In what can only be described as a significant and defining victory for the self-storage industry, Guardian Self Storage of New York won a discrimination complaint filed by a potential customer with the New York State Division of Human Rights. The facts and background of the case were detailed in the May issue of Whats in Store, the member newsletter of the New York Self Storage Association (NYSSA).

A customer attempted to rent a unit at one of Guardians 12 facilities. When the manager requested identification, the customer offered only a copy of a Jamaican passport and a disconnected cell-phone number. She claimed to have no Social Security number, and no other photo ID or verifiable information. Following the Know Your Customer protocols developed by the NYSSA and Guardians standard rental procedures, the manager refused to rent to her.

Claiming to have been discriminated against, the customer filed a complaint, seeking $5,000 in damages. The Division of Human Rights launched an investigation to determine the facts of the situation. On April 19, it released its decision:

If the Complainant had provided Respondent (Guardian) with proper forms of identification , Respondent would have rented a storage facility to Complainant. Respondent properly followed its own lawful policies in denying Complainant the rental of a storage facility when Complainant could neither produce valid forms of identification, nor did she have a valid address or operable phone number. The Respondent has advanced a non-discriminatory, business reason for the treatment of Complainant. This reason was not found to be a pretext to discriminate. The complaint is therefore ordered dismissed and the file is closed.

NYSSA President Chris McGrath explained that even though this is not an Appellate Court decision, it is significant. It confirms that businesses in which proper verifiable identification is a critical element of the written contractaffecting an interest in real propertymust have the right to verify the ID of the party to be charged with responsibility under the contract.

We are delighted by the determination rendered in our favor, said Kelley Redl- Hardisty, CEO of Guardian Self Storage. Since 9/11, we have received informational notices from the FBI and the New York State Office of Public Safety that stress the importance of being sensitive to measures that will help prevent violence and attack. At Guardian, our managers are the first line to ensure safety and security. Our manager carefully followed our own policies in refusing to rent a unit to a person without proper, verifiable ID. Fortunately, the Human Rights Commission was not swayed by the attempt to allege discrimination.

The lesson for all self-storage owners and managers is the importance of following rental procedures. I know there are times when a prospective customer seems desperate for your help, but you should never violate your companys policies. If you dont have a set of written guidelines, ask your state self-storage association or a fellow operator for help with putting some in place.

Every owner across the country should join me in congratulating the Guardian management team for defending their business and the entire industry against unfounded charges. I hope their experience encourages you to review your rental procedures for consistency.

Weeding Out Weeds

All of us struggle to keep up with weeds on our properties. My home in Virginia is surrounded with wood mulch instead of grass, and despite diligent efforts to remove weeds, some are very stubborn indeed, particularly the poison ivy that grows near the woods.

I live on a water recharge area, and any chemicals I use on the lawn end up in the lake. While looking for an all-natural product online, I stumbled across a local company, St. Gabriel Laboratories, a commercial research lab founded by the Reuter Co. in 1986. It produces a full line of natural products designed to eliminate weeds forever. I was skeptical until I started reading the ingredients: clove oil, sodium lauryl sulfate, vinegar, citric acid, mineral oil, lecithin and water.

I ordered two products, Burn Out and Poison Ivy Defoliant; and like a kid with a new toy, I got out my liquid sprayer and started on the weed patch. To my pleasant surprise, the product started having an effect within an hour. After about four hours, I saw a remarkable change. By the following morning, all of the weeds had been killed. Armed with those results, I attacked the poison ivy. Once again, I saw great results within a couple of hours and, by morning, all of the leaves and plant stocks had withered.

I dont want to mislead you into believing you can use these products carelessly. The companys mandatory Material Safety Data Sheets disclose serious consequences that can result from direct contact with the skin or prolonged breathing of the vapors. But you cant beat the results. If you want to eliminate the weeds and unwanted grasses at your facility, give them a try. Visit www.milkyspore.com for more information.

ISS Miami Expo 2005

I urge owners and managers to attend the Inside Self-Storage Expo at the Hyatt-Regency in Miami, Oct. 26-29, which promises an outstanding line up. The event kicks off with a developers seminar hosted by the Florida Self Storage Association, which got rave reviews at last years show, and a keynote presentation by Gayle Carson, author of Winning Ways: How to Get to the Top and Stay There.

The expos educational programs are well-balanced between development and management issues. Whether youre new to the industry or a veteran, youll find new ideas awaiting you on this years agenda. Owners should consider sending their employees to the managers workshop taught by industry expert Joe Niemczyk, president of Executive Self Storage Associates Inc. His entertaining, enlightening full-day seminar has helped thousands of managers improve their bottom-line performance.

As always, the tradeshow will feature a wide selection of premier self-storage suppliers. If you dont have time to attend the entire show, exhibits-only registration is available. I am honored to again be a speaker at the ISS expo, and I hope to see you in Miami!

Jim Chiswell is the owner of Chiswell & Associates LLC, which has provided feasibility studies, acquisition due diligence and customized manager training for the self-storage industry since 1990. In addition to being a member of the Inside Self-Storage Editorial Advisory Board, Mr. Chiswell contributes regularly to the magazine and is a frequent speaker at ISS expos and other industry events. For more information, call 434.589.4446; visit www.selfstorageconsulting.com.

Once all available storage space is rented and the possible retail sales made, what more can you do to increase revenue? Its time to think outside the boxes!

For new growth, you need to step beyond simple products and sell service. You already carry cartons, packing materials, labels, tape and other products. The next logical step is to offer parcel-shipping services. Arranging for regular pick-ups with major carriers is easy enough, so why not turn your office into a shipping center? Provide customers with a one-stop shop and youll increase walk-in traffic and sales.

Stop and Shop

There are several advantages to broadening the offerings of your facility. First and foremost is the increased profitability of what was once just office space. Another is crossover salesyour shipping-only customers will likely think of you first if a need for storage does arise. This better-than-free advertising generates awareness and business.

The more shoppers you attract, the more products you can sell them. With shipping come opportunities to sell holiday-related items such as decorative gift packaging. You can even run seasonal specials. In other words, you can gradually turn your facility into a shopping destination as well as a neighborhood shipping and storage center.

Package Promotion

Before you an enjoy the benefits of offering parcel shipping, youll need to promote your service to the public. Heres how:

Make the service visible in your store. Gather all your shipping products into an attractive Shipping Center. Ideally, it should have room for all the materials customers need, room for them to pack cartons, plus conveniences like tape dispensers and magic markers. If you dont want to design and build the center yourself, ask your retail-products supplier for a free-standing kiosk.

Advertise your service. Let prospects know what youve got! Begin inside the store and work your way out. Use interior signage, such as counter cards, employee buttons and posters, and exterior signage like window banners, tent signs and door notices.

You may want to add Parcel Shipping to your Yellow Pages ad when it comes due for renewal, and consider a second listing under Shipping Services. Thatll put you in the company of established shipping professionals. If you run newspaper ads, include a reference to your new service there, too. Its not a bad idea to create a separate ad to target non-storage prospects.

Reach out to current customers. Post fliers on storage units and send them with invoices. Consider offering a limited-time coupon to current and past tenants. Use colorful stickers on all correspondence that reads, W e now offer parcel shipping.

Target commercial accounts. Compose an announcement letter or mailer for your current commercial customers. Suggest your shipping service as a convenient way to send samples, ship small orders and return product. This may be especially appealing to businesses that keep inventory at your facility. Attracting them may be a bit more challenging, but the business you gain will be long-term and predictable.

As you market to these clients, ask some basic marketing questions. What businesses are they in? What special needs do they have? Are there more businesses like them nearby? Once youve done your homework, you can use the information to go after new accounts.

Create a mailing list from phone and industrial directories (available at your public library), or buy a list from a local mailing service. Then send a professional mailer to those businesses that fit your profile. Let them know about your unique combination of offerings and emphasize how this will save them time and money. Include testimonials from current patrons, and consider making a new customer offer.

Unless your mailing list is extremely large, plan to follow up with a phone call. To make it easier to do this promptly, send out mailers in small batches once a week. Convince prospects to visit your facility. Once they re in the office, you can use a short, concise PowerPoint presentation to help explain your services and their benefits.

Think long term. Once youve made a plan and put it into effect, be patient. Even an avalanche begins with just a few pebbles. It takes a while for the public to accept familiar companies in a new role. The beauty of this new venture is it involves a minimal investment and requires no re-training of your staff. Thats why you can afford to wait.

Getting Help With Getting Started

When you start to seriously consider parcel-shipping services, youll want all the help you can get to make things go smoothly. Begin with your retail supplier. Ask if it has any experience in the parcel-shipping industry and if it can provide a free-standing shipping center. Does it carry materials that meet U.S. postal requirements as well as those of leading parcel services? What about signage, merchandising and marketing?

If you like the answers you receive, then get started. If not, shop around for a supplier who can help you take that new direction for growth. Its time to ship out.

Roy Katz is the president of Supply Side, which distributes shipping packaging as well as moving and storage supplies. The company has developed merchandising programs for many leading companies including the U.S. Postal Service, The UPS Stores, Kinkos, Mail Boxes Etc., Uncle Bobs Self Storage and Storage USA. For more information, visit www.suplyside.com.

As an industry, were doing a poor job of educating customers about the value of the business in general and our facilities in particular. Differentiation does little for your bottom line if you dont broadcast the benefits of your business.

Youve heard it all before: To be successful in self-storage, you need to set yourself apart from the competition. Differentiate. Diversify. But even that isnt enough. Once youve created your unique advantages, you have to communicate them to prospects via your sales and marketing efforts. Thats the way to create opportunity and boost your bottom line.

The average self-storage operator converts less than 30 percent of his callers to renters. What this indicates is, as an industry, were doing a poor job of educating customers about the value of the business in general and our facilities in particular. Differentiation does little for your bottom line if you dont broadcast the benefits of your business. When properly communicated to your customer base, the distinctive traits of your facility will help you battle competitors, overcome objections, improve your marketing and gain confidence in your offering.

Battling Competition

Knowing your competition is one of the most effective ways to beat it. Shop your competitors regularly and learn as much as you can about their operations. If youre familiar with the other facilities in your area, you can tailor your sales presentation to emphasize your strengths and their weaknesses. For example, let it be known to customers that youre the only facility in town with climate control, video surveillance or truck rental. It builds confidence to be able to say, No other facility in town offers X, Y or Z.

Overcoming Objections

Communicating your advantages can also help you overcome customer objections. For example, if a prospect says youre more expensive than the facility up the street, build value into your store by touting your benefits. Explaining the features of your site can help him understand why the extra cost is worthwhile. If he says hes worried about security, talk about your access gates and video cameras. If he has concerns about temperature or humidity, point out your climate- controlled units. Most any objection can be tackled if you have a firm grasp of your sites high points and can communicate them effectively.

Improve Marketing

Incorporating details about your benefits makes your marketing more interestingand effective. If you offer truck rental, appliance dollies and moving supplies, your advertising can then say: Take care of all you moving and storage needs in one place! Any advantage can be turned into an essential part of your marketing campaign, especially one that outshines your competitors.

Know what sets you apart from the competition and advertise it effectively and consistently. Over time, your customer base will understand the importance of each feature and how it can help them. You can even launch separate programs for each differentiating characteristic. Its amazing how much marketing synergy can be created.

Distinguishing your facility from the rest of the marketplace will give you a competitive edge and greater confidence in the products and services you sell. It allows you to build value and trust with your customers and bolsters your sales and marketing. When communicated loudly and clearly, your sites unique advantages are the key to maximizing profit.

Brad North is the founder of Advantage Business Consulting, which specializes in onsite sales, marketing, feasibility and operational training for the self-storage industry. He has produced two live videos and a workbook titled Maximizing Your Sales and Marketing Program, which can help managers improve their sales and marketing efforts. Mr. North also launched A TelePro, a mystery-shopping service that assists in educating, evaluating and improving the phone-sales performance of self-storage professionals. For more information, call 513.229.0400; visit www.advantagebusinessconsulting.com.

Boat and RV storage may seem a lot like self-storage, but when it comes to maximizing profit, it has unique requirements. To successfully market an RV/boat-storage facility, keep these seven key things in mind: pricing, partnering, profitability, personnel, performance, persistence and patience.

Pricing

The biggest question often asked about operating boat and RV storage is how to price the spaces. The quick answer is: based on availability. To maximize revenue, you want to have space available at all times that will rent at the highest price the market will bear. Countless owners have lost thousands in revenue because they wanted their facility to constantly be full. This may be gratifying on some level, but it isnt savvy.

Shoot for 93 percent to 95 percent occupancy in every unit or space size. For example, if you have 300 spaces100 each of small, medium and largeyou should maintain at least five to seven open spaces in each size. If you have fewer than five available in any category, raise your price immediately.

Many a manager will say, I cant do that! Why not? Pricing shouldnt be based on anything but data. As soon as you near or hit your target occupancy rate of around 94 percent, raise your rents. If you get another renter at the higher rate, raise it again. Dont worry if one person is paying $20 more per month for the same size space as another. Have you been on an airplane lately? Is everyone paying the same price for the same quality seat? Case closed. Price your spaces rationally, not emotionally.

Partnering

Partnering will allow you to get units filled with a nominal marketing investment. Start with your obvious partners and expand to every one you can imagine. The more partners you have, the more profitable youll be.

How does partnering work? Look for those businesses in your area that are most likely to be asked for information on where to rent RV or boat storage. Two obvious candidates are RV and boat dealers. Whether someone is buying a new or used vehicle, one of his first questions will be about available storage. Some residents are allowed to park their RVs and boats at home, but strict homeowners associations have changed that scenario. Heres where you come in.

You want to be the first facility dealers recommend to their customers. How do you accomplish this? First, you need to make contact. Visit the dealers with a flier containing your facilitys contact information as well as its features and benefits. On your first visit, its also wise to bear gifts, such as one of your promotional products, cookies or pizza. Present your offering and explain your promo sheet (which should be coded for each individual dealership, by the way). When a customer comes to you, thank the dealer with an immediate phone call. Then deliver another clever but inexpensive gift that will help him remember you to his customers in the future.

Profitability

To be most profitable, you need to concentrate on the expense and revenue side of the business equation. Most of your marketing efforts will focus on revenue, but youll also want to evaluate your costs. Look for ways to intelligently reduce expenses without impacting sales.

Examine each line of your profit-and-loss statement. Look for things you can do to even slightly reduce your costs in each category. For example, replace your light bulbs with the new energy-efficient bulbs available today. Theyre more expensive in the beginning, but they pay for themselves over time in lower electricity bills. The savings may not be big, but if you make these kinds of changes with every expense item, youll buy yourself some nice additional profit.

Personnel

You also need to find the right people to help make profitability happen. In the case of a storage facility, this means hiring the right manager. How good is your manager, and how are you measuring his results? What criteria do you use to evaluate his performance?

The only thing that really matters is your numbers. What are your occupancy rates and net profits each month? If the numbers are going in the right direction, youve got the right manager, regardless of whether he is a nice person. The ultimate determining factor is occupancy. Remember, 100 percent occupancy is not the goal. If your manager can hold you at the 94 percent range and raise rents when necessary, hes getting the job done.

Performance

To see how well your facility is performing, you have to measure its results. Very few operators keep accurate measurements of their marketing efforts. Whatever plan you put into placepartnering, Yellow Pages, direct mail, etc.have a way to evaluate each effort. Review each marketing method regularly and make adjustments as necessary.

Persistence

If you think marketing is a do it once and its done affair, think again. Promoting your boat/RV storage facility requires an ongoing and consistent effort. For example, if you use partnering, youll be most successful when you thank people for referrals and give a giftevery time, without fail.

Many campaigns take a while to work. The biggest mistake you can make is using one-shot marketing in which you execute a great idea but fail to follow up on or repeat your efforts. This is almost worse then doing nothing at all. Be persistent. Once youve decided on a course of marketing action, follow it as planned, consistently.

Patience

Finally, marketing a boat/RV storage facility takes patience. If you are consistent in your efforts and follow the guidelines above, you can expect to see results in three to six months. Dont get discouragedit will happen with time. Follow the seven Ps, and youl be amazed at the profits you can make with boat and RV storage.

Fred Gleeck is a self-storage coach and consultant who helps owners and operators maximize profits. He is an expert in the field of information and seminar marketing and the author of more than 10. For more information, call 800.345.3325; e-mail [email protected]; visit www.selfstoragesuccess.com. To subscribe to his e-zine, send an e-mail to [email protected].

Wine storage can be a terrific ancillary service for self-storage facilities in the right markets. It produces a greater return per square foot than traditional storage and generates a host of other benefits, including added revenue and marketing advantages. Wine storage helps enhance a propertys image and draws a specific category of clientele. It has also been shown to draw customers who would not otherwise have visited a storage facility; about one-half of those who rent wine storage will eventually rent traditional units too.

Is There a Market?

Unlike other amenities, wine storage is not practical for most self-storage operators. It requires specific market characteristics to be successful. For example, wine storage works well in urban markets, particularly those with concentrations of condos and apartments, which normally have limited storage. It also succeeds in areas that lack basements or regions especially high in temperature and humidity. Other good targets include vacation and resort areas, where wine-loving visitors may need a place to store their collections.

Local wine merchants are a great source of information about an areas potential market, as they are constantly in contact with the wine-drinking public and know of customers who may have inquired about bulk storage. Merchants can be continuing sources of referrals as well as participants in a storage facilitys marketing events, such as wine-tastings.

For a quantitative look at a local market, seek out companies that provide demographic information or feasibility studies. They should be able to include a module that measures wine consumption in an area. No matter what resources you use, make sure theres a need for wine storage in the community before creating this ancillary service.

Facility Design

Once you know a market exists for wine storage, your level of service can vary, as will facility design. You can simply designate a portion of your regular climate-control space for wine storage, maintaining a communal room at ideal temperature and humidity levels and allowing access only in the presence of a manager. Or, the more preferred course is to create a separate wine area with individual lockers and a dedicated refrigeration system. Ultimately, the level of sophistication will be determined by the local market, the facilitys general character, and the desired business image.

To create dedicated, full-service wine storage, there are several basic standards to keep in mind. First, it must be designed and constructed to maintain ideal conditions for wine: 55 degrees in temperature and 70 percent humidity. Preferably, youll want two refrigeration units to create a redundant system that will preserve conditions in the event one of the units fails. A backup generator should be used in the case of a power failure. This will be a significant marketing tool.

Youll also want to include remote controls that enable customers to read cellar conditions from the rental office. Use measuring equipment to provide a history of the wine rooms temperature and humidity. This will generate a provenance for collector and investor customers as to the conditions under which their wine has been stored.

The lockers should be designed to accommodate cases of wine. Although it may vary in size, an average cardboard case fits in a 12-by-12-inch space, so use this dimension as your primary building block. For example, a 24-by-24-inch locker will hold four cases, while a 24-by- 90-inch locker holds 24. You can use a mix of locker sizes depending on the size of your storage area and anticipated market demand.

The lockers can be constructed from a number of materials. They range includes simple plywood boxes, cages of wooden slats, elaborate oak lockers with louvered doors, or any combination thereof. Recently, some suppliers have begun producing stainless-steel lockers. While they dont match the traditional look of wine storage, the resulting effect is quite dramatic and has been well received by customers.

Stainless-steel lockers at USA Stor-A-Way in Naples, Fla., while not the traditional choice for wine storage, offer a clean, contemporary look popular with customers.

Security

A well-designed wine-storage area allows access to wine customers only. Use an electronic keypad at the door and assign each customer an individual access code. Fit the room with video-surveillance cameras and integrate them with the facilitys general monitoring system.

In addition, the temperature and humidity controls for the refrigeration units should be monitored and tied to an alarm system. If levels should ever exceed preset limits, the facility manager will be alerted. When the facility is closed, the system can be monitored by an outside service that notifies the manager and an HVAC technician.

Aesthetic Treatments

While ideal conditions of temperature and humidity are the linchpin of the wine-storage service, aesthetics will greatly enhance its marketability and appeal. The most basic decor will include an attractive entry door that makes the rooms purpose clear to customers. For example, at Plantation Self Storage in Bluffton, S.C., the wine room features a hand-carved mahogany door designed in a wine motif.

Plantation Self Storage announces its wine area with a hand-carved mahogany door and creatively painted walls.

The rooms exterior walls, visible from the rental office, have been faux painted to give the appearance of an outdoor winery. At East Bank Self Storage in Chicago, where the facilitys wine storage is in the basement, the open staircase descending to the wine room is decorated with old barrels and murals depicting scenes of wine country. Murals are a great way to dress up the area, inside and out, and they can be used to create the illusion of depth and size.

Decorative wine-storage murals at East Bank Self Storage in Chicago.

Marketing, Amenities and Services

The marketing program for wine storage should include a brochure separate from that of the general storage facility and may even incorporate a unique name and logo. For example, Plantation Self Storage refers to its wine storage as Plantation Cellars and has created a separate brand identity. Annies Attic in San Francisco calls its wine-storage facilities La Cave.

Additional amenities can bolster customer service and marketability. Perhaps the most valuable service to offer from a standpoint of business development and marketing is a program of periodic wine-tasting, which can be conducted by a local wine merchant who will refer his customers to attend. Not only does it attract potential customers to the site, it enhances the experience for existing clients.

Strong Box Self Storage in Chicago has a tasting room adjacent to the wine-storage area that includes booths and tables for people to relax and bulletin boards full of wine-related information. The facility hosts its own wine club, established among wine-storage customers. Members can participate in bulk purchases of wine, glassware and accessories at volume discounts. Strong Box also sells wine products and accessories in its retail area. Bottle-stoppers and corkscrews imprinted with a facilitys name and logo are handy and make great advertisements.

A particularly useful service is the acceptance of wine deliveries for customers, including purchases sent directly from wineries. Restrictions on the interstate shipment of wine have recently been lifted after extensive court battles. Although rules still apply in some states, most allow direct shipment. This opens possibilities for wine consumersand storage operators who will use delivery acceptance as a marketing edge.

Costs and Returns

The chief question a self-storage operator asks when contemplating the addition of wine storage is: How much will it cost me? The next question usually revolves around how much money he can make. The accompanying charts show a sample of construction costs and potential income based on the Plantation Cellars facility mentioned earlier.

As you can see, construction costs total out at approximately $70,000. With a total case capacity of 2,032 and a rental rate of $1.50 per case per month, annual income could be as much as $36,576. Assuming a 10 percent vacancy rate, however, net annual income looks closer to $32,918, or 51.44 per square foot. In the right market, the wine-storage area pays for itself in little more than two years and then makes a nice profit center.

Wine storage is not suitable for every self-storage facility; but in the proper market, it can provide additional revenue and marketing benefits far in excess of costs.An attorney by trade, George McCord has more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of real estate and development projects.

He has supervised the acquisition, financing, construction, syndication, marketing and management of apartments, office buildings, resorts, shopping centers, residential and industrial subdivisions, condos, marinas and self-storage. He recently developed nearly 1 million square feet of storage, and his Plantation Self Storage facilities in Bluffton and Lexington, S.C., have been the winners of Facility of the Year awards. Mr. McCord is a member of the Self Storage Association, serving on the board of directors, and a founding member of South Carolina Self Storage Association. He is also a frequent speaker and participant in self-storage educational programs. For more information, e-mail [email protected].

Art too is just a way of living, and however one lives, one can, without knowing, prepare for it; in everything real one is closer to it, more its neighbor, than in the unreal half-artistic professions, which, while they pretend to be close to art, in practice deny and attack the existence of all art

~ Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet, Paris, December 26, 1908

Is ours one of those unreal half-artistic professions that do violence to the world of creative aspiration? That depends on your perspective, I suppose. And the theme, and style, and the medium you choose.

Self-storage is about serious things like interest rates and cap rates and due diligence and demographics. It is also about fairly mundane things like metal buildings, roll-up doors, access gates and rental agreements. But when all is said and done, a facility's success isn't about any of those things at all. It's about service. And the more diverse your palette of offerings, the more market share you're likely to capturewith all its chiaroscuro and color. This issue examines a few hues on the spectrum:

• Boat and RV storage
• Wine storage
• Records storage
• Post and parcel services
• Retail products

The better you master your technique, the closer you are to ancillary artistryor rather, the skill of sculpting revenue out of raw potential. The market is your canvas and service your brush. What kind of future do you wish to paint for your business?

Keep in mind, most artists can't work in all media; and not all storage operators meet success with every amenity. Whether you offer specialized storage, business services or a wide array of retail product, thoroughly research your commission pool before beginning. Is there a need for the talent you propose? Will patrons be receptive? Have others decked the halls of possibility before you, or will your ancillary be completely original?

Heres another pose to ponder: Some techniques can be learned later in a facilitys life, while others must be incorporated from the start. Its relatively simple to expand a retail area, add postal services or convert traditional self-storage to space for records; whereas more complex offerings such as wine and boat/RV storage require finesse. With wine, a delicate balance must be achieved between temperature, humidity, security and service. The business of big toys involves detail to construction and legal issues.

You dont have to be Michelangelo to make more money. Simply ask yourself: Does the concept of greater profit inspire me? If you are so moved, first examine your subject. Determine its strengths, weaknesses and fine points. Then, if the light is right, begin perhaps slowly at first, with just an outline, a sketch. As you gain confidence, make bold strokes from your palette, keeping taste and suitability at the forefront of vision. In time, your ancillary endeavor may turn out to be a masterpiece after all.

Best wishes to storage artists everywhere,
 
Teri L. Lanza
Editorial Director
[email protected]

On-site retail sales can be a windfall for a storage operator. If youre developing a new project or want to revamp current inventory, consider products that complement boat and RV use. Theres a huge range of merchandise from which to choose, and quick catalog ordering makes it easy to offer more goods than your retail space actually holds.

RV Retail Revenue

Some $14.9 billion worth of RV-related services and products were sold in 2002, says Philip Ingrassia, vice president of communications for the National RV Dealers Association, pointing out that RVs require many standard household items. While in the past it was common for retailers to offer replacement parts, the new trend is to sell accessories such as winterizing and de-winterizing products, which range in price from $2 to $40.

Because tanks must be flushed before a vehicle is placed in storage, related items are popular, says George Grengs, president of Mission Hills, Calif.-based Valterra Products Inc. With a catalog price of $7.12, the companys Master Blaster tank wand and power nozzle is an economical cleaning device. Flushing products are another good candidate for retail sales. Ranging in price from $8 to $27, these include valve caps and adapters, pump-converter kits, plastic hand pumps, and blow-out plugs. Valterra even offers merchandise displays that require minimum space while showcasing a complete selection of items.

Consumable products are always a winner, according to Susan Carpenter, co-owner of New York-based JR Products Inc. All RV owners use toilet paper, chemicals, replacement towing pins, antifreeze, water fresheners, cleaners and dehumidifiers. JRs best sellers are door hardware and replacement hatches, small enough to be stocked in a compact retail area; and its stainless-steel party-light hangers and low-profile rocker switches are just hitting the market.

Proper use of plan-o-grams and freestanding displays is the best way for a facility to exhibit merchandise. Make sure the plan-o-grams are geared toward your store and not what the supplier wants to sell you, Carpenter advises. If you have a small store, stock the most popular items and discard those that are obsolete. A retail center should earn a 35 percent to 50 percent margin. In reality, its the profit that drives the facility owner to create the store, Carpenter says. But making customers happy brings them back.

Theres even more money to be had by offering services in addition to products, Carpenter says. If youre already storing RVs, you can definitely boost profits by offering to winterize and de-winterize them for customers.

Dry-Dock Dollars

Fall lay-up of his boat is possibly the most important maintenance duty a boater will perform, says Steve Tadd, director of Discover Boating programs for the National Marine Manufacturers Association. Proper winterization will prevent costly damage that can result from freezing, dormancy, corrosion and moisture, and will allow for a smooth launch come springtime. Three or four hours of work and some inexpensive maintenance materials and tools can get the job done right, Tadd says.

Items boat owners should add to their shopping list include winterizing products that contain rust inhibitors; cleaners such as No Damp or another form of mildew control; gear-case lubricant; propylene glycol antifreeze (-200 antifreeze is best for engines); flushing kits; and oil and oil filters. Winterizing items will vary depending on the region or climate, says Marc Malkin, manager of public relations and communications for Ritz Interactive Inc., the e-commerce network that owns and operates marine-specialty online retailer BoatersWorld.com.

The first line of defense for a boat and its equipment is adequate preparation. Items such as shrink-wrap installation are necessary for protection. Engines and other moving parts containing fluids should be drained or stabilized to prevent freezing. Related products include fuel stabilizer, crankcase-oil stabilizer, fogging oil, engine grease/lube, engine flusher, electric dehumidifiers and water absorbers. Top sellers carried by Boaters World retail centers include Camco W inter Ban 50, a marine antifreeze; Sta-Bil Fuel Stabilizer, which flushes out the engine; and CRC Engine Storage Fogging Fluid. The companys newest line is Valvtect, which includes marine fogging oil and stabilizer.

The boat trailer shouldnt be overlooked, says Malkin. The smart retailer will stock trailer couplers, balls, hitch receivers, winches, winch cables, jacks, hitch/coupler locks, tie-downs/ bungee cords, wheel chocks, replacement lights, fuses, tool kits and spare-tire covers.

Savvy business owners from coast to coast have already realized the profit potential of boat and RV storage. Now well-planned and stocked retail centers provide convenience for boat/RV users while creating ancillary income for the facility. These babies do have needs, and an on-site store is the way to meet them.

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Sources for Boat/RV Products and Accessories

Boaters World Marine Centers
301.419.0000
www.boatersworld.com

Camco Manufacturing
336.668.7661
www.camco.net

Camping World Inc.
800.626.6189
www.campingworld.com

JR Products
800.269.7622
www.jrprvinc.com 

Thetford Corporation
800.521.3032
www.thetford.com

Valterra Products Inc.
818.898.1671
www.valterra.com

PhoneSmart Director Tron Jordheim knows hell need Spanish-speaking employees to bolster his business in years to come. So will other companies. Rather than wait for Mohammed to come to the mountain, hes done something better: Hes created a scholarship-essay contest to support bilingual skills in the local workforce.

This year, PhoneSmart will provide two $500 scholarships to students of higher education in mid-Missouri. Those eligible include high school students living in Boone County, where the company is headquartered, and college students attending schools in the area. Younger applicants are asked to write a comprehensive report on how being a Spanish-English speaker creates career advantages; the second group must write an essay on the challenges and rewards of creating a bilingual society. The deadline is Oct. 31, and contest winners will be announced in December.

Missouri is in the position many states were in several years ago, Jordheim says. Our Spanish-speaking population is just starting to bloom. We have the choice of resisting this change or embracing it and making the best of itbecause were not going to stop it. The best thing to do is welcome Spanish speakers into our workforce and view their language skills as a positive, not a negative.

Bilingualism particularly affects PhoneSmart because many of its self-storage clients are in areas with significant Spanish-speaking populations. Though statistics indicate 75 percent of U.S. Hispanics are comfortable speaking English, businesses that can speak to them in either language have a tremendous sales advantage, according to Jordheim.

The odds of writing a reservation double or triple if you can speak Spanish with someone. It creates immediate rapport, he says. Even though the Hispanic population is not yet a major portion of self-storage users, they are moving up as a demographic in the market. They will be storing stuff soon, and lots of it.

PhoneSmart employees Lucia Darnell (left) and Alexia Cardona will act as jurors for the contest, sponsored by director Tron Jordheim.

Learning the Art of Scholarship

Since this is Jordheims first shot at crafting a scholarship program, he isnt sure what to expect. For his first publicity effort, he mailed an announcement to high schools in the area in May. The timing wasnt the bestschools were just about to break for the summer and PhoneSmart received no response. Jordheim then attended a conference about statewide population growth at the University of Missouri. Representatives from several local colleges praised his idea and pledged help to promote it.

In September, another announcement was sent to area colleges and follow-up calls made to high school guidance counselors and financial-aid offices. Were also doing a mailing to food and construction businesses, because a large percentage of new immigrants work in those sectors and have kids in school, Jordheim says. Our main flier is in English with a Spanish blurb.

As of press time, Jordheims expectations were modest: I hope we get a lot of essays, but Ill be happy if we get 10. It takes time to get the word out about a new scholarship, and our statistical area is small (we probably have a local population of 150,000). But if we get a good response, Id like to do more next year and give away a lot more scholarships.

While the jury is still out on the programs rate of response, contest jurors are in and ready to go. PhoneSmart has enlisted the help of two employees to review and judge submitted essays: Lucia Darnell and Bolivian-born Alexia Cardona. Jose Garcia, Cardonas father as well as an assistant professor at University of Missouri-Columbia, is also on the judging panel.

Contest judge Jose Garcia, shown with his daughters, is an assistant professor with the Department of Rural Sociology at University of Missouri-Columbia.

Double-Edged Benefit

Jordheim freely admits the scholarship program isnt completely altruistic. Five years down the road, wed like to have more Spanish speakers working for us than we do now. If we can encourage those capable of being fluent in Spanish and English to work on their skills, well have a bigger pool of candidates, he says. Though he doubts this years recipients will become PhoneSmart employees, Jordheim believes the program will increase peoples awareness of the importance of bilingualism and the companys interest in those skills.

The world is a very small place these days, Jordheim says. If PhoneSmart can do business with all the Spanish speakers in the United States, we can eventually do business with Spanish speakers throughout the world. The potential for future business is very real.

PhoneSmart is a sales-solutions business that provides self-storage operators with call-center services, secret-shopping services, sales training and management programs. For more information, call 866.639.1715; e-mail [email protected]; visit www.phone-smart.info.

The goal of providing any product or service is to compel customers to: 1) Rent from you instead of your competitor; and 2) Buy from you an item or service he needs and might otherwise go elsewhere to find. The idea is to get him stay at your establishment and put money in your pocket rather than go to Home Depot, Office Max, Wal-Mart, the post office, etc.

These days, there are sundry ways to accomplish this. Following are a few of the most successful.

Business Centers

An increasing number of people are launching home-based businesses. Not only do many of them need office space, they require storage for inventory. In response, mini-offices that can be leased on a monthly basis are popping up in storage facilities across the country. Storage owners have also opted to incorporate small business centers into their sites, offering phones, Internet access, photocopiers, fax machines and more. From there, they can explore other services, such as an in-house notary public.

Pack and Ship

This type of ancillary is not necessarily new to self-storage, but it does open a variety of fresh ideas. Pack and ship services can be as simple as a drop-box for UPS or FedEx or the sale of stamps and shipping/packing materials, to complete parcel shipping, mailing and P.O. boxes. Depending on the extent of the operation, additional staffing may be required. But especially during holiday seasons, providing the community an optional outlet for shipping can mean a significant revenue increase.

Moving and Storage

This offering can be particularly popularand lucrativein areas with populations of older adults. A self-storage owner contracts with a small local moving company to market a combined service of packing, loading, transporting and unloading the contents of a customers storage unit. This may be more appealing to prospects than hiring a large warehouse/moving company, as most find comfort in being able to visit their stuff from time to time. Keep in mind that while services can be offered as a package, separate contracts should be signed for each to avoid legal issues and insurance nightmares.

Boat/RV Storage

When assessing added service to the boat and RV community, convenience is the key. Proximity to bodies of water or highways will make your facility more appealing to these customers, as will amenities like electricity, running water, dump stations, wash racks, propane, fill stations, battery chargers and vacuums. Some self-storage operations go so far as to offer services such as RV/boat clean-up and make-ready.

A word to the wise: These amenities may entice some folks to take up residency at your site. A watchful manager should ensure your RV-storage facility does not become an RV park.

Records, Wine, Trucks and Trailers

The more sophisticated services of records storage, wine storage and truck rental can require sizable startup investments of money, time and research. But they can also be extremely profitable when implemented in the right market.

Records and wine storage are usually priced by the cubic foot and demand a degree of service and space specialization. For example, wine storage requires strict temperature and humidity control as well as high security, while records storage often necessitates complementary services such as retrieval and delivery.

Truck and trailer rental boosts a self-storage business by providing an added bonus for tenants, i.e., free use of a truck at move-in, as well as attracting customers who might not otherwise visit the site. Of course, trucks require extra time and effort on the part of the facility manager, who must market, maintain and rent them. They also need the proper insurance.

Thinking Outside the Storage

Thinking outside the literal box is the way to conceive new services in this industry. The first step is to research your market and identify unfulfilled consumer needs. Then you must determine if there will be a return on your investment. Dont jump into anything. Keep in mind that what works in one market may not work in another. No amount of enthusiasm can replace due diligence.

Todays state-of-the-art facilities have only a conceptual likeness to the cinder-block buildings and graded rock driveways that launched the storage industry in the mid-60s. Since then, every visionary step and brilliant ancillary service has been conjured in the imagination of somebody. Why shouldnt the next somebody be you?

Ann Parham is the president and founder of Bulverde, Texas-based Joshua Management Corp. Ms. Parham began her career in self-storage more than 20 years ago as the co-owner of NDS Construction. Joshua Management was created through a quest to provide comprehensive customer service to the self-storage industry. The company offers site management, employee training, financial reports, accounting, brokerage and marketing. For more information, call 210.477.1222; visit www.joshuamgmt.com.

After years of gathering data, Pasadena, Calif.-based Self Storage Data Services Inc. (SSDS) has introduced a tool that tracks site-level market conditions and operating results for self-storage. Through an exclusive arrangement with SSDS, Inside Self-Storage will publish the U.S. Self-Storage Performance Index (SSPI) quarterly.

The index allows operators and participants in the capital markets to track industry trends. It measures the health of the domestic market based on key operating statistics from facilities in the countrys 50 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Specifically, it uses the asking rental rates on 100-square-foot, climate-controlled units as the benchmark for industry revenues.

Source data is gathered from sources public (SEC filings of self-storage REITS) and private (surveyed and contributed). In the most recent quarter, data from more than 6,600 properties was used in the calculation of the SSPI, which represents a 39 percent sample of the known facilities in the top MSAs.

Definitions

• Physical unit occupancy, displayed as a percentage, is the number of occupied units divided by a facilitys total units.
• Concessions are value-based on their financial impact, assuming a six-month median tenancy and a discount factor based on the prime lending rate.
• Revenue per occupied unit, or RevPar, is calculated by multiplying asking rental rates by physical unit occupancy, and then deducting the cost of concessions.
• Operating expenses are calculated as a percentage of RevPar.

The Data

The SSPI for the quarter ending June 30 was 97.1, up from 93.3 in 1Q 2005 and 91.0 in 2Q 2004. On an annualized basis, the index is up 1.6 percent. The industrys operating performancealong with the economyhas continued to improve since 4Q 2004. The increase in 2Q 2005 was the largest since 3Q 2004. The index has improved nearly 10 percent (or 8.7 basis points) since hitting its lowest point in 1Q 2003.

Compared to the same quarter last year, the most recent data shows:

• Median asking rents for a benchmark unit went up 9.4 percent.
• Physical unit occupancy was unchanged.
• The effective cost of rental concessions increased 5.6 percent.
• RevPar rose 8.9 percent.
• Operating expenses went up 3.7 percent.
• Net operating income per occupied unit increased 6.7 percent.

Self Storage Data Systems Inc. publishes the Self-Storage Performance Index as well as other statistical data on self-storage operation. It also reports on the supply and demand factors affecting the industry. For more information, call 626.304.2920; visit www.ssdata.net.