This is part 3 of a feature on home staging marketing where home stagers learn how to promote their services to real estate agents at an open house.
In part 1, I discussed your first objective in using this home staging marketing strategy which is: initiating and starting to build your relationship with the real estate agent.
Since it’s your first meeting with the real estate agent, and you basically have a captive audience, I explained ways to use this to your advantage and create the right first impression so you are memorable for the right reasons.
In part 2, I discussed your second objective, demonstrating your own expertise as a home stager.
This where you give the real estate agent a sample of your expertise and give them an easy way to open the door to home staging with their client (especially when the house has been sitting on the market for some time).
To complete this 3-part feature, today I’ll explore your third objective:
Educating the real estate agent about how home staging can help him/her make more money
It’s important to put yourself in the mindset of the Realtor®. If you just say something typical like, “home staging will help this house sell faster and for more money,” you might be met with a blank or skeptical stare.
Or your comment might just breeze right by because it sounds almost cliche by now.
Key Home Stager Tips
1. You need to take it beyond the obvious by demonstrating other benefits.
For example, you can tell the agent’s client things that they might not want to. In other words they don’t have to be worried about annoying their client (and risk losing their listing) by saying things their client won’t want to hear.
You can also make his/her MLS photos look great so that more people will book showings and come to open houses like this one.
This will be especially meaningful if you’re speaking with the agent at a quiet open house that’s eating up his/her weekend and not generating any qualified leads.
As the home stager, you are the independent third party who complements the real estate agent’s services allowing them to focus on what they do best, finding clients and selling real estate.
2. Don’t leave the real estate agent empty handed.
Successful real estate agents meet hundreds of people in any given month and you want them to remember you.
Plan on giving the agent your business card and brochure during this conversation. Your brochure should look professional, include quality before and after photos from your home staging portfolio and the address of your home staging website.
This will help even the most skeptical agent envision the difference you can make— especially if the agent hasn’t worked with a stager before.
By the way, if you’re wondering how to go about getting a brochure and how much it will cost, I personally create a FREE company brochure for Staging Diva Graduates who have profile listings in the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers.
Our members use these brochures when visiting open houses. Many have been Directory members for years rather than taking the time, money and considerable effort required to build their own standalone website.
If you’d like many more ideas for compelling messages to use when discussing home staging with real estate agents, you’ll find them in course 4, Staging Diva Sales and Marketing Secrets to Boost Your Home Staging Business.
You can also read more about how I explain the benefits of home staging to real estate agents in my Home Staging FAQ for Realtors.
Please comment below and let me know if you’ve found this 3-part home staging marketing series helpful.
What was your biggest take away from the series? Is there something you’ll do differently in the future?
Jennifer says
This was great! You’re right Debra, Realtors want to hear how your going to help sell the home or what you can do for them specifically, not just help to “sell faster”. This article gives me a few more tools to use, Thank you!
Debra Gould says
Jennifer, Glad I could help! Thanks for sharing your feedback, I really appreciate it!
There are a ton of ways to appeal to real estate agents and answer their “what’s in it for me?” questions. If you ever want to dig deeper into this, check out “Staging Diva Sales & Marketing Secrets to Boost Your Home Staging Business“. It’s Course 4 of the Staging Diva program and you can get it this month only for $249. It includes 2 hours of audio recordings plus accompanying study notes and is based on what I’ve learned in 9 years as a successful home stager, plus what I know after over 20 years in marketing.
Shelly Hughes says
Hi Debra,
Thanks for the tips on working with Realtors. I liked your perspective on adding value to the Realtor with enhancing the MLS photos. Especially since the MLS photos are what a typical buyer first sees.
Thanks again, Shelly
Debra Gould says
Thanks for commenting Shelly, love your business name!!
Debra Gould says
You might also like this article: 5 Secrets Real Estate Agents Need to Hear From Home Stagers.
Shelly Hughes says
I liked your ideas about expressing to realtors the added benefit of working with home stagers beyond selling quicker and for more money. Realtors can work with a home stager to say what can be uncomfortable to say to a home owner like smoke or pet odors. Realtors don’t want to insult the home owner and worry about losing the listing.
Debra Gould says
Absolutely Shelly, thanks for commenting!~
Teri Adler says
Hmm, if you have to tell a real estate agent that staging a home is important for selling the home, I’d be wary of that agent. Sounds like inexperience to me; good agents not only know that staging is important, but they should know how to stage well. Thanks for the guide!
Debra Gould says
Teri, I agree with you that a good real estate agent should know that staging is important, but I don’t believe they need to know how to do it themselves. I do appreciate your comment and you’ve inspired me for a follow up post to this one on why I don’t think agents should be staging. Look forward to your thoughts on it too! Thanks again for stopping by and sharing your point of view.
Matthew Gardner says
You are so right, Teri. I wouldn’t waste my time with a real estate agent that a) doesn’t know what staging is, or b) can’t see the value in it. We only work with sophisticated agents and homeowners who grasp the basic principles of a well positioned product brought to market!
Debra Gould says
Well said Matthew!