Management Software

What management software actually does at your facility

Management software (often called a PMS, short for "property management system") is the program that runs the day-to-day of your facility. It tracks every tenant, every unit, every payment, and every gate code. When a tenant signs a lease, pays rent, gets a late fee, or moves out, the software is what makes it happen and records it. If you're shopping for one for the first time, or thinking about switching from what was installed when you took over the facility, this is what to know.

What you should expect the software to do

Most platforms offer the same core features. What separates a great one from a frustrating one is how smooth each feature is when you use it 100 times a day.

• Online rentals. A new tenant should be able to pick a unit, sign the lease, and get a gate code without anyone at your office touching anything. If a demo includes "and then your manager approves the rental," that's a warning sign.
• Autopay and payment processing. Tenants pay rent automatically every month. The software collects, applies the payment, and handles late fees by itself.
• Delinquency workflow. When a tenant falls behind, the software sends late notices, applies fees, sends lien letters, and prepares the unit for auction. Doing this manually is hours per week, every week.
• Gate integration. Your gate and the software talk to each other. A tenant who pays late automatically loses gate access. A new online rental automatically gets access. If this needs manual work, the software is doing less than half its job.
• Reporting. The reports that actually matter are the occupancy report (how full are you), the revenue report (what are you bringing in), and the delinquency report (who's behind). Look at all three during a demo, not just the dashboard. The dashboard is the part the salesperson polished.
• Tenant portal. A separate web page (and ideally a phone app) where tenants can pay, set up autopay, check their balance, and download paperwork without calling you.

What it costs

Three pricing models show up most often:

• Per-unit pricing. You pay a small monthly fee per unit, usually $0.50 to $2.00 per unit per month. Bigger facility, bigger bill. Most common.
• Flat-rate pricing. A fixed monthly fee no matter how many units you have, often $200 to $800 per month.
• Tiered pricing. Features bundled into packages. You'll likely outgrow the cheap tier and end up on the middle one. Read the fine print so you know what's in each package.

The headline rate isn't what matters most. Watch for setup fees, data migration fees, training fees, and whether support calls get billed extra. Get all of those in writing. Also ask about contract length and what happens when you leave. Some vendors make exporting your tenant data harder than it should be, which is how owners get stuck on a platform they want to leave.

Common brand names

Names you'll hear in self-storage management software:

• storEDGE (now part of Storable) — widely used, full-featured
• Sitelink (also Storable) — long-standing, very widely used
• Tenant Inc (parent of Hummingbird) — newer, modern interface
• Easy Storage Solutions — popular with smaller facilities
• Storage Commander — well-established
• WebSelfStorage (U-Haul) — common in U-Haul-affiliated facilities
• SiteLink Web Edition, DomicoCloud, Self Storage Manager — others you may encounter

Most facilities are running one of these. If you inherited a system from the previous owner, find out which one and how long the contract has left before you sign anything new.

What to ask during a demo

Five things will tell you more than any feature list:

1. Walk me through an online rental from a tenant's view. End to end. Time how long it takes. Anything over 90 seconds will lose you tenants.
2. Show me what happens when a tenant misses a payment. Late fee, late notice, gate access turned off, then lien letter. Watch what the manager has to click. Less clicking is better.
3. Run the occupancy and revenue reports right now. If the salesperson hesitates or has to dig, that's the report you'll need to dig for too.
4. What's it like to leave? Ask whether they let you export your tenant ledgers, payment history, and lease documents at no charge if you decide to switch later. Get the answer in writing.
5. Can I talk to a real customer who's been on the platform for at least two years? Two-year-old customers know the long-term truth. Two-month-old customers only know the honeymoon.

What to avoid

• Long contracts on new software. A vendor pushing a 3-year commitment is usually one that expects customers to want to leave. Push for 1-year terms.
• Software with no real tenant app or portal. Tenants expect to pay online and manage their unit without calling. If the portal feels like 2012, your tenants will notice.
• Vendors that won't share customer references. Every established platform has happy customers willing to take a call. If a vendor can't produce one, that tells you something.