e-CRM from E-SoftSys generates over 200,000 leads

LUE BELL: E-SoftSys, developer of Self Storage Manager - one of the leading management software programs for the self-storage industry, announced today that their e-CRM application,an advanced Customer Relationship Management module has generated over 200,000 leads in 2013 through Inquiries and Reservations for the Top Operators in the self-storage industry, who currently use E-SoftSys products. E-SoftSys e-CRM application is currently used by several multi-facility operators in USA and Canada.

A-1 Self Storage, one of the top operators with over 40 facilities in California has been using the e-CRM module from E-SoftSys for over 4 years.

According to Brian Caster, CEO of A-1 Self Storage, "We have cut payroll in the sales center by over 20 pc due to the increased efficiencies of the CRM. 2013 was the 4th year in a row payroll has gone down while the call volume has gone up each year. Eliminating the need to manually track phone calls as well as the need to manually maintain availability and price list reports enabled us to eliminate one full time call center agent. It also makes the agents more efficient on the phone since the information is more quickly available to them when the phone rings. We are now able to track most of our marketing spend based on DID numbers coming in to the call center that are captured by the e-CRM module. As a result, we have cut and/or re-allocated a significant number of advertising dollars. It is probably fair to say a 20 pc overall savings in marketing expenses due to the ability to track the ad source for each lead and another 30 pc of marketing dollars redeployed in to different areas.

The thing that has helped the most in selling units is the improved communication between the call center, the stores and the customer which has led to improved response times and better follow up. In addition, the area managers can now check the status of leads and the follow up process from their desk (or Ipad) in real time so the audit process is much more efficient. Bottomline: Payroll Costs are down by 20pc, call volume is up, cost per lead is down by over 20 pc, better conversion ratios and less discounts offered."

According to Kat Shenoy, President and CEO of E-SoftSys, "When we first started evaluating CRM application options for the self-storage industry over 7 years ago, we quickly realized that while there were several 'off the shelf' CRM packages available, most of those applications did not meet the needs of the self-storage industry. Even if a storage operator chose to implement one of those packages, it required large amounts of customization at huge costs to make the application fit their needs.

That is when we decided on a different approach and developed a comprehensive CRM package from the ground up to meet the unique requirements of multi-facility storage operators. We are extremely happy with the huge success of our e-CRM module, which is assisting our clients to reduce costs and increase revenue. Implementing a Customer Relationship Management application is a must for every multi-facility operator, if the objective is to reduce the cost per lead and to manage each incoming lead through conversion to rental, with the least number of resources. Our e-CRM module allows storage operators to track and manage larger number of leads with less people, while providing quick access to customer info, pricing details, specials and unit availability. The e-CRM module also provides the ability to track leads from various sources and measure the ROI on each advertisement campaign. Additionally, with the e-CRM module our clients are also able to quickly handle any customer related incidents and provide better customer service, which in turn has led to increase in customer retention and higher occupancy levels."