Ever since my girlfriend became a Realtor in June, I’ve learned a LOT more about real estate than I ever expected.
One of the most interesting parts of selling a home that I never thought about is “staging.” When you stage a home for sale, you fill it with furniture and trinkets to show what it could look like as a place you actually live in.
It sounds obvious when you think about it, but look at the difference it makes:
And the effect is that 83% of buying agents report staging a property makes it easier to visualize it as a home…
I don’t sell homes and my point is not to sell you a home (but if you’re in Ohio, Mallory can).
My point is that when you make it easy for someone to visualize their future, they are more likely to buy into that future.
What I see for so many people who offer a product or service is that they don’t truly make it easy to visualize what a future looks like.
Just sharing a list of your services or skills is like the photo of the empty room. With the right vision and imagination, I can visualize a future for myself…sort of. If I’m looking at an empty room and I think a couch will fit there, there’s still a lingering question of, “Will it actually?”
This is why portfolios and case studies are so powerful. They are the staged version of the skills you offer.
But it’s more than just showing the work you’ve done in the past. It’s talking to someone about the work you can do with them too.
When you’re talking to someone about the work you can do for them, you want to stage the room. Make it easy for them to understand exactly what that future will look like after they’re done and have taken ownership of that work.
Paint the picture so clearly that all they need to do is say, “Yes, let’s get started!” and I guarantee you’ll get a lot busier.