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Texting is More Than An Efficient Collections Tool For Self-Storage

Written by Chuck Vion on June 17, 2017 under Industry Webinar & Text Messaging

Texting is More Than An Efficient Collections Tool For Self-Storage

Article Contributions by: Gene Klemens - Chief Operating Officer at SMS Resources

Texting (a.k.a. TXTing, TXT, Text and SMS) is gaining more and more traction in the self-storage industry every year. SiteLink Web Edition started offering text messaging in Q1 2013 for tenant communication. Not taking into account the numerous API text messaging options through SiteLink, the number of Web Edition subscribers who use one of the built-in solutions has grown 578% in past three years alone!

And, 95-96% of SiteLink Web Edition users who have enabled Texting in their program use it to contact Delinquent Tenants... inform them of their status... and motivate them to pay. Why? Because:

TEXT MESSAGING is FAST... EASY... EFFECTIVE... and INEXPENSIVE

Self-storage operators are finding that their customer base is getting younger and younger. As Millennials become a major economic force within the general population, they bring with them their interests and preferences, among them: mobile devices, social media and modern methods of communication.

Statistics from many trusted sources illustrate Texting as the Fastests and most Effective communication channel:

  • 97% of Americans use text messaging at least once a day - OneReach.
  • 99% of text messages are read - Singlepoint.
  • 95% of text messages get read within 5 minutes of delivery - Singlepoint.
  • 20% of emails on are opened - Constant Contact.
  • 29% of Tweets are viewed - Wired.
  • 6.5% of Facebook Page posts are viewed - Hubspot.

Pretty strong reasons!

Although different from each other in many ways, the three Texting programs built into SiteLink and the handful of other vendors who use SiteLink's API to facilitate SMS messaging are all focused on the same ends - to get a specific message out to a specific audience. That may be to an audience of one, a small group of 6 or 7, or even a location's entire roster of tenants (from hundreds to thousands.) Best yet, the message doesn't always have to be related to billing and amounts owed.

Ideas for Text Messages Not Relating to Billing

  • Special promotions to current customers to bring in new customers are popular, as are incentives specially created for presentation directly to folks who have inquired about renting a unit.
  • Maybe you have a regularly scheduled maintenance program that calls for an aisle to be closed-off for work for a day. It's quick, simple and easy to TXT all those tenants with units on that aisle and let them know about the "temporary inconvenience; permanent improvement" project.
  • Emergencies and mitigating risk - the power went out in a section of the facility, a water pipe burst, etc. Alert only those tenants affected by the environmental change. Reduce chances of slip-n-falls and the property of tenants in that part of your site from suffering water damage. Again, tenants in just those areas can quickly and easily be waved-off (or, brought-in) by one simple TXT.
  • If your location is deeply involved with the community, you may be hosting an event on-site (other than "an auction" and can inform or invite your entire customer list to your event.
  • Warm and fuzzy customer relations - How about a personalized Birthday Greeting TXT on that customer's special day... for just pennies?

And, those are just some of the message types!

Savings Realized Through Your Communications Efforts

Phone vs. TXT - If you are still using the phone as the main instrument in you collections efforts, think about these points: someone has to manually dial the delinquent tenants individually; wait through a ring, busy signal or answering machine; deliver the appropriate message (live or via voicemail); and enter a note in the tenant record about the call. If busy, they have to call back. If they left a voicemail, they wonder if it was heard, sit in anticipation of a response to the voice mail and possibly start the process over again at a later date. This all takes valuable time.

These are labor hours that could be more productively used in the office or around the site. By Texting instead, you create a 3-way win: monthly revenue goes up, monthly delinquency percentage goes down and you've got extra hours to be plugged in where they can do the most good.

'Snail Mail' vs. TXT - Does "half a dollar" each or "a few pennies" each sound better? And who's doing the collating, folding, inserting and sealing?

Email vs. TXT - The 20% email open rate vs. the 99% read rate of Texting speaks for itself. Which one do you think will garner the most collections or alert the most tenants?

What's Next for TXT?

Already a part of the texting ecosystem you will find the capability of including pictures as part of your Text Message, expanded content (beyond the "standard" 160-characters), video/animation clips and more... that will see SMS (Short Message Service) evolve into true MMS (Multimedia Message Service) in a very short time.

Where is this all going? The major cellular carriers, manufacturers and suppliers are developing RCS (Rich Communications Services) as we speak. With it you'll be able to ask questions that have Yes/No (Accept/Do Not Accept) buttons for immediate response, even initiate document generation once Yes or Accept have been triggered. As of right now, the RCS systems are proprietary: Apple's iMessage only works within the Apple world; Google is building the same type of platform for Google/ Android systems and products; with Sprint being the most open about their product's development calendar.

Once all the major players coordinate what they're doing and how they're getting it done, rest assured that SiteLink will be on the fast track to make these new innovations part of what makes SiteLink the leader in its field.

Article Contributions by: Gene Klemens - Chief Operating Officer at SMS Resources

Want To Learn More?

Watch The On-Demand Webinar Now

Watch the on-demand webinar Text Messaging - Fast, Easy, Effective and Inexpensive now. Text (SMS) messages are already entrenched in most of our lives. It is time to leverage their immediacy and effectiveness in your self-storage operation.

Watch The Webinar Now

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