Shout it Out!!!!

I had a wonderful experience the other day that had very little to do with home staging, and EVERYTHING to do with doing business successfully.

I have a home staging / organizing client.  I am helping a family to prepare their home for sale as well as getting them organized in the process. A large part of the job is helping this couple with their home offices.  They both work from home, and both own their own companies.

These clients are rare for me, in that I could become friends with them. I am always very careful in drawing boundaries with my clients, and I seldom share personal information with them.  In this case however, I have ignored some of my own rules, and much to my benefit. In working so intimately with these clients, I have shared some information about myself, my past professional experiences and my philosophy of doing business.  I was an investment banker in a previous professional life, as well as an industry analyst for a holding company that owned advertising and marketing agencies.  I also hold a Master's degree in Library and Information Service.

My client owns a company that sells a specific kind of technology to libraries.  Obviously, there is synergy there, and as we worked in his office, we started discussing business.  The upshot is that yesterday, he not only called me out of the blue to ask my advice on some marketing ideas that he had, but also to ask me if I would do some (well) paid consulting for him and his partners!  Not only was I flattered, but I happy to dip my toe back into one of my prior careers.

The point of my telling you this story is to point out how important it is for our clients to know where we come from. This can open doors for us, it can validate what we do, and it can ultimately result in more and better business.