Home Staging Consultation Tips Every Stager Needs

We share a staging consultation that went wrong and the exact language shift that transformed how we talk to sellers. We reframe staging as marketing, not design judgment, so our feedback builds trust, reduces stress, and helps homes show their best. 
• why sellers react emotionally to staging feedback 
• the “store away” phrasing that keeps respect intact 
• giving the why so recommendations feel logical 
• using the compliment sandwich to prevent defensiveness 
• protecting the seller’s trust in their real estate agent 
• framing the walk-through with a marketing mindset 
If you're ready to leave your nine to five and want to do something that's buildable and scalable, check out linden-creek.com/franchise and see if Linden Creek is the right fit for you. 
If you found this useful, subscribe to the channel. More conversations like this are coming!

Transcript

Staging Feels Personal

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Staging feels personal to a seller because their home is personal to them. If you're a stager and the conversation has gone wrong with a seller, it's not because the seller is difficult. It's because you haven't given the seller the proper framework to really think through the decisions that are being made and the importance of marketing the property.

The Consultation That Backfired

SPEAKER_00 0:29

When I first started staging, I oftentimes did consultations. Well, early in my career, there was a consultation that went very, very wrong. You see, a consultation is an appointment that we have with a home seller to walk through their property and offer them feedback and advice on how they could help it show its absolute best before it hits the market. Simple enough, right? This one did not go right. Here's how the conversation went that day. I met the seller, she was such a sweet woman, and I said, Go ahead, show me your home, and I'm gonna give you all this advice on how you can help it show its best. We walked into the dining room and I'm looking at it and I go, okay, we're gonna wanna get rid of this piece here that's in the corner. We move over to the living room and I said, This piece of art needs to go. We're gonna wanna make some changes over here and we wanna reposition where this chair is. We kept going throughout the home and I was offering advice, thinking, look at the value that I am providing throughout this conversation. But something interesting happened. About halfway through the project, she stops me dead in my tracks and she looks at me and she goes, Why are you telling me to get rid of everything? This is so disrespectful. And all of a sudden, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized what I was saying is remove this item to help the home market its best. Store it away, pack it, protect it, bring it to your next home. But those weren't the words I was using. And she translated the words that I was using to get rid of it. It's not worth anything, it should go. And all of a sudden, it completely changed the framework of how I have these conversations and helped me really understand the seller's perspective

Store Away Changes Everything

SPEAKER_00 2:04

in this. What's interesting is there's a study out there that says that second to death of a loved one, moving is one of the most stressful experiences that somebody is going to undergo. So it's important to understand that these sellers are going through a lot. They are juggling work, they are juggling their family, and oh, by the way, they're also trying to get their home ready to sell, perfecting it. You're giving them a laundry list of things to do and telling them to get rid of things that they love in their home. You're walking into a scenario that's already really emotionally challenging and physically exhausting for them. And so there is something really important that I learned in this process from her feedback, and I thank her still for this to this day. I realized sometimes just adjusting your words slightly makes all the difference in the world. Instead of saying get rid of, or instead of saying remove, I now use this phrase, store away. Store away that tree that's in the corner of your dining room. And the reason we say store away is it changes the entire conversation. Store away means package it carefully, bring it to your next home, take care of it because it is of value. Remove, get rid of, put it in the garage. All of those can become offensive phrases. So we start everything with store away. Love design, but think like a business owner. If you're ready to leave your nine to five and want to do something that's buildable and scalable, check out linden-creek.com slash franchise and see if Linden Creek is the right fit for

The Why And Compliment Sandwich

SPEAKER_00 3:32

you. The second big piece that's so important in this conversation is the why. So I don't just say store away the tree that's sitting in the corner of your dining room. I give the why. I say store away the tree in the corner by the dining room because it's actually blocking a lot of natural light. And we want that natural light to flow in. All of a sudden, it changes the framework. We're thinking about the marketing side, how we can showcase this home so that it shows better. How do we let in more natural light? That makes sense to the seller and they understand your reasoning so they can come behind it and support it. Another key trick that I've learned along the years is something I call the compliment sandwich. Now you can walk into a home and give them a laundry list of a hundred different things that they need to be doing before the home goes on the market, but that is exhausting. And that just says that you're nitpicking everything that they've ever done and built in the home. If you take a different approach and you provide one compliment before feedback and one compliment after, it validates what they're actually doing right in the home and it builds confidence and trust with you. Let me show you an example. As we walked into that dining room, had I said your dining room table is the perfect size for this room. It showcases the fact that you can have eight people, which is a massive number, all sitting around this table, and that's a great selling feature. That would have been the first compliment. Then I could have followed it up with, but the tree that's sitting in the corner, let's go ahead and store it away. The reason we want to do this is because the natural light is getting blocked. So the room feels darker. When we take this piece and we pack it away, we have the ability to get more natural light in, which is gonna photograph better and make the room feel even larger. Also, I absolutely love the window treatments you chose for here. This neutral color is really gonna highlight some of the spaces that play without your living room. And I love that it brings in some texture and some warmth to the space. That was my compliment sandwich. Compliment, give your feedback and why, compliment again. Making that transition in the conversations we have with sellers has all the difference in

Strengthening Realtor Seller Trust

SPEAKER_00 5:36

the world. Here's the other thing that's really important to understand as a stager. The relationship that your seller has with a real estate agent is invaluable. They have to have so many tough conversations throughout the transaction process with a home seller. Hey, I understand you want to sell your house for a million dollars, but we have to list it for 850. That's not a fun conversation to have. Hey, I know we listed your house for 850, but they actually want to buy it for $799. That's also not a fun conversation to have. So if you can have the challenging conversations around please store away the tree that's in your dining room, instead of them having to do it, it relieves some pressure for them. But here's what else is important: they're bringing you into that room and bringing you into that relationship in a way because they trust you and your judgment. So if you tarnish that relationship, if you frustrate that seller, it's a really negative reflection on the real estate agent. But if you build up that relationship, if you add value and confidence and encouragement and enthusiasm, you're actually increasing the relationship strength that the real estate agent has with the seller, and that's where the true power comes from. Recognize and understand that that consultation experience is not just asking for your advice. It is just as important to highlight the good things happening in a home and building trust and

Marketing To The Masses

SPEAKER_00 6:55

rapport. One other strategy that I love to do in a consultation is I reframe the conversation before I ever step foot into their home and start giving feedback. Typically it goes something like this: Hi, seller, it's so great to meet you. You have a beautiful home. What we are going to do today is walk through the property and talk about opportunities to help the home sell its best. Now I'm gonna give you feedback, and this is not a reflection of your home in the way that it's designed. Transparently, if I was gonna sell my house tomorrow, there are massive changes that I would need to make. Because even though I love my house, there are specific things that are not gonna feed well and transition well to the masses. And our one job right now is to get as many people interested in this home as possible because that's how we help sell for top dollar. And then I share an example. In my instance, I have a pink front door. And so I always love to use this example. I love my pink front door. It's one of my favorite things when I drive down my road and I see it every day as I'm pulling into my driveway. But do you know who does not love my pink front door? Probably most people that would want to buy my house. Probably a lot of men that might want to buy my house. And so one of the very first things that I would do before I actually sell my home is paint my front door some color other than pink. Not because pink was wrong. Pink is fantastic and it's a really fun design decision, but because pink doesn't appeal to the masses. And when I provide an example and I give transparency that even I, this perfect stager, right, would have to make changes to my home, it frees people up to understand that this is not about design, this is about marketing your home. And staging is marketing your property. Marketing to the masses is a phrase every seller needs to understand. They may not understand staging, they may not understand the value of it, but what they do understand is the importance of marketing to as many people as possible. And so starting your conversations with that as a top-of-mind focus is where the success really comes from.

Key Language Shifts And Closing

SPEAKER_00 8:49

The truth is, words matter and they matter a lot. Consider making some changes to the way you're phrasing these conversations. Get rid of the word remove and get rid of. Consider using things like store away to make sure that you're providing gentleness to an already sensitive conversation and topic for a seller. Oftentimes these consultations can be one of the biggest ROI impacts for a seller to completely transform their home and help it showcase in the best way possible. There's so much value that is provided from it. So make sure that the experience can be a positive one and one where the seller is left with confidence and excitement about marketing their home in this next step. If you found this useful, subscribe to the channel. More conversations like this are coming. Until next time, this is In Good Space.