Home stagers often get frustrated in their home staging marketing efforts to real estate agents. An Ottawa home stager summed up many of our frustrations with this comment on Facebook:
“Answer me this….why are real estate agents so cheap they don’t care about VALUE & RESULTS they only care about the cost?!”
The shortest answer to her question is that most real estate agents are making very little money right now and they’re not willing to spend any more than is absolutely necessary on a listing, especially when they don’t know if the house will sell at all.
Real estate agents aren’t employees with guaranteed pay checks.
Home stagers have almost no ongoing expenses to keep their businesses running and we get paid when we provide our services when we follow the Staging Diva formula for starting and growing a home staging business.
Unlike us, real estate agents have considerable ongoing expenses with no money coming in until a deal closes. Without this positive cash flow, really why would they want to spend money on your home staging services when they won’t get it back for many months, if at all?
This is one of the MANY reasons I advise against putting all your marketing efforts towards real estate agents which is a common mistake made by home stagers who haven’t listened to Course 4 of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program.
That said, real estate agents are one of our 4 key target markets. They can help build awareness for the importance of home staging in general and for a preferred home stager’s services in particular.
To better your chances that a real estate agent will recommend your home staging business over your competition, here are 5 secrets real estate agents need to hear from you:
1. Home staging will make it easier for you to market and sell your listings because your MLS photos will be 100% more enticing, and once visiting a property, home buyers are more likely to make an offer on a home that shows well.
2. With 70% (US) to 90% (Canada) of home buyers searching online before ever calling a real estate agent, you will attract more leads with better photos, not only for the staged listing but from active buyers who will want you to show them other properties too.
3. Home stagers can address problems head on and tell your clients the things you don’t want to say for fear of losing your listing. With so many people selling a home due to divorce, a home stager is an independent third party who will save you from having to get in between the different opinions of each spouse.
4. Home staging is a service you can recommend to your clients as a faster way to sell their home for more money, but it’s not a service you personally have to pay for.
5. Your clients don’t want to hear you recommend a $10,000, $20,000 or $50,000 price reduction because that’s money right out of their pockets. Home staging services can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a consultation up to several thousand dollars to fully furnish a large or very high-end home. In every case, the cost to your client will be significantly less than the price reduction. This makes for a much easier conversation with your clients and keeps you on the “same team.”
These are only some of the many marketing ideas, strategies and tips I share in Course 4 of the Staging Diva Program, “Staging Diva Sales & Marketing Secrets to Boost your Home Staging Business.” In this home staging course, I also share how to build your home staging business without spending any money on advertising while attracting home sellers who are prepared to really invest in staging their homes for the real estate market.
Home stagers, have you found any other phrases particularly helpful when explaining the benefits of what you do to real estate agents? Please share your thoughts and experiences by commenting below.
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging
Debra Gould has been an entrepreneur since 1989 and knows how to make money as a home stager. She developed the Staging Diva Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love. There are now more than 7,000 students in over 20 countries learning from her many products and services for home stagers.
Debra, great article! I am a REALTOR® who utilizes professional staging on every listing I put on the market. But it wasn’t always that way (and many of the reasons why are reasons you address in this article). I know the value staging provides and it far out ways any dollar amount a seller would invest in staging. My seller clients sell their homes 5 times faster than the average seller in our Wilmington NC market and sell their homes for a minimum of 3.5% more. Staging is a vital part of my listing plan and my business would not be as successful without it. I never leave for my office for a listing appointment without already setting up a pre-scheduled staging consultation with my professional staging group and the potential seller.
Angela, thanks so much for adding your comments! I know all my readers will really appreciate your point of view and experiences as a REALTOR®. I’m sure you know how rare you are in your total commitment to home staging, and I have no doubt your listings outshine your competitors!
If you’re ever in need of home staging related content for your website, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.
I absolutely enjoy your articles, Debra, and utilize them for all they’re worth.
This is an excellent article. I would love permission to add it to my Real Estate Education Seminars, which I sometimes host for local real estate agents right in my own home.
Real estate agents are looking at real estate from one angle and one angle only: “what’s in it for me?” Answer that question for them and they’re on board.
Thanks so much for your continued passion and enthusiasm for this profession and thank you for your wisdom, advice, great stories and educational information.
In my opinion, you are the ultimate authority on how to be successful as a business owner doing Home Staging.
Kathi Howland
Nicole Interiors Home Staging
Kathi, glad you found this information helpful and congratulations on your series of Real Estate Education Seminars. Yes you have my permission to use this material as long as you attribute it back to me and include StagingDiva.com
If you’d like more info on how you might do that, please email me. By the way, I’d love to write an article about what you’re doing. A great opportunity for you to get some free publicity. Simply submit your info at this link:
http://www.stagingdiva.com/homestagingbusiness/staging-success-stories/
You also have a chance to be part of my book, Life as Home Stager. The info on how to participate is here:
http://stagingdivadispatch.com/fave-client-story/
Thanks for your comments and feedback Kathi, most appreciated!
What is the cost? Thanks for the information.
Marcia, I agree cost should be part of the discussion but more important is stressing the value. Staging is not a pure cost, it’s an investment in a higher return when selling the home. Agents are less concerned with price when they aren’t paying for the service because they don’t get as a high a payback as the homeowner does.