Visualize the process

If you've never done a consultation or staged a home for a client before, it can be hard to know exactly what to expect. But going in unprepared, or worse, intimidated, will show. As everyone knows, first impressions count, and you're not going to get repeat business from a realtor that thinks you don't know what you're doing. So take the time beforehand and visualize the whole process from start to finish.

To help with this, visit open houses, and watch how homebuyers walk through a house. If you haven't already, I strongly recommend taking some kind of staging training. I'm not here to recommend one form over another, but advice you get from an experienced professional can be priceless. Then sit down and decide things such as:

How you will tour the house

Whether you will include the realtor & seller on the first tour, or do it alone

How much information you'll give out at a consultation

How you will bill (hourly, by project, or a combination)

When you will collect your fees, etc.

Have your forms ready

Many people have some marketing materials, and maybe a contract, ready when they officially open for business. But to you show that you're a professional, and you mean business, you need to have everything ready. The last thing you want to do is rush to create forms if your business suddenly takes off. Once you've visualized your process, you should have a good idea of what documents you will want to use. Inspection and consultation forms, email responses to requests for information, telephone consultation forms, and bid/proposal sheets are a good place to start. Try to have everything ready before you ever speak with your first client.      

Brand everything

            It may seem obvious, but your business name and logo should be on anything a client could possibly see. Receiving a professional proposal on a well-designed letterhead really makes a great impression. But so does catching a glimpse of your professional looking telephone consultation form as you refer to it while in their home. Effectively branding will make you memorable with local realtors, and help build your business.

Research Is Key

Know your costs. It's easy to say "I want to make $30 an hour, so that's what I'll charge". But you may only physically "work" a few hours a week on a project. Factor in time spent shopping, doing administrative work (or the cost of contracting that out), and marketing your business. Additionally, make sure you cover the costs of monthly bills like telephone and internet services, and average out the costs of materials like brochures and business cards, paper, print and fax cartridges, inventory, etc.

Know your market, for both home sales as well as your competition. Being up to date on what the seller/realtor is facing in the local market helps as you discuss the property on a tour. You wouldn't want to make a completely incorrect assessment of the house, would you? And make sure you know how you compare to other stagers in the area. If you are really low or really high, reevaluate your costs and your expectation of income.

Be confident in your rates, and exactly what they include

Don't apologize when you quote your rates. If you've gone through the above steps, you know that you're giving them a good value for their money. Quote it confidently, and expect that they will pay for your professional services on whatever terms you have decided for your business. If a service they are asking for is above and beyond what they're paying for, have the confidence to tell them that it isn't normally included, but that you would be happy to give them a quote for it.

If you have trouble confidently quoting your rates, try this great trick I got from another virtual assistant...Practice saying "My hourly rate is (double your rate). Once you practice saying this for a while, your real rate will sound like a whole lot less.

Think long & hard before undervaluing your services. It's tempting to lower your rates to get business in the beginning, but think about this. Once you've established yourself as a local staging professional, how difficult will it be to raise your rates then? Do you want to risk the contacts and reputation you've worked so hard for by changing your prices? This isn't to say you can't decide you need to increase your prices in the future. But starting off well undervalue will mean you will have to raise your rates by a lot to be at a fair value to you.

To get the full, FREE Staging Start-Up Checklist, visit our website at www.InvisibleAssistantServices.com/startupkits . While you're there, check out our Staging Start-Up Kit, along with other great resources for new Stagers.

I don't know if you're anything like me, but I live off my cell phone. Both for my personal use, as well as both my businesses. But I've always had the dilemma of how to answer the phone. If I answer with my name, people aren't sure if they've reached the business they wanted, and it doesn't sound very professional. I never wanted the additional expense of a separate cell phone or a home phone simply for a new number.

But yesterday, I just found the coolest solution! Kall8 will provide you with a toll-free or local number, and you can choose to have it ring to the phone you already have. And it only costs $2 a month ($5 for a local number).

You can set it so your caller id shows your tollfree number so you know which business people are calling for, and answer correctly. You can even add another $2 per month service that will give you a recorded announcement when you answer the phone, again so you know which business they're trying to reach.

Calls are only about 7 cents a minute, and you can receive voicemail and faxes all as part of your $2 monthly fee. This is exactly what I've been looking for!!

Don't worry, this is not a sales spam, or an affiliate link (though if you really want me to get a referral credit, you can enter my tollfree number when you sign up). I just struggled with this phone issue for so long, I was really excited when I found this company.

Being virtual, having a toll free number is a bonus for my clients, as I'm saving them a few cents any time they need to reach me. And now I can always come across completely professional when answering my cell phone, no matter where I am. Hope this helps someone else as much as it helped me!

Rebecca

I don't know if you're anything like me, but I live off my cell phone. Both for my personal use, as well as both my businesses. But I've always had the dilemma of how to answer the phone. If I answer with my name, people aren't sure if they've reached the business they wanted, and it doesn't sound very professional. I never wanted the additional expense of a separate cell phone or a home phone simply for a new number.

But yesterday, I just found the coolest solution! Kall8 will provide you with a toll-free or local number, and you can choose to have it ring to the phone you already have. And it only costs $2 a month ($5 for a local number).

You can set it so your caller id shows your tollfree number so you know which business people are calling for, and answer correctly. You can even add another $2 per month service that will give you a recorded announcement when you answer the phone, again so you know which business they're trying to reach.

Calls are only about 7 cents a minute, and you can receive voicemail and faxes all as part of your $2 monthly fee. This is exactly what I've been looking for!!

Don't worry, this is not a sales spam, or an affiliate link (though if you really want me to get a referral credit, you can enter my tollfree number when you sign up). I just struggled with this phone issue for so long, I was really excited when I found this company.

Being virtual, having a toll free number is a bonus for my clients, as I'm saving them a few cents any time they need to reach me. And now I can always come across completely professional when answering my cell phone, no matter where I am. Hope this helps someone else as much as it helped me!

Rebecca

I've seen a few posts lately that mention staging rental properties, and how effective it can be to help rent these units faster. Having had many years in the Property Management Industry, let me say 3 little words...

Jump on this!

While I believe you would find more success targeting luxury high-rise apartment communities vs. the single property landlord, this is an area that I think will soon take off. It might be difficult at first to locate a landlord or property manager that currently needs your expertise, but I believe it could pay off for you.

Many of the luxury high-rise communities actually have more than one model apartment, and I can't tell you how many I've seen that have very 90's, dated, boring decor. With the real estate market in flux like it is right now, Property Managers are looking for a way to bring people in, and stand out from the crowd. Even offering inexpensive consultations on ways to bring the model up to date, and give it some more memorable character might give you an "in" for when they are ready to fully redo it. And I wouldn't be surprised if a full project came sooner, rather than later once they see how effective a memorable model is at bringing in renters. And having some great pictures for advertising is just an added bonus!

I'd love to hear from anyone that has already done work like this, and how it has gone for you.

Best of luck!

Rebecca

I've seen a few posts lately that mention staging rental properties, and how effective it can be to help rent these units faster. Having had many years in the Property Management Industry, let me say 3 little words...

Jump on this!

While I believe you would find more success targeting luxury high-rise apartment communities vs. the single property landlord, this is an area that I think will soon take off. It might be difficult at first to locate a landlord or property manager that currently needs your expertise, but I believe it could pay off for you.

Many of the luxury high-rise communities actually have more than one model apartment, and I can't tell you how many I've seen that have very 90's, dated, boring decor. With the real estate market in flux like it is right now, Property Managers are looking for a way to bring people in, and stand out from the crowd. Even offering inexpensive consultations on ways to bring the model up to date, and give it some more memorable character might give you an "in" for when they are ready to fully redo it. And I wouldn't be surprised if a full project came sooner, rather than later once they see how effective a memorable model is at bringing in renters. And having some great pictures for advertising is just an added bonus!

I'd love to hear from anyone that has already done work like this, and how it has gone for you.

Best of luck!

Rebecca

As a virtual assistant, admin tasks are my job. I enjoy typing, researching topics on the internet, and creating marketing materials. I know how to format documents, screen tenants, and manage maintenance projects. What I do is take these "mundane" tasks away from business owners that have better things to do (such as build their business and find more clients).

Since these are the things I enjoy, I would like to know, what admin tasks do you hate the most? Can't stand updating or researching MLS listings? Don't ever have time to organize your contacts, and so you fall behind on follow-up? Wish somebody would take care of your marketing materials?

I'd love to hear comments from different people in different industries. Let me hear your complaints!

Thanks,

Rebecca