7 Tips for Choosing the Right Storage Business for Your Needs
The services of storage businesses have become a requirement for various clientele. Prime examples include:
- Real Estate Agents
- Landlords & Property Owners
- Military Personnel
- Relocating Individuals/Families
- Disaster Recovery Victims
- Legal & Medical Professionals
- Large Corporations
- Businesses & Professionals – Such as contractors & tradespeople, e-commerce & retail owners, and event planners
For some, it is about necessity, while it is more about making life easier for others. You can click here for more about how these services benefit various clientele.
Regardless of who needs storage services and how much is required, finding and using the services of the right company in this line of business is paramount. In light of this, read on as this article discusses making the right choice when needed.
How to Pick the Right Storage Provider for You
You can make any of three possible choices when choosing storage businesses. Your choice can be good, bad, or right.
While avoiding bad companies is easier, the same cannot be said about choosing the right company instead of just a good one. Having made this clear, some tips for making the right choice are:
Need Assessment
That a company in this line of work is good at what they do does not mean their services are good enough for you. Assess your needs to avoid a square peg in a round hole situation. The objective should be identifying your two needs – size & special requirements.
On one hand, you do not want to get a storage space smaller than required or something bigger than you need on the other hand. Furthermore, some items to be stored determine if special requirements would be required.
Location & Accessibility
Speaking of how a storage business can be good but not good enough for you, location is one of the factors that buttresses this point in many instances. This is given how some facilities have all that is required but incidentally are not strategically located for one’s convenience.
Settling for such may not be in your best interest, so you should look for options in favorable locations. In the spirit of getting the right storage solutions, accessibility also matters. The company’s committed to 24/7 availability and ease of access.
Infrastructures and installations such as ground-floor units, elevators, and wide driveways enable easy access. So, you may want to take facilities with such infrastructures and installations more seriously.
Assessment of Security Features
Some unscrupulous people consider storage facilities as goldmines. This is considering some of the caliber of clients keeping items in these facilities and the value of items.
As a result, choosing rightly is more than just choosing based on storage space availability. It is equally about the safe-keeping of items stored in the rented space.
For this reason, a thorough evaluation of the facility’s security features should be conducted. Do well to prioritize options that have security features such as:
- Strategically Positioned Surveillance Cameras
- Adequate Number of Well-Trained On-Site Security Personnel
- Unit Alarms & Locks for Individual Units
- Gated Access with High-Security Authentication
A facility that has these would give you peace of mind. This is as safe storage of stored items is largely guaranteed.
Read Reviews & Testimonials
There is a higher chance that you would be using the services of a storage company that has been around for quite a while and this is even advised. This is because of the advantages of dealing with experienced companies.
The industry experience of these companies also provides the opportunity to access their track record, which you can best do by going through reviews and testimonials about them. Just ensure that credible and thorough review platforms are consulted for this purpose.
There are also major areas to focus on when going through these reviews & testimonials. Customer service, responsiveness to inquiries/issues, and maintenance practices are very important.
Insurance
The right option would offer insurance with adequate liability coverage for items stored. Do not undermine the importance of insurance, regardless of how slim the chances of needing it are.
Physical Property Inspection
While it is great that many things can be done online, including gathering information about storage facilities, certain things are best done physically. Inspection of the storage space to ascertain its conduciveness for storing your items is one such.
Contract Review
The contract issued by the company and consented to by you is legally binding. As a result, do not be in haste to put pen to paper as you should thoroughly review it.
For example, some people fall prey to companies that introduce hidden charges because they fail to heed this advice. If you want some help with contract interpretation, see: https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/.
Conclusion
Adhering to the 7 tips shared here largely guarantees choosing the right company for your storage needs. As a result, you should be intentional about implementing these tips.
