It’s been a few years since we implemented online payments with the wonderful “Pay A Bill” button at the top. Invoice and payment processing has gotten easier for us as a result, and we hope payments have been easier for you as well. But there’s still been some pain points with it. The mobile interface for paying a bill has been… lacking we will say to be nice. And management from our end has had some hiccups.
Though our system allows renters to reserve a unit online, we have never been able to turn it on because it doesn’t offer us managers an opportunity to mark a unit as rented from a mobile device. Most of our renters start their journey with a phone call with us to reserve their unit. This marks the unit reserved in our database of truth: LeAnn’s mind and spreadsheets. While this system has worked out well for us so far, technology is advancing, and people in my generation often prefer to minimize their interactions with human beings. I’m sure you’ve seen my people staring at our phones in the coffee shops.
The thing is, we want to provide the most convenient experience possible for everyone, regardless of their desire for social interaction. So starting in 2020, we will be upgrading systems that will allow us to do everything. People who like to call and talk to a person will still be able to do so, and LeAnn will now be able to mark a unit as pending rental whether she is at home by the computer or in the parking lot of the grocery store. This means we can turn on the ability to reserve a unit from an online interface as well, so my more socially awkward friends can still have access to a storage facility that offers free use of their trailers (yes, that is a shameless plug). So now, when LeAnn is on the phone with a new renter, she will be able to see the most up-to-date information about which units are available, and the same goes for people looking to reserve online. This also means Ron may be able to start taking calls soon. We will have to teach him how to operate a smart-phone, but the previous barrier to entry was understanding his wife’s mind, so this seems more manageable.
And before anyone gets concerned about a complicated system like this being implemented by the Hardy family, I should have you know I took a web development class in High School, so I know exactly what I am doing. In reality, we will be enlisting the services and products of industry leaders SiteLink and their new partnership with StorEDGE to take us out of the 20th century and into the 21st century, only 20 years late.