1. All payments are final.
2. Automated-Storage will charge a monthly or annual fee per unit for software and access to Automated Storage's support team.
3. Once this document is signed and payment has been received, Automated-Storage will begin work immediately. Automated-Storage will charge the account on file each month/year until you cancel.
4. Automated Storage requires client to use ACH debit for payment.
5. The pricing shown in this proposal is subject to change from the original price listing if the proposal is not agreed upon in at least 14 days from the date of this document.
6. REQUIRED CONTACT FIELDS FOR NEW RENTALS: First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Address, Drivers License #, Drivers License Expiration Date, Alternate First Name, Alternate Last Name, Alternate Phone Number. (No Date of Birth, No Picture of ID, No Alternate Email, No Alternate Address, No Description of Relationship is Required).
7. ELECTRONIC LEASE AGREEMENT: Online rentals use electronic signatures to sign the lease in order to legally and successfully rent a storage unit. For rentals done over the phone, Automated Storage agents will give the customer a quick rundown of the lease agreement. We then have a process using “voice signatures” to sign the lease agreement. Since all calls are recorded & saved indefinitely, our agents use a script that specifically says “Because our phone calls are recorded, we do have the ability to verbally sign the lease agreement, so with that said, do you give me permission to sign your name on this lease and send you a completed copy to your email for your records?"
They say “yes” (Literally 100% of the time).
VOICE SIGNATURE ADVANTAGES:
1. It’ll save the customer TIME & enhance the customer experience.
2. Voice signatures are legal in the United States (Includes all 50 states).
3. Other self storage businesses in Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee are currently operating this way and the results are there.
4. All leases will be signed at the time of rental. 100% of the time.
See 2 phone calls below of Alec & Kim renting a storage unit and VERBALLY signing the lease by phone.
Please be sure to check your current lease agreement and verify that there is language in the lease specifically allowing communication with tenants via email, phone, text, etc.
Here is an example of language (to be used as reference only…we are not giving legal advice):
Permission to Communicate. Occupant recognizes Owner and Occupant are entering to a business relationship as Owner and Occupant. As such, Occupant hereby consents to Owner phoning, faxing, e-mailing and texting Occupant with marketing and/or other business-related communications.
8. RESERVATIONS: Automated Storage does NOT accept reservations. We operate on a first come first serve basis, across the board. With that said, all leads, hot or cold, will be documented on your monday board and immediately available for your review.
9. PAYMENT METHODS: Debit/Credit only. No money order. No check. No cash. No payments by mail. The only way a customer can rent a unit is if they have a debit or credit card. If they don't, our team is trained to suggest that they use a friends card and give their friend the cash/check/etc. Worst case scenario, they can get a prepaid debit card.
10. PARTIAL PAYMENTS: Automated Storage does NOT accept partial payments. If a customer asks to make a partial payment, we will nicely let them know that payment must be paid in full and clarify payment options. If it's a lien customer, we will nicely let them know that payment must be paid in full in order to stop the auction.
11. AUTOPAY REQUIREMENTS: Autopay is not '100%' required but the team does a very good job of ensuring new rentals are on autopay.
During the rental, we'd say something like, "Alright, so the total balance due today is $92.54. We prorated you in, so you're not responsible for the first few days of the month, so this months rent is just $74.20. It does include the prorated insurance of $3.34 as well as a $15 admin fee associated with all new rentals. So again, $92.54 will have you paid thru the end of the month.... and with that said... we do require autopay... so on the first of the month, rent will take care of itself and you'll automatically get a receipt to your email. Is that okay with you?"
A high percentage of people say "yes", and we move forward with the rental.
For customers that just INSIST on us not automatically charging their card on the first of each month..., we will hear them out and work with them. In other words, we don't want to lose a rental because of a disagreement over automatically charging a debit/credit card on the first of each month. In most cases, the customer will agree to let us charge their card on the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. For the people that are 100% "anti auto-pay", we will say something like... "No problem. You can make payment on our website or by calling in. Whatever works best for you".
12. VACANT UNITS: Automated Storage recommends that you leave your vacant units unlocked and make it the customer’s responsibility to provide their own DISC lock to secure their unit on the way out.
With that said, if you insist on locking your vacant units, we require the use of Davinci Locks, Spider Locks or 4 digit combination locks from Amazon. Whichever you choose, we must "backup" all serial numbers and combo codes on your private Lock Codes board.
Having the locks and codes on the Lock Codes board will prevent us from having to login to Davincilock.com or Spiderdoor.com in instances where the field rep makes an accidental, human mistake.
Now, if the locks work 100% of the time and Davinci & SpiderDoor works 100% of the time, and your field rep makes 0 human mistakes, then that is awesome and the combo code will always appear on the unit screen under "Combination Lock Number".
13. USING COMBO LOCKS AS OVERLOCKS: Again, you must use 4 digit combination locks and have the serial number and combo codes on your private Automated Storage board. If a customer is at their unit and can't get in due to an overlock, we will verify that we are speaking to the primary tenant, verify that they have a balance of $0.00 and then provide them with the code to grant immediate access.
In regard to ensuring locks are added to the correct unit, that is the local field reps responsibility and covered in the Field Rep Check List section of this document (Section #20).
14. LEAD FOLLOWUP: Automated Storage will be responsible for tracking and following up with ALL hot leads. This includes website leads, Sparefoot leads, and people who call in by phone. We’ll setup an automation so the entire team is notified of NEW activity and will be responsible for following up by phone in MINUTES.
If we get no answer, we will leave a voicemail and then follow up again the following day.
We will follow-up with the lead up to 3 times until we get a yes or no answer. If we call 3 times and get no answer, we will change the status from HOT to COLD. If the customer tells us they no longer need a unit or rented elsewhere, we will change the status from HOT to LEAD LOST. If a customer rents with us, we will change the lead from HOT to LEAD WON.
15. TEXT MESSAGE MANAGEMENT: We will manage your text messages inside of Storedge. In other words, we will be responsible for replying to your customers in a timely manner.
16. EMAIL AUTO RESPONSES: It is required to have a unique email for each location. The unique email must be integrated with your management software so you can send lease agreements, receipts and any other important information. If a customer replies, they should get an automatic response telling them to call <<LOCATIONS.BUSINESS.NUMBER>> for immediate assistance.
For Sparefoot leads and other leads that come thru email, we will setup additional automations and notifications so the entire team is notified and can follow up by phone in minutes. Preferably seconds.
17. LATE FEES & LIEN FEES: The team understands and is aware that the late fees, lien fees , and timing of the fees varies from facility to facility. If a customer asks, we will toggle to your cheat sheet and find the correct answer.
18. TRANSFER PROCESS: Same day transfers only. The ONLY time we process a transfer is if the customer is onsite and ready to move their things from one unit to the other.
19. MOVEOUT PROCESS: Customers must call when they are 100% moved out. We recommend moving out toward the end of the month because on the FIRST is when the rent will apply. Automated Storage will not schedule any move-out as the last thing we want to do is REMIND the customer to move out.
If a customer calls and let's us know that they will be moved out in 3 weeks, we will say something like, "Awesome! Thanks so much for letting us know. If you don't mind, please give us a call when that unit is 100% clean and empty. Once you give us a call, we will move you out right then and there and you will not be charged going forward".
If a customer calls and let's us know that they are moving out 'tomorrow', we will say the same thing.... "Awesome! Thanks so much for letting us know. If you don't mind, please give us a call when that unit is 100% clean and empty. Once you give us a call, we will move you out right then and there and you will not be charged going forward".
When a customer calls and confirms their unit is 100% empty, Automated Storage will process a move out inside the management software, change the status to NEEDS CLEANING, and assign a task to your local field rep that says, "Please ensure unit 101A is clean and rent ready. Customer has moved out".
It is then the local field rep's responsibility to actually prep the unit, change unit status to VACANT, and then change the task status to DONE.
If a customer lies and leaves items inside, we will follow up by phone and clarify the lease agreement.
20. FIELD REP REQUIREMENTS: It’s ideal to have a team member stop by your facility a minimum of 1 time per week to complete a "checklist".
**Local Field Reps are typically paid $200 - $350 per month depending on size of facility. Includes (1) "Site Visit / Lock Check" per week.
***Notice this is a very important role as this person is responsible for ensuring the management software is accurate for the website and for the call center.
****If you don't have a quality local field rep, we can help find you someone. Sign up online or call me today.
21. LIEN AUCTIONS FROM A TO Z: Automated Storage will process your lien auctions so you can replace your delinquent customers with paying customers. Automated Storage will communicate with your local field rep, host the online auction, handle payment, and communicate with auctions buyers (Includes Postage).
Automated Storage will have the lien letters sent out by day 47 of delinquency. Meaning the letters will be sent out by the 17th of each month. Having the letters out by the 17th, allows the customers who realize they are late, a few extra days to make payment. It will also ensure we are not sending lien letters to people who make payment a couple days after they receive the lien fee and notice.
Sending these letters by the 17th, will give us enough time to have all lien letters sent out at the same time. We do not want to be sending out multiple batches of lien letters and hosting multiple rounds of auctions per month.
Once the lien letters have been sent, Automated Storage will check back in 30 days to see who still has not made payment and see who qualifies for auction. For the people who qualify for auction, we will create a task for the Local Field Rep to cut the lock and take a 30 second video of the contents inside. Once the Local Field Rep responds, we will add the units to Bid13.com and run an auction on the units.
To ensure we follow the lien laws of ALL US States, Automated Storage will not sell a unit until the customer is MORE THAN 90 days past due and been contacted 10+ times.
Once the auction closes, we will get ahead of the game by processing an outbound call to the auction buyer. The typical auction payment process is below:
- Automated Storage will process an outbound call to the auction buyer
- We will then collect two separate payments from the buyer. The first will be the amount they purchased the unit for. The second will be a $100 Cleaning Deposit (per unit).
- We will collect these payments in the delinquent customer’s account.
- Once payment has been made, we will relay all the necessary information (gate code and combination to the padlock on the unit) to the customer for them to access the unit and clean it out in full.
- The buyer has 72 hours to clean out the unit in full.
When the auction buyer reply's with a picture of the unit 100% empty is when we will refund the $100 security deposit and process a moveout. And of course, all activity will be documented and available for your review in real time.
23. All disputes arising from this agreement that can’t be resolved through a friendly consultation between both parties will be submitted for arbitration and be settled under the Rules of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce. The arbitration authority will be a court of competent jurisdiction in the state of Alabama.
