Twilio > Case Studies > SpareFoot Leverages Twilio to Enhance Self-Storage Facility Search Experience

SpareFoot Leverages Twilio to Enhance Self-Storage Facility Search Experience

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Database Management & Storage
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services

Applicable Industries

Buildings
Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Facility Management
Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Building Automation & Control
Time Sensitive Networking

Services

System Integration
Testing & Certification

About The Customer

SpareFoot is a marketplace for renting self-storage units, founded in 2008 and headquartered in Austin, Texas. The company initially operated as a peer-to-peer storage rental service. However, upon recognizing the struggles of storage facilities to find customers, co-founders Chuck Gordon and Mario Feghali shifted the business model to focus on connecting people looking for storage with storage operators. Today, SpareFoot is the world's largest online marketplace for self-storage, providing storage operators with a powerful online presence across multiple channels, bolstered by advanced technology that helps owners manage their businesses. The company's online presence also serves customers by offering new search and comparison tools that make booking storage easier.

The Challenge

SpareFoot, a listings marketplace for self-storage units, faced the challenge of making it easier for people to find and connect with relevant self-storage facilities in their area. The self-storage industry was traditionally low-tech, with facilities relying on offline advertising methods such as Yellow Pages, billboards, and word-of-mouth to attract customers. On the other hand, customers were increasingly turning to online search engines and social networks to find storage solutions. This left storage facility owners competing with big-budget marketing firms to secure customers online. In 2009, some of the more forward-thinking storage facilities recognized the need for a better way to do business and turned to SpareFoot for help.

The Solution

SpareFoot transformed its business model to focus on a long-standing problem in the self-storage industry: connecting people looking for storage with storage operators quickly and easily. The company leveraged Twilio's communications API to empower customers to send SMS messages, handle voice calls, and automatically provision 800 numbers across the SpareFoot network. One of the earliest implementations was sending customers directions to storage facilities via text message after they reserved a storage unit online. This significantly increased the percentage of customers who moved in after making a reservation. SpareFoot also developed LILY, a Twilio-powered application that overlays local phone numbers for a storage owner's network of facilities, allowing owners to track calls through upwards of 125 marketing channels. To further improve move-in rates, SpareFoot created another Twilio-powered app called TenantConnect, which automates customer follow-ups for facilities.

Operational Impact

The implementation of Twilio's communications API and the development of applications like LILY and TenantConnect have revolutionized SpareFoot's operations. The company has been able to increase its pace of innovation and add value to its product faster and seamlessly. The use of local phone numbers for storage facilities has given them a home-turf marketing advantage coupled with sophisticated marketing analytics. The automation of customer follow-ups has also improved the response time of storage facilities to customer reservations, directly impacting move-in rates. The ease of integration and deployment of Twilio's technology has allowed SpareFoot to quickly prototype, test, and deploy new communication-enabled product capabilities, reaffirming their selection of Twilio as a technology platform over and over.

Quantitative Benefit