I recently had a conversation with a Realtor who expressed something that I thought was an important point to address. This applies to most relationships, but we’re talking about the Professional Home Stager and Realtor/Home Seller relationship today. She expressed some frustration with the lack of leadership or control that some Home Stagers she recently worked with had, meaning, rather than taking control and leading the process, they were waiting for direction from the client and asking “so what are you looking for” or “what do you want”? Her feeling is that since they are hiring the Stager for his/her expertise, that person should take a more proactive approach.
I would have to agree 100%. Obviously, there is a difference between being proactive and in control versus being arrogant or dictatorial. When you are viewed as the “expert”, the expectation is that you know what you’re doing and they’re looking to you for direction. When you don’t step into that role, you lose credibility and the clients will question whether you’re the right person to help them. Keep in mind, most people are secretly begging to be led.
I’ll share a quick example with you. During our recent trip to Hawaii, we decided to tour some properties while we were there…just for fun. It did not end up being the experience we were expecting, in more ways than one. Long story short, we were accompanied by a completely “green” Real Estate Agent. I actually felt sorry for him. He appeared nervous and I don’t know how long he’d been on the job, but he clearly had limited knowledge about real estate and just the little things associated with showing homes, etc. We followed him to a property and he was given a combination code for a supra lockbox that was incomplete. He only had 3 digits and anyone who’s ever used a lockbox knows you need 4 digits. The whole group of us were hot, a little frustrated with his lack of control over the situation, and we tried to figure out the combination ourselves by adding a zero to the front end and the back end to no avail. He didn’t seem to know what to do so I suggested he contact the listing agent and he didn’t even have a cell phone on him! I ended up using mine. As you can imagine, he lost all credibility with us and we had zero confidence in his abilities.
Of course, that is an extreme case to drive the point home, but it’s important as the “professional” to have processes in place and have a system to educate the client on how you work. Here’s what we do first, we’ll tour your property, room-by-room…, then I’ll make the recommendations for…, then we’ll… When you outline how you work with the client, it helps them get a better picture of what to expect and it puts them at ease during what could be a stressful time so they feel confident that they’re in good hands. It’s okay to explore ideas with the client if they bring it up, but I honestly believe that with staging design, it’s better that you control that process as much as possible.
I would love your feedback on this article. Please share your comments and experiences with me below.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello Alice,
The information provided in this article is extremely beneficially for a person that is in process of studying home staging. The tips are well noted and will become useful as I go through the process.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences
Hi Alice,
I totally agree with you too! It has been my experience that homeowners and agents both need to know that you know what you are doing and positioning yourself as the expert is the key to this. Yet, it’s imperative that the Stager educates themselves and is knowledgeable enough to feel empowered to position themselves in that light in the first place – otherwise, they can seem unsure or illigitamate. So, “Education” is a very important basic as well as a “System” like you mentioned. Realtors / Homeowners also like when Stagers find “Solutions” for every problem – so being creative helps give that extra credibility above and beyond just having the knowledge. I have a reason for everything I do – and if for some reason in a staging, someone shall ask me why something was placed or moved to a certain spot, I always have a good reason for it. If it’s a redesign, then it is wise to ask questions of their needs and purpose of space – in this case, its problem solving, creativity and ideas that gets credibility as well as the design knowledge.
When we talk about systems: this helps us become more “efficient” and effeciency helps the credibility meter quite a bit by showing competency. From getting the call from the Agent, gaining access to the listing, previewing site, emailing proposal, setting stage date, staging, following up with showing instructions and destaging – it should be streamlined and effective. Simple is best and with so much going on, control is easier when you make things simple!