Home Stagers Free Estimates Can Lead to Bankruptcy

Summary

When many home sellers ask for free home staging estimates, what they really want is a stager’s expertise and advice for free. The brand new Staging Diva Sales Script will teach home stagers how to avoid getting caught in the ‘free estimate trap’ and turn homeowners into home staging customers with one concise phone conversation.

Home Stagers Beware! Free Estimates Can Lead to Bankruptcy

(United States) June 9, 2008 – A new resource called the Staging Diva Sales Script has been created by home staging expert Debra Gould, also known as the Staging Diva, which will help home stagers avoid bankruptcy and burn out by not falling into the “free estimate trap.”

With the dismal state of the real estate market today, desperate homeowners are scrambling for an edge when the time comes to sell. Many of these individuals are turning to home stagers to advise them on how to best decorate their homes to stand out from the others in their community that will be in competition with theirs when it gets listed.

That line between “free estimate” and “free advice” becomes blurry when a home stager agrees to visit with a home seller to estimate what staging will cost. From the moment a stager enters the home, they are bombarded with questions; ‘What color should I paint this room?’, ‘Do you think I should move this furniture to the basement?’, ‘Is it okay to leave my dining room as the children’s playroom?’ While these questions are very important for any home seller to consider, asking them of a home stager is the same as asking for free home staging advice.

“A professional home stager can increase the perceived value of a home by between $10,000 and $70,000,” says Gould. “Home stagers deserve to be paid for their expertise and advice since the home seller stands to make a handsome profit from their services.”

In a fierce race for new clients, too many home stagers agree to visit home sellers to provide a free estimate for staging their home. This will almost inevitably end up in “a fast road to burn out and bankruptcy”, according to Gould, who teaches home stagers how to build a profitable staging business. Instead, Gould advises home stagers build a rapport over the phone with a potential new client, carefully explaining what home staging is, why it works, and how their expertise can benefit the home seller.

“It’s not necessary to visit a home to know what staging will cost, especially if the house is furnished,” explains Gould. She goes on to say, “Most home sellers are living in their homes and a stager will be working with what’s already there. If the home stager has any experience at all, they’ll know from a telephone interview, approximately how long it will take and roughly what staging will cost. But they have to be confident enough to explain it thoroughly to a home seller who has probably never hired a real estate stager before.”

Serious home sellers looking for expert home staging advice should be willing to pay for a service that will result in a quick sale for top dollar. Home stagers considering themselves professionals should not be wasting their time and gas running the roads for free. To help both stagers and sellers understand each other better, Debra Gould has created the “Staging Diva Sales Script: How to Avoid the Free Estimate Trap and Turn Homeowners Into Home Staging Customers in One Phone Conversation.”

About Debra Gould, The Staging Diva

Debra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. To date, Gould has trained over 1000 people worldwide to start their own home staging businesses. In addition to HGTV, Debra Gould’s media coverage includes: CNNMoney, Wall Street Journal, Woman’s Day, Reader’s Digest, This Old House, CBC National News, Global TV, City TV, CBS Radio and many more.

Contact

Debra Gould
Six Elements Inc.
416-691-6615
Email

http://www.sixelements.com
http://www.stagingdiva.com

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