Overcoming Objections to Staging

Objections hurt. It doesn't matter what your business is. When you have done your best and it is met with disapproval or criticism you can't help but take it personally. In business, as in life, it is not how you take the objection but what you do with it.

Home staging is one of those few professions that does not necessarily take into account what the client thinks as much as what the buyer thinks. This is hard when dealing with the seller, your client. Although the homeowner may be the one paying you, you really are there to serve the future homeowner. This can create a conflict, and objections.

When asked by real estate agents how to convince sellers to stage their home I share with them that it is more about the sellers "feelings" of moving then it is about the staging. For if the homeowner isn't ready to sell then they will not want to take the effort to prepare their home for sale. And before any buyer can see themselves in a home the current owners have to be already gone, if not literally then emotionally. No one will feel comfortable buying a home if they feel like they have to "kick" the owner out. (I am not talking about foreclosures or short sales or other situations where the owners actually don't want to sell.) Staging is only to be discussed after the seller is ready emotionally to sell, and then after that, the value of staging will speak for itself.

There are times when the seller doesn't like the finished product. They might not like the design, or they can't picture themselves living in it, or worse - they think it would have been better empty. Ouch. But I encourage stagers to listen to all of the feedback because one day the homeowner will be a buyer and to understand why they didn't like the staging will help you do a better job in a future home.

The best response to any objection is to stand behind your work. If you did your job right then the house will be photographed well, which as I said earlier is today's "curb appeal", and the Open House will be well received. After that the rest is up to the realtor. They need to price the house right and have a good marketing plan. It is impossible to know if staging is the reason a house doesn't sell quickly. But when an offer comes in on the first weekend, you can be confident it helped. This is when emotion takes over everything else, because staging is all about making an emotional connection to the buyer.

Objections are not to be overlooked. They tell the story of the homeowner and where they are in the selling process. And if you can look past your own insecurity then it will ultimately make you a better stager.