⚠️ Revenue Management must be enabled by storEDGE Support. If you do not see this option in your software and would like to have it enabled, please call us at (913) 954-4745.
Your software gives you an easy way to make rate changes for select unit groups or tenants through the Revenue Management section, which our support team can activate for you. Once activated, this feature can be found in the Corporate section on the Software Settings tab. Only users with corporate permissions can access this section of storEDGE.
There are several steps for managing your rates using Revenue Management:
- Filtering unit groups
- Adjusting managed rates in a .csv file
- Importing new rates
- Adjusting managed rates using the modal
- Adding web rates
To access Revenue Management, go to the Corporate section of your software and access the Settings tab. Then, under Software Settings, click Revenue Management under the Rates & Promos heading.
Filtering unit groups
There are three tabs in the Revenue Management section: Occupied, Unoccupied, and Import History. From both the Occupied and Unoccupied tabs, you can filter which units you want to view by facility or facility group, and then by unit type, unit size, and unit amenities. You can apply as many filters as you choose. At minimum, you must select a facility or facility group. Once you’ve selected the filters you want, click Apply.
The results will be displayed in a table that gives a variety of details about the unit groups you’ve selected to view:
Unoccupied Units:
Each row represents a unit group.
- Facility name: This displays the facility at which the unit is located.
- Unit type: This displays the type of unit.
- Size: This displays the size of the unit.
- Amenities: This displays a list of the amenities that this unit has.
- Door: This displays the dimensions of the unit’s door.
- Floor: This displays the level on which the unit is located in the facility. This will be blank for single-level facilities.
- Indoor/Outdoor: This reveals whether the unit is indoor or outdoor.
- Area: This gives the area of the unit in square feet.
- Total units in group: This displays how many units of this type there are at the facility.
- Occupied units in group: This displays the number of occupied units in this group.
- Vacancy of Group: This displays what percentage of units in this group are currently vacant.
- Occupancy of Group: This displays the percentage of units in this group that are currently occupied.
- Days Since Last Move-in: Here, you’ll see the date that a move-in occurred for a unit in this group.
- Average Rent: This displays the average rental rate currently being applied to units in this group.
- Standard Rate Per Square Foot: This displays the amount your facility charges per square foot for this particular unit group.
- Current Standard Rate: This displays the standard rate for units in this group.
- Managed Rate: This displays the managed rate for units in this group. This unit will likely be blank if you do not have any scheduled rate changes.
Occupied Units:
Each row represents an occupied unit.
- Facility: This displays which facility at which the unit is located.
- Tenant Name: This displays the name of the tenant who is currently renting this unit.
- Unit #: Displays the unit number.
- Unit Type: Displays the unit type.
- Size: Displays the unit size.
- Type: Displays the account type.
- Business Name: If this unit is rented by a business, the business name will be displayed here.
- Amenities: This displays a list of the amenities that this unit has.
- Floor: This displays the level on which the unit is located in the facility. This will be blank for single-level facilities.
- Area: This gives the area of the unit in square feet.
- Average Rent for Unit Group: This displays the average rental rate for tenants occupying this size and type of unit.
- Variance Between Standard and Rent Rate: This displays the average difference between the rate renters are currently paying and the standard rate for this size and type of unit.
- Move-in Date: This displays the tenant's move-in date.
- Length of Stay: This displays how long the tenant has occupied this unit.
- Paid Through Date: This displays the date the tenant has paid through.
- Rent Las Changed: This displays the date the rental rate for this unit was last changed.
- Scheduled Rate Change Date: This displays the date the rate for this unit is scheduled to change. This column will be blank if there is not a rate change scheduled for this unit.
- New Scheduled Rate: If there is a rate change scheduled for this unit, it will be displayed here.
- Current Rent Rate: This displays the current rental rate that the tenant is paying at this time.
Once you’ve filtered the unit groups to which you'd like to add managed rates, select the Export button. This will prepare the table in a .csv file. This may take a few minutes. When it's ready to download, a Download button will appear. Click this button to download the file,
Adjusting rates in the .csv file
To adjust rates, access the .csv file you just downloaded. We suggest using a program like Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice, or even Google Sheets to view and edit this document.
How you edit and import this file will depend on whether you are editing rates for Unoccupied or Occupied units:
Unoccupied Units
If you're changing the rates for unoccupied units, your .csv file will be nearly identical to the table you saw in your software, but will have additional columns at the end titled New Standard Rate, New Managed Rate, Current Web Rate, New Web Rate. You will make your changes in column T: New Standard Rate, in column V: New Managed Rate, or column X: New Web Rate. You do not have to make changes to every unit group; you only need to enter rates for those you'd like to change. When you're finished, save the file.
Occupied Units
If you're changing the rates to occupied units, your .csv file will be nearly identical to the table you saw in your software, but will have several additional columns on the end:
- New Rent Rate: This is where you will input the new rental rate.
- Effective date: This is where you input the date you'd like the rental rate to change.
- ⚠ The date must be in the format xx/xx/xxxx, or the import will fail. The best way to do ensure that your import doesn't fail is to change the format of this column in the program you're using to plain text instead of date formatting, and ensure that you input your date as xx/xx/xxxx precisely.
- Ledger ID: This is a code that connects each tenant in this file to their ledger.
- ⚠ It is imperative that you do not delete anything from the ledger ID column. If you delete anything in this column, your import will fail.
You will make your changes tenant by tenant. When your changes are complete, save the .csv file.
Importing the updated file
Once your changes are complete and your .csv document is saved, you can import your document. First, check that you saved your .csv file correctly. If you have saved it as an .xlsl or in any other format, your import will fail.
To import your file, access the Revenue Management section in your Corporate Settings. Find and select the Import button. A window will open that will allow you receive browser notifications. This is useful for importing managed rates for occupied units because these files contain a lot of data and take a few minutes to import. You can choose to turn on these notifications at this time. Choosing not to turn on browser notifications will not affect the import.
To import your file, you can select click here to browse and access your file on your computer. If you are a Mac user, you can also find your file and drag and drop it into the window. Once your file is recognized, the Start Import button will highlight, and you can click it to begin your import.
After you've started your import, a window will appear that informs you that your import has begun.
If there is a problem with your file, a window will appear informing you that your .csv file does not meet the import standards. You will need to check your .csv file to correct formatting or check for missing essential information.
When your import is complete, it will appear on the Import History tab in the Revenue Management section. You can download the file to review your changes. Any rate changes you made to the .csv file will be scheduled and carried out by your software. You can also filter the imports by date and occupied or unoccupied units to find a specific batch.
If your import fails, it is most likely because your date is in the wrong format or you've inadvertently changed a ledger ID. Troubleshoot these two factors if your import fails, and you'll most likely find that one of these issues is the problem.
Adjusting rates for unoccupied units using the modal
The Revenue Management modal is a simple way to edit your facilities’ managed rates without importing or exporting a .csv. Using the modal enables you to adjust rates for single unit groups at a time. You can use the modal to automate rental rate changes.
To use the modal, first filter your unoccupied units to your liking. The scroll to the far right of your Revenue Management table. Under Managed Rate, you’ll see an Edit button for each unit group that already has a managed rate or an Add button for each unit that does not currently have a managed rate. Select either Edit or Add next to the unit group you’d like to adjust. The Revenue Management modal will open.
First, make sure that the managed rate is activated by selecting On. If you already have a managed rate turned on for this unit group and you’d like to turn it off, you can select Off and then save your changes. If you’d like to add or adjust a managed rate, select a Managed rate type from the dropdown.
There are two types of managed rates: fixed and automated. A fixed rate is an additional and optional rate that you can use for a unit group. In contrast, an automated rate is a variable rate that is based on your facility’s occupancy percentages.
If you’d like to add a fixed rate, select Fixed. Then, enter the new rental rate you’d like to use, and click Save.
If you’d like to add an automated rate, select Automated. The section will expand to include the adjustment type and customizable occupancy fields. Here, you can enter the occupancy ranges for which you'd like to adjust a managed rate. To customize occupancy ranges for which to adjust rates, enter the ranges you'd like to use under Occupancy. For example, if you'd like to add a managed rate that will apply when occupancy is at 60-69%, enter 60 and 69 into the prospective boxes.
To adjust rental rates by amount, select Amount and enter positive or negative dollar amounts for the occupancy percentage at which you’d like rental rates to increase or decrease. For example, if you’d like to increase your rate by $5.00 for a unit group when occupancy is at 60%, adjust the percentage threshold to the occupancy percentage range you'd like and add 5 next to that percentage range. If you’d like rental rates to decrease by $5.00, enter -5.
To adjust rental rates by percentage, select Percent. Then, enter the percentage you’d like rental rates to increase or decrease for each occupancy percentage. You can enter positive values for a rent increase and negative values for a rent decrease.
Once you’d made your changes, select Save and your new rates will be saved.
The managed rate will now be the default rate used during the move-in process and the advertised rate on any integrated marketing website.
Web Rates
You can use Web Rates to advertise unit rates on your marketing website or a third-party advertiser that are different from the rates you offer in-store. Web Rates can only be entered/updated for unoccupied units. Similar to Managed Rates, you can use either Fixed Web Rates or Automated Web Rates. Learn more in our article: Web Rates.
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