As the National Home Staging Symposium 2016 is right around the corner we are reminiscing of the excellent turn out we had last year!
If you are unsure if you should come to the symposium or not, this success story is one that will definitely make you buy your tickets straight away!
Gary and Lynette Landy were considering jumping into the home staging industry before they attended last years summit, but after they were convinced that they had finally found the right career path for them.
“Prior to attending the summit we had decided, a few months earlier, to start up our own staging business. Gary had completed a course with Melissa Marro (USA) & is a qualified Home Stager. Lynette has a Diploma of Interior Design, which encompassed an additional unit of Property Styling.
Our history is, Gary was a retired, very senior, policeman of many, many years service & Lynette had a background in Insurance (many years ago); Property Management & office management. After a very trying 2013 (health wise) we decided to take our lives in a very different direction. Our decision to get involved in Property Staging / Styling was twofold really. Firstly, Lynette had completed her Diploma of Interior Design and we had previously had numerous investment properties that we had renovated, leased, decorated and sold.
When we arrived at the 2015 Summit we were quite unsure of ourselves & whether the documentation we had printed to hand to Agents & potential clients was appropriate. Research on the Internet only provides so much information – and almost all of this is based outside Australia!
There were a number of things we took away from the Summit that have made a huge difference to us.
Firstly, it gave us the confidence to go forward and promote our business. We had the opportunity to ask questions of those running the Summit & the Guest Speakers, which proved to be invaluable. For example, it was our intention to commence marketing to Agents by arriving at the office & requesting to speak with the Sales Director. We were then hoping to be able to attend their weekly sales meeting & present our Company. At the Summit, we spoke with Andrew Robinson (Estate Agent) and Andrew Dart (Director – IIHS) that this would be the wrong approach. Their advice was that we attend Open for Inspections & seek to gain an appointment with each individual Agent directly. This has actually worked!!! Not every time but we did manage to speak with a number of Agents over coffee.
Another very important aspect that we took away was that we needed to maintain continued contact with the Agents. Yes, that is common sense but sometimes it takes someone else to highlight it to you. This task alone has meant numerous opportunities for us to advise and quote.
Finally, what is probably the most vital aspect we came away with was that there are others who have been in exactly the same position as us. We met many others at various places in their staging business, either just starting out or having been doing this for some time, who were eager to talk and listen. Knowing we were not alone in this endeavour (even though logically you know there are others out there doing the same thing) was comforting. The fact that there is an Australian Membership available for us to join so we can continue to learn, share the successes of others, understand the issues that we can be confronted with is very empowering to us.
So attending the Summit in July 2015 gave us the confidence that what we had commenced with regards to our documentation printing & business plans were in fact on track with where we needed to be. We are stoked that the information we came away with at the 2015 Summit has meant that our business has grown from a fruit pip to a ripening peach. There is nothing that will stop us attending the 2016 Australian National Home Staging Symposium”.
Make sure you check out Dynamic Home Transformation here!
