Thanks to PROSALE for including us in their recent article highlighting steps to starting an estate sale business. Read the full article: here
Excerpt:
3) Contracts and Service Agreements: Good contracts make great friends. Of course, it is not your goal to make friends. If we wanted to make friends, we would go to a social gathering… The point is that you want to have a great relationship with your clients and that starts with the expectations you set upfront. The best way to do this is to outline it in your service contract and other documentation that you may provide along the way. Don’t wait for a problem to arise to create a new standard of practice. This may leave your client with the impression that they were targeted or taken advantage of. We know that’s not the intention, but you cannot control the emotional aspect of the client. Do your best to set the expectations upfront. You may ask where do I even begin? Well, I am happy to tell you that this industry is HUGE and there are some great resources to help with this from industry associations to personalized business coaches. Perhaps you can take a look at some of your options below.
a. Industry Associations: The “National Estate Sales Association” (NESA) is a non-profit organization with many helpful benefits that will help you with fundamental industry knowledge. Learn about many of the benefits NESA offers - http://www.nesa-usa.com/join-the-national-estate-sales-association/.
b. Personal Business Coach: Lisa Kroese has been in the estate sale business for nearly a decade and has conducted hundreds of estate sales. She is turning all of her business knowledge and tricks of the trade into instruction for people like you. Visit her site to access great tools or even book some personalized training at https://www.estatesalecoach.com/. She is sure to help you and your crew with some of the most challenging situations that you may run into!
If you are curious about how much you might make as an estate seller, check out my estate sale income video.