I'm so excited to write this post that I can't wait for Craig to return from the pool... So, I'm going to go ahead and recap what happened at today's AZ Home Staging Round Table.
First off, let me just say - WOW! It's always so amazing to see what happens when a group of talented and intelligent business people get together. I like to use the word "synergy". Ideas just seems to build and grow into something great.
Who was there? Craig Schiller, Yvonne Root, Janice Sutton, Nancy Cummings, Debbie Wheeler, Tracie Martin, Stephanie Heron-Weeber and myself.
We discussed "The 10 Questions" posted earlier by Craig at length. The first question of the day was presented by Maureen Henry of Rockland Home Staging. "Is home staging a viable career choice?" While everyone agreed that it is indeed not an easy choice, but you can make a living at it - sometimes at the expense of everything else. What it comes down to is - what are you willing to sacrifice for the success of your staging business?
An open discussion took place about standardizing our terminology of (Kate Hart of Hart & Associates Staging and Design) "Simple, Standard & Select Staging" and the benefits of such for our clients. Not to be confused with price fixing, but the impact on our clients to be able to compare apples-to-apples and the effectiveness of such. Would such terminology increase potential clients knowledge of staging and help them to make better choices for hiring a home stager?
From Michelle Minch of Moving Mountains Design & Staging, "How will the current volatile and dropping real estate market effect the staging industry?" This one small sentence contains quite a punch when home stagers are together! Michelle adds "Is there a price point in home sales below which staging will no longer be an option for home sellers and REAs?" These questions followed by Tracie Martin's request to discuss overcoming objections, opened up a lively chat! Debbie Wheeler and Nancy Cummings queried why any home seller take a price reduction over staging? Discussion ensued about the out of pocket expense of our service. While the benefits truly outweigh the price tag, we need to realistically acknowledge that sometimes people just don't have the money to pay upfront.
Jessica Hughes of Ambiance Staging asked "Given the same budget, would you rather do several vignette in a few rooms or "full blown" staging in one room?" Craig admitted that all of his stagings are "Select" Stagings and not vignette. Tracie Martin shared that at the request of a client, will stage "vignette" style. Janice Sutton offers a "partial-partial" of kitchen and bath staging. I took that to mean "accessory only" staging as there is no furniture involved.
A fun part of the roundtable came from Bath Patnode of Stylish Transformation. "What are you least favorite aspects of being a Professional Home Stager? Also, what are you favorites?"
The least favorites include:
- Paperwork
- Networking
- Cold-Calls
- Inventory
The Favorites:
- Shopping
- Speaking to Groups
- Actually Staging a Property
Janice Sutton submitted the question about "What are some of the most successful marketing tools used by home stagers?" Of course, fliers, brochures, presentations, impact of business cards, etal were all discussed. The issue of gifts was also discussed. Do you give gifts (whether it's a Starbucks gift card or a book) to your client? Does it matter if it's a home seller or an agent? What kind of gift is appropriate?
Craig shared his vision for "Stage It Forward" and the concept of helping one another build their staging business - without the threat of competition or fear or losing business.
The highlight of the entire Round Table was the energetic discussion about collecting "pure" statistics. Everyone in the group commented on the lack of actual/verifiable stats on staged homes selling faster and for more money. Craig talked about the opportunity to have stagers submit their stats (at a state level or regionally) for compilation. Each stager would need to submit 4 staging statistics (via fax) in order to receive a quarterly report to use in their marketing, etc. Make sense? Craig is working on a easy-to-fill out form for use. I'm sure he'll post a blog about this very soon.
In closing, Craig said "Thinking small, keeps us small." WOW - Together, we can grow the home staging industry and with Craig's vision - I, for one, am expecting great things.
So - who's next?
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