Data Driven Or Gut Driven Decision Making

Do you use data or your gut to make decisions about your Self Storage facility? Some can argue that your gut feeling is the only way to make tough decisions; but what if data was to prove that your gut instinct is wrong?

Can you afford to use your gut instinct? Is it your years of experience in Self Storage that forms your decision-making habits?

Many years ago, I asked an operator an important question: “Where do your customers come from?”. He pointed south of his facility and said they all come from down there. He said no one comes from the north because the main road goes right through the suburb. An interesting view.

I was doing some software maintenance and I asked if I could run a postcode report for him. He said, “Sure, go ahead!”.

After the old dot matrix printer had jammed up a few times, the printout was finally done.

Over 60% of his customers came from the north, not the south…

At first, he didn’t believe it. He was sure it was the other way around. I asked him why he was so sure of his gut feeling.

He was the owner and he wasn’t always at the facility, but when he was, he processed a few move-ins. He recalled that all those move-ins he’d processed had been from customers living south of the facility. Out of thousands of move-ins, the few he had processed formed his gut feeling and controlled his decision making.

He was mortified when a multinational operator decided to build a facility a kilometre down the road because he was sure it was the end of his business. Data analysis proved they had a negligible impact.

The only way data can lie is if it’s wrong in the first place. Data-driven decisions, using reports from self storage software like SiteLink and supporting software District Manager® can be invaluable in the decision-making process, far outweighing their cost.