How Montréal Mini-Storage is using 3D sizing and visualization to generate hundreds of leads and rentals

Montréal Mini-Storage Group operates self-storage facilities across Quebec. Harry Court, their Marketing Director, worked with SpaceStacker to help website visitors answer the unit sizing question themselves. The result: hundreds of leads and hundreds of customers who rented.

Harry Court, Marketing Director at Montréal Mini-Storage Group, on working with SpaceStacker

The problem

Ninety percent of their visitors had never rented storage before.

"Sometimes we forget that choosing a storage unit - well, it's easy for people who work in the industry every day, but it's not necessarily easy for our customers."

Harry Court, Marketing Director, Montréal Mini-Storage Group

"We've got something like 90% new users who hit the website, so they don't know what storage is. They don't naturally think in square feet or unit dimensions."

"Most customers, they don't know what a 5x10 or a 10x10 really means. But they do know what they own."

The solution

Helping customers answer the sizing question themselves

SpaceStacker starts with what a visitor owns. Visitors add their belongings, a 3D unit fills in real time, and the tool recommends a size and directs them toward finding a location and booking.

"They know what they have is a sofa, a bed, a dining table, 20, 30 boxes. That's actually very similar to the conversation that we're going to have with them over the phone. We start by understanding what they need to store and then help them find the right location for them. Well, SpaceStacker essentially brings that experience online and lets the customer do it themselves in a really intuitive way."

"There's also something quite engaging about it. People genuinely enjoy interacting with the animation. There also is an element of gamification that draws them in. But above all, it takes something that can be confusing and makes it simple."

The results

What changed once customers could answer for themselves

After Montréal Mini-Storage Group deployed SpaceStacker, Harry Court observed that visitors were staying engaged: they added their belongings, explored the recommendations, and continued through the journey.

"We've now generated hundreds of leads through SpaceStacker, and more importantly, hundreds of customers who have actually rented with us after going through that user experience."

"Beyond the numbers, it's helping bridge the gap between the website and the conversations our team would normally be having over the phone."

"Instead of presenting customers with a list of unit dimensions and expecting them to figure it out, we're helping them answer the first question (what size do I need?) and then naturally moving them forward to the second, which is: where should I store?"

The experience

It does not feel like a form

Quote forms, traditional size guides and calculators: most tools that ask website visitors for information put the visitor to work for the company. Filling them out feels like a chore.

Harry Court described the opposite effect with SpaceStacker. Customers enjoy the interaction, so they experience it as help they receive, not as data they hand over:

"And because people actually enjoy interacting with it, it doesn't feel like filling out just another form. It feels like you're helping them solve their problem."

That is the mechanism behind the results above: visitors complete the journey and book because the tool is working for them.

Why SpaceStacker

A partner that evolves with them

Montréal Mini-Storage Group does not treat its website as a finished project. The team keeps revisiting its customer journey, testing what works and changing what does not.

"Our website and our customer journey is constantly evolving. There's never like four or five months in a row where we're not re-questioning what we do. So having a partner that can evolve with us is extremely valuable to us."

For an operator working at that pace, Harry described the relationship as something other than a purchase.

"We've actually been working with SpaceStacker since the beginning, so it's felt much more like a partnership than simply buying a piece of software."

"When we give them feedback or identify something that we think could improve the customer journey, they're incredibly receptive, and they're able to build and deploy improvements in record time."

Would you recommend SpaceStacker?

Absolutely.

"Absolutely. I'd recommend [SpaceStacker] to any storage operator that wants to make an online rental journey simpler and more engaging."

In the same answer, Harry pointed back to the complexity described at the top of this story: most customers do not think in square feet or unit dimensions.

"SpaceStacker removes a lot of that complexity. It helps the customer visualize their needs, gives them the confidence in the size of their choosing, and then it moves them naturally towards finding a location and ultimately renting."