Chapter 10: Your first job- The script for everything you should say and do once you find a customer

Your first Home Staging Consultation job-

everything to say and do once you find a customer

You have arrived! Now what?

1. Get the Location of the property, use a navigator or Google Maps to find where you are going.
2. Explain that you will need to collect your fee upon arrival.
3. If the house is already on the market evaluate the MLS PHotos before your visit.
4. Tell someone where you are going.  If in doubt take a friend in the car with you and have them wait in the car.
5. Take the contents of your Home Staging Kit as well as your client Handout.
6. Assess the exterior and Curb Appeal on your way into the house.
7. Greetings and small talk and then start the 2/1 process.  Two compliments and one critique.
8. Keep moving from  room to room.  Don’t spend too much time in any one room.  You might find that the house is so impossible that fretting over a few things in the living room was overkill compared to the rest of the place.
9. Pick your battles by deciding which is the room or area that needs the most attention.  If you have overemphasized a small area you will have overwhelmed the client by the time you get to the worst areas.  The opposite is also true.  You may have a place that hardly needs any staging.  You can find that the majority of the house is great and then you can narrow in on the most needed aspects.
10. Also, as you go through the house you will start to find plenty of objects, pieces of furniture , rugs, artwork etc. that could be relocated into another room.  So it is best to go through the whole house before you finalize your assessment, plan or advice.
11. After you go through the home once, you now have a good feel for how much or how little needs to be done.  If there is a huge amount of work to do and the only thing you are there for is to advise the Homeowner, you need to prioritize your advice.  You will totally overwhelm a customer.  If their entire house is in drastic need of staging they probably have lived this way for many years and are not about to complete an entire renovation at this point.
12. Some homes will not turn out to be in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine after your Home staging Visit.  Some homes are just way too far gone.  If the homeowner does not realize this you will not be able to convince them of everything that needs to be done.  You can only give them  a small list of things that need to change, something they can achieve.  You may want to focus on just a few rooms so that they look better for the MLS photos.
13. If on the other had you have a motivated seller that is eagerly taking all of your advice,  go right ahead and keep adding to the list of changes that you recommend.  You can even start helping them rearrange things, even smaller pieces of furniture. This will get them motivated to try new things and listen to your ideas. At this point give them your recommended finishes such as paint colors.  Give them names of contractors that you recommend for work that needs to be done.
14. All of the customers will benefit from a follow up email which will continue to add suggestions.  You can write your whole plan in this email instead of trying to jot it all down as you go.
15. Discuss the MLS photos with the customers at this point.  Take your own photos or room measurements if necessary.
16. Try to leave within two hours.  Any longer will be too overwhelming for the customer.  Even if you have more to say, say it in an email or a follow up visit.