Have you heard of the “Steps of service”?

Every business should have a Steps of Service – an outline of what steps to take, and when to take them

I wanted to share a quick story with you.

This week, I was speaking with a home stager that has been in business for several years, but she was standing on the brink of burnout. We reviewed what she was working on and where her time was going. We quickly identified some areas in her business that could be running much smoother. One of those areas was in the project execution – she was spending a lot of time chasing down details for her projects, and collecting the payments and paperwork that she needed to move forward (sound familiar?).

In one instance, she had spent several hours preparing for a home staging project that she was waiting on paperwork for, only to learn that the job didn’t come through in the end. How frustrating! When time is a scarce commodity, we cannot afford to waste any of it.

She told me that she would like to be better organized in her business, and implement some systems so that she could be more efficient, but she was afraid.

How could she possibly find the time to work on her business when she was so crazy busy working IN the business.

This is a challenge that I hear from so many home stagers (and entrepreneurs in general), and admittedly I have found myself in this place at times as well. How do you organize your business better when you have no time to sit down and do it?

The answer is simple – don’t sit down to do it, just do it. Stay with me on this…

When I moved away from home to attend University out of town, I quickly realized that I did not have enough funds to support my lifestyle and I needed to get myself a part-time job. With limited time between my studies, my extra-curricular, and of course, my social life, I wanted to ensure that I made the most money in the shortest time, so naturally, I found myself slinging drinks in restaurants and bars. In the hospitality world, they have something called “Steps of Service” – this outlines what a “service” should look like, from start to finish, including the anticipated timelines of each (i.e. greet guests and take drink order within 1 minute of seating, deliver drinks and advise of specials within 3 mins of taking order, etc.). This ensures a consistent level and style of service throughout the company, we well as ensure that your team members operate efficiently, servicing the maximum number of guests as any given time, and especially during peak times.

Steps of Service don’t have to be exclusive to hospitality, and in fact, I believe that every service in every business should have a Steps of Service

an outline of what steps to take, and when to take them (as well as who will take them if you have multiple team members involved in a project). Once you have a Steps of Service for your home staging services, you can assign tasks according to each step, ensure that no details are missed along the way and that the steps are taken in the order they are intended. In my experience, straying from this standard process almost always results in disaster.

So now back to this home stager that I was speaking with.

We identified that having a documented Steps of Service would greatly help her, and it would also allow her to easily train an assistant to take some of the responsibilities off of her hands, but again, we still had the time issue. She couldn’t imagine being able to carve out any time to get this done. So what’s the solution? As I said, don’t sit down to do it, just do it. I told her that the next time that she had a new client, to document her steps from the first contact through to project completion. That’s it. Will it be perfect? Of course not, but by documenting these steps it will give her a starting point to build upon. She will also be much better equipped to be able to identify steps that she has been doing out of order and can shift them to the appropriate place in their order until she finds the system that works best.

I have helped countless home stagers through my business coaching to create a better system for themselves, and their businesses, from documenting their steps of service, to detailed operation manuals, implementing standardized templates, creating follow-up systems, and so much more. Having a business run efficiently isn’t just a “nice to have” kind of goal – it increases revenues and profits. I can’t begin to tell you how much additional business my clients gain just through effective follow-ups alone. They land more clients and can service their clients at a greater level and much more cost-effectively.

While I wish that I could work 1-on-1 with everyone, it’s just not feasible, which is why I created the Systems Unlocked Business Training course, our newest course launched this past winter. In this course, we cover how to create your Steps of Service in detail (complete with a template for you to start from), and so much more.

The response to our pre-sales of the course was overwhelming, and the feedback from our students has been beyond our expectations.

Don’t get me wrong – we knew that this would be one of our best courses released to date, but we truly had no idea just how much our industry needed something like this.

Here’s the thing – we have been offering this course at an introductory price while we continue to roll out the lessons. We expect to complete the rollout by the end of next week, at which time the price will go up. But, it’s not too late!! You can get in on this course RIGHT NOW for our introductory price still of only $299 USD.

Systems Unlocked Business Training is for you if you feel like you want to create seamless systems for executing all aspects of your services, from initial inquiries to rave reviews, we’ve got you covered. This course is not about vague ideas – it’s about detailed instruction and guidance for creating strategies and systems to guide your business into your best year yet. Plus, we provide a ridiculous number of templates.

Value Added” is a buzz word for today’s entrepreneur, and when it comes to Systems Unlocked, it is an understatement. I knew Systems Unlocked would be good, but it has far exceeded my expectations in terms of content and templates.

~ Nicole Schenk, Systems Unlocked Business Training Member

>>To learn more, and to register for the Systems Unlocked Business Training course, click here<<

Remember, the price goes up next week, so don’t miss out!!

SLS Academy offers 10% off all training courses to RESA members, the promo code can be found on the exclusive deals on the members only section of the RESA website.

Just a quick reminder about what we will cover in this course:

Service Execution – how to run your services effectively AND efficiently to ensure that every project is executed smoothly.
Client Onboarding – how to onboard your clients to ensure that expectations are clearly set and outlined, and both you and your client have what you need to confidently move forward with the project.
Task Management – how to ensure that critical details are not missed or overlooked.
Time management – how to manage your time and your focus to accomplish the things that you need to move your business forward.
Effective Communication – how to implement communication systems for success.
Critical Systems Management – how to create business systems that work.
Productivity – how to be more productive and maximize your time to work less and make more (increased productivity = increased revenue).
Standard Operating Procedures – what they are, why you need them, and how to create, execute, and communicate them effectively.
Marketing Strategy Management – how to create an executive an effective marketing strategy and objectives to evaluate new marketing opportunities for your business.
Effective Proposal Management and Follow-up – getting to “yes” with an effective system behind you.

*This blog may contain expired pricing, exclusivity claims, or promotional offers.

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Shauna Lynn Simon

Shauna Lynn Simon is an award-winning home staging industry expert and business strategist, fiercely committed to guiding aspiring entrepreneurs to achieve success in all facets of their business.
As Founder and Lead Instructor for SLS Academy, and CEO of Shauna Lynn Coaching, Shauna Lynn takes an honest approach to education. Combining first-hand experience in home staging with real-world insights gained from her previous analyst career, she has designed comprehensive and systematic programs for teaching both the technical and the business side of the home staging world.
As the 2020 RESA® State/Provincial President of the Year, a former RESA® Board of Directors member, and the 2018 recipient of the RESA® Kathy Nielsen Spirit Award, Shauna Lynn is committed to the advancement of the home staging industry.