Oh, No! Not Self-Storage Auctions!

March 3rd, 2008

There’s a good story over at Highlands about self-storage auctions. I was glad to see it, because it showed the compassionate side of the industry and helps to educate consumers about the process. Here’s an excerpt:

Five owners of local storage centers offered the same feedback about auctions.

They feel guilty whenever they hold one.

“I don’t want to sell other people’s stuff,” said Beth Patrich, owner of County Line Mini Storage in Spring Hill.

She, like a lot of others, prefers to show compassion when it comes to someone’s personal property. When someone cannot pay their rent on time, they are usually willing to work with them. Maybe they will waive or extend the penalty fee or accept partial payments.

Of course, we have to be careful becomes in some states accepting a partial payment starts the whole process over again. And we know we don’t want to waive fees to often because it encourages late payments. But the bottom line is we should show compassion when compassion is due. It’s good community relations, which is good for business. Word of mouth is still the greatest marketing tool known to man.

Entry Filed under: Community Relations, Branding/Corporate Identity, Crisis Communications