Expert Home Stager Gives Advice for Networking at Open Houses
According to Debra Gould, The Staging Diva, home stagers can market their home staging businesses to real estate agents by attending open houses on a regular basis.
- (1888PressRelease) February 15, 2012 - While there are numerous ways for home stagers to market their services to real estate agents, expert home stager Debra Gould reports that one of the most effective methods is attending open houses. On her blog, the Home Staging Business Report, Gould gives advice to home stagers for approaching real estate agents at open houses.
"It's important to be clear in your own mind about what you're there for and what you want to accomplish," says Gould. "This will keep you focused and channel your energies in the right direction. Otherwise, you can say the wrong thing and end up with an angry REALTORŽ."
Gould, who founded the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, also suggests that home stagers ensure that they are not taking time away from an agent's potential clients who are touring the home: "While showing up at an open house gives you a captive audience, you don't want to appear that you're taking advantage of that or interfering with what the agent is really there for," she says.
According to Gould, one of the objectives in attending an open house is to begin building a relationship with the real estate agent. Since this is typically the first face-to-face meeting, Gould emphasizes the importance of making the right first impression.
"You should have a professional, conversational-sounding way of introducing yourself," recommends Gould. "Practice this in advance so you sound confident when you say it, even if you're brand new to home staging."
In addition, Gould says it is important not to assume that the agent knows what home staging is or has ever worked with a home stager before. While the term home staging has existed for more than a decade, many agents are simply not familiar with it. Gould believes it is each home stager's responsibility to explain who they are and what they do in a clear and compelling way.
Gould also recommends exchanging business cards and requesting the real estate agent's permission to follow up with an email newsletter containing home staging tips.
Gould explains further: "This is only the start of your relationship, so you need permission to build on that relationship and familiarity in the future. With ongoing communication, when they need your staging services in the future, you'll still be 'top of mind.' If there isn't any ongoing communication, the next time a project opportunity arises, it may go to your competition who has contacted them more recently."
Gould finds that having a monthly newsletter is the easiest way to keep this communication open: "It's much less scary or intrusive than calling an agent to say 'Remember me?' A newsletter lets you market to them without being pushy," says Gould.
For more home staging business tips, home stagers are encouraged to visit the Home Staging Business Report on the Staging Diva website.
About Staging Diva
The creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, Debra Gould has staged millions of dollars' worth of real estate, including 7 of her own homes. She is the president of Voice of Possibility Group Inc. which operates a home staging division, SixElements.com, in addition to StagingDiva.com which has trained over 7,000 home stagers to start and grow their own businesses.
Debra has gained international recognition through features in major media in the US and Canada including: This Old House, HGTV, CNN Money, CBC National News, CBS Radio, Global TV, City TV, The Wall Street Journal, Women's Day, Reader's Digest and more.
Contact
Debra Gould, The Staging DivaŽ
Voice of Possibility Group Inc.
416-691-6615
debragould ( @ ) stagingdiva dot com
http://www.stagingdiva.com
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