Institutional Aspirations, Makeshift Solutions 

Scott Smith had seen a lot in his years managing self-storage operations, but nothing prepared him for the daily frustration of trying to run a professional operation on systems that simply wouldn't cooperate. As Director of Operations at ClearHome Self Storage, Scott is responsible for on-site operations, staff management, and the company's call center. He knew his team was talented and his renters deserved better service, but the technology holding everything together was actively working against them.

Meanwhile, James Puttmann, ClearHome's Associate and technical guru, spent his days doing something that should have been unnecessary: building elaborate workarounds just to get reliable data out of their property management software. An accounting savant who managed data and reporting for the entire company, James had coded homegrown software applications to handle basic functions like revenue management and reporting. It was ingenious, but it was unsustainable.

Today, ClearHome operates 41 properties and 21,000 units across 15 states with a unified platform that delivers the data clarity and operational efficiency they'd been chasing for years. The results show with huge improvements to operational efficiency. But getting here required confronting some hard truths about the technology that had been holding them back.

Step 1: Diagnosing the Problem

For decades, the self-storage industry has been overlooked by professional technology providers. Storage operators had to turn to each other to solve their own problems. A litany of homegrown tools sprang up to set prices, integrate websites, route phone calls, collect payments, and more. These tools proved valuable but as the industry matured and portfolios grew larger and more complex, cracks began to emerge. Much of the technology hasn't kept up with advances in web-based software, mobile adoption, and AI. As COVID created a self-storage boom and industry consolidation accelerated, growing operators struggled to maintain a secure, performant, well-integrated platform that delivered exceptional renter experiences.

Surpassing $50 billion in annual revenue in 2022, the industry had entered a new era, one with greater expectations of the technology required to run a professional storage operation. This resulted in vendor consolidation and unreliable customer service across wide swaths of mission-critical systems. Operators had long known much of what they needed to realize their dream operation. The problem was that they didn't have access to a vendor ecosystem that could reliably recruit the talent required to build a durable technology partner, one capable of consistent innovation. If the industry is to continue to fully realize its potential and grow to 70, 80, or 100bn in revenue, a new tech vanguard is a prerequisite.

ClearHome's challenges ran even deeper than most. Their historical software didn't just lack modern features—it had incorrect accounting practices baked into its core. For James, this meant every report was suspect until he could verify it through his custom-built systems. "We couldn't trust the numbers coming out of our management software," James recalls. "I had to build entire applications just to get accurate revenue management and reporting. It was like trying to run a modern business with a calculator and a notebook."

The call center pain was equally acute. Scott's team was handling hundreds of calls, but the systems gave them almost no visibility into what was actually happening. "We couldn't reliably track outbound calls at all," Scott explains. "And when we did want to review inbound calls for quality assurance, it was incredibly cumbersome and time-consuming. We knew we had talented people, but we had no efficient way to coach them or understand how we were really performing."

Perhaps most frustrating was the lack of context. When a renter called in after visiting a facility or completing a web inquiry, the person answering the phone had no easy way to see that history. Every interaction started from scratch, forcing customers to repeat themselves and creating a disjointed experience that didn't reflect the level of service ClearHome wanted to provide.

Engineering the Inevitable

Nearly four years earlier, Adam Fleming was wrestling with a problem that had plagued the self-storage industry for decades: accounting systems that simply didn't work correctly. As Cofounder and CTO of Cubby, Adam had been a leading architect of a platform he knew required a rock-solid foundation—one that had to start with getting the accounting right.

"The industry had tolerated incorrect accounting practices for so long that operators like James had to become software developers just to get accurate data," Adam reflects. "We knew that if we were going to build something truly transformative, we had to architect an accounting subledger that was unimpeachable."

Adam's vision went beyond just fixing what was broken. He wanted to create a system where every book entry was tracked with precision—giving operators like ClearHome a foundation they could build on, not work around.

Working alongside Adam was Richard Carey, a Solutions Architect who understood that accurate accounting was only valuable if operators could actually access and use the data. Richard and Adam were architecting what would become Cubby's data warehouse—a system designed to give operators real-time visibility into their business without requiring them to build custom applications.

"Operators were spending so much time trying to extract data from systems that weren't designed to share it," Richard explains. "We wanted to give them a clean, standardized data warehouse where all their operational data was immediately accessible and actually meant what it was supposed to mean."

Together, Adam and Richard were building something the self-storage industry had never seen: a platform where the accounting was correct by design, and the data was accessible by default. For operators like ClearHome who had been fighting their systems for years, it promised to be nothing short of revolutionary.

The Leap of Faith

By March of 2025, ClearHome had reached their breaking point. James's workarounds were becoming more complex, not less. Scott's call center team was a siloed operation, with calls data in eight different places, making it difficult to leverage the data and tools they needed to deliver exceptional service.

"Switching property management software after years on the same system is daunting," Scott admits. Scott’s not alone. Switching systems requires not only migrating data, but overhauling your website, informing tenants, updating payment systems, training staff, and ensuring a timely and smooth transition with countless stakeholders. Scott felt confident based on what he saw in the Cubby platform and team. 

And sure enough, it paid off. The ClearHome team was able to completely transition their entire portfolio onto Cubby in just 45 days. 

The decision to move to Cubby represented more than a software switch. It was a bet that they could finally stop fighting their technology and start leveraging it.

"We had a couple of clear goals," Scott explains. "First, we needed data we could actually trust. Second, we needed to professionalize our call center operations and give our team the tools they deserved. We wanted to spend our time serving customers, not wrestling with broken systems."

James was beyond ready to switch. After years of building workarounds, the promise of accurate, real-time data seemed almost too good to be true. "Could one system really give us clean accounting, reliable reporting, and eliminate all the custom applications I'd built? Could we finally just focus on the business instead of maintaining homegrown software?"

The Cubby team understood these concerns. They had built their platform specifically for operators experiencing ClearHome's pain points. "We didn't want operators to choose between functionality and data quality," Adam explains. "We wanted to give them both—starting with an accounting foundation they could trust."

The Implementation: 6 weeks of prep, 1 day of transition, and a brand new ClearHome

The transition began in April of 2025. For ClearHome's team spread across 41 locations, this meant learning an entirely new way of operating.

The good news is Cubby’s onboarding is a six-week, fully supported program. Cubby partners with operators to ensure success at all levels, from the corporate team to on-site teams to call centers. Cubby offers team trainings, office hours, and a robust help center. The Cubby team prides itself on offering amazing support and partnership. In fact, Cubby has an average response time of 5 minutes within the hours of 7AM to 10PM ET.

Data You Can Finally Trust

For James, the transformation was equally profound but in a different way. After years of building elaborate workarounds to compensate for incorrect accounting practices in their old software, he could finally retire his homegrown applications.

"The accounting is just correct in Cubby," James explains. The reliable data foundation meant James could finally focus on analysis and strategy instead of data validation. "I'm not spending my time building applications to fix broken data anymore," he says. "I'm actually using data to help us make better decisions."

Richard's data warehouse proved to be just as transformative. "Cubby's data warehouse gives us immediate access to clean, standardized data," James notes. Whenever James has requested new data or views, Cubby has the flexibility to add new datasets that the ClearHome team needs. On top of that, Cubby offers monthly check-ins and quarterly business reviews to ensure that operators are gleaning market insights and making the most of the data in Cubby.

The Call Center Transformation

One of the most transformative changes came in how ClearHome's call center operated. Scott had built a tight-knit overseas call center team with remarkably low turnover—these weren't contractors, they were full-time employees of ClearHome who took pride in delivering exceptional service. But before Cubby, their tools hadn't matched their talent.

"Our team has always been talented and dedicated," Scott reflects. "Now they finally have the tools that match their commitment to service. When someone calls, we can see their entire journey with us. When we need to coach, we can pull up specific examples instantly. It's made us dramatically more efficient and effective."

Call management became dramatically more efficient with Cubby Calls, which integrated customer information directly into the phone system. "It shows who the customer is, whether they have a unit already, whether they’re past due," Scott explains. "That allows us to respond quicker and more appropriately."

The impact on quality assurance was equally dramatic. "Before, reviewing calls for coaching was so time-consuming that we could barely do it," Scott explains. "Now we can easily locate important call recordings and transcripts to review. Our district managers can quickly find teachable moments and provide feedback."

Perhaps most importantly, the visibility extended beyond just the call center. "Everyone can see the calls now—even our on-site teams," Scott notes. "That means no matter who a renter interacts with, that person has full context on previous interactions, regardless of which channel those conversations came through. It's completely changed how we serve our customers."

With Cubby Calls fully implemented, ClearHome's call center went from operating with disjointed tools to having complete visibility into every customer interaction.

Within the first month on Cubby Calls, ClearHome saw a huge improvement in visibility of the calls that they were able to incorporate into their training to improve customer experience. The team was finally able to operate with the context and efficiency that modern tools enable.

The Compound Effects

Within days after implementation, the benefits of platform unification were compounding across ClearHome's operations. But perhaps the most significant change was in how the team spent their time. James wasn't maintaining homegrown software. Scott's call center wasn't operating blind. The entire organization could focus on serving customers and growing the business.

We're finally working on the business, not just keeping the systems running," Scott reflects. District managers are spending time on strategy and team development instead of troubleshooting data issues. Call center agents are focused on building relationships with customers instead of hunting through disconnected systems for basic information. It's freed up capacity that ClearHome didn’t realize they had.

The Platform Promise Delivered

Today, ClearHome Self Storage operates 41 properties across 15 states with a unified platform and data strategy. Their call center team has the context and tools they need to deliver exceptional service. James can trust the data coming out of the system. Scott's teams across all channels can see the full customer journey.

"Cubby's been transformative for us," Scott concludes. “We went from fighting our systems daily to having technology that actually empowers our team. The platform doesn't just work—it helps us work better. That's made all the difference as we continue to grow.”

James agrees: "After spending years building workarounds, it's remarkable to have a system that just gives you accurate data from day one. It's freed me up to focus on the insights that actually move the business forward rather than just validating whether the numbers are even right. That's the foundation every operator deserves."

The Ongoing Journey

ClearHome's transformation is less than a year in. The unified platform provides a foundation for continuous improvement that wasn't possible beforehand. Next up, the team plans to continue leveraging Cubby's revenue management tools to optimize pricing across their portfolio and continue expanding their use of automated communications to further enhance the renter experience. With a solid operational foundation in place, they're excited to focus on growth and innovation.

For ClearHome, the platform promise that seemed so elusive has finally been delivered. Clean data, connected systems, and empowered teams—the foundation every modern storage operation needs to thrive.

ClearHome Self Storage operates 41 self-storage facilities across 15 states from their headquarters in Denver, Colorado.