I recently announced that I had earned the RESA-PRO designation here and here. I think the RESA-PRO designation is a valuable tool for both home stagers and for homeowners and real estate agents that are thinking about hiring a home stager.
Hiring a home stager with a RESA-PRO designation is important for homeowners and real estate agents because:
- You're hiring a home stager that is a well qualified professional
- You're hiring a home stager that is held to higher standards
- You're hiring a home stager that is held to a higher ethics standard
- You're hiring a home stager that has been in business for at least one year
- You're hiring a home stager that is insured with a home staging business insurance policy
- You're hiring a home stager that is committed to continuing education so they can use the latest home staging techniques
A RESA-PRO home stager is not a "hobby" home stager. A RESA-PRO home stager is a dedicated home stager that is held to the highest standards of business, ethics and integrity.
Having a RESA-PRO designation is important to home stagers because:
- It proves to clients you are a business minded professional home stager, not a hobbyist
- It proves to clients you are willing to hold yourself to a higher standard
- It proves to clients you hold yourself to a higher ethical standard
- It proves to clients you have been in business for at least one year
- It proves to clients that you are insured with a home staging business policy
- It proves to clients that you are committed to staying on top of home staging tools and trends through continuing education
- It is an important industry-wide affiliation. It is open to all home stagers, regardless of other designations or affiliations.
- It will set your business apart from your competition which may mean more business for you
And:
- It proves to other home stagers that they can refer any overflow work to you because you are ethical and professional, and that you will treat them and their clients professionally and ethically.
If you are a home owner or real estate agent who is considering hiring a home stager, I strongly recommend you consider a RESA-PRO for the above reasons.
If you are a home stager, I strongly recommend you check out the RESA-PRO designation and all it offer to help set your business apart.
This Los Angeles home stager has a RESA-PRO designation. Do you?
To learn more about the RESA-PRO designation and what you need to do to qualify, visit the Educating Home Stagers website
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2010 RESA Professional Stager of the Year
Michelle has staged hundreds of Los Angeles homes, many of which have sold with multiple offers, above listing price.
She works with home sellers, listing agents and asset managers to prepare homes for sale throughout Los Angeles.
Moving Mountains Design provides vacant home staging, occupied home staging, color consultations, corporate and executive relocations, move organization, redesign, and interior design. We also stage model homes, REOs,foreclosures and auction properties for real estate investors and asset managers.
For more information about our Los Angeles home staging services, contact Michelle at (626)385-8852 or by email.
Click here to see our Los Angeles home staging portfolio
Click here to go to our Los Angeles home staging blog
Click here for more information about home staging in Los Angeles and how we can help sell your home faster and for the best price
Isn't it like hiring an agent, though?
Word of mouth by your reputation rather than designations?
Great post will check it out
Ralph: Recommendations from others that have used a particular home stager and reputation are very, very important. If you don't know anyone who has hired a stager before you can get some assurance that the person you are about to hire (if they are RESA-PRO) has met some very high standards to earn that designation. They are professional, experienced, ethical and insured.The RESA-PRO designation is like a seal of approval that adds one more reason to hire one stager over another.Thanks for your questions.
Great post! I know many people have been waiting quite some time for this program to be launched and it is finally here!! Separating the pros from the hobbyist can only be a good thing.
Ralph has raised a very valid point. I have used my RESA membership as a point of great pride when dealing with Realtor's and other clients. They don't even care what sort of training I've had for the most part or if I've even been trained!. And when I try to impress them with some info about RESA,, and WHY it has value , their eyes go blank.
I am in an area of the country that is still largely unaware of the differnces between a person who has simply decided to go into business with NO education or certifcation and those who have ALL of the little letters after their name indicating what WE may know is valid training, but no one else seems to care!
Do I need to be sold on the RESA PRO concept?.. I guess I do !
Anne: The REALTORS you have been dealing with may not care about your training. RESA-PRO is more about professionalism, which I think everyone cares about. Being RESA-PRO sets you apart from your competitors because it announces you follow the RESA Code of Ethics, you have been in business for more than one year and you carry professional stager business insurance.
It is up to each of us to educate consumers and real estate agents. RESA is working hard to assist professional home stagers to that end by providing tools like RESA-PRO. Some markets will be slower to catch on than others, but they'll catch on eventually.
I plan to use my RESA-PRO designation to help educate homeowners and real estate agents about the importance of hiring an experienced home stager, that follows a code of ethics and is insured.
Congrats MM, and very true about professionalism. It is a differentiator and to set high standards in this industry by being a RESA-PRO makes me feel proud. ;))
Congratulations to you too LKP! I think home stagers should use RESA-PRO to differentate their business from the hobbyists. Real estate agents and consumers will take notice once we make them aware.
In answer to Ralph's comment - Word of mouth will always play an important role, regardless of the profession. I honestly couldn't agree more. As for designations - agents reside in an industry that is regulated and therefore are required, at a state level, to be licensed. The home staging industry is not regulated. The RESA-PRO designation is an opportunity to provide further assurance to the consumer that a) I carry insurance (which protects them and me) b) I have been in business for at least one year (and therefore are dealing with someone who has experience) and c) follow a strict code of ethics (designed to protect the homeowner).
I also agree that the consumer is not impressed with any training credentials I may have after my name. However, given that RESA-PRO isn't a training designation and instead represents something that was designed to protect them, they understand completely.
Kathy
Great post.
Anne, You are right, many people don't care about the alphabet soup after your name. However, most of them don't realize what it means. Designations equate to education. No industry has more designations than the real estate industry. The agents designations tell you a lot about their interest and their client base. So if you have an agent that works with Seniors they may have a Senior Real Estate Specialist(SRES) designation. (tip for marketing purposes for stagers....seek out agents that have designations that tell you who their clients are, if you like working with those types of clients)
Agents should understand the concept of a trade association and what it means, because many of them belong to their local boards and associations. RESA is the exact same concept but for stagers. Homeowners may not know, however if you position your designations in your marketing you tell a story. If they interview other stagers and those stagers don't have what you have, clients WILL question that. Ultimately, the client is going to choose the stager that does the best work and whom they have the best rapport with. If you were going for cosmetic surgery, wouldn't you want a surgeon that was board certified? Same concept, extreme example.
Do designations help? YES, I believe they do, however you must position them correctly to educate your potential client. Creating a "What my designations mean and why they are important" sheet is a great marketing tool. Information does SINK in.
With RESA-PRO, it work just like real estate agents work with regard to how they renew their RE license every 2-4 years. They need to take cont ed every 2-4 years in order to renew. RESA-PRO designees must take cont. ed. every 2 years to renew. It is about sharpening your craft through education and showing your professionalism of taking your business seriously. It separates the hobbyist from the PRO. (NO, I am not saying that if stagers chose not to earn their RESA PRO they don't take their business seriously, it's a voluntary marketing tool for you to use)
Michelle: I had not heard of this until today when I found you and a few other of my favorite staging colleagues had them.
With SO MANY new stagers starting out, I strongly agree that SOMETHING needs to set one stager apart from another. Why not focus on the protection of our clients through a screening process like this one? Very cool and congrats!
Kathy and Shell: Thank you for your well thought out responses and clarification.
Debra: You're not too late to the party. The RESA-PRO website just went live a few days ago. Glad you like the concept.
I'm personally thrilled that the RESA-PRO designation is finally being offered. To a layperson, the designation may not mean much, but as an industry insider, I see a tremendous value here. This will raise the bar for our industry, which will ultimately be a good thing for all: stagers, Realtors & sellers alike.
Because we are a fledgling industry with a low barrier to entry, we often see "jobbyist" who aren't serious about the profession and don't have a the full-depth of staging knowledge and business acumen necessary to successfully run a staging business. This deteriorates our industry's reputation and diminishes the perceived value of profesional staging. The more trained and serious stagers we have out there, the better for us all!
WELLLLLL !!!!... I think I am beginning to see the light!.. I do think it's important for all of us to THINK , research, and understand what sorts of "products" have real value and are important for us to buy ( and buy into) these days. There are more and more "goodies" for us to spend our hard earned $$ on. RESA is definitely setting the bar.
Michelle, I just happened to come across an article today and thought I'd share it here:
The article starts out with: Have you ever seen "CMP," "CQM," or "PMP" behind someone's name and not had a clue what it meant -- or if it meant anything at all?
Contrary to what you might think, those letters aren't just for show. In fact, those two or three symbols can separate you from the pack or be the reason you get the job over someone else.
"Especially in today's business climate, anything that differentiates you from the crowd and emphasizes your commitment to your profession is career critical," says Kent Johnson, partner for Davinci Search, a Minneapolis-based recruiting firm.
The rest is here: http://prsa.austin.org/CM/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=20&MMN_position=34:34
Ashley: I love that expression "jobbyist". It pretty much says it all. I'm already starting to see results from my RESA-PRO designation. It is one more tool to help me differentiate my company from the herd.
Anne: Yay! RESA leadership is working very hard to add value and legitimacy to the staging industry. I'm glad you recognize that value.