Home staging was a problem that needed to be solved. Home staging helps a home looks its best and plays to buyers’ emotions, allowing them to envision themselves in that house. By giving interiors more panache, it helps sellers avoid large price reductions and often shortens the sales cycle. According to the National Association of Realtors, for every $100 invested in staging, the potential return is $400. So, most realtors say, “You’ve gotta do it!”
But, for stagers, the need for large investments in furniture, art, accessories, warehousing space, trucks for delivery and pickup, makes staging a tough business. Expense. Logistics. Demanding customers.
Tricia Tomlinson solved the problem. A real estate agent turned stager, Tricia’s garage had become a furniture warehouse; her personal furniture was often cannibalized for clients; and she realized that no matter how much inventory she purchased, she would neverhave the right piece for every home. So, she created Staging and Design Network (SDN) https://www.staginganddesignnetwork.com/.
It’s pretty amazing.
I know at a glance where everyone is.
The key innovation SDN brought to the stage was the “shared rental pool” that allows stagers to expand their inventory together. Everyone can maximize the use of their inventory by renting to other stagers, yielding a better return on the investment. SDN introduced additional innovations including a buying center and pickup/delivery direct to homes being staged. Basically (and incredibly), SDN lets stagers focus on design and automates the mechanics of staging.
In 2019, SDN broadened its focus to include the customer experience. Said Greg Ohlin, Director of Operational Excellence, “We had a partnership model with suppliers, but not across other business needs.” One of the things they sought out was a partner to help with operations and customer engagement. “We needed to add new core functionality to our platform,” said Ohlin. “So, the ability to integrate was critical.”
Today, Arrivy powers many of the operational and customer-facing elements of SDN through a custom integration with their scheduling system. “When someone books an appointment on our site, it’s pushed through to Arrivy,” Ohlin related. SDN uses Arrivy’s UI to monitor customer communications and day-of-service activities. “It’s pretty amazing,” he said. “I know at a glance where everyone is. And to see all our communications logged in the Journal–it’s a beautiful thing. For the drivers, having a phone app that updates in real-time ensures everyone is connected and allows the customer engagement to get really tight.”
It’s changed our business for the better. And it shows in the ratings. Our NPS scores are fantastic! I definitely wouldn’t want to run our business without it.
SDN also provided early feedback on Arrivy’s Route Planning feature. As the company expands to additional locations, they have been taking advantage of Arrivy’s Groups functionality. And, they use Task Linking to connect delivery and pickup appointments. “Arrivy touched a lot of our pain points in managing the last mile,” Ohlin said, “It’s changed our business for the better. And it shows in the ratings. Our NPS scores (customer satisfaction) are fantastic! I definitely wouldn’t want to run our business without it.”