18 Jul 2024
During the recent ISS Las Vegas World Expo, we had the opportunity to engage with industry experts, gaining insights into the current self-storage landscape. James spoke with Tommy Nguyen from StoragePug to discuss the importance of having a functional website for self-storage facilities. Tommy highlighted how solopreneurs investing in facilities lacking online presence can significantly boost their value by implementing websites. This change enhances customer satisfaction, provides an effective acquisition tool, and offers business owners something to be proud of. Notably, the trend extends beyond primary markets, with tertiary areas seeing increased demand for digital solutions. Tommy emphasized the shift towards online rentals, making digital presence essential for capturing market opportunities.
James: Hey everybody, we're here with Tommy from StoragePug. These guys make websites that work. And Tommy, we've noticed a lot of people in the industry taking self-storage as an asset class they want to invest in. Solopreneurs who have a bankroll to buy their first facility, and what they look for specifically are locations that don't have a website. So maybe you can speak to how representing yourself on the internet, having a website that works, is a low-hanging fruit to add immediate value for a location.
Tommy: First thanks for hanging out with me, man. I want to speak right to the soul of these solopreneurs who are just getting started. I think the big thing about a website that works for these facilities that you're looking for that have no website is think about three things. Number one is your customer base. When you're buying a facility that does zero technology, zero automation, zero website, all of those customers are very frustrated. So from day one, you turn on a website that does rentals, does payments, does all of these things, you're already just building goodwill and taking good care of those customers. And often, at least in self-storage, goodwill will translate to good NOI down the road. So that's number one. Number two is because now you have a website, you have a customer acquisition stream. You have a place where people can actually find you and rent from you. So now instead of having to do all the other ways to do marketing, you have a place to send people. And then the third thing that's really nice is you now have something that you can look at and be proud of. And I think that's something that business owners, especially first-time business owners, they don't think about that. You get stuck in the hustle and flow and the grind. Now you have a website you can just look at and be proud of, pull up on your phone and show your mom. That feels really good. So yeah, I think that's what a website does for someone who's getting started and buying these facilities that have done nothing online for the last 30 years.
James: Absolutely. Well, Tommy, thank you so much. That's an excellent explanation. Now, have you been seeing an influx of people needing websites in multiple markets, not just primary ones, like tertiary rural areas, or understanding the importance of having digital presence? What have you seen traffic-wise in your end?
Tommy: Yeah, man. So when we hit the scene in 2017, one in 10 facilities were doing online rentals. That has completely flipped upside down. 90% of facilities are doing online rentals, except for when you look at the tertiary market, right? Where it's better than one in 10, it's probably closer to like 30%. And so what's exciting about this is, as investors are now moving outside of like, let's say Charlotte, you're probably not going to find a good deal in Charlotte, but you might find a good deal 90 minutes outside of Charlotte, right? And so those facilities don't have all this technology. So building a website right into that, doing online rentals, all those things, that's just easy, right? And so as far as influx that you're asking about, absolutely. Our clients who are kind of getting tired of getting terrible deals in big primary markets, they're moving, is it downstream or upstream?
James: Somewhere.
Tommy: They're moving to some stream. They're moving to these tertiary markets, and I think that is really where those opportunities are.
James: Well, we love that the industry is moving the right way and making a better experience for tenants who are renting, because God knows getting a self-storage you're moving in is probably the top 10 worst experience. So the extent that you have a website to streamline portions of it, you guys are doing an awesome service for the industry, Tommy. Thank you.
Tommy: Thank you, man.
