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I think we can all agree that this unique time in history requires us to think "outside the box" when it comes to doing our jobs and serving our clients. In fact, creativity will be the hallmark of your marketing strategy over the coming months. Will you be the real estate professional who is present and helpful or one who is absent to your clients during this time?
As a staging trainer, I felt compelled to be present and helpful to my industry. I created a free guide for home stagers to show them how to offer remote staging and design services to clients so they can be a resource to sellers and real estate professionals during these uncertain times. Interestingly, since I gave that A-Z training guide to the staging industry, I’m hearing several positive stories from home stagers about how their real estate agent partners introduced remote services to their clients.
In this blog post, I’m going to show real estate professionals how to work remotely with a home stager and continue to build your brand and business.
Capitalize on the Higher Buyer Traffic Numbers
You may be noticing higher online traffic to your listings. While people are staying in, they’re spending A LOT of time looking at real estate listings on the internet. Use this time to build your brand and credibility. Don’t be sales-y; be available. Some home stagers are offering free 30-minute staging guidance or "discovery calls" to help sellers get started preparing their homes to sell when the coronavirus crisis passes. Offering free guidance is especially helpful in providing hope and focus to stressed-out sellers during this time.
Imagine approaching your potential clients with this free service as a way of using this downtime to get their home in tip-top shape? (Some stagers who are offering this type of remote service can be found in the Certified Stager Directory.)
Give Hope, Clarity, and Action Items for Sellers
Necessity is the mother of invention, and more people today are using FaceTime, Zoom, and Skype to connect. Some home stagers have streamlined their remote services by using an online scheduler (Acuity) to make it easy for sellers and real estate professionals to book calls. Once a time is set, they walk the seller through a simple process of photographing their rooms and sending those photos to the stager. The home stager can review the rooms ahead of time and have an idea of the home’s layout prior to the video call.
During the guidance video call, the stager will have the seller walk through the home as they provide staging tips and put tape on items they can start packing right away. A 30-minute call is enough to get the ball rolling. Each stager has further service options that the seller can pay for if they would like further guidance, such as a staging report and/or an e-design shopping list.
Some home stagers can use e-design technology to provide shopping list links and room plans to clients. Such guidance sets the seller in motion during a time when it’s easy to become paralyzed or frozen with indecision. After all, I don’t believe the market has changed for the long term. The supply of homes is still too low. When this crisis is over, I believe the real estate market will be booming once again!
