.png)
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?
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.
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:
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
Timing: Within one to two weeks after the customer has moved into the unit.
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:
Timing: After a specific length of time as a customer, annually, or based on your goals.
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:
Timing: Any point during the customer’s visit, after their initial move-in, or based on your business goals.
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:
Timing: After initial move-in, based on business improvement goals, or periodically during the customer’s stay.
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:
Timing: After customers have rented for several months, following pricing or service changes, or based on your business goals.
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:
Much like choosing which storage unit size to rent based on your specific needs, taking the right approach depends on your situation.
Writing your customer survey takes several steps:
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.
Alternatively, you can conduct a self-storage customer survey by partnering with CustomerOptix and creating your own customized survey.
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.
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?
.svg){kind=icon}
