Contact Center
Managing Call Center Performance To Prevent Missed Unit Reservations
Up to 60% of tenants will rent from the first facility that answers their call. The problem? Nearly 40% of those calls never get answered, especially after hours. That is a lot of missed revenue.
We are noticing more operators experimenting with AI-powered call centers, and the results are hard to ignore. Three things are happening:
- Calls that used to go unanswered are now being picked up immediately.
- Tenants are getting what they need in real time.
- Facility teams are no longer chained to the phone.
So, what does managing call center performance in 2025 actually look like, and how does AI change daily operations for self-storage teams?
How Does An AI-Powered Call Center Work?
An AI-powered call center uses natural language processing to interact with callers in a way that feels conversational. Instead of sending prospective tenants through “press one for billing” menus, it can understand requests in plain English.
As the system connects directly to facility data, it can provide accurate answers on unit availability, pricing, and policies. It can even make reservations. If the query gets too complex, the call is routed to a team member with all the context intact.
The result is that no call feels wasted, and no tenant is ignored.
Why We’re Bullish On AI For Improving Call Center Performance
We see five distinct benefits when it comes to improving call center performance with AI.
1 - Round-The-Clock Coverage
Tenants call at all hours, and many of those calls used to roll into voicemail. AI makes sure those calls are answered immediately. For operators, that means more move-ins captured and fewer leads slipping away.
2 - Lower Costs Without Sacrificing Service
Traditional call centers are expensive, especially if you want 24/7 coverage. AI takes care of most routine calls, cutting costs while keeping the same level of responsiveness.
3 - Consistent Tenant Experiences
Every caller gets the same level of service: polite, accurate, and professional. That consistency shapes how tenants see your brand.
4 - Smart Escalation
Not every situation should be automated, and a good AI system knows when to pass a call to staff, without leaving the tenant repeating themselves.
5 - Better Insights From Calls
AI will help teams unlock a treasure trove of data from calls. Operators are using transcripts and call analytics to understand tenant needs, improve marketing, and make more data-driven decisions.
Most Solutions Are Not Equipped To Help Your Facility Team
Some platforms in self-storage touch on call automation, but most stop short of solving the problem completely. A chat-first approach can handle texts and web inquiries, but when a tenant picks up the phone, they are often pushed back to voicemail or a human queue. That defeats the purpose.
From what we’ve seen, the reality is that generic or bolt-on solutions rarely cover the entire call center experience. Operators need systems that have been trained on tenant interactions.
How Can You Prevent Missed Unit Reservations?
It’s simple: review your facility’s technology stack. Unfortunately, most self-storage facilities do not have call center operations necessary to secure high sales close rates.
A purpose-built call center operation should handle every incoming call with:
- Accuracy
- Consistency
- Speed
This is easier said than done. To achieve these three objectives, you’re going to need a fully functioning technology stack with a range of AI-powered tools (that all integrate together) at your disposal.
Over 3,500 self-storage facilities have used swivl to handle tenant queries 24/7.
swivl’s conversational AI platform is trained on data from over 750,000 tenant interactions.
This means swivl can easily identify what existing and prospective tenants are looking for. The platform can process gate code requests, reservations, and billing questions without any hesitation.
Rather than betting on a generic chatbot tool to power your interactions, swivl integrates directly with facility systems so answers are accurate and genuinely helpful.
Want to find out more about how swivl can fit into your facility’s technology stack? Book a demo today, and our team will be happy to show you how swivl helps operators big and small.
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