Ongoing Training In The Self Storage Industry

Having come from the real estate industry, where there is one large, nationally recognized industry, The National Association of Realtors (Association leaders and statistics are quoted a lot in national press); it seemed rather odd to me that the self storage industry has two competing associations. And to top it off, each industry has multiple national, local and state conventions, meetings, and workshops annually. One association is named “Inside Self Storage” (ISS) and the other is “Self Storage Association” (SSA).

As soon as I stopped being annoyed about this, I have been able to see each for their potential and capitalize on their strengths and profit from each of them. They are my main ongoing source of self storage education. To stay relevant, it takes a lot more than just ongoing self storage education, but we will touch on that in the final two videos for this month.

Here is an example of how I was able to use the ISS & SSA as a resource. Early on in my entry into this industry, I was very weak (some say I still am) in terms of facility maintenance. My background was real estate. I never saw my Father change a light bulb, and never saw a tool in his hand my entire life. He was a self made and self employed businessman and I learned a lot from him, just nothing mechanical.

I went to the first few national conventions with the goal of coming away with best practices for ongoing maintenance on facilities. By the way, this is a really good way to go to a convention in my opinion. Have a goal in mind because what you focus on shows up in life.

I was not disappointed. I came away learning way more than I could have ever read and retained. I received lots of valuable information – ranging from check lists, schedules, contacts, vendors, products to use, and ways to train facility managers on best practices. I will bet the doors at my facilities open smother than any one of the competitors in my market. For us, that is the Apple IPhone or IPod box opening experience. Apple spends a lot of time and energy creating an awesome customer experience, starting with how the phone or pad is packaged, and the experience a customer has when opening the box. For our customers, they open their box every time they go to their units, so we want the experience to be an awesome and smooth one with each visit.

I have gone to association meetings with the intention to get trained in development, cost cutting, what REIT strategies are, best ways to raise prices, and on and on. I am never disappointed.

My suggestion is to figure out what part of your operation could use the most growth. If you say I can’t think of one, I hope you are a competitor in my market. That tells me you haven’t thought too much about how the industry is evolving. If this is the case, continue watching my weekly videos. You will see how the industry is changing, and changing fast.

Figure out the area of growth that would most help you now given where you are in your business development and growth. Then register and go to an ISS, SSA convention, or both like me, national convention. Each association has national conventions in Las Vegas yearly. (ISS is in the early part of the year and SSA is in the fall). They also have other more regional meetings, in various parts of the nation each and every year.

Next week I will be filming from the ISS convention. If you have never gone, you will see what a convention looks like.

Thank you for watching or reading this episode and next week you will see what a convention looks like, the types of training and vendors that are there, and a surprise or two that you may not have known was possible at a self storage convention.

Until then, if you haven’t, start lining up where you are going to grow and learn in your business this year.