Confessions of a Real Life Stager – How to Manage Your Clients So They Don’t Manage You
Do you feel like your clients are running your business rather than you? Are you coming out on the short end of every interaction with customers so that they are always “winning” and you are always “losing”? Staging is a complex, customized business with many moving pieces. Customers always seem to want a little extra “something”, and all of those extras add up in terms of time, stress, and ultimately money. Through a series of real life stories, we will explore some of the common, a few of the unreasonable, and even a couple of the outrageous situations that Stagers find themselves in every day. How should you handle clients negotiating over price? What do you do when you arrive at the property to stage and there are still contractors climbing all over the place? How do you handle customer complaints including failure to pay? What do you do if your staging materials are damaged at a job? How do you handle a client that just won’t take “No” for an answer?
Learning Objectives
1. How to work with clients in partnership so that you are both “winners”
2. How to develop the confidence to stand up to your clients when you need to
3. How to create systems and processes so that your business has “rules of engagement” to take the personal aspect out of difficult situations
Topic Level
Recommended for newbie level stagers.
Speaker Bio
Barb is the founder and Lead Design Stylist of Wall to Wall Home Staging based in Annapolis, Maryland. Her career in interior design began at age 7, when she used remnants of carpet and wallpaper to create her own “Barbie(TM) Dream House in her bedroom closet. After spending more than 15 years in sales and account management, she decided to part ways with the corporate world and turned her life-long passion into a full time business and career. She was awarded the ASP Eastern Region Stager of the Year, 2012. She lives in Annapolis with her husband, 4 year old son and two insane beagles. She’s wildly devoted to rescue animals, good coffee and travel.
Connect