Whew! I am very excited to have just finished a new ‘soon to be released’ special report for aspiring home stagers. With my final edit, there was one particular section that I thought was too good not to share a little bit early.
Through a series of blog posts, I will be highlighting the different client types you are likely to encounter at your home staging consultations. The goal is to show you why charging a flat rate in these scenarios can drastically limit the amount of money you can be making.
I will start with a classic – The Distracted Client. 
It has happened to me more times than I could ever count in the six years I’ve been staging homes. I walk into a home and am greeted by someone with a phone to their ear, smiling and gesturing for me to come in while they finish up the first of many calls they will take during our consultation. Just as we start to make some headway, we’re interrupted by yet another ringing phone or a barking dog, or a child screaming for a snack or because her big brother pulled her hair.
When you’re dealing with The Distracted Client you have to wonder why someone would invest in a consultation of any kind when they don’t seem to have the presence of mind to make it worth their while.
A home staging consultation like this can take you twice as long as you initially expected, and this is a common scenario! If you’re charging a flat rate for your consultations without having factored in this type of situation, you will be undercutting yourself time and time again.
This is only one example of a client type that will make you wish you hadn’t quoted a flat rate!
The next installment in this series will cover a personal favorite of mine; The Chatty Client.
Stay tuned!

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging
Internationally recognized home staging expert Debra Gould is president of Six Elements and creator of The Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program with 900+ Graduates worldwide. She is the author of “Staging Diva Ultimate Color Guide: The Easy Way to Pick colors for Home Staging Projects”, and “Staging Diva Ultimate Guide: Creating The Perfect Portfolio to Sell Your Home Staging Services”. Debra also offers a Directory of Home Stagers to help homeowners and real estate agents locate home stagers who will decorate homes to sell quickly and for top dollar.
More about Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training
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The Home Stager's Guide to Twitter will show you how to use Twitter effectively and efficiently, so you'll save time and money while getting business results. For beginner and intermediate Twitter users. | "Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans” contains home staging expert Debra Gould’s secrets for how to stage any room in a home. This must-have resource will boost your design confidence through easy to use ideas brought to life with floor plans and before and after photos from the hundreds of homes Debra has staged. |







