If you have been in business very long, you know that it is cheaper and easier to keep a current customer than to get a new one. Customer satisfaction is a ‘monkey on your back’ and should be one that self storage owners keep front and center all the time.

Sometimes, before you can improve customer satisfaction, you need to know what they think. You need to know how they feel about your service and about your facilities. One way to get that information is to simply ask them when you see them. [More]

Consumerism is what drives the self storage industry. The more people acquire, the more room they need for their stuff. And as people downsize, the availability of space in a typical household shrinks. But a love of shopping might be slowing down in America today as compared with consumer-giants China and India, according to a new survey. [More]

Although the recession still lingers, the economy is starting to improve, according to nearly 3,000 small business owners nationwide who were featured in the 2011 U.S. Bank Small Business Annual Survey. [More]

We have all been approached by those people in the mall trying to get you to answer questions for their survey. Simple question and answer formats have been used as marketing tools for years in the self storage industry as well as many other businesses. When done right they can provide a goldmine of information or possibly give you a virtual haystack in which to find your needle. [More]

MiniCo Insurance Agency, LLC, which publishes the leading trade magazine Mini-Storage Messenger, makes recognizing leaders in the storage industry a significant part of its undertakings. The company just released the winners of the 2010 Self Storage Facility of the Year awards, as well as announced the “2011 Self-Storage Almanac” survey drawing winner. [More]

For years, Americans were famous for building McMansions -- adding every bit of space possible to new homes. Home builders were adding rooms for home theaters, game rooms, exercise rooms, interior greenhouses, and even separate children’s and guest wings. But according to a survey conducted this year by the American Institute of Architects, that trend has come to an end. Instead of living large, Americans have begun to downsize -- putting items in storage if necessary to make it possible to live in a smaller space. Industry analysts say that the new trend will mean more business for professional organizers, interior designers, home furnishing stores, and self storage companies, as Americans try to figure out how to maintain their old lifestyles in less space. [More]

According to a survey conducted this spring by the Pew Research Center, people worldwide say that women and men should have equal rights. But, researchers discovered, the same people who make this claim also believe that women are far from having achieved equality. Women living in the United States and Europe are especially discouraged by the lack of progress toward equality and women’s rights, the study showed....

How does the self storage industry stack up against other industries when it comes to equal rights between men and women? Are women members of the club? Women in the industry walk a careful line when they are asked about this issue. Many women in self storage, like Pam Alton of Mini-Management Services, and Nancy Gunning of Chesapeake Resources, feel strongly that they have not experienced any barriers to success as a result of being female. [More]

People who are moving and relocating over the weekend in order to take advantage of the long weekend for unpacking should plan for long travel times on congested roads. A recent survey done by AAA shows that 32.1 million Americans plan to be on the road this weekend -- if accurate, AAA’s figures mean that about 5.4 percent more people will be traveling over Memorial Day weekend this year than did last year. If gas prices continue to drop, though, AAA’s estimates may prove low.

“Travel decisions are made at the last minute more than in the past,” AAA Carolinas president and CEO David Parsons said in The Lexington Dispatch yesterday afternoon. “With gas prices dropping daily, abundant hotel weekend deals and warm weather, staycations are losing their appeal.” [More]

About 15 percent of mid- to senior-level job seekers across the United States relocate to another part of the country for a new job, according to a survey released by Right Management, a division of Manpower Inc., in late February. Job seekers who relocate, especially people in mid- to upper-level management jobs, are likely to need assistance with their moves from moving, self-storage, and relocation services companies. [More]

An online study released this week showed that more than half of survey respondents regretted throwing away personal items just to save space. The study was conducted in the United Kingdom, by British self-storage company Safestore. Survey respondents especially regretting tossing out old clothes, photographs, and other items of sentimental value, such as family memorabilia.

Saving space is a topic that is frequently on the minds of Britons. In August 2009, a study conducted by CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, showed that of all Europeans, British have the smallest homes. About 45 percent of people in Britain say that they have just barely enough space to live in, while 50 percent say that they do not have enough space and their homes are too cluttered. [More]