5 Tips On How to Host a Successful Estate Sale
It’s the first day of your estate sale and the doors open at 10 am. There is a line of shoppers ready to storm in and grab it all. The excitement is hitting you and you are wondering if this line will last all day. You are hoping today will be the best experience for everyone including you. Just like leaving for vacation, at the last minute you run through everything over and over again to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything. You ask yourself, “Do I have what I need to accommodate my customers and get good traffic flow?” These five tips are sure to relieve the stress and put you on your way to the best
- Sign Placement-
Signs are one of the most important things to guarantee success at your sale. If your signs aren’t right then pay attention and follow this link for more ways to advertise – www.estatesales.net. Although signs do not guarantee shoppers to actually buy anything, they get the customers physically at your sale and they let passers-by know that something interesting is happening in their community. Here are some tips on placement:
- Make sure they are placed where drivers can see them readily. Double-check that you have placed your signs in accordance with any city laws that may be in place. You can see if you have followed these laws with your local city clerk representatives.
- Make sure your signs are facing the right way. The last thing you want is for people to get lost. Getting lost as we all know will get everyone, including you, agitated.
- Make sure you can see the house from far away. Flags and more signs placed outside the house are a great way to attract attention from a distance. This will get people inside that are just passing by on their way into town or to work.
- Lastly, put a lot of them out! I’m talking four on every corner and through all the entrances of a subdivision. The more the merrier!
- A Smile and Hello At the Door-
Saying hello is one of the simplest ways to make someone feel special. Have you ever been walking through a somewhat unfamiliar city and been greeted by a stranger just walking by? This person may have said hello, give a smile, or just a simple nod. Think back to a time when this action has ever made you feel anything negative. It probably hasn’t. Greeting your customers will be a welcomed surprise. In my experience, most companies don’t pay attention to people who walk in the door. Let your customers know that you are there to help and you are open and friendly. This will keep them coming back.
- Stay Friendly and Positive Throughout the Day-
This tip is guaranteed to help you and everyone around you have a great day. It will ensure that your customers will have the best experience possible and it will keep your staff happy as well. Even if there is a complaint, if you conduct your day with a smile and a sense of friendliness, odds are that the person who had a problem won’t see it as such a big deal once they leave. Often times when customers leave the dreaded bad review on Yelp or Facebook, it was because they had a bad experience and weren’t accommodated despite who was right or wrong. Help yourself and everyone around you by not sweating the small stuff. Someone may always have a problem since this business deals with a lot of very diverse people. All the angry customer wants to hear is that you have listened to their complaint and are going to do everything you can to make it right with them and for others in the future. That isn’t so hard, is it? After all, you ARE in the customer service business.
- Be Well Staffed-
I can’t stress how important it is to have a full staff at every sale. This alieves several problems that can be an estate sale company’s worst nightmare. Long lines with angry customers, piles of items all over, a trashed house with trashed displays, the feeling of being overwhelmed behind the cash desk, yelling through the house to try and find someone when you need help. The overall experience of you, your staff, and your customers will increase in a positive way tenfold with a full staff. Helping customers carry things, keeping the house organized, minimizing lines and piles, and always getting someone to relieve you when you feel hungry or need to use the restroom. A helpful tip to make things even better is to get some walkie-talkies to equip you and your staff with at every sale. Stay updated on who is where, get help and avoid yelling through a crowded house, and make sure everyone is on task and problem free without ever leaving your station and never making customers wait.
- Be Organized-
The last and possibly most important tip I can give you is about the organization. I pride myself on being a very organized person but I understand that it does not come easily to all. From experience, I have found that things love to be misplaced, forgotten, or missing right when you need them the most and during the busiest period of the day. Sometimes this can mean disaster. Keeping organized can help you stay on top of things and will make you better prepared for when disaster does strike, as we all know it will. One way to combat these seemingly inevitable problems is to make a simple checklist of everything you need and where you need it for your sale. Even make a checklist to go over things like prices (did we miss anything?), set-up completion (does everything look right?), and proper signage throughout the home (Do Not Enter, Not For Sale, Clothing Prices, etc.). Once you complete these checklists and as time goes on with adding more to these checklists, the outcome will be a more prepared and happier you.
To re-cap in a nutshell, GREAT customer service is a must. If you haven’t yet guessed that your customers are what help you thrive, then listen up! Keeping your customers happy will not only help you be happier, but it will also help your business more than you could ever imagine. Customers will spread the word to other shoppers about your company and its superiority in the areas that matter most. Word will also get through to clients which means more sales are in store for you. An increase in clients and customers mean an increase in business and profit. So what do you have to lose? Get out there, get excited, and kill them with kindness! These tips are sure to get you ahead. All it takes is a little motivation and some focus.
