A family stores the contents of a house between moves. Something happens, the unit is affected, and they discover that the facility's insurance covers the building and its liability rather than their sofa, their photographs and their child's cot.
Nobody hid it. It was in the agreement, in a clause, that nobody read on a Saturday morning with a van outside.
The checklist
Publish these and nobody finds out after the event.
1. Say plainly what the facility insures
The building, the equipment and its own liability. Not the contents of individual units. One sentence, prominently.
2. Say what the customer must arrange
Whether cover is required, whether it can come from their own policy and what evidence you need. It is a condition and it should read as one.
3. Explain what your own arrangement covers
Where you offer or introduce cover, what it includes, what it excludes and what it costs. Customers need to compare it against their own options.
4. Tell customers to check their home policy
Because many policies do extend to goods away from the home and many do not. Telling somebody to check costs you a sale occasionally and builds trust always.
5. Explain how cover is valued
Whether it is a stated total, per item limits or something else. Customers insure for the wrong amount because nobody explained the basis.
6. Explain the high value item position
Jewellery, art, documents and anything with unusual value, and whether it can be stored at all. Facilities have limits and customers assume none.
7. Explain the common exclusions
Categories that are not covered anywhere, and what that means for what somebody stores. Better known before the van arrives.
8. Explain how a claim works
Who to contact, what evidence is needed, the timescale and who handles it. Nobody wants it and everybody should see it.
9. Explain what you do to prevent loss
Security, access control, monitoring, fire measures and environmental controls. Customers asking about insurance are really asking whether their things are safe.
10. Explain the access record
Who can enter, how access is logged and what happens if somebody else collects on their behalf. It matters for both security and claims.
11. Remind customers to inventory
A list and photographs before storing. It takes an hour and it is what makes a claim possible, which is the same preparation as unit size questions customers cannot answer themselves demands for a different reason.
12. Explain what changes for business customers
Stock, equipment and business interruption, which are different questions entirely and deserve their own paragraph.
13. Raise it at booking, not in the agreement
At the point of enquiry, in plain language, which is where the size and terms conversation happens, as in storage unit size questions that stall bookings.
14. Answer cover questions at any hour
Because people book storage in a hurry, in the evening, mid move, which is the availability argument in an AI receptionist for self storage, with the same honest limits as cover up and removal enquiries that need an artist.
Getting started
Publish what you insure, what the customer must arrange and what your own option covers, then raise it at booking and answer at any hour. SpideyChat for self storage answers from your published pages, plans are on the pricing page, and the chatbot ROI calculator works through the numbers.