Many of us start a staging business because we love home decor and have an eye for design. What a gift to be able to share with sellers and inspire buyers.
I firmly believe almost every seller can benefit from your innate talent. Because of that, I am committed to helping you grow your staging business so you can serve as many sellers as you wish to fill your calendar with.
Full disclosure…I really, really struggled with filling my calendar at the beginning of my business. I wasn't sure how to find potential clients. Should I go to open houses to meet agents? Should I invest in things like Houzz or HomeAdvisor? Should I pay for “Preferred Vendor” status at real estate offices? Should I offer free consultations? Should I lower my price or give discounts?
The short answer to all of these is NO (you're welcome–haha!). I built my business without doing any of those things.
But here's the beautiful thing about my struggle…I had to figure it out. I had to figure out what works, what doesn't work, try a bunch of things. And I'm sharing it with you.
In today’s post, I’m going to give you the EXACT system you need to be implementing in order to grow your staging business that will keep clients lined up at your door and your business flourishing.
Ready to start filling more slots on your calendar?
The ONE System You Need to Grow Your Staging Business
I’m going to start with a potentially difficult question – when was the last time you were in touch with your contacts? Nurturing relationships with the contacts you already have is essential to the success of your growing business.
I always say there are 3 simple steps to getting new clients: Getting noticed, getting known and then getting new clients. Getting new clients comes as a result of getting noticed and getting known. The system I'm about to share is part of that “getting known” step. It's about being in front of your potential clients coming from a place of service, not sales, but service.
No doubt a keep in touch campaign can look like it's a time-consuming task. Most forms of keep in touch campaigns require some form of writing which is likely why many business owners don’t prioritize them. And I get it -you’ve got staging to do, but it’s important to remember that you don’t have to be a writer or even write a lot for these types of campaigns. These types of campaigns aren’t even about getting a sale if you will. The goal and purpose is to stay top of mind with your list of contacts.
You might be thinking, ‘what is a keep in touch campaign?’
Ah, well that, my friends, is a great question. And one that I am MORE than happy to answer.
A keep in touch campaign is just as it sounds.
How a Keep in Touch Campaign Can Grow Your Staging Business
A Keep In Touch campaign is simply staying in front of your prospective clients in a helpful, service-focused way. So many of us ghost our prospective clients and they actually forget who we are!
Different Types of Keep in Touch Campaigns
There are different types of keep in touch campaigns you can run. Check out these examples to get your wheels spinning. The key is to decide which option feels right to you and then you need to make it a system so it happens on a consistent basis.
Digital
Weekly Email
Send out a weekly email to stay in touch with your contacts. Highlight any recent projects you’ve completed, share tips and tricks on home staging and the benefits of using a stager to increase sales price and negotiations.
Freebie
Position yourself as the expert by creating a free guide to help your contacts improve their staging. Don’t worry about distracting them from hiring you for your services. A freebie will help boost your credibility and ability to design.
Social Media
If you feel like you hate social media, I would encourage you to get past that. It's not helpful to avoid social media to grow a staging business. Post to your personal and business social media accounts weekly about home staging tips and ideas, your thoughts, your projects, your client stories.
Analog
Postcards/Handwritten Cards
Never underestimate the value of a handwritten note. Set a calendar reminder to send out a postcard or handwritten card to a few of your contacts weekly.
Warm Letter
A warm letter is a long form letter sharing updates about your business. This is very effective to send out quarterly with updates about what's been happening in the background of your business and to highlight projects, testimonials and results you've had.
How Does A Keep In Touch Campaign Help?
It makes you stand out. Most business owners don't have the mindset that keeps them consistently reaching out so you will be remarkable and that's the name of the game in business.
I once had a prospective client tell me that they felt so bad that they hadn't worked with me yet but they knew when they had the right client, they would reach out to me because I had stayed in touch with them. For three years! In that time, they referred me three other agents who we work with on a regular basis. And once they finally hired our team, they have worked with us over and over again.
What if I hadn't stayed in touch with them? What if I thought it wasn't working?
This is why in RethinkYou, we talk about not only the strategy but the thoughts you will need to develop to keep you taking the actions that will create your dream business. I'm sharing a ton more about RethinkYou in my upcoming masterclass….you should join us!
Where To Start With Your Keep In Touch Campaign
Look no further than your current list of contacts. Most business owners don’t realize that your current contacts are the most primed to work with you. So rather than going out to find new clients and having to work on building new relationships (which is great, but takes time!) – your current contacts are much more likely to hire you to work with them.
Here’s the thing – your staging business is just that – a business, and it cannot grow unless you have clients (I mean, obvi – right?). Having a keep in touch system for staying top of mind is the one way to stay top of mind with your current contacts. This can be anything from a freebie, weekly newsletter, or a handwritten card.
If you’re looking for more ways to build a solid and flourishing staging business then I think you are going to love my brand new membership JUST for home stagers like you. I’ve taken everything I’ve learned over the last decade in the home staging industry and put it into this membership to bring you the tools and strategies you need to grow a profitable home staging business.
I’m hosting a FREE masterclass on April 21 to give you the 3 simple steps to make more money in your staging business. I’ll be covering the money generating activities for your stage of business, how to fill your calendar with a mix of online and in-person marketing, and how to steady your cash flow with digital staging and products.
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