Lot Full, Part Deux

I received a lot of comment on my "Lot Full" issue below – some pro, some con. Two stood out. The best, from Frank Fitz:

Full signs are verboten at our locations. In the rare situation that one of our lots/garages fills, it's a perfect opportunity to put an employee at the entrance to do a little marketing by directing the customer to one of our other locations.

Ahhh, Customer service.

Another took umbrage with me saying that you needed to keep a few open for monthlies. My question is: How Many? We oversell our lots but never seem to fill. What is the right number? 10, 50, 100? I suggest that you can take care of Monthlies with a valet assist…stack em in. and then straighten it out later. You already have an entire staff on duty and if the lot is full, they have nothing to do.

JVH

Comments

[customer service]

That only works in a valet garage. If its a POF location there is most likely no valet. There may be an employee but usually those employees are not valets, no drivers license, no insurance. You try telling a monthly customer that his $400 a month space is filled. If you oversell by 20% the true value of a space is $480, thats a lot of tranients to justify filling the spaces as you have already built in your turnover. You are expecting a turnover on your turnover!. They guy next door will be happy to take your monthly at $400 and ensure a space for him.

[JVH]

Sure, but if you are getting $40 a day to park a daily, it doesn't take many to replace the money lost. And, how often is the garage really full? Do you KNOW that there are no spaces left. Studies have shown that as many as 10% of the spaces are in fact not filled on a "Full" garage.
All that having been said -- hiring a qualified valet for valet assist on those days when you garage is actually FULL would seem to be a good investment. But, what do I know JVH