Last week, industry consulting firm Self Storage 101 sent out a tongue-in-cheek newsletter highlighting the myriad scams self-storage managers can use to “rip off” their facility owners. It’s creating an interesting stir in the management community and is great fodder for debate. Let’s consider both sides of the equation.
First, a bit of background. I don’t know the specifics of the newsletter’s recipient list, but based on the company’s customer base, I’m guessing it’s comprised largely of facility owners. Self Storage 101 specializes in facility audits, market studies, due diligence and operational improvements. Owners Bob Copper and Bob Vamvas (I call them “The Bobs”) work with owners on sales skills, collection techniques and other essentials.
That said, it’s clear the letter went out to at least a few managers, because I got an e-mail from one who was less than pleased by the delivered message, claiming it perpetuates a negative image of facility managers and implies many are capable of wrongdoing.
The title of the newsletter was “Just in Time for the Holidays! How to Steal,” and went on to outline seven methods that can be or have been used by managers to take money out of an owner’s pocket. I was a bit shocked to see this information dispersed so openly. If there actually were any bad seeds on the mailing list, they just got a nice packet of scam ideas delivered to them on a silver platter. I won’t repeat them here, but some were fairly clever.
Even if we assume it was never intended for managers to see this newsletter, we know at least some owners use their generic facility e-mail address for communication, which means the manager is often the one who filters these messages. In larger operations, each person likely has a unique address; but smaller operations may funnel everything into an “info@” kind of addy.
Getting back to the debate on the table: On one hand, you have the facility owner, who should be forewarned and aware that this type of dishonest behavior could be occurring at has his or her facility. From this perspective, Self Storage 101 was providing a valuable service, merely pointing out situations The Bobs have likely witnessed directly while auditing facilities. On the other hand, this industry has a robust management community that has undergone dramatic changes over the past decade. It’s bad enough to battle negative images of self-storage facilities and managers perpetuated by the public media; now managers have to battle suspicion from their own owners, created from within our own ranks.
While at the recent ISS Expo in Washington, D.C., I sat in on a seminar about self-storage insurance. While discussing employee-dishonesty coverage, the presenter shared a story about a manager who had worked with an owner for decades. She had been given “the keys to the kingdom,” allowed to manage the books. In the end, it turned out she had been embezzling money from the owner for many years. He never suspected it. Is he partly at fault for not being more vigilant? Sure. Is it sad that any owner should have to be wary of his own employees? Sure. Is it true there are corrupt people in the world, and some of them will work at storage facilities? Yes again.
Let me know your thoughts: Is it true that to be forewarned is to be forearmed, and it is a consulting firm’s duty to advise facility owners of the potential danger of manager scams? Or should that kind of information be kept on lockdown to avoid unnecessary suspicion and criminalization of manager activity?
You’ll read more about this topic later in the week when we get a manager’s perspective here in the blog. I invite any industry consultants or owners to submit their opinions or comment in response.