Exclusive Interview: Moiz Syed, Head of Sales at Kinnovis GmbH
Amax Marketing recently had the pleasure of chatting with Moiz Syed, the Head of Sales for the UK at Kinnovis. With 12 years of experience in the self-storage industry, including his time at Access Self-Storage and Kuboid, Moiz brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. One year ago, he made the exciting move to join Kinnovis, where he now focuses on boosting sales across the UK.
To kick things off…
Who are Kinnovis? How did it all begin?
Our origins actually come from a galvanising steel plant in Germany, Zinkpower. As that business grew, it led to inroads into real estate and then the opening of a self-storage facility in Vienna. The goal for that site was to have as much running autonomously as possible, utilising the latest technology available. As there wasn’t an off-the-shelf solution that met our needs, we built our own – and that’s what led to Kinnovis!
Our mission is simple: to provide self-storage operators of all sizes with the latest technology in the industry, giving them a business that can look after itself but still make sure their tenants receive an outstanding customer experience.
You mentioned the technology side is extremely important. How much emphasis is there on innovation? and most importantly how does this reflect to the clients?
I think everyone at Kinnovis has an active interest in technology in general, which means we’re always sharing the latest updates and news articles. We also make sure that there’s constant, direct communication between our Web Developers and our customer-facing team members, so everything we build is in-line with what self-storage operators actually want.
To make sure we keep a finger on the pulse within the industry, our software also includes a ‘Voting Portal’ section, where Kinnovis customers can submit ideas for new features and vote on ideas we already have in the pipeline. This tool has been invaluable in ensuring we’re prioritising the solutions that are most in demand.
How does Kinnovis contribute to the industry, are there specific examples where you can help?
One example would be the rise in popularity of multi-purpose sites. Typical indoor self-storage facilities offering vehicle storage, co-working spaces and outdoor container storage are now becoming commonplace. Knowing about these complimentary service offerings meant that, when we developed our interactive Facility Map feature, we ensured it could accommodate all services offered by our customers.
The out-of-the-box solution would have been to simply let self-storage operators draw rectangles to mark out their facility map, but that wouldn’t help those operators with their parking spaces and hot desks. So, that’s why we went further and made the unit drawing element more customisable, allowing operators to accurately map regular units, parking spaces, l-shaped units, office spaces or any other type of space they could be renting!
As we know tech is important, how about the digital marketing side – will be in the future of self-storage?
Incredibly important. We already know from speaking with our customers the lengths required to secure each new customer to keep up with churn rates, that’s why we’ve prioritised a well-designed Booking Portal that converts. With self-storage websites becoming more influential in how operators acquire new customers, we want to ensure they are turning as many website visitors as possible into paying customers!
We’ve also partnered up with yourselves to build an extra incentive for new self-storage owners, which is the free website!
Let’s talk about the uniqueness, we know this is a competitive market, but what sets Kinnovis apart from other companies offering similar services?
I think it’s the level of customisation we offer that really sets us apart. While the product being offered might be roughly the same for each self-storage operator, how they choose to offer and supply that service to their customers can vary massively from operator to operator. I think it’s a testament to our software that we have such a diverse range of operators using our service. From single-site container storage in the UK to multi-facility franchises in Germany, they’re all using the same software, but no two customers have set their accounts up the same way.
Now let’s look at the future… What does that look like for Kinnovis? Are there upcoming projects, or expansions?
We’ve been talking about our upcoming AI chatbot, JaneGPT, for a few months and we’re excited to be rolling that out this year. The project has taken a gear change now we’ve completed our due diligence and it will soon be available to both customers and non-customers of the Kinnovis software.
Thanks to Moiz and the Kinnovis team, for sharing such valuable insights about the company, and the innovative approaches inside the self-storage industry. Your dedication to technology and customer satisfaction is driving significant uniqueness. We’re excited to see how Kinnovis continues to grow and shape the future of self-storage.
If you are interested in participating in an interview with us, please get in touch with us here.
