Gabfocus Self Storage Podcast

Tenants are the life blood of our business. Most of the time, and with most of our tenants, the relationship is great. But every once in a while you get that one tenant... Today we tackle the first of many problem tenant types: The Complainer/Bully. This is the tenant who knows your business better than you do and always has a "helpful" suggestion. You may call this person a "Karen" or a complainer, but sometimes they take it too far. How do you deal with a tenant like this? How do you respond when a complaint turns into hostile behavior in person or online? Thankfully, there are several practical things you can start doing today to help deal with your problem self storage tenants. Hosts: Josh Huff & Melissa Huff Produced by Lighthouse Storage Solutions

There is a common denominator every self storage business shares that is often under-valued and under-utilized: the customer. Building customer loyalty is the final step in the sales funnel. But too often, companies are so focused on getting customers, they don't know how to truly enlist them to continue building their business. Today we gab about the customer and how to utilize them in your sales process. Yes, asking for reviews is a part of it, but there is so much more, from regular communication to referral programs to going for repeat business from past tenants. Take advantage of this free final stage in marketing and enlist your customers. Hosts: Josh Huff & Melissa Huff Produced by Lighthouse Storage Solutions

The self storage laws in Georgia were recently updated to include new provisions for non-monetary defaults and unsigned lease agreements. But along with these changes are best practices to protect both the facility owner and the tenant. While some practices are now legal, owners must be careful to implement them in the right way. We break down some of the changes, what this means for the industry, and how they can really benefit your business. Hosts: Josh Huff & Melissa Huff Produced by Lighthouse Storage Solutions

Increasing occupancy is top of mind for most self storage operators. Advice is plentiful, from upping your ad spend to dropping your rates. But what really works? Luke Westbrooks joins the webinar to discuss what has and hasn't worked for the portfolio under his care. You won't be surprised by the bottom line- it's all about the customer experience. Your customer interaction has a direct impact on their desire to rent with you or recommend you to others. The gabfocus team work through communication, move-ins, billing, collections, and more as they tackle this important topic. Hosts: Tommy Nguyen & Melissa Huff Guest: Luke Westbrooks Brought to you by the teams at StoragePug and Lighthouse Storage Solutions  

After more lunches, sessions, trade show seminars, podcasts, and webinars than we we can count, we've finally cracked the code and figured out the most important thing in self storage. It's not your website, location, class, security, software, or curb appeal, although all those elements relate to it. At the end of the day, self storage is a business, and you can't have a successful business if you don't make money. So where does our money come from? *Spoiler Alert*...Customers. We often think about the customer experience, but have you thought about your actual customers? What do they want? What are they looking for? What can they handle? That's our topic for today as we unpack the common customer themes we've seen from dozens of operators and dozens more educational sessions. If you know your customer, you'll know how to please them, utilize them, and ultimately earn money from them. Hosts: Josh Huff & Melissa Huff Produced by Lighthouse Storage Solutions

Curb appeal isn't just about what you see. It's about what others see when they visit your property, whether in person or online. The right curb appeal can attract a great tenant leading to long term healthy arrangement. But the reverse is also true. Negative curb appeal can keep good tenants away or attract the wrong kind of tenant. So, what are the essentials? How do you manage your curb appeal? We are excited to have Jane Sauls, broker and self storage owner, join the show to talk all about curb appeal and specifically how it impacts marketing. She drives home the three "R"s that are the foundation of her facility, showing the value of being Real, Relatable, and Reliable. Guest: Jane Sauls (Sauls Storage Group and Little Vine Storage) Host: Melissa Huff Produced by Lighthouse Storage Solutions and StoragePug

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. This famous slogan rings true in more areas than just keeping your hair free of dandruff. It's especially true in the self storage industry. What are people's first impression when they drive by or walk on your property? Today we dive into the different aspects of keeping your facility neat, clean, and bright. Organization, signage, landscaping, and all the rest are covered as we look into the good, bad, and ugly of curb appeal. We'll also tackle digital curb appeal in a future episode. Related Episodes: Keeping Up With Your Facility with Jackie Belau & Nigel Kreft Click Here to listen to Part 1 Click Here to listen to Part 2 Hosts: Josh Huff & Melissa Huff Produced by Lighthouse Storage Solutions  

One of the top training guru's in self storage, Carol Mixon, joins the podcast today to talk all about selling skills. Active listening, problem solving, customer care, product knowledge, and of course closing those leads are just a few of the many topics covered in todays episode. Carol shares a variety of helpful examples along with practical advice for training your team or doing the work yourself. This is a rebroadcast of the Gabfocus webinar originally aired on 3/28/2024. You can watch it over on StoragePug's site. Hosts: Tommy Nguyen & Melissa Huff Guest: Carol Mixon (SkilCheck) Brought to you by the teams at StoragePug and Lighthouse Storage Solutions

We're back from Inside Self Storage with all our fun takeaways from the education, networking, and trade show. Dozens of speakers, hundreds of vendors, and thousands of attendees made this an event to remember. And speaking of thousands, the Storage Gives event was HUGE, raising thousands for all the worthy causes they support. Interested in purchasing sessions from ISS? Visit their store right here. Hosts: Josh Huff & Melissa Huff Produced by Lighthouse Storage Solutions

Welcome to Episode 1 of Legal Chat. This is the podcast version of the virtual "Power Hour" featuring Carlos Kaslow and Scott Zucker which covers a variety of topics and questions sent in from self storage owners and operators around the country. Today we get to know Carlos Kaslow's origin story before the guys dive in to the legal topics facing the self storage industry. They cover updating leases with electronic signatures, tenants attempts to stop auctions, potential rent control bills, and some very important non-monetary default legislation. Start at 6:20 if you want to skip to the Legal Chat. You can watch this episode over on their YouTube channel- Legal Chat Episode 1 Make sure to subscribe to watch future episodes. Hosts: Carlos Kaslow & Scott Zucker with the Self Storage Legal Network Brought to you by Lighthouse Storage Solutions