Luckily for self storage owners, millions of people around the world are pack rats. But it’s not just the pack rats who are good for business. The following list of prime customer groups was taken from SelfStorageInvesting.com. Read through it, then we’ll have a bit of targeted advertising advice on the flip side. One that will likely increase your income from this particular style of property investment. Maybe a lot.

1. Military Families
With the constant moving and unpredictability military families (or singles) often face, many choose to keep certain belongings in a self storage unit. While they may be stationed overseas, across country, or even across town, they have the flexibility to move freely while still keeping their things safe. This option is often more fiscally responsible for those who frequently move.

2. College Students
Younger generations may move from home and find they simply don’t have the space they did in their former homes. Perhaps they’re parents have moved, or whatever they need to store needs to be closer than their previous residence. Self storage is also a good option for students or those just starting out on their own as it is much cheaper than purchasing or renting a larger property.

3. Those who have downsized
Many people who have decided to sell their larger homes are left with an overwhelming amount of belongings they no longer have the space to store. Using self storage units are a great option for them to hold onto their keepsakes, while not having to commit to a larger property than they need. And, if these people are still in limbo, it offers them a safe place to keep their things until they can get settled into a new and more permanent home.

4. Just need the extra space
Finally, self storage businesses everywhere are help kept full by those who simply don’t have the room to hold everything. Whether they are storing a family member’s belongings, waiting to sell their goods on eBay, or just have a hard time getting rid of things, these renters have the flexibility to rent space as it is needed. Building a garage or shed is expensive, but renting a storage unit allows someone else to pay all of the property bills. It also provides the option of using as much or as little space as you need.

Now that you know who you’re renting to, as a self storage owner, you need to figure out to rent to more of them. Here’s an important question. Are you advertising? More precisely, are you using testimonials in your advertising? Using the actual words of satisfied customers to extoll the virtues of your business is a long-time strategy of direct marketing. Why have direct marketers, and now Internet marketers, used this approach for decades?
Because it works! It works like crazy.

Ever notice one of those long form sales letters that fill up the Internet? Usually somewhere in the middle of the sales pitch you’ll find anywhere from a handful to a dozen or more prominently displayed testimonials about how the product in question made each customer’s wildest dream come true. To understand the power of testimonials, you need to understand something about human nature. We’re basically herd animals. Regardless of the quality of the product, we’re more likely to open our checkbook, especially when it amounts to a significant investment, when there is at least one other person validating our decision. In the real world this means satisfied customer. Nobody wants to be the first to try something new, but once someone else has taken a chance and liked it, you can’t beat them away with sticks.

So, you need to get some testimonials to use in your advertising. How do you do that when your primary interaction is with new customers who have no idea what your service is like and present customers who want to talk about maintenance? Getting testimonials is often as easy as asking for them but don’t forget that you can be creative too. Hold a contest to find the best testimonial, offering something like a discounted monthly rental rate for a whole year to the winner. Or the top three.

Bribery? Absolutely! Unethical? We don’t think so. Where’s the crime in soliciting existing customers to offer you an honest opinion of your service? If you’re running your self storage business the right way, there’s a good chance you already have number of satisfied customers driving onto your property every day. It’s your task to find them, get them to make a statement and then use that statement to reel in more customers.

What could be simpler?

The Commercial Investing Center Team

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(Flickr / buddawiggi)