I recently exhibited at the Hudson Valley Realtor Convention. The number one reason I heard from realtors for not staging their listings was that they couldn’t convince their sellers it was worth it. So I began to question how agents broach the topic with their clients. I thought it might be helpful to make recommendations on how to convince sellers to stage. I firmly believe that with clear communication and a step by step approach, you can all start staging your listings and making more money for yourself and your client.
Change How You Market Yourself
The first thing I recommend is that you forget about all your amazing marketing strategies for the properties you sell…just for a moment, and change how you market yourself. I want you to bolster the source for all those great ideas and give yourself an edge over other agents.
Add a Staging Consultation to Your Listing Package
I know what your thinking “…of course she would say that, she owns a staging company,” but I’m not just feeding you lines. There are many benefits to doing this and most staging companies, including Burlock, offer industry discounts to agents they work with.
Stop Negotiating Your Commission
Just by adding the staging consultation, you’ve accomplished many things, the most important being that you are setting yourself apart from other realtors. You are providing your client with a value added service. Additionally, this gives you firmer ground to stand on when it comes to your commission. Give them something extra rather than discount your fee. Stop negotiating. By adding the staging consultation, you can proudly say “I do more, to get you more.”
Communicate About Staging Right Away
The other thing you’ve done by adding this to your listing presentation is you’ve planted the seed about staging, you’ve communicated clearly and upfront. This is tremendously important. Let’s jump into the mind of the seller for a moment.
They’re moving and if even if it’s for a good reason, moving in and of itself is a huge change that can overwhelm pretty much anyone. Then on top of it, their agent, the person that is supposed to be on their side, is asking them to shell out more money and wipe the house clean of all that makes their house a home. “Too much! Too soon! I wasn’t expecting this…” is what’s going through their mind.
By talking about the consultation right away, there are no unpleasant surprises.
A Consultation Allows the Seller to Stage Themselves
Now for those of you unfamiliar, a staging consultation educates and empowers the seller to do the staging themselves. We provide them with a detailed, written report that you will get a copy of. But before we leave, we go over everything in detail.
The Seller Can Hire us to do Further Work if They Wish
The seller can then choose to hire us further to help with as little or as much of the staging as they want. With Burlock, I can tell you that even if they choose not to hire us further, we will give them homework and check back with them to see how they are doing. We do this mainly as a service to you, the agent. Your job is to market and sell the property and we want you to be able to focus on that. Which leads me to my final recommendation...
Don’t Market the Listing Until it’s Staged
You’ve spent the money on the consultation; now use it to the fullest extent. If you market the listing before it’s staged, then your client has no motivation to stage it. You also, don’t have the best photographs you could have of your listing, do you? You’ll be happy you took this time because the sale of your listing will happen much sooner and save you money on marketing.
In Closing
Convincing your client to stage is about tweaking your approach. Set yourself apart with a value added service, communicate clearly about how you work from the beginning and lead your client through the process in steps. You’ll gain their confidence and trust right at the outset of your business relationship.
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