Takeaways from ISS Las Vegas

This post is from Box Pro's "3 Things" newsletter.

A brief newsletter from Box Pro in which we share 3 things in or about the world of self-storage and all the images are AI-generated.

"a woman talking to a robot on the phone at a self storage facility"

I just got back from the Inside Self Storage Expo in Las Vegas. It was great to see several of you there! This month’s update revolves around 3 takeaways from the conference.

1. You guessed it, AI. I knew there would be a lot of talk about AI, but I must say I was impressed with what I saw. Both SidneyAI and Swivl demonstrated AI voice chatbots that allow tenants to have a live conversation with the AI as if it were a store manager or call center agent. The demos showed the AI bot walking a tenant through the process of deciding what unit size to rent, how much it would cost, what could and couldn’t be stored, when to move in, and several more tricky/odd questions (can I store a dog in a storage unit?). As with all AI products these days, it’s not the exact same as interacting with a real person (yet…?) but it’s pretty darn close and should be plenty to cover 90%+ of your tenants’ needs. 

   
   

2. Cleaning stations. One Norwegian operator gave a seminar about how they manage a portfolio of 50 small sites with only 5 people on staff. One of their tricks is to have cleaning stations throughout their facilities with brooms, dust pans, garbage bags, etc. Their leases have clauses that state that they will be charged a cleaning fee if their units are left messy. I recognize that this won’t work for a lot of places, but it could work in smaller climate-controlled facilities.

   
   

3. Third-party managers and remote management. In talking with several third-party managers, there was a clear divide between those who are tech-forward and those who aren’t. Most were open to managing remote facilities but only as an owner preference. Those that prioritize tech and remote management had a clear advantage in efficiencies handled in-house—marketing, web, revenue management, etc.—that means savings passed through to clients.

   
   

Overall, the conference was great, as always. As I’m sure you can tell, I spent most of my time in the operations/management space this time. In an environment with slower rental rate growth, it has become increasingly important to hone in operating expenses in order to make new deals pencil. With the advancements in AI and remote management, I am optimistic. I feel stronger than ever that the storage industry needs to lean into remote management. Otherwise, a less efficient management model will make you less competitive and make underwriting that much trickier.

If you have any comments/questions or need a feasibility/market study, reply to this email, message us here, or call/text me at 801-839-5844.