In today’s world of instant access to goods and services, we’ve all grown accustomed to a certain level of customization and personalized service. Finish a book on your Kindle and there’s a suggestion based on your reading interests waiting. Cookies ensure that we all see custom ads based on our search history. You’ve probably even received a mass email or two that addressed you by your first name. An ATM may have even wished you a happy birthday. Essentially, we’ve all experienced increased personalization and customization as technology has improved; and, as a result, the way we interact with businesses has changed. With this in mind, it’s not surprising that tenants are beginning to expect a more personalized level of service, security, and monitoring capabilities that they’ve grown accustomed to with other businesses.
More than ever before, people in the U.S. and Canada are installing home security systems, and the meteoric rise of home security products from SimpliSafe and Nest highlight how important securing our stuff has become. With the rising demand for personal security, it’s important for self-storage facilities to meet this demand as well. It’s true that your renters want to feel safe while they’re on site, but they also want to know that their unit—their stuff—is safe and sound.
In order to provide this extra layer of personal security for tenants, storage owners and operators across the U.S. are installing door alarms at both new and existing facilities with increasing frequency. In 2016, the number of door alarms installed in self-storage was 44 percent higher than the number of alarms installed in 2015. Alarming every unit is the best way to detect, deter, and respond to break-ins at your facility. Additionally, most alarms on the market today can be monitored by you and your renters via mobile apps.
While there are a number of products out there that are designed to secure unit doors, the rapid growth and resurgence of door alarms is not surprising. The rise of door alarms in self-storage stems from how reliable, customizable, and affordable most of these products are.
Additionally, many operators are installing alarms because they’ve found that their renters are willing to pay higher rates for alarmed units. In fact, one operator found they were able to charge, on average, 20 percent more for alarmed units.
Beyond meeting the customer demand for personal security and driving higher rental rates, door alarms also provide a number of tangible security benefits to self-storage owners and operators. Theft from tailgating, internal theft, customer theft, and people sleeping in units are all virtually eliminated by the presence of door alarms.
Like climate-controlled storage, wine storage, and indoor storage, door alarms are quickly becoming commonplace in self-storage today. Anyone interested in meeting renter expectations, preventing theft from tailgating, and increasing their monitoring capabilities may want to seriously consider adding door alarms to their site.