Read More

13 Dec, 2021

The Neuroscience Of Innovation: How Your Own Brain Limits Your Creative Thinking

Several neuroscience principles limit our ability to creatively solve problems and generate innovative ideas. Understanding some of these principles can help you optimize your creative thinking and innovation processes.

The brain stores no fuel and...

Read More

29 Sep, 2021

Cyber Connections: Effective Networking In A Virtual World

With the shift to our new virtual world, you have probably found it more difficult to build and sustain professional relationships. Yet, the virtual technologies we are all using have actually expanded our opportunities to network and build connections....

Read More

9 Sep, 2021

Spotting Impaired Workers: Employers Tackle Costly Drug Misuse

The employee’s request had a certain degree of logic. He had just received a prescription for medical marijuana from a naturopathic physician. Could he get permission to smoke the substance on the job?

The employee argued that Colorado—the state where...

Read More

14 Jun, 2021

Workplace Violence: How to Reduce the Risk of Tragedy

It’s a nightmare scenario that haunts every business owner: A troubled individual’s simmering anger boils over into an act of workplace violence. The mass shooting by an ex-employee at an Indianapolis FedEx facility in April was only the latest in an...

Read More

1 Apr, 2021

A Decade Of Growth: The Ascent Of Storage Asset Management

On May 20, 2020, Storage Asset Management (SAM), the largest privately owned third-party self-storage management company in the United States, celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Founded in 2010 by Jay Hoke, president and managing partner, and Alyssa...

Read More

24 Mar, 2021

Look Who’s Talking – Ann Parham, CEO and President of Joshua Management

By Erica Shatzer

In March, no one could have predicted that COVID-19 would be an ongoing issue and topic of discussion in November. Even though we are growing more accustomed to the “new normal” each passing day, with face masks becoming more of a...

Read More

24 Mar, 2021

Look Who’s Talking – M. Anne Ballard, president of training, marketing, and developmental services, Universal Storage Group

By Erica Shatzer

The year is 2020, and self-storage facilities built during the development cycle before the Great Recession are either two decades old or close to that 20-year milestone. Twenty years really isn’t a long time for an edifice to be...

Read More

24 Mar, 2021

Technology And The Manager

By Andy Kelly, Principal and Broker of A B Kelly Realty, LLC (Self Storage and Commercial Property Management) and Principal of Sierra Self Storage Consulting, LLC

I started in the storage business in 1992 as an area manager. The industry had very...

Read More

26 Jan, 2021

Managing Employees During the Covid Crisis

As businesses suffer, including self-storage operations, there are some inevitable questions that apply to managing staff, especially those that have tested positive for the virus or are caring for family members that are sick. Further, as revenue...

Read More

19 Jan, 2021

Bring On The Perks! Creating An Attractive Benefits Package

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate fell from 3.8 percent in March 2019 to 3.6 percent in April—the lowest jobless rate the country has seen since December 1969. While this is wonderful news, many employers are having...

Read More

12 Jan, 2021

Starting Out Strong: Five Magic Questions You Must Ask

I’m talking about our telephone and walk-in greeting process and the questions and command of the situation that determine how things will proceed. Your initial greeting has to be more than just a smile and pleasantries while seated behind your desk.

...

Read More

1 Nov, 2019

Make Room For Awesome!

StorQuest’s Philosophy For Business And Life

Over two and a half decades ago, William “Bill” Warren Hobin was working for a large, regional home builder when he took notice to the lack of closets and storage space in newly constructed homes....

Read More

27 May, 2019

A Cut Above - The 2019 Managers Of The Year

Similar to star triathletes, the best self-storage managers have the necessary skills to conquer various territories—on site, off site, and in cyber space. From customer service and sales to property maintenance and marketing, they know that focusing on...

Read More

20 Mar, 2019

Hire Right!

Recruiting And Retaining Managers

Hiring an employee can either be the best move your company has ever made, or it can be the biggest mistake. Per the Society of Human Resources Management, on average, it costs an employer $4,000-plus to hire a new...

Read More

1 Mar, 2019

Donald Jones, owner/president, Donald Jones Consulting & Service, LLC

Within the self-storage industry, the notion that you only have one chance to make a first impression gets a substantial amount of consideration. From the property manager’s disposition and appearance to a facility’s curb appeal and cleanliness, plenty...

Read More

1 Dec, 2018

The Zoning Maze

Finding the Right Path for Permits and Zoning

New self-storage facility developers have generally had luck moving their projects from the industrial and warehouse zones areas of many cities, but that doesn’t mean they’re not facing challenges from...

Read More

1 Nov, 2018

Top 10 Customer Complaints

Handling Issues With Finesse

No one likes getting customer complaints, but, let’s face it, even the cleanest, best facilities will receive some customer complaints.

There are ways to handle customer complaints that will either make your facility look...

Read More

1 Oct, 2018

The "Creepy Tenant Dude" Syndrome

What’s A Self-Storage Manager To Do?

As odd as these stories have become, the solution to the type of tenants that seem to spend an inordinate amount of time at self-storage facilities, either in their closed unit or hanging out in the facility office,...

Read More

1 Oct, 2018

Pink Slip Panic

10 Tips For De-Hiring Managers

There are two things that are pretty certain in the job world: The first is that no one likes to be fired; the second is that no one likes to do the firing.

However, there are times when you may have to let one of your...

Read More