Revenue Operating System Checklist
A step-by-step guide to building a data-driven revenue engine for your self-storage portfolio. Complete each phase before moving to the next.
PHASE 1
Data Foundation
Get all your data flowing into one place.
- ☐ Connect PMS data export (SiteLink / Cubby / storEDGE / SSM)
- ☐ Connect Google Ads account for marketing data
- ☐ Verify facility count, unit count, and occupancy baseline
- ☐ Review data quality flags (missing fields, outliers)
- ☐ Establish monthly data refresh cadence
PHASE 2
Visibility
See your portfolio as a single system, not individual sites.
- ☐ Review 4 occupancy types: physical, rentable, economic, performing
- ☐ Identify vacancy cost per facility (annual $)
- ☐ Identify below-street pricing gap per facility
- ☐ Review RevPAF (Revenue per Available Foot) rankings
- ☐ Categorize facilities: Maximize / Push / Focus / Critical
- ☐ Identify total portfolio opportunity ($)
PHASE 3
Take Action
Start closing the revenue gap with targeted interventions.
- ☐ Address below-street pricing (ECRI candidates)
- ☐ Enable Google Ads on unadvertised facilities
- ☐ Resolve overlocked / problem units
- ☐ Set cost-per-move-in targets by facility
- ☐ Review delinquency aging — prioritize collections
- ☐ Implement rate increases at high-occupancy facilities (85%+)
PHASE 4
Optimize & Scale
Move from reactive to proactive revenue management.
- ☐ Track month-over-month move-in velocity trends
- ☐ Monitor churn rate and early churn (<90 days)
- ☐ Review customer LTV by tenure bucket
- ☐ Implement seasonal rate adjustments
- ☐ Set up monthly portfolio review cadence
- ☐ Build competitive pricing awareness per market
Key Principle: Never Stop Advertising
At any occupancy level, you keep ads running. At high occupancy (92%+), you raise rates aggressively while maintaining ad spend. Every empty unit is wasted money. Every day a unit sits vacant is rent you never recover. At 95%+, new customers are near-pure profit — fixed costs are already covered.