Self Storage Centre

Self Storage Centre provides secure, flexible self-storage for individuals and businesses in Oxford.

As a long-established business, the website needs to do more than simply explain the storage options available. It plays an important role in generating enquiries, providing instant quotes and helping new customers complete the paperwork required before moving into their unit.

We redesigned and rebuilt the website around those real-world processes, with one particular challenge becoming the centrepiece of the project: making customer sign-up dramatically easier for both the team and their customers.

The existing booking process involved a surprising amount of manual work.

Customers submitted their details through the website, but that information arrived by email and then had to be manually transferred into a Word document by the Self Storage Centre team.

The document would then be printed, ready for the customer to visit the facility and provide the physical signature still required to complete the agreement.

It worked, but every new customer created another administrative task.

The website itself was also ready for modernisation. The booking form could be clearer, the quote journey could be improved and the overall design and user experience needed updating across mobile and desktop.

Turning a form into a working business process

Rather than simply redesigning the existing booking form, we looked at what happened after someone pressed submit.

We created a custom booking system that collects all of the information required through a much clearer, more user-friendly online form.

Once submitted, the website automatically takes that information and generates the Word document the team needs, with the customer’s details already in the right places.

The completed document is then automatically emailed to the Self Storage Centre team, ready to print and collect the customer’s final signature.

What previously involved opening an email, copying information between systems and manually preparing paperwork now happens automatically.

The human part of the process has effectively been reduced to:

Print. Sign. Done.

Online or at the facility

The new system is not limited to customers booking from home.

Self Storage Centre now also uses the website on an iPad at the facility.

If somebody walks in and decides they would like to rent a unit, they can complete the same straightforward booking process there and then.

As soon as they submit their information, the agreement is generated and emailed automatically. Staff can print it immediately, collect the required signature and complete the sign-up.

One process now works wherever the customer happens to start it.

A clearer quote journey

We also redesigned the Get a Quote experience.

Visitors can enter the information needed to receive an appropriate quote without navigating a complicated process or waiting for someone to manually put everything together.

The information is handled automatically, helping potential customers get what they need more quickly while reducing another repetitive task for the team.

A complete design refresh

The project went well beyond the booking system.

We gave the website a complete visual and UX refresh, modernising the design while making the key journeys much clearer.

Particular attention was given to mobile usability, where customers may be comparing storage options or completing forms on smaller screens.

The result is a faster, cleaner website that makes it easier to understand the available storage options, request a quote and move from enquiry to booking.

Video

We also incorporated video into the new website, editing and preparing footage to help customers understand the facility, the storage options available and what to expect before visiting.

Used in the right places, the videos add useful context without getting in the way of the main customer journeys.

The biggest improvement isn’t simply how the new website looks.

It is what the website now does for the business.

• A previously manual process is now largely automated – customer information flows directly from the booking form into the required Word document.
• Sign-up admin has been dramatically reduced – staff no longer need to repeatedly copy customer information from emails into agreements.
• In-person bookings are easier – customers can complete the process on an iPad at the facility, with paperwork generated immediately.
• A clearer customer journey – redesigned booking and quote forms make it easier for customers to provide the right information.
• Faster quote handling – website enquiries can be processed and returned without unnecessary manual steps.
• Modernised UX and design – a refreshed interface works cleanly across mobile and desktop.
• Useful video content – edited footage helps potential customers understand the facility before they arrive.

For Self Storage Centre, the difference has been significant.

A process that previously required several repetitive administrative steps now requires very little intervention from the team.

They described the new system as having transformed the way they work.

And that is exactly the sort of website project we like.

Not technology for the sake of it.

A real business problem, solved properly.

The website can continue to evolve alongside the business, whether that means refining customer journeys, improving automation or finding other repetitive processes that the website can take care of.

Because sometimes the best website improvement is not another page.

It is one less job for somebody to do.