Hi Cindy !  ~ Definitely A . If she asks you that, then she fires her stager , hires you, then she will ask another stager what they think of your work. The professional thing to do is answer A. You dont want to work with that agent !

I agree with Fernando answer is A...no need to step on toes...

But Fernando, Mary Lou, (playing devil's advocate here), aren't you confident you will do a great job to make the home look spectacular? If so, you should run no risk of being fired... :) Therefore you gain another client for staging?

Cheers,

Cindy 

I would completly skirt the issue of the other stager's work - say something like - I might not have made that same choices - quickly whip out my super cool portfolio and start telling the agent about your company.  

This is not a popularity contest, it is business. 

Cindy - we need to skillfully craft our response.  I firmly believe in not burning any bridges, and it is best to remain respectful of other people's work.  Usually when I explain the "why" behind the issue, there is no offense taken.

Cindy - I'd answer the question with another question; why do you ask?  Presuming they did say they were unhappy with the staging I'd ask about all communications they'd had with their stager concerning their issues and concerns and am fairly confident I'd end up at your option "B".

I do agree with Maureen, *my* only concern would be the importance of communication - if the agent was incapable of communicating with the prior stager what evidence would I have of them being able to communicate with me? 

Jackie 

Cindy ~ Like Jackie, I would have to answer with a question to the agent - "what do you think about how the home was staged?", even "what feedback have you been getting?".  I would not put down what the other stager did, although I might say something like "I might not have gone that route". 

Ok, let's be devils advocate here...who is the stager?

is it a professional or is it a dabbler?

Why is it awful? Did they have no budget? Was the stager only allowed to use the items in the house and not bring in any other items. Did the homeowners have simply awful things?

I would ask some questinos and gather all the info then decide what to do next.

If the staging is awful ladies and gentleman why are we supporting their being in business? Why are we not elevating our industry and supporting good staging? Sometimes I think our industry is a big soft and fluffly and we don't want to hurt each other's feelings. how are we gonig to stay in business and grow as an industry this way?

Just a thought. Kym

Kym makes a point though, the stager may have had challenges that you are not aware of. Low budget, client issues, using the clients existing furnishings - thie list could be endless. Of course that doesn't excuse really bad staging, but it may explain why the final outcome isn't exactly to your standards. Would you then be placed with the same limitations and fair not better? By not answering the agents question right away with an emphatic "It looks great!" then your pause probably told the agent how you felt.

I think it is fair and honest to say you would have made different choices, and if the agent persues the matter show your portfolio. If the staging is truly awful and you say, "it's nice," and leave, that agent may assume you are no better than the disappointing stager and never consider you for future projects.

Kym - BRAVO & KUDOS to you!  I'm in your camp on this one!  I definately have to agree with the "I think our industry is a big soft and fluffly and we don't want to hurt each other's feelings. how are we gonig to stay in business and grow as an industry this way?"  comment.  I could not echo it loud enough!

I'm with Kym.  I have one house that I didn't want to stage because it had too many other issues that should have been considered first.  BUT the agent insisted. She brought in furniture and paid me a very limited amount for accesssories.  I'm embarassed to say that I'm not very proud of the work and I do not want my name associated with it, but I wanted to maintain the relationship with the realtor so I VERY reluctantly did the job.  NOW I want my stuff out of that house and she will not let me in...clearly I no longer want that association.  I didn't listen to my gut and now I'm paying. 

Tell them the truth.

Tell them how you would do it different and validate whjy in terms of how it can affect the first impression.

Truth backed up by fact is a professional opinon, and thats what you were asked for.

- me

If an agent calls you in to look at another's stager's work, it's because they are unhappy. The best way to handle it is to say that you would have staged it differently, and if they want to hire you for this job or another one, here's my card. You do not tweak another stager's work, or ridicule their work in front of THEIR client. Be a good business person, but be diplomatic at the same time.

Maureen, I love it "your super cool portfolio!"

Kristina, I totally agree! You brought up a really great point about bringing up the Why.

Jackie & Kathy, I think the poor communication is key.  If the agent is just not a good client to begin with, chances are s/he won't be a good client for you.

Kym, GOLD STAR! I didn't think about WHO was it, if it were a weekend warrior or someone who has been doing it professionally. I think that makes a lot of difference. As well as budget issues.

Cari & Rosario, exactly my point. If the agent thinks it's terrible and you agree, doesn't it mean your taste is terrible?

Melissa, I know, totally. I have certainly see bad staging because people don't understand what staging is.

Ginger, I am SO sorry to hear about that! That's a tough situation to deal with.

Craig (I am assuming it's Craig because of the "me" signature), sometimes it's hard to tell them the truth. I had gone into open houses where the agents staged their own listings (and looked TERRIBLE). They were so proud about it that it was hard to say anything...

Elaine, Exactly my point. They are asking because they are unhappy, not necessary because they may be difficult clients. But it's hard to be diplomatic when they ask you point blank about another one's work.

I am really loving all these discussions! For me personally I say "well this is not really my style because [my staging philosophy]." I also usually give them my information and say "let me know if I can be of service for your next project." I really don't think making commentary on others' work is smart, but I have certainly done so before in those word vomit moments and when I was more inexperienced. Then I regretted that I even commented on it. Well, you live and you learn, right? :D

IIF the Staging work is bad, then I would diplomatically tell the agent that I would have taken a different approach in many of the rooms.  I would make sure to mention that I always use the strategies that I have seen work successfully in the past and would let him/her know that you are available to re-do the work in this house or would be more than happy to partner with them on other listings.  When they start asking what I would have done differently I would mention a couple of things politely but wouldn't give away the farm with sharing the whole story.

I would say that I couldn't make any judgement since I didn't know the restrictions/resources that the other stager was given.  Then follow up with Maureen's suggestions.

Kim Dillon, Creative Eye Home Staging

I would just say that I'm sorry the "staging" didn't turn out as you hoped for.  That way you acknowledge "their" thoughts, but remain neutral on the matter.  Keep the ball in their court.

Cindy,

This is always a touchy subject.  Ethically I feel the proper thing to do would be not to knock the other stagers work , as we wouldn't want to be judged behind our backs like this either.  However, if the agent has already communicated the fact that they are not happy with their current stager, for what ever the reason, my guess is they are already on their way out.  I would give it time before approaching that agent for business, perhaps a follow up call in the following months to see if the agent is still using that stager.  Don't be too quick to jump on a situation like this, because you may not know the stagers circumstances and maybe they just had a bad staging day with that particular staging and have since redeemed themselves with the agent. We all know that some of our stagings turn out better than others!  Maybe this was one of this stagers so-so staging jobs and he/she normally does beautiful work!  There is plenty of business out there for everyone, I don't feel there is a need to step into someone else's territory.

I agree that you should get the big picture before you comment.  Why is the REA asking for your opinion, who did the staging, how long ago, what restrictions did they have (time, money, resources, client resistance, etc).  Based on that you could give a qualified opinion, such as, you might consider doing things a little differently, but that yours may be considered hindsight, etc.  Then you could show your portfolio as mentioned.  You want to be careful not to back yourself in a corner.  Did the REA do it and is now passing it off as some other stager and wants your opinion of the work?  Did a stager work on the property but the homeowner or agent made their own adjustments or "improvements"?

This could come back to bite you so be careful.  It never hurts to be diplomatic.