How to Generate More Business in 2023

At Huntley + Co, we consider ourselves an extension of our client’s businesses and are here to provide support wherever we can. With our ears to the ground, what we are hearing is, that for some stylists, 2023 is off to a slower start than they would have have hoped. So, we found ourselves asking, what can we be doing to help our stylists win more business. With our backgrounds in both Real Estate and Senior Property Styling, we wanted to share some of our expert knowledge on how to generate more business. Here are our top 4 tips.

1. Touch base with agents you have worked with before

Contact all agents you have worked with previously, whether that was 2 months ago, or 2 years ago.

• Call to say hi – it’s important to stay top of mind even if you are calling for no other reason than as a courtesy to say hello. Ask them how business is doing and show an interest in their work. Now is the perfect time to call as you can with them a Happy New Year and see how their holidays were. It’s a good idea to check them out online before you call, see what they have sold recently, what they currently have listed, what they have been posting on their social media, etc so that you have some talking points up your sleeve. Also inform them of any promotions you may running or upcoming.
• Ask if you can reach out directly to their colleagues and introduce yourself – Warm calls are always much easier than cold calls, so when calling a new agent, if you are able to lead with the fact you have worked with one of their colleagues, that’s a great ice breaker!
• Better still, ask if you can present at their team sales meeting – Typically most real estate offices will have a weekly sales meeting, where all agents within the office will carousel their listings to one another, discuss upcoming auctions, review sales results, talk targets etc. In sales meetings you have a captive audience – a room full of agents. Presenting to them all at once is much more efficient than attempting to arrange one-on-ones with each of them. But just remember, you are presenting to a room full of consummate salespeople. So be sure to have a polished presentation that includes beautiful imagery of your work, before and afters, testimonials and most importantly results (as this is their love language). If you have styled a property that sold for well in excess of the price guide or achieved a record price for the street/suburb, or a property sold prior to auction with quick days on market then tell them about it. If you need assistance collating a presentation of this kind, please reach out and we can help guide you.

2. Cold call new agents

Firstly, it is important to get really defined as to your core service area. Then make a list of all the agents servicing that same area. The best way to do this is to jump on to realestate.com.au and run an agent search by area.

Give them a call to introduce yourself and let them know that you service the same area they do. Again, be armed with talking points such as mentioning one of their recent sales or an existing listing. Ask if you can stop by their office to meet them in person. Don’t be deterred if they say no. Agents are incredibly busy and often racing from one appointment to the next. If they do not wish to meet with you, ask if it is ok to send them an email with some more information about your business. Similar to the presentation we mentioned above, email them a pack which includes samples of your work, client testimonials, results and be clear and concise as to what your unique selling proposition is. Don’t forget to follow up! Simply sending this email isn’t enough, call a week later, and then another week later and so on and so on. Agents are used to this style of follow up when they are making their prospecting calls to homeowners. They will appreciate the persistence.

Another way to pitch yourself to new agents is via a video text. Agents are tech driven and some of the top performing agents across the country are doing some incredibly cutting-edge marketing. We can thank COVID for pushing the envelope when it comes to virtual marketing and paving a new way of doing real estate in the digital era. We recently asked an award-winning agent what would set one stylist apart from another, when he was looking to engage a new property stylist, and he said he would love to receive a video via text message, where the stylist introduces themselves face to camera, shares some imagery or video footage of their work, some before/after’s, client testimonials and some noteworthy results – a pre list kit in agents speak! Agents are time poor and often racing from one appointment to the next, with little time for coffees/meet and greets. They also spend a huge amount of time on their phones, so it makes perfect sense to pitch yourself via a medium they are extremely familiar with. Once you have created this video, you can text it to as many agents as you like! Don’t forget to include the link to your Instagram profile in the body of the text, so they can ‘learn more’. If you would like us to assist you with creating your own pitch video, please contact us for more information. We can film your face to camera into in our showroom if you like.

3. Maintain agent relationships

Real estate agents can be a source of repeat business for years to come. Nurturing a small handful of agents is much more productive than trying to market yourself direct to vendors who you may only work with once or twice.

• There should be at least 3 touch points/calls you make with your agent once you have won the business:

1. Call to thank them for the referral and the opportunity to quote
2. Call the day after you have styled to ask if they are happy with the styling and to wish them all the best with the campaign
3. Call to congratulate them on the sale (if the property has sold) or to discuss next steps if it has not sold

• Track the properties you style on realestate.com.au so you can call your agent to congratulate them on the sale before they have even had a chance to tell you themselves. If the property did not sell at auction, be ready to pitch the option of extending their property styling contract. This is another source of revenue for you and chances are the agent will be keen to keep the property styled until sold.
• Don’t be afraid to text them throughout the campaign. For example, a text mid campaign to see how it’s going and ask how the interest levels have been, or a text the evening prior to auction wishing them all the best. Staying top of mind is key so that they think of you when it comes time to engage a stylist for their next listing.
• Get to know your agents likes and dislikes – some agents may detest a certain colour, or not like a particular style of furniture. While you’re styling with the buyer in mind, it helps if they agent really likes your work too.
• If you have received a vendor referral, where you have been asked to style a property by the vendor directly, without any involvement from the listing agent, call that agent to introduce yourself. It’s a much warmer call when you can lead with the fact that you have just styled a property they are selling. Ask if you can stop by their office to meet them and if they are unwilling, then follow up with an email containing your business pack that we have previously spoken about.
• Once you’ve won the business and styled a property for the agent, ask to leave your brochures, or at the very least your business cards, on display at open homes. More often than not, the buyers that are coming through open homes, are also thinking of selling. Which means they are potential clients for you! If you’ve done a beautiful job, they may be inclined to take your brochure or business card home with them. Investing in a having a beautiful brochure designed and professionally printed is something we highly recommend and should always be paired with your quote, so that you’re not just leaving behind a price – as this is all they will focus on if you leave them with nothing else.

4. Get active on social media 

We can’t stress the importance of this enough. Post beautiful imagery of your work, before and afters, client testimonials, sales results when they’re well above the original price guide, short days on market or sales prior to auction. Follow the real estate agents on social media and engage with their accounts (like and comment on their posts as this will help them to see yours). Instagram is fast becoming the first place people will look you up and to validate your brand, so it is crucial your social media presence is credible. If you have styled a particularly beautiful property, it may be worth engaging a professional photographer to shoot your work so you can use as content on your social media and website. Or at the very least, be sure to capture plenty of photos on your iPhone from install day. There are some fantastic editing apps around now that can help elevate your photos. Video content tends to generate much more engagement on social media, so having a mix of both is highly recommended.

As we’ve said before, here at Huntley + Co we are committed to helping our clients grow their businesses and are continually striving to provide a collaborative and supportive community. So please don’t hesitate to reach out if we can assist you with any of the above.

From the Team at Huntley + Co