I am here this week with two of my FAVORITE people not just in organizing, but in life. Today I'm talking to Brandie & Ryan about how they run their 7 figure organizing business and the lessons that all of us should be doing--whether your business is 4, 5, or 6 figures.
LINKS FOR LISTENERS:
Get in touch with Melissa: hello@proorganizerstudio.com or proorganizerstudio.com
Join us at the How To: Summit (use code Melissa10 for $50 off): howtosummit.org
Balancing Business & Client Satisfaction: Insights from Home+Sort
We are here with two episodes this week with Brandie and Ryan from Home+Sort, and also the leaders of the How to Summit.
They discuss maintaining organizing businesses, reevaluating processes, pricing strategies, and delivering high-quality services.
They underscore the importance of adaptability, efficient client communication, and being responsive to market changes. They also emphasize the value of client satisfaction and efficient operational practices. The conversation offers practical advice for pro organizers to enhance their business strategies and client relationships.
00:00 Introduction and Podcast Update
02:46 Funny Anecdotes and Realities of Organizing
04:41 Home+Sort Business Insights
06:06 Adapting and Reevaluating Business Strategies
14:50 Pricing Strategies and Flexibility
20:31 Understanding the Value of Professional Organizers
21:20 The Unique Approach to Relocations
22:15 Ensuring Client Satisfaction
22:55 The Importance of Delivering Quality Service
25:33 Balancing Effort and Reward in Business
26:17 Challenges and Lessons from Real Experiences
28:10 Effective Client Communication
33:53 Evaluating and Improving Business Practices
40:12 Final Thoughts and Takeaways
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hey, pro organizers.
It's your podcast host Melissa, and Iam bringing you two episodes, possibly
three if I can get my act together.
You guys are gonna getthree episodes this week.
I was laughing because I get pitched a lotfor people who want to be on the podcast.
And someone sent me an email andsaid, you have not had a podcast
(00:23):
episode in a very long time.
Have you shuttered the podcast?
And I'm like, well, it was a month ago.
I don't think that wasa very long time ago.
But what do I know?
Maybe it was.
So you guys, I'm sorry ifyou are that person going.
Where is Melissa?
Um, Melissa has been graduatinga high school senior, throwing a
(00:44):
party, having a lot of house guests,and, uh, just, just a lot going on.
So I am sorry if you have missed me.
Some of you might not have evenknown that I was gone, but I'm back.
Like I said, you're gonna get topossibly three podcasts this week.
Hopefully that will make up to it.
And the person who said, youhave a podcast in a very long
time, I hope you're happy.
(01:05):
But this week, so the first two podcastsare two truly of my favorite people.
This is not just like performative,like, oh, we're friends.
No, we're friends.
And they're such wonderful people.
And it's Brandie and Ryan from Home+Sortand who are the, of course leaders of
(01:28):
the How to Summit, which is an event thatI personally and professionally love.
So the first episode, we aregoing to be talking about.
All sorts of things, like the great thingsthat they do in their business, and they
really talked about some things that Ithink are important for all organizers,
no matter the size of their business.
And then the second episode, we aregoing to be talking about everything
(01:50):
that is new and different and funabout the How To Summit this year.
I would love, love, love tosee you at the How to summit.
Usually our Inspired Organizergroup has about like.
Legitimately about a hundred people there.
Um, and I absolutely love meetingnew people and seeing all of the
(02:10):
Inspired Organizer community inTexas, or Ohio or wherever it is.
I told them at the end of the podcast,the second episode that if the Housie
Summit were on Mars, I would still go.
So I would love to see there this year.
If you have not registered yet,if you use the code, Melissa10.
You will get a discount on your ticketand I would love to see you there.
(02:34):
But today's podcast is all about Home+Sortand their business and how they run their
business, and just some really, reallygreat stuff and I hope you guys enjoy it.
Have an awesome day.
Organizers.
Brandie | How To Summit (02:46):
Melissa, we're here for whatever, you know,
we could talk to you for 10 hours.
Just I know,
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (02:50):
Well, we'll feel the same about you guys.
I just want to thank you for joiningme with me and my trashy car.
Like for people watching on YouTube,literally filled with client.
garbage , you guys are in yournice, cozy, comfortable homes.
So it's so good to see you guys.
Brandie | How To Summit: You're gonna laugh at this. (03:08):
undefined
The other day, I'm on the phone with Ryan.
She gets in her car and she's mad.
She like makes a mad sound.
I said, what's your problem?
She goes, I forgot to take allthe client trash out of my car.
even food in it.
And my the worst freak it smell.
Ryan | How To Summit (03:22):
I had to drive, you know, California, it's hot here.
I had to drive with the windows down.
I went and went to my sister'sstore and threw, it was.
So mad.
That was disgusting.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, this is not bad. (03:33):
undefined
This is not trash, butit is just in my car.
So anybody watching on YouTube gets aview of the trash in the background.
In addition to being in my carwith the garbage, I am sitting in
a Starbucks parking lot stealingtheir wifi to do this podcast.
And I was like, this is kind of likea fitting description of what it is
(03:54):
like to be an entrepreneur, right?
Yeah.
Brandie | How To Summit (03:57):
Yeah.
Their Wi Fi is pretty good.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (03:59):
Yeah, I did buy a $75 drink to get it.
But I just was laughing because I'mlike, well, this is pretty accurate.
And we try to give people the realview of what being an organizer is.
It's not all wonderful.
Sometimes your car isfilled with stinky garbage.
And sometimes you are stealing WiFi from Starbucks to do a podcast.
(04:20):
But I did leave my client with the abilityto park her car in the garage For the
first time in a year, which is I'm justgoing to call that a win and everything
Brandie | How To Summit (04:32):
so she could park her car in the garage
is now in the trunk of your car.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (04:36):
Yeah.
Many of the things are.
Some of them are in a bagster too.
Yeah.
Well, I just wanted to have you guys on.
You're two of my favoritehuman beings on the planet.
I wanted to have you on to talkabout what's happening in 2025.
Obviously we're going to talk aboutthe how to summit a little bit, but
tell us a little bit about what ishappening in your business at Home+Sort.
Ryan | How To Summit (04:58):
Well, what you guys didn't see is that for about
45 minutes before this started, wejust forgot we were supposed to be
on a podcast and all of a suddenwe're just chit chatting and Oh,
we're on here for a purpose.
We
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: have a job. (05:09):
undefined
We have a job.
Brandie | How To Summit (05:11):
Yeah.
So I don't know, Brandie,what's going on with us?
Well, you know, Melissa,sometimes it's the same old, you
know, organizing for clients.
We are doing two moves backto back, like in the next, I
don't know, eight days or so.
Which we love, like we love helpingre locate, because we feel like it's
a really great service that we offer.
Always business wise, looking atwhat we're doing and saying, Is
(05:33):
this totally what we want to do?
Is it how we want to spend our time?
Is this the smartest way for usto make money or spend our time?
And just diving into what we're doing,but also being willing to hold things
with an open hand or Hey, this ideathis business stream did not turn out
to be exactly what we thought it was.
Okay.
Let's pivot and do this orwhat's happening in the world.
What's happening with the times,how does that affect what we do?
(05:55):
In some ways kind of feel same old,and then you know, always with the
Summit ever changing, ever excitingplanning and prepping for that for
other organizers and ourselves.
Ryan | How To Summit (06:05):
So yeah.
You know what I thinkwe do a lot, Brandie?
I just kind of think what you and oureveryday life is re evaluating what
we've, okay, we need to redo that.
Okay, that worked last year,but it doesn't work this year.
This morning, someone had asked usfor a press kit and it was like, oh,
(06:25):
this press kit, I think I looked atit a couple months ago, but I was
reviewing it I need to edit this.
I need to edit that.
So it's we're constantly tryingto stay at the forefront of what's
happening in this business and inbusiness in general, and in the world.
And you guys know,everything changes quickly.
So I think we reevaluate a lot.
(06:47):
The other day, we even changedour labels for a move, or okay,
we found a better way to do that.
We're good, but these are better.
So we do that a lot in our business.
Don't you think, Bran?
Brandie | How To Summit (06:57):
That's so funny.
You say that.
I mean, Melissa, you'rethe queen of courses.
You have a course and a teachingon everything under the sun.
Every time I listen to you talk like Ryanand I was through this rec, we learned so
much from you and besides the fact that.
I laugh and your humor gets me.
I feel
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: like that's a key part of my job. (07:15):
undefined
Brandie | How To Summit (07:17):
It's who you are.
You nail it yourself from it.
But this morning I actually was helpingat a kid's camp at our church with
Piper and a business contact of ourswas like, do you guys have a one pager?
We call it our press kit that highlights.
These things about you and your business.
Could you get it over to me kind of ASAP?
Luckily Ryan was home and
Ryan | How To Summit (07:39):
let's be honest.
I was actually asleep and mydaughter had to come wake me up.
Brandie | How To Summit (07:42):
Cause you know why your daughter woke you up?
Cause I couldn't get ahold of you.
So I called her and I'm like,Find your mother and tell her,
get your mother out of bed.
I was not going to bring that partup, but I feel like, you know, with
Melissa, she doesn't judge you for that.
But my point with that was, I'm gladthat we've taken the time to have
(08:05):
some of these tools in our belt.
So when, so I didn't expect lastnight when I went to bed that someone
at 10 this morning was going to belike, Hey, I need this document that
highlights all these things about you.
And can you get it to me in 30 minutes?
45 minutes.
That document would have takenus hours to create and edit and
curate had we not had it ready.
And Melissa, I feel like you'rea big believer in that, of having
(08:26):
your stuff dialed in and beingready to go when you need it.
Ryan | How To Summit (08:29):
And well, yeah, cause then you can update it
within minutes, not within hours.
I felt like we just dothat a lot in businesses.
Okay.
Let's.
tweak this or, you know,update that or what's current.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (08:43):
Well, let me ask you, I want to pick a little
bit on this, I love this because I thinkthat's actually a key thing that a lot
of people don't do because what I heara lot is, well, I've done it this way
for blah, blah, blah, how many years?
And it doesn't work anymore.
This is dumb, but I just thinkwe, lots of us have iPhones.
Does Apple go?
Oh, you already have iPhones.
(09:04):
You don't really need a new one this year.
No, they have a new one every single year.
Yeah.
Right.
Like you have to be looking at what's new.
So do you guys have process, like whenyou talk about that reevaluation, do
you guys get together and talk about itonce a week, once a month, or is it just
Oh, all the time you're saying, what didwe do and what can we do differently?
Ryan | How To Summit (09:23):
Well, I would say kind of two different ways.
Brandie's very much moreon purpose than I am.
So for example, we updatedour labels for our moves.
So we have a couple moves coming up.
I'm like purely not purely,but 99 percent aesthetic.
And so there were some thingsabout some of these labels.
I didn't like the way they looked.
And so without Brandie's permissionor without her consent, I go on
(09:47):
there and I'm like, Hey, whatif we do these kinds of labels?
You know, I go change them and justbrought them to the job and it ended
up good because Brandie liked them.
But I would say Brandie is moreintentional about, Hey let's reevaluate.
I'm creative and I don't like the waythis could function better visually,
this could make us look sharper and moreprofessional in this area and Brandie's
(10:09):
more, okay, let's reevaluate this system.
Let's reevaluate our client guide.
We just did that a couple weeks agowhere we updated our client guide.
And Brandie's verymethodical with those things.
Brandie | How To Summit (10:21):
Well, I think to Melissa, which you'll know
this because us talking Ryan is she'screative and Ryan is, I would say more
than I am like ear to the floor in theworld of what friends of the world are.
And sometimes she'll see something whichyou know, you don't plan on Tuesday
at noon to learn something new about.
(10:42):
The way the world is doing something.
And she'll be like, so I saw thison TikTok or wherever, and it's
like actually a really good idea.
So sometimes just like the natureof culture, I feel like it's us.
And we're like, Oh, okay.
We don't want to be leftbehind in any of these things.
Or I had an encounter the other day.
Oh, and I sent Ryan a message and Iwas just like, Hey, I felt like in
(11:04):
this other area of my life, I feellike the people or the whoever I'm
trying to please in this area, like noone's giving me like a clear target.
I think they're giving mejust like a lot of freedom and
that sounds really wonderful.
But I said, as someone trying to providea service, I actually think I'd really
enjoy more of a clear defined target.
So I think that we should look atour systems and make sure with our
(11:26):
teams and the people working for us,we're giving really clear targets.
We're making sure that people understandat the end of the day, they know
if they've \ pleased us or not, asemployers, I mean, that kind of thing.
So sometimes things like that just happen.
Ryan | How To Summit (11:40):
And because speaking of, and this is a shout out to Shira, She,
I will always remember her talking aboutsetting expectations with her clients too.
How will I know that I've beensuccessful at the end of this?
That one question can change , hittingthe mark and missing the mark.
And so I think that's reallyimportant, that communication piece.
(12:01):
We used to, when we firststarted Home+Sort, we tried
to never speak to clients.
We're like, this is a luxury.
We're making this a spaexperience for them.
We don't want to botherthem with questions.
Well, then we quickly realized, ohno, we need to know their opinions
on things because they live here.
We don't.
And so then we started,
Brandie | How To Summit: We thought everything for a (12:18):
undefined
client needed to be a surprise.
We really did where we came up with that.
Ryan | How To Summit (12:23):
Because it was in the era of where you would
do these reveals on social media.
It was so dumb.
I can't even believe we did that.
But we would keep the clientout and they just listen to us.
I guess a hundred percent.
Now that you're saying it, I do feelkind of, and then the audacity to
be like, we're going to film youand we're going to need a reaction.
Like what, think aboutdoing that to a client.
You'd be like, I don't want to be filmed.
(12:44):
And what do you expect from me right now?
That's so dumb.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (12:48):
But I like what you're saying too about even
if you do not, you know, even if you'renot working side by side with your
client , That's something I talk to peoplea lot about you have to ask questions.
And yeah, there are some people thathave a lower tolerance, like you
can't have a thousand questions,but could you have ten really well
curated, very specific questions thatgive you the direction that you need?
(13:10):
And I think sometimes people areafraid to ask those questions.
Brandie | How To Summit (13:13):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think our bottom line to round outthat whole question was just sometimes
things come up and we're like,okay, let's reevaluate in that area.
And Melissa, you know, this cause youjust individually own your own business.
There's not like a boardof directors or anything.
We have to, we decide we wantto do something different.
We just do it, which isactually pretty great.
Cause you can actually accomplish a lot.
(13:35):
We do reevaluate a lot.
Because sometimes.
Our first idea isn't always our best idea.
But I'm glad
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: you guys are talking about this (13:43):
undefined
because you guys have obviouslya unique partnership, right?
I think sometimes that makes a differencetoo when there are two of you talking
about something But by yourself,you also have to be doing that too.
You have to be and have a conversationwith yourself, but you have to be doing
that re evaluation process because whata client wants last year versus what
(14:06):
a client wants this year is different.
Ryan | How To Summit (14:08):
Oh my gosh, totally different.
So I think that issomething on a daily basis.
We do a lot is we will, we'll updatesomething, tweak something, make it
current, and we even do that down tosometimes our pricing what we were pricing
in COVID, which happened to be incredibly,that was a great time for our business.
(14:31):
Not the world, but our business,it was a great, we might be
the only ones it was good for.
But, our pricing's different now.
The world's different now.
So then you adjust, you know,you can't get too stuck in
your ways on something because.
It just, that's just not theworld is like moving like this.
And so you got to keep up.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: What has your, have you guys (14:50):
undefined
adjusted your pricing up?
I assume?
Or do you, are you guys pretty dynamic?
Do you change it up and down?
Brandie | How To Summit (14:58):
I know this may not be a popular answer, but
our pricing is a little bit fluid.
We like change it a lot.
It's nuanced as the, I
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: want to talk to you guys about this (15:07):
undefined
because I believe in this, likeI'm for where you're going with it.
Brandie | How To Summit (15:12):
Ryan and I, If we have a crazy busy season of time, well,
then we have the ability to price a littlebit higher because we can, you know, it's
if we're booked out this certain amountof time and that price point seems to be
going, then we're going to charge that.
If we maybe have a season just like alittle bit of a dry spell or a slower
season, or I can look at the world andgo, I think people are spending a little
(15:34):
less money, some things like that.
We're never like, Hey, we'regoing to cut our prices in half.
We're not doing that, but maybewe'll go back down to the last
tier of pricing that we used to do,
Ryan | How To Summit (15:45):
and some of the incentives, cause everyone with home
sort gets a, you know, the serviceis amazing, but some of the extras
or the add ons that we usually dofor people at a certain price point.
we will do for maybe somebody ata little bit lower price point.
Brandie | How To Summit (16:02):
Yeah.
Or it's, you know, like for instance,we are moving some clients tomorrow and
our moves are, I know that we are moreexpensive than if you hired one, two,
three movers out of the phone book.
I know that now also whatwe do is just different.
We're not totally comparable, but ifthere's someone who doesn't care how
their stuff gets from point a to pointB and we're in the running to get those
(16:25):
clients, I know, what makes us specialand unique isn't totally a value to them,
then I can look at my, in my mind and go,they may not pay our rate for that because
I don't actually know that they wouldvalue the service that we bring them.
They may not care that theirunderwear is not with their lampshade.
Genuinely, some peopledon't care about that.
So we have some clients that havebeen good clients, but we hadn't
(16:47):
worked for them in a couple of yearsand they're doing a relocation.
And I know that we would very muchthe way we do things would very
much matter to the wife, but I don'tknow if the husband would care.
And he was really theone I was dealing with.
And so I said to them, Hey, sincewe worked for you, our prices have
gone up a little bit, but we'regoing to work for you guys at the
price that we have worked for you at.
And Ryan and I were fine with that.
(17:08):
We're not, By any means losing anymoney, but as a business owners,
we have the flexibility to do that.
I would rather work for someonefor 25 an hour per person less
than lose a job, a 25, 000 job.
Let's run some numbers here.
I think we're gonna be there.
(17:28):
We switch it around if we have to.
Melissa.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: I love that. (17:31):
undefined
And I have told people that I do similarthings and I do, this is one thing I think
just in general, I think really successfulorganizers have to be comfortable
with being a little bit more fluid.
. Because.
There are a lot of organizersthat like we're organizers, right?
So we go, well, it's a plus Bequals C equals D like, here
(17:51):
are the steps we need to do.
And I think sometimes that actuallydoes not benefit your business.
So I totally do the same thing.
If someone comes in and I justsay, you know, this is a job
that I'm really interested in.
I might throw in a couple like theamenities that you're talking about.
Maybe it's not pricing.
Maybe it's something else.
There's an organizer that I knowI was talking to her yesterday and
(18:13):
she said, Oh, well I just said,I'll do a free garage clean out.
And she goes, usuallyI charge 250 for that.
But you know, if you have a big enoughjob, I'll throw in that garage cleaning.
And she goes it's my time.
So yeah,
Brandie | How To Summit: there are certain clients. (18:27):
undefined
We're going to take away all their garbageand we're not going to charge them for it.
It's smart business on our end.
So yeah, things like hey, sometimeson certain jobs, you know, we'll do
like a planning fee to cover hey, wehave to pay someone in LA to go pick
up all your product and all that.
And depending on what it is, sometimesit's okay, we're not going to
charge them that 125 or what it is.
(18:49):
It's little stuff.
The beauty is that we havethe flexibility to do that and
we use it smartly, you know?
Yeah.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: The other thing, it's just (18:56):
undefined
a random pricing pet peeve.
I saw an Instagram recently where someonewas doing a big announcement that they
had, New pricing and their pricingwas going up like big announcement.
I'm like, don't announce it.
You
just do it.
Right.
And if new, and then peopleget caught up with that, right?
Well, do I, I need to tell peoplethat I'm doing this or I need to
(19:18):
say, well, then I can't lower mypricing because I've announced it.
No, just be chill.
Brandie | How To Summit (19:23):
I agree.
We don't have to make a big deal.
What person would look at that and go,Oh my gosh, their pricing has gone up.
That is so cool.
I'm so excited for them.
Let me share it out.
I'm excited to now pay them more moneythat I paid them to do for less money.
Don't announce it.
You
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: just do it. (19:42):
undefined
Right?
And same thing.
You don't have to announcethat you're going down.
Right.
You just literally don't announce it.
You guys just do.
I know.
I,
Brandie | How To Summit (19:50):
I never bring it up in this specific
client, this relocation.
I didn't, I mean, the reallytruth is price wasn't an issue.
Although her husband really wanted toknow, he wanted really good breakdowns.
But I told her, 'cause we've alwaysdealt with her, I wanted her to know,
Hey, our pricing has gone up, but wereally wanna do this move for you guys,
(20:10):
so you're not getting any increase.
And I do think it made a difference.
I think she was, yeah, shereally appreciated that.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: I know you guys love doing moves. (20:16):
undefined
I love doing moves.
There are organizers whoare afraid of doing moves.
And I will also say the bestsession that I went to at the
Summit last year was Brandon andMallory from Hello, Happy Home.
And I know lots of people loved.
I mean, I just loved thatset that session so much.
But tell me a little bit about howyou guys do moves I mean, that's a
(20:40):
huge part of your business, right?
Brandie | How To Summit (20:42):
Yeah.
Well, I will say anytime that asorganizers are going to try and provide
a service that's different than someoneelse that provides it for a way less
price, we have to figure out why someonewould hire us as opposed to them, for
instance, and I'm sure you've gottenwhen we first started Home+Sort.
(21:02):
Everyone used to say, why wouldI pay you to organize my closet?
I just have my house cleaner staytwo extra hours and they do it.
Okay.
Then Ryan and I had to decide, why arewe different than your house cleaner?
And so I think with relocations,what's the difference if you call
us than if you call like a movingcompany out of the phone book.
So we've really had to like laser inand focus in on what makes us different.
(21:25):
Now we have a male and female crew forrelocations, but most of our crew that is
packing and in our clients, very personalspaces like their drawers, their jewelry,
their clothing is our female crew.
And for our clients, usually becausewe are hired by women, most of
the time they have liked that.
(21:47):
And I think just the organizedmethod in which we relocate people.
A lot of our clients seem to notbe going directly from house A to
house B. I don't know why it's likethere's usually a storage unit in the
middle or something that makes thismove a little bit more like complex.
And so we do it very organized.
We have inventories.
(22:07):
Everybody knows where their things are.
Our team is incredibly professional,clean, efficient, and the
moves are done very quickly.
So I have realized, there'san expiration date on all
business working relationships.
A big thing that we offerpeople is quick relocations.
Also, point A to point B relocations.
(22:29):
If we tell clients we're going to gettheir stuff across the country, it's
going to stop in 7 states on the way.
So we have an incredible track recordof people's stuff not being broken or
damaged because we pack it so well.
Ryan | How To Summit (22:42):
And the ease up, if something is broken.
Brandie | How To Summit (22:45):
We literally write them a check right there.
You'll take care of it.
Yeah.
There is no, there's no arguing.
Okay.
Yeah.
Zero argument.
They say it and we, yeah.
You know, I think this idea of you havehired us to handle every challenge that
arises, every frustration we will handle.
We just say, we're goingto take care of it.
We've got it.
(23:06):
We'll take care of it.
And our team knows you cannot.
I think any.
Any organizer is a luxury service andhaving a hard time feeding their family
and paying their electricity bill shouldnot be hiring a professional organizer.
It's a luxury service in my opinion.
And so we have to be able togo above and beyond for people.
(23:29):
We say yes to a lot, Melissa, but because,but we also it's a nice price tag.
I think that we really, the totalityof what we do in relocations, yes,
we do all the logistical things,but we essentially solve people's
problems for six days on end
Ryan | How To Summit (23:44):
and the people that we bring people really like
the reputation of Home + Sort.
They like the quality ofpeople that are working there.
You know, like the, some moms, oneanother mom packing their kitchen.
You know, they think we get it more,which to be honest, we do there.
We do.
If my 18 year old is packing upsomething, she doesn't know the things
(24:04):
that I know about brands and about,Oh, that's an expensive, X, Y, and Z.
She knows a lot, but there is somethingthat comes with more experience.
And so I think that issomething that sets us apart.
Against a one, two, three mover ora, you know, out of the phone book.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: And I think you're right about the (24:21):
undefined
care that goes into, when you knowabout things, like when you know
things that are in a house, we dotake better care of the things.
To a mover, a slice of pizza, which theywill wrap and put in a box is the same.
As an Hermes purse, right?
They don't care.
It just goes in a box.
(24:43):
Yeah.
So it was funny when youwere talking about, having an
all woman crew or whatever.
I just was, I just did a move for aclient recently and she was like she
had some boudoir photos, in her closet.
She's totally.
Do you know where you know,like the closet photos?
I was like, it's handled.
It's handled because we did have moversthat physically moved the boxes, right?
(25:03):
And I was like no, it's handled.
The dude with the Van Halen t shirtis not looking at your boudoir photos.
It's okay.
Ryan | How To Summit (25:09):
Yeah.
The stories we couldall tell about photos.
I can't tell you how many timesyou go into a primary bedroom
and they've got them displayed.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (25:18):
Oh, yeah.
I don't have that.
I don't have that in my repertoire.
I admire people who could do it.
It's not me, but I was like,okay, no, girl, it's handled.
Brandie | How To Summit (25:28):
But Melissa, I think too since, you know, We're
speaking to other organizers at any point.
We all have to be able togive an account for why people
should pay us to do what we do.
A hundred percent.
Otherwise they're just, they're not goingto, because if I'm no different than
your house cleaner that tidies up yourcloset on Fridays, Why would you hire me?
(25:50):
You know,
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: we are not a commodity. (25:51):
undefined
And so we have to be willing totalk about what are the things we
do that are different and special.
And I know a lot of times you're havingto explain that to a spouse who doesn't
understand why their spouse wants to hireus, that's just a reality of our business.
So we have a lot of people thathave to explain why is this service?
Why am I paying a hundreddollars an hour to have someone
(26:13):
come in and clean my house?
Well, this is what we're doingand it's not cleaning your house.
Ryan | How To Summit (26:18):
So interestingly enough, Brandie's daughter just got
married and , they did it in Miami.
We're from California.
So it was all about the wedding.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: Oh, I know. (26:26):
undefined
Yeah.
So
Ryan | How To Summit (26:28):
normally we have all of our resources here.
Every resource you can want we havehere, but we don't have them in Miami.
So we had to do research likeeverybody else, you know?
I found this florist for Brandie.
Their work is amazing.
We had meeting after meeting, theyanswered all the right questions.
day of the wedding they did not deliver.
(26:48):
I won't embarrass Brandie and tellyou how much these flowers were,
but it was Brandie was in tears.
And so I'm there, you know, gettingthe owner on the phone and, you
know, they didn't fix the problemwhatsoever, just terrible service.
And what happened is we later cameto find this out and the owner never
told us is that he just contracted.
(27:10):
Everybody else.
Brandie | How To Summit (27:11):
And so there was nothing more upsetting
like I'm still not over it.
How great I need to email them.
I'll try and get some money back.
But I honestly have notbeen emotionally in a place.
I've still been upset enough aboutit where I haven't been able to like.
Have a clear mind to write a good yeah,
Ryan | How To Summit (27:28):
anyways, all that to say there is nothing worse
than thinking you're getting one thing.
And not getting that and it being worse.
So I think at these luxury price pointsthat we all have, because we've already
established, we're all luxury because thisis, you can survive without organizing.
(27:49):
You have to deliver.
On not only taking account, but havingyour words and actions line up the move
has to be worth the 25, 000 or the 30,000 that we've had hundred thousand
dollar moves, and it has to be worth that.
Or, yeah, you're just a terriblebusiness owner, in my opinion.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (28:10):
I would argue to even at a lower price
point, like when I think about myclient that I've been working with this
week, she's a very longterm client.
I've worked with her a lot, butI told her, I go, we need to do
like a, we got to get it done.
Right.
When I think about the price tagthat she's paying, it's going to
be a decent sized bill for her.
She is not a super wealthy woman.
(28:32):
I deserve to give herat a 5, 000 price point.
Yeah.
A really good service.
It gives a lot of money.
Why I have trash in my car, right?
I don't want her trashcan to be overflowing.
Yeah.
That's not a 100 an hourservice, in my opinion.
Yeah.
And so I just think, you know,if a client's only paying you, if
(28:52):
you have nine hours with them andyou're 100 an hour, you still have
to give them 100 an hour service.
Brandie | How To Summit (28:58):
I agree.
again, how much money you're insomeone's house for, you know,
however long, how much money 5,000 is a ton on a lot of money.
That's something that again,we can survive without.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (29:12):
I think too that it's easy to say I mean,
because we do, I do really believe inwomen getting paid what they're worth.
And one of the things.
That I get really, you know, becauseI see a lot of businesses and I see
a lot of websites and I see a lot ofpricing and all that kind of stuff.
I will always tell people, Ohyou gotta, raise your prices.
There was something the otherday, who's well, I just, I
(29:32):
don't have that much business.
People tell me I'm too expensive.
And I'm like, does yourwebsite say you're 50 an hour?
I was like, it's because you'reattracting the wrong people.
I need you to be closer toa hundred dollars an hour.
Right.
But.
Yeah, I want you.
I want women to get paid.
But I think we do get used tolike I've been, you know, I've
charged 100 an hour for a while.
And so in my head, I'm like, Oh, well,that's just normal amount of money.
(29:55):
No, I do need to think aboutthat is a luxury price point.
Yeah.
And so I deserve to begiving 100 an hour service.
Ryan | How To Summit (30:03):
And I think that we'll feel that.
Yeah.
A hundred percent value their money.
Brandie and I say all the time, wehave, you know, billionaire clients,
they still care about their money.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: They sure do. (30:13):
undefined
Sometimes they care more.
Ryan | How To Summit (30:15):
Yeah.
They care more.
It's kind of that likemiddle of the road client.
That's a little bit more like whatever.
I don't ask questions.
I think there may be alittle bit embarrassed too.
But the billionaires, man, they're like,we're getting into the line items here.
Brandie | How To Summit (30:30):
Why are plastic bins so expensive, but also the truth is
I don't get to decide what people value.
Ryan | How To Summit (30:36):
Yeah.
Brandie | How To Summit (30:37):
We're going to do what we tell people we're going to do.
And Ryan's exactly right.
Where, if we tell people we'reshowing up, we're going to be there.
We're going to show up, do ABC and Dand there is nothing more disappointing.
Then if we charge someone and wedon't deliver, then it's such a gut
punch because it just happened to you.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: Think about the worst service (30:57):
undefined
experience you've had.
Unfortunately you have avery painful recent one.
Even if you just think about yeah, Igot my dinner was burned or, you know,
something tiny, like you want thatexperience to be good when you pay for it.
Ryan | How To Summit (31:10):
And you want it to be what they promised because they
would look at the flowers at Peyton'swedding and they were gorgeous.
But it's not what we asked for.
It's and that is a horriblefeeling when you don't meet.
an expectation and there'sa lot of money involved.
And what's a lot of money, whateveryour client says is a lot of
money, do you know what I mean?
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (31:30):
But by the way, it was a very gorgeous wedding.
I would never have known in 8million years that you had a problem.
Even if, you know, myself and every otherperson is like, Oh my gosh, so beautiful.
If you paid a large amount ofmoney, For a service and you
didn't get it and it wasn't whatthey agreed to and all the things.
It's, that's not a good experience.
Ryan | How To Summit (31:53):
It does give me empathy for clients because a
lot of times, cause we all knowhow laborsome these jobs are.
um, Yes.
So I think we all get to an end of a joband we're like, we just, we nailed it.
We did a great job.
And maybe you cut a fewcorners or maybe you got tired.
And so you're like,well, it's good enough.
You know, because we haveto, I will be honest.
(32:13):
I think there has been a coupleof jobs where I have said that
this is fine, but it's no.
That's yeah.
That is terrible businessbecause the client shouldn't
have to pay for you being tired.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: It's funny you say that because I (32:24):
undefined
actually, I've had times the clienttoday, it's been it's not California
and it's not Miami, but it's been hotand humid the last couple of days.
One of those days where you're like, I'mexhausted, you're in a garage, whatever.
And today I just felt myself draining.
And I was like, I'm not workingas fast as I usually do.
And I'm like, I am totally just goingto give her a couple of complimentary
(32:46):
hours, you know, to like to finisha couple of things up because same
thing, like there were a couple ofthings that I didn't finish today.
And I'm like, it's because I'mexhausted and I'm going to be up front
with her and she's a longterm client.
I'm going to say, I'm super, supertired, but I'm going to come back
and I'm going to fix a couple ofthings tomorrow on me because I
want her to be super, super happy.
(33:07):
And me being tired is not her problem.
Brandie | How To Summit (33:09):
Yeah.
And I bet that made her trust you.
So much.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, and these are the things (33:13):
undefined
that we have in our power.
So like when you were talking about,on your pricing, like sometimes
you might give an amenity that youwouldn't normally do or whatever.
These are all things thatenhance the client experience.
And I do believe I wantwomen to get paid again.
I do not want you to give away25 free hours with every job.
But if you can say, I'm going to givetwo hours of my time because I think it
(33:35):
is going to increase their happiness.
Yes.
You should do it.
Yeah.
Brandie | How To Summit (33:39):
Melissa, I just had this thought because you
text us the other day with an idea ofsomething you wanted to talk about.
So like the flip side of this iswhat you said to me about people
giving away Too much for freebefore they ever get paid at all.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (33:53):
There are people, I think, sometimes that are
concentrating on things that don't matter.
So when you guys were talking about hey,we re evaluate and we try to think about
what are the things that we want to makebetter, but then I also want people to
think about, does this actually matter?
And I think sometimes organizersconcentrate on things that don't
matter as much to the client.
(34:15):
So ultimately, like what's going tomake the client experience better?
Brandie | How To Summit: There is a gal that we love. (34:18):
undefined
She has her own organizing business,but we met her actually a couple
years ago at the summit in Ohio.
And she contracts with usdown in Southern California.
Very often.
So we've really gotten to know her well.
So we have a great relationshipwhere she can call and she's
newer in the business than we are.
(34:38):
I would say her projects don't quitehit the financial scope that our
projects would, so she'll call andask questions and I've opened the door
to her saying she can, you know, it'snot trying to like defy a boundary.
'cause to be honest, she has our back.
Yeah.
On the business end.
So anyways, she'll call cause some ofthe relocation stuff is newer to her.
(34:58):
So she was calling one day andtalking about all the hours she
was spending on a bid for a client.
Like she'd got down to thenitty gritty of like product.
She kind of like first andfigured out what product was
going to be for the whole house.
And I mean, She's hours.
She's like a full dayinto work in this bed.
She doesn't even know ifshe's gotten the job or not.
(35:19):
And I said, I'm goingto stop you right there.
You are putting way too much work intosomething that is not a guarantee.
Now, Ryan and I have done that.
And it feels pretty lousy to give up.
Numerous hours upon hours ofwork for them to not hire you.
And sometimes stuff like thathappens and you can't avoid it.
But You know, there is this balanceof you want to do a really good
(35:43):
job on a pitch and a bid andan estimate and all the things.
But don't do so much.
You don't even know ifthey're going to hire you.
I'm not even talking productwith a client until I know if
they're even going to hire us.
If they hire us, then we'll godown that road and we'll talk.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (35:58):
Yes.
Brandie | How To Summit (35:59):
But you know, we, depending on what, the job is, , sometimes
if we're pitching a really big relocation,it's going to be incredibly expensive.
We have a pitch sheet thatwe put together and it'll.
Have an image of their current houseand an image of their new house on it.
Like Ryan, she's kind of has thistemplate put together and then we
enter, you know, all the informationand it's impressive when you get it.
(36:22):
I'm not going to do that for a 1, 500 job,you know, not worth that to me, but if I'm
for pitching a move, who knows, that's.
60 to 90, 000, or 35 to 60, 000.
We're going to do a little bit of thework and make this presentation nice.
But even with that, I'm not gonnain my mind, price out exactly what
(36:44):
their moving supplies might be.
I've kind of got an estimate there.
I'm not pricing out product fortheir kids room at their new house.
Because that is so much work and Ihave, I don't even know that we're
going to get this job from people.
There's just this balance in the amountof effort you put in to get a job.
And I think maybe sometimes people areputting a lot more time into getting the
(37:06):
job and they end up not even getting it.
And then they're discouragedand they're frustrated and they
feel like they're wasting time.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: A hundred percent. (37:12):
undefined
And also, I think that there aretimes that a certain client could
get that wonderful thing that youput together and be like, cool.
I can just, I have all the tools.
I can just go do it myself.
Obviously you're not going to do that witha 90, 000 move, but if it's a 1, 500 job,
someone might go, I have a blueprint now.
(37:33):
And you have done allthat blueprint for them.
Yeah.
For free.
Totally.
And so I really wanted people to thinkabout and you're exactly right if you guys
are pitching a 90, 000 move, you could andshould put more time and effort into that.
I think this is another thing wherewe say, Oh, when I, when a client
(37:54):
comes to me I do the consultation andthen I do a proposal and then I do.
And I always ask why?
Does the expect a proposal.
Is that just part of your process?
It's totally fine for that to be a partof your process, but I also want you to
think about how much time and effort doI have to put into this to nail this job?
And sometimes the answeris no effort whatsoever.
(38:15):
Yeah.
I want them to examine whythey're doing something.
Yeah.
So like, why am I doing it?
Is it revenue producing?
If you do five proposals a weekand only one of them hits, maybe
think about what am I doing?
Where am I spending my time?
Brandie | How To Summit (38:30):
And I think for a lot of people it leads to discouragement
because it feels like a waste of time.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (38:35):
That discouraging feeling then translates to
the next time you have a consultation.
I will tell people, so you know, wehave different, you and I the two of you
and I have different businesses, right?
I rarely do a proposal.
I mean, rarely.
Yeah.
I'm plenty busy.
Now, if I were doing a 90,000 move with 10 people, that
(38:55):
would be a different story.
I'm not doing that, but I just say I haveit handled and I'll keep in touch with you
but I'm not going to give you a 10 pagewritten document with the plan because I
don't want to spend the time doing that.
And my clients do not need it either.
I just want people to be thinkingabout why am I doing the thing?
Brandie | How To Summit (39:10):
Funny.
This move we're going on tomorrow.
I've always dealt with the wife, butthen the husband has kind of gotten
involved, which to be honest, he's beenpretty easy and delightful to deal with.
Cause some men are juststraightforward and bottom line.
But there are some details thathe wanted that it's not something
I would have broken down the waythat he wanted it broken down.
And I think it's because.
(39:31):
He's never been the onedirectly working with us.
So I think maybe some of ourverbiage of how we do things and say
things was a little foreign to him.
I said something to Ryan, I was like, Ikind of don't actually know how to explain
this further than I've explained it.
Would you look at thisand give me some tips.
So I put some more information in andwhatever I said that worked for him.
He signed an agreement and paidthe deposit within 20 minutes
(39:53):
and that's all we wanted.
And I could have come back withthis doesn't make sense to you.
What more do you want me to say?
But it was like, he just neededa little bit more information.
It was no big deal.
It did not take me anysort of length of time.
And that was enough for himto say, great, we're good.
Send me the invoice.
I'll have it paid immediately.
And he did.
And it was great.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (40:12):
In general, and I think it goes back to what
you said at the beginning where you weretalking about we re evaluate our stuff
all the time, I just want people to bethoughtful about what they're doing.
And if you are going into it andyou're like, okay, I thought this
through and this is important tome because blah, blah, blah, but
don't decide that something isimportant when it actually isn't.
And just think about what arethose things that are actually
(40:34):
important to the client experience?
come back tomorrow for part two of myconversation with Brandie and Ryan and
I hope you have a great day Organizers.
Hey, pro organizers.
It's your podcast host Melissa, and Iam bringing you two episodes, possibly
three if I can get my act together.
You guys are gonna getthree episodes this week.
I was laughing because I get pitched a lotfor people who want to be on the podcast.
And someone sent me an email andsaid, you have not had a podcast
(00:23):
episode in a very long time.
Have you shuttered the podcast?
And I'm like, well, it was a month ago.
I don't think that wasa very long time ago.
But what do I know?
Maybe it was.
So you guys, I'm sorry ifyou are that person going.
Where is Melissa?
Um, Melissa has been graduatinga high school senior, throwing a
(00:44):
party, having a lot of house guests,and, uh, just, just a lot going on.
So I am sorry if you have missed me.
Some of you might not have evenknown that I was gone, but I'm back.
Like I said, you're gonna get topossibly three podcasts this week.
Hopefully that will make up to it.
And the person who said, youhave a podcast in a very long
time, I hope you're happy.
(01:05):
But this week, so the first two podcastsare two truly of my favorite people.
This is not just like performative,like, oh, we're friends.
No, we're friends.
And they're such wonderful people.
And it's Brandie and Ryan from Home+Sortand who are the, of course leaders of
(01:28):
the How to Summit, which is an event thatI personally and professionally love.
So the first episode, we aregoing to be talking about.
All sorts of things, like the great thingsthat they do in their business, and they
really talked about some things that Ithink are important for all organizers,
no matter the size of their business.
And then the second episode, we aregoing to be talking about everything
(01:50):
that is new and different and funabout the How To Summit this year.
I would love, love, love tosee you at the How to summit.
Usually our Inspired Organizergroup has about like.
Legitimately about a hundred people there.
Um, and I absolutely love meetingnew people and seeing all of the
(02:10):
Inspired Organizer community inTexas, or Ohio or wherever it is.
I told them at the end of the podcast,the second episode that if the Housie
Summit were on Mars, I would still go.
So I would love to see there this year.
If you have not registered yet,if you use the code, Melissa10.
You will get a discount on your ticketand I would love to see you there.
(02:34):
But today's podcast is all about Home+Sortand their business and how they run their
business, and just some really, reallygreat stuff and I hope you guys enjoy it.
Have an awesome day.
Organizers.
Brandie | How To Summit (02:46):
Melissa, we're here for whatever, you know,
we could talk to you for 10 hours.
Just I know,
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (02:50):
Well, we'll feel the same about you guys.
I just want to thank you for joiningme with me and my trashy car.
Like for people watching on YouTube,literally filled with client.
garbage , you guys are in yournice, cozy, comfortable homes.
So it's so good to see you guys.
Brandie | How To Summit: You're gonna laugh at this. (03:08):
undefined
The other day, I'm on the phone with Ryan.
She gets in her car and she's mad.
She like makes a mad sound.
I said, what's your problem?
She goes, I forgot to take allthe client trash out of my car.
even food in it.
And my the worst freak it smell.
Ryan | How To Summit (03:22):
I had to drive, you know, California, it's hot here.
I had to drive with the windows down.
I went and went to my sister'sstore and threw, it was.
So mad.
That was disgusting.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, this is not bad. (03:33):
undefined
This is not trash, butit is just in my car.
So anybody watching on YouTube gets aview of the trash in the background.
In addition to being in my carwith the garbage, I am sitting in
a Starbucks parking lot stealingtheir wifi to do this podcast.
And I was like, this is kind of likea fitting description of what it is
(03:54):
like to be an entrepreneur, right?
Yeah.
Brandie | How To Summit (03:57):
Yeah.
Their Wi Fi is pretty good.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (03:59):
Yeah, I did buy a $75 drink to get it.
But I just was laughing because I'mlike, well, this is pretty accurate.
And we try to give people the realview of what being an organizer is.
It's not all wonderful.
Sometimes your car isfilled with stinky garbage.
And sometimes you are stealing WiFi from Starbucks to do a podcast.
(04:20):
But I did leave my client with the abilityto park her car in the garage For the
first time in a year, which is I'm justgoing to call that a win and everything
Brandie | How To Summit (04:32):
so she could park her car in the garage
is now in the trunk of your car.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (04:36):
Yeah.
Many of the things are.
Some of them are in a bagster too.
Yeah.
Well, I just wanted to have you guys on.
You're two of my favoritehuman beings on the planet.
I wanted to have you on to talkabout what's happening in 2025.
Obviously we're going to talk aboutthe how to summit a little bit, but
tell us a little bit about what ishappening in your business at Home+Sort.
Ryan | How To Summit (04:58):
Well, what you guys didn't see is that for about
45 minutes before this started, wejust forgot we were supposed to be
on a podcast and all of a suddenwe're just chit chatting and Oh,
we're on here for a purpose.
We
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: have a job. (05:09):
undefined
We have a job.
Brandie | How To Summit (05:11):
Yeah.
So I don't know, Brandie,what's going on with us?
Well, you know, Melissa,sometimes it's the same old, you
know, organizing for clients.
We are doing two moves backto back, like in the next, I
don't know, eight days or so.
Which we love, like we love helpingre locate, because we feel like it's
a really great service that we offer.
Always business wise, looking atwhat we're doing and saying, Is
(05:33):
this totally what we want to do?
Is it how we want to spend our time?
Is this the smartest way for usto make money or spend our time?
And just diving into what we're doing,but also being willing to hold things
with an open hand or Hey, this ideathis business stream did not turn out
to be exactly what we thought it was.
Okay.
Let's pivot and do this orwhat's happening in the world.
What's happening with the times,how does that affect what we do?
(05:55):
In some ways kind of feel same old,and then you know, always with the
Summit ever changing, ever excitingplanning and prepping for that for
other organizers and ourselves.
Ryan | How To Summit (06:05):
So yeah.
You know what I thinkwe do a lot, Brandie?
I just kind of think what you and oureveryday life is re evaluating what
we've, okay, we need to redo that.
Okay, that worked last year,but it doesn't work this year.
This morning, someone had asked usfor a press kit and it was like, oh,
(06:25):
this press kit, I think I looked atit a couple months ago, but I was
reviewing it I need to edit this.
I need to edit that.
So it's we're constantly tryingto stay at the forefront of what's
happening in this business and inbusiness in general, and in the world.
And you guys know,everything changes quickly.
So I think we reevaluate a lot.
(06:47):
The other day, we even changedour labels for a move, or okay,
we found a better way to do that.
We're good, but these are better.
So we do that a lot in our business.
Don't you think, Bran?
Brandie | How To Summit (06:57):
That's so funny.
You say that.
I mean, Melissa, you'rethe queen of courses.
You have a course and a teachingon everything under the sun.
Every time I listen to you talk like Ryanand I was through this rec, we learned so
much from you and besides the fact that.
I laugh and your humor gets me.
I feel
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: like that's a key part of my job. (07:15):
undefined
Brandie | How To Summit (07:17):
It's who you are.
You nail it yourself from it.
But this morning I actually was helpingat a kid's camp at our church with
Piper and a business contact of ourswas like, do you guys have a one pager?
We call it our press kit that highlights.
These things about you and your business.
Could you get it over to me kind of ASAP?
Luckily Ryan was home and
Ryan | How To Summit (07:39):
let's be honest.
I was actually asleep and mydaughter had to come wake me up.
Brandie | How To Summit (07:42):
Cause you know why your daughter woke you up?
Cause I couldn't get ahold of you.
So I called her and I'm like,Find your mother and tell her,
get your mother out of bed.
I was not going to bring that partup, but I feel like, you know, with
Melissa, she doesn't judge you for that.
But my point with that was, I'm gladthat we've taken the time to have
(08:05):
some of these tools in our belt.
So when, so I didn't expect lastnight when I went to bed that someone
at 10 this morning was going to belike, Hey, I need this document that
highlights all these things about you.
And can you get it to me in 30 minutes?
45 minutes.
That document would have takenus hours to create and edit and
curate had we not had it ready.
And Melissa, I feel like you'rea big believer in that, of having
(08:26):
your stuff dialed in and beingready to go when you need it.
Ryan | How To Summit (08:29):
And well, yeah, cause then you can update it
within minutes, not within hours.
I felt like we just dothat a lot in businesses.
Okay.
Let's.
tweak this or, you know,update that or what's current.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (08:43):
Well, let me ask you, I want to pick a little
bit on this, I love this because I thinkthat's actually a key thing that a lot
of people don't do because what I heara lot is, well, I've done it this way
for blah, blah, blah, how many years?
And it doesn't work anymore.
This is dumb, but I just thinkwe, lots of us have iPhones.
Does Apple go?
Oh, you already have iPhones.
(09:04):
You don't really need a new one this year.
No, they have a new one every single year.
Yeah.
Right.
Like you have to be looking at what's new.
So do you guys have process, like whenyou talk about that reevaluation, do
you guys get together and talk about itonce a week, once a month, or is it just
Oh, all the time you're saying, what didwe do and what can we do differently?
Ryan | How To Summit (09:23):
Well, I would say kind of two different ways.
Brandie's very much moreon purpose than I am.
So for example, we updatedour labels for our moves.
So we have a couple moves coming up.
I'm like purely not purely,but 99 percent aesthetic.
And so there were some thingsabout some of these labels.
I didn't like the way they looked.
And so without Brandie's permissionor without her consent, I go on
(09:47):
there and I'm like, Hey, whatif we do these kinds of labels?
You know, I go change them and justbrought them to the job and it ended
up good because Brandie liked them.
But I would say Brandie is moreintentional about, Hey let's reevaluate.
I'm creative and I don't like the waythis could function better visually,
this could make us look sharper and moreprofessional in this area and Brandie's
(10:09):
more, okay, let's reevaluate this system.
Let's reevaluate our client guide.
We just did that a couple weeks agowhere we updated our client guide.
And Brandie's verymethodical with those things.
Brandie | How To Summit (10:21):
Well, I think to Melissa, which you'll know
this because us talking Ryan is she'screative and Ryan is, I would say more
than I am like ear to the floor in theworld of what friends of the world are.
And sometimes she'll see something whichyou know, you don't plan on Tuesday
at noon to learn something new about.
(10:42):
The way the world is doing something.
And she'll be like, so I saw thison TikTok or wherever, and it's
like actually a really good idea.
So sometimes just like the natureof culture, I feel like it's us.
And we're like, Oh, okay.
We don't want to be leftbehind in any of these things.
Or I had an encounter the other day.
Oh, and I sent Ryan a message and Iwas just like, Hey, I felt like in
(11:04):
this other area of my life, I feellike the people or the whoever I'm
trying to please in this area, like noone's giving me like a clear target.
I think they're giving mejust like a lot of freedom and
that sounds really wonderful.
But I said, as someone trying to providea service, I actually think I'd really
enjoy more of a clear defined target.
So I think that we should look atour systems and make sure with our
(11:26):
teams and the people working for us,we're giving really clear targets.
We're making sure that people understandat the end of the day, they know
if they've \ pleased us or not, asemployers, I mean, that kind of thing.
So sometimes things like that just happen.
Ryan | How To Summit (11:40):
And because speaking of, and this is a shout out to Shira, She,
I will always remember her talking aboutsetting expectations with her clients too.
How will I know that I've beensuccessful at the end of this?
That one question can change , hittingthe mark and missing the mark.
And so I think that's reallyimportant, that communication piece.
(12:01):
We used to, when we firststarted Home+Sort, we tried
to never speak to clients.
We're like, this is a luxury.
We're making this a spaexperience for them.
We don't want to botherthem with questions.
Well, then we quickly realized, ohno, we need to know their opinions
on things because they live here.
We don't.
And so then we started,
Brandie | How To Summit: We thought everything for a (12:18):
undefined
client needed to be a surprise.
We really did where we came up with that.
Ryan | How To Summit (12:23):
Because it was in the era of where you would
do these reveals on social media.
It was so dumb.
I can't even believe we did that.
But we would keep the clientout and they just listen to us.
I guess a hundred percent.
Now that you're saying it, I do feelkind of, and then the audacity to
be like, we're going to film youand we're going to need a reaction.
Like what, think aboutdoing that to a client.
You'd be like, I don't want to be filmed.
(12:44):
And what do you expect from me right now?
That's so dumb.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (12:48):
But I like what you're saying too about even
if you do not, you know, even if you'renot working side by side with your
client , That's something I talk to peoplea lot about you have to ask questions.
And yeah, there are some people thathave a lower tolerance, like you
can't have a thousand questions,but could you have ten really well
curated, very specific questions thatgive you the direction that you need?
(13:10):
And I think sometimes people areafraid to ask those questions.
Brandie | How To Summit (13:13):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think our bottom line to round outthat whole question was just sometimes
things come up and we're like,okay, let's reevaluate in that area.
And Melissa, you know, this cause youjust individually own your own business.
There's not like a boardof directors or anything.
We have to, we decide we wantto do something different.
We just do it, which isactually pretty great.
Cause you can actually accomplish a lot.
(13:35):
We do reevaluate a lot.
Because sometimes.
Our first idea isn't always our best idea.
But I'm glad
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: you guys are talking about this (13:43):
undefined
because you guys have obviouslya unique partnership, right?
I think sometimes that makes a differencetoo when there are two of you talking
about something But by yourself,you also have to be doing that too.
You have to be and have a conversationwith yourself, but you have to be doing
that re evaluation process because whata client wants last year versus what
(14:06):
a client wants this year is different.
Ryan | How To Summit (14:08):
Oh my gosh, totally different.
So I think that issomething on a daily basis.
We do a lot is we will, we'll updatesomething, tweak something, make it
current, and we even do that down tosometimes our pricing what we were pricing
in COVID, which happened to be incredibly,that was a great time for our business.
(14:31):
Not the world, but our business,it was a great, we might be
the only ones it was good for.
But, our pricing's different now.
The world's different now.
So then you adjust, you know,you can't get too stuck in
your ways on something because.
It just, that's just not theworld is like moving like this.
And so you got to keep up.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: What has your, have you guys (14:50):
undefined
adjusted your pricing up?
I assume?
Or do you, are you guys pretty dynamic?
Do you change it up and down?
Brandie | How To Summit (14:58):
I know this may not be a popular answer, but
our pricing is a little bit fluid.
We like change it a lot.
It's nuanced as the, I
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: want to talk to you guys about this (15:07):
undefined
because I believe in this, likeI'm for where you're going with it.
Brandie | How To Summit (15:12):
Ryan and I, If we have a crazy busy season of time, well,
then we have the ability to price a littlebit higher because we can, you know, it's
if we're booked out this certain amountof time and that price point seems to be
going, then we're going to charge that.
If we maybe have a season just like alittle bit of a dry spell or a slower
season, or I can look at the world andgo, I think people are spending a little
(15:34):
less money, some things like that.
We're never like, Hey, we'regoing to cut our prices in half.
We're not doing that, but maybewe'll go back down to the last
tier of pricing that we used to do,
Ryan | How To Summit (15:45):
and some of the incentives, cause everyone with home
sort gets a, you know, the serviceis amazing, but some of the extras
or the add ons that we usually dofor people at a certain price point.
we will do for maybe somebody ata little bit lower price point.
Brandie | How To Summit (16:02):
Yeah.
Or it's, you know, like for instance,we are moving some clients tomorrow and
our moves are, I know that we are moreexpensive than if you hired one, two,
three movers out of the phone book.
I know that now also whatwe do is just different.
We're not totally comparable, but ifthere's someone who doesn't care how
their stuff gets from point a to pointB and we're in the running to get those
(16:25):
clients, I know, what makes us specialand unique isn't totally a value to them,
then I can look at my, in my mind and go,they may not pay our rate for that because
I don't actually know that they wouldvalue the service that we bring them.
They may not care that theirunderwear is not with their lampshade.
Genuinely, some peopledon't care about that.
So we have some clients that havebeen good clients, but we hadn't
(16:47):
worked for them in a couple of yearsand they're doing a relocation.
And I know that we would very muchthe way we do things would very
much matter to the wife, but I don'tknow if the husband would care.
And he was really theone I was dealing with.
And so I said to them, Hey, sincewe worked for you, our prices have
gone up a little bit, but we'regoing to work for you guys at the
price that we have worked for you at.
And Ryan and I were fine with that.
(17:08):
We're not, By any means losing anymoney, but as a business owners,
we have the flexibility to do that.
I would rather work for someonefor 25 an hour per person less
than lose a job, a 25, 000 job.
Let's run some numbers here.
I think we're gonna be there.
(17:28):
We switch it around if we have to.
Melissa.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: I love that. (17:31):
undefined
And I have told people that I do similarthings and I do, this is one thing I think
just in general, I think really successfulorganizers have to be comfortable
with being a little bit more fluid.
. Because.
There are a lot of organizersthat like we're organizers, right?
So we go, well, it's a plus Bequals C equals D like, here
(17:51):
are the steps we need to do.
And I think sometimes that actuallydoes not benefit your business.
So I totally do the same thing.
If someone comes in and I justsay, you know, this is a job
that I'm really interested in.
I might throw in a couple like theamenities that you're talking about.
Maybe it's not pricing.
Maybe it's something else.
There's an organizer that I knowI was talking to her yesterday and
(18:13):
she said, Oh, well I just said,I'll do a free garage clean out.
And she goes, usuallyI charge 250 for that.
But you know, if you have a big enoughjob, I'll throw in that garage cleaning.
And she goes it's my time.
So yeah,
Brandie | How To Summit: there are certain clients. (18:27):
undefined
We're going to take away all their garbageand we're not going to charge them for it.
It's smart business on our end.
So yeah, things like hey, sometimeson certain jobs, you know, we'll do
like a planning fee to cover hey, wehave to pay someone in LA to go pick
up all your product and all that.
And depending on what it is, sometimesit's okay, we're not going to
charge them that 125 or what it is.
(18:49):
It's little stuff.
The beauty is that we havethe flexibility to do that and
we use it smartly, you know?
Yeah.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: The other thing, it's just (18:56):
undefined
a random pricing pet peeve.
I saw an Instagram recently where someonewas doing a big announcement that they
had, New pricing and their pricingwas going up like big announcement.
I'm like, don't announce it.
You
just do it.
Right.
And if new, and then peopleget caught up with that, right?
Well, do I, I need to tell peoplethat I'm doing this or I need to
(19:18):
say, well, then I can't lower mypricing because I've announced it.
No, just be chill.
Brandie | How To Summit (19:23):
I agree.
We don't have to make a big deal.
What person would look at that and go,Oh my gosh, their pricing has gone up.
That is so cool.
I'm so excited for them.
Let me share it out.
I'm excited to now pay them more moneythat I paid them to do for less money.
Don't announce it.
You
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: just do it. (19:42):
undefined
Right?
And same thing.
You don't have to announcethat you're going down.
Right.
You just literally don't announce it.
You guys just do.
I know.
I,
Brandie | How To Summit (19:50):
I never bring it up in this specific
client, this relocation.
I didn't, I mean, the reallytruth is price wasn't an issue.
Although her husband really wanted toknow, he wanted really good breakdowns.
But I told her, 'cause we've alwaysdealt with her, I wanted her to know,
Hey, our pricing has gone up, but wereally wanna do this move for you guys,
(20:10):
so you're not getting any increase.
And I do think it made a difference.
I think she was, yeah, shereally appreciated that.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: I know you guys love doing moves. (20:16):
undefined
I love doing moves.
There are organizers whoare afraid of doing moves.
And I will also say the bestsession that I went to at the
Summit last year was Brandon andMallory from Hello, Happy Home.
And I know lots of people loved.
I mean, I just loved thatset that session so much.
But tell me a little bit about howyou guys do moves I mean, that's a
(20:40):
huge part of your business, right?
Brandie | How To Summit (20:42):
Yeah.
Well, I will say anytime that asorganizers are going to try and provide
a service that's different than someoneelse that provides it for a way less
price, we have to figure out why someonewould hire us as opposed to them, for
instance, and I'm sure you've gottenwhen we first started Home+Sort.
(21:02):
Everyone used to say, why wouldI pay you to organize my closet?
I just have my house cleaner staytwo extra hours and they do it.
Okay.
Then Ryan and I had to decide, why arewe different than your house cleaner?
And so I think with relocations,what's the difference if you call
us than if you call like a movingcompany out of the phone book.
So we've really had to like laser inand focus in on what makes us different.
(21:25):
Now we have a male and female crew forrelocations, but most of our crew that is
packing and in our clients, very personalspaces like their drawers, their jewelry,
their clothing is our female crew.
And for our clients, usually becausewe are hired by women, most of
the time they have liked that.
(21:47):
And I think just the organizedmethod in which we relocate people.
A lot of our clients seem to notbe going directly from house A to
house B. I don't know why it's likethere's usually a storage unit in the
middle or something that makes thismove a little bit more like complex.
And so we do it very organized.
We have inventories.
(22:07):
Everybody knows where their things are.
Our team is incredibly professional,clean, efficient, and the
moves are done very quickly.
So I have realized, there'san expiration date on all
business working relationships.
A big thing that we offerpeople is quick relocations.
Also, point A to point B relocations.
(22:29):
If we tell clients we're going to gettheir stuff across the country, it's
going to stop in 7 states on the way.
So we have an incredible track recordof people's stuff not being broken or
damaged because we pack it so well.
Ryan | How To Summit (22:42):
And the ease up, if something is broken.
Brandie | How To Summit (22:45):
We literally write them a check right there.
You'll take care of it.
Yeah.
There is no, there's no arguing.
Okay.
Yeah.
Zero argument.
They say it and we, yeah.
You know, I think this idea of you havehired us to handle every challenge that
arises, every frustration we will handle.
We just say, we're goingto take care of it.
We've got it.
(23:06):
We'll take care of it.
And our team knows you cannot.
I think any.
Any organizer is a luxury service andhaving a hard time feeding their family
and paying their electricity bill shouldnot be hiring a professional organizer.
It's a luxury service in my opinion.
And so we have to be able togo above and beyond for people.
(23:29):
We say yes to a lot, Melissa, but because,but we also it's a nice price tag.
I think that we really, the totalityof what we do in relocations, yes,
we do all the logistical things,but we essentially solve people's
problems for six days on end
Ryan | How To Summit (23:44):
and the people that we bring people really like
the reputation of Home + Sort.
They like the quality ofpeople that are working there.
You know, like the, some moms, oneanother mom packing their kitchen.
You know, they think we get it more,which to be honest, we do there.
We do.
If my 18 year old is packing upsomething, she doesn't know the things
(24:04):
that I know about brands and about,Oh, that's an expensive, X, Y, and Z.
She knows a lot, but there is somethingthat comes with more experience.
And so I think that issomething that sets us apart.
Against a one, two, three mover ora, you know, out of the phone book.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: And I think you're right about the (24:21):
undefined
care that goes into, when you knowabout things, like when you know
things that are in a house, we dotake better care of the things.
To a mover, a slice of pizza, which theywill wrap and put in a box is the same.
As an Hermes purse, right?
They don't care.
It just goes in a box.
(24:43):
Yeah.
So it was funny when youwere talking about, having an
all woman crew or whatever.
I just was, I just did a move for aclient recently and she was like she
had some boudoir photos, in her closet.
She's totally.
Do you know where you know,like the closet photos?
I was like, it's handled.
It's handled because we did have moversthat physically moved the boxes, right?
(25:03):
And I was like no, it's handled.
The dude with the Van Halen t shirtis not looking at your boudoir photos.
It's okay.
Ryan | How To Summit (25:09):
Yeah.
The stories we couldall tell about photos.
I can't tell you how many timesyou go into a primary bedroom
and they've got them displayed.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (25:18):
Oh, yeah.
I don't have that.
I don't have that in my repertoire.
I admire people who could do it.
It's not me, but I was like,okay, no, girl, it's handled.
Brandie | How To Summit (25:28):
But Melissa, I think too since, you know, We're
speaking to other organizers at any point.
We all have to be able togive an account for why people
should pay us to do what we do.
A hundred percent.
Otherwise they're just, they're not goingto, because if I'm no different than
your house cleaner that tidies up yourcloset on Fridays, Why would you hire me?
(25:50):
You know,
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: we are not a commodity. (25:51):
undefined
And so we have to be willing totalk about what are the things we
do that are different and special.
And I know a lot of times you're havingto explain that to a spouse who doesn't
understand why their spouse wants to hireus, that's just a reality of our business.
So we have a lot of people thathave to explain why is this service?
Why am I paying a hundreddollars an hour to have someone
(26:13):
come in and clean my house?
Well, this is what we're doingand it's not cleaning your house.
Ryan | How To Summit (26:18):
So interestingly enough, Brandie's daughter just got
married and , they did it in Miami.
We're from California.
So it was all about the wedding.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: Oh, I know. (26:26):
undefined
Yeah.
So
Ryan | How To Summit (26:28):
normally we have all of our resources here.
Every resource you can want we havehere, but we don't have them in Miami.
So we had to do research likeeverybody else, you know?
I found this florist for Brandie.
Their work is amazing.
We had meeting after meeting, theyanswered all the right questions.
day of the wedding they did not deliver.
(26:48):
I won't embarrass Brandie and tellyou how much these flowers were,
but it was Brandie was in tears.
And so I'm there, you know, gettingthe owner on the phone and, you
know, they didn't fix the problemwhatsoever, just terrible service.
And what happened is we later cameto find this out and the owner never
told us is that he just contracted.
(27:10):
Everybody else.
Brandie | How To Summit (27:11):
And so there was nothing more upsetting
like I'm still not over it.
How great I need to email them.
I'll try and get some money back.
But I honestly have notbeen emotionally in a place.
I've still been upset enough aboutit where I haven't been able to like.
Have a clear mind to write a good yeah,
Ryan | How To Summit (27:28):
anyways, all that to say there is nothing worse
than thinking you're getting one thing.
And not getting that and it being worse.
So I think at these luxury price pointsthat we all have, because we've already
established, we're all luxury because thisis, you can survive without organizing.
(27:49):
You have to deliver.
On not only taking account, but havingyour words and actions line up the move
has to be worth the 25, 000 or the 30,000 that we've had hundred thousand
dollar moves, and it has to be worth that.
Or, yeah, you're just a terriblebusiness owner, in my opinion.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (28:10):
I would argue to even at a lower price
point, like when I think about myclient that I've been working with this
week, she's a very longterm client.
I've worked with her a lot, butI told her, I go, we need to do
like a, we got to get it done.
Right.
When I think about the price tagthat she's paying, it's going to
be a decent sized bill for her.
She is not a super wealthy woman.
(28:32):
I deserve to give herat a 5, 000 price point.
Yeah.
A really good service.
It gives a lot of money.
Why I have trash in my car, right?
I don't want her trashcan to be overflowing.
Yeah.
That's not a 100 an hourservice, in my opinion.
Yeah.
And so I just think, you know,if a client's only paying you, if
(28:52):
you have nine hours with them andyou're 100 an hour, you still have
to give them 100 an hour service.
Brandie | How To Summit (28:58):
I agree.
again, how much money you're insomeone's house for, you know,
however long, how much money 5,000 is a ton on a lot of money.
That's something that again,we can survive without.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (29:12):
I think too that it's easy to say I mean,
because we do, I do really believe inwomen getting paid what they're worth.
And one of the things.
That I get really, you know, becauseI see a lot of businesses and I see
a lot of websites and I see a lot ofpricing and all that kind of stuff.
I will always tell people, Ohyou gotta, raise your prices.
There was something the otherday, who's well, I just, I
(29:32):
don't have that much business.
People tell me I'm too expensive.
And I'm like, does yourwebsite say you're 50 an hour?
I was like, it's because you'reattracting the wrong people.
I need you to be closer toa hundred dollars an hour.
Right.
But.
Yeah, I want you.
I want women to get paid.
But I think we do get used tolike I've been, you know, I've
charged 100 an hour for a while.
And so in my head, I'm like, Oh, well,that's just normal amount of money.
(29:55):
No, I do need to think aboutthat is a luxury price point.
Yeah.
And so I deserve to begiving 100 an hour service.
Ryan | How To Summit (30:03):
And I think that we'll feel that.
Yeah.
A hundred percent value their money.
Brandie and I say all the time, wehave, you know, billionaire clients,
they still care about their money.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: They sure do. (30:13):
undefined
Sometimes they care more.
Ryan | How To Summit (30:15):
Yeah.
They care more.
It's kind of that likemiddle of the road client.
That's a little bit more like whatever.
I don't ask questions.
I think there may be alittle bit embarrassed too.
But the billionaires, man, they're like,we're getting into the line items here.
Brandie | How To Summit (30:30):
Why are plastic bins so expensive, but also the truth is
I don't get to decide what people value.
Ryan | How To Summit (30:36):
Yeah.
Brandie | How To Summit (30:37):
We're going to do what we tell people we're going to do.
And Ryan's exactly right.
Where, if we tell people we'reshowing up, we're going to be there.
We're going to show up, do ABC and Dand there is nothing more disappointing.
Then if we charge someone and wedon't deliver, then it's such a gut
punch because it just happened to you.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: Think about the worst service (30:57):
undefined
experience you've had.
Unfortunately you have avery painful recent one.
Even if you just think about yeah, Igot my dinner was burned or, you know,
something tiny, like you want thatexperience to be good when you pay for it.
Ryan | How To Summit (31:10):
And you want it to be what they promised because they
would look at the flowers at Peyton'swedding and they were gorgeous.
But it's not what we asked for.
It's and that is a horriblefeeling when you don't meet.
an expectation and there'sa lot of money involved.
And what's a lot of money, whateveryour client says is a lot of
money, do you know what I mean?
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (31:30):
But by the way, it was a very gorgeous wedding.
I would never have known in 8million years that you had a problem.
Even if, you know, myself and every otherperson is like, Oh my gosh, so beautiful.
If you paid a large amount ofmoney, For a service and you
didn't get it and it wasn't whatthey agreed to and all the things.
It's, that's not a good experience.
Ryan | How To Summit (31:53):
It does give me empathy for clients because a
lot of times, cause we all knowhow laborsome these jobs are.
um, Yes.
So I think we all get to an end of a joband we're like, we just, we nailed it.
We did a great job.
And maybe you cut a fewcorners or maybe you got tired.
And so you're like,well, it's good enough.
You know, because we haveto, I will be honest.
(32:13):
I think there has been a coupleof jobs where I have said that
this is fine, but it's no.
That's yeah.
That is terrible businessbecause the client shouldn't
have to pay for you being tired.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: It's funny you say that because I (32:24):
undefined
actually, I've had times the clienttoday, it's been it's not California
and it's not Miami, but it's been hotand humid the last couple of days.
One of those days where you're like, I'mexhausted, you're in a garage, whatever.
And today I just felt myself draining.
And I was like, I'm not workingas fast as I usually do.
And I'm like, I am totally just goingto give her a couple of complimentary
(32:46):
hours, you know, to like to finisha couple of things up because same
thing, like there were a couple ofthings that I didn't finish today.
And I'm like, it's because I'mexhausted and I'm going to be up front
with her and she's a longterm client.
I'm going to say, I'm super, supertired, but I'm going to come back
and I'm going to fix a couple ofthings tomorrow on me because I
want her to be super, super happy.
(33:07):
And me being tired is not her problem.
Brandie | How To Summit (33:09):
Yeah.
And I bet that made her trust you.
So much.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, and these are the things (33:13):
undefined
that we have in our power.
So like when you were talking about,on your pricing, like sometimes
you might give an amenity that youwouldn't normally do or whatever.
These are all things thatenhance the client experience.
And I do believe I wantwomen to get paid again.
I do not want you to give away25 free hours with every job.
But if you can say, I'm going to givetwo hours of my time because I think it
(33:35):
is going to increase their happiness.
Yes.
You should do it.
Yeah.
Brandie | How To Summit (33:39):
Melissa, I just had this thought because you
text us the other day with an idea ofsomething you wanted to talk about.
So like the flip side of this iswhat you said to me about people
giving away Too much for freebefore they ever get paid at all.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (33:53):
There are people, I think, sometimes that are
concentrating on things that don't matter.
So when you guys were talking about hey,we re evaluate and we try to think about
what are the things that we want to makebetter, but then I also want people to
think about, does this actually matter?
And I think sometimes organizersconcentrate on things that don't
matter as much to the client.
(34:15):
So ultimately, like what's going tomake the client experience better?
Brandie | How To Summit: There is a gal that we love. (34:18):
undefined
She has her own organizing business,but we met her actually a couple
years ago at the summit in Ohio.
And she contracts with usdown in Southern California.
Very often.
So we've really gotten to know her well.
So we have a great relationshipwhere she can call and she's
newer in the business than we are.
(34:38):
I would say her projects don't quitehit the financial scope that our
projects would, so she'll call andask questions and I've opened the door
to her saying she can, you know, it'snot trying to like defy a boundary.
'cause to be honest, she has our back.
Yeah.
On the business end.
So anyways, she'll call cause some ofthe relocation stuff is newer to her.
(34:58):
So she was calling one day andtalking about all the hours she
was spending on a bid for a client.
Like she'd got down to thenitty gritty of like product.
She kind of like first andfigured out what product was
going to be for the whole house.
And I mean, She's hours.
She's like a full dayinto work in this bed.
She doesn't even know ifshe's gotten the job or not.
(35:19):
And I said, I'm goingto stop you right there.
You are putting way too much work intosomething that is not a guarantee.
Now, Ryan and I have done that.
And it feels pretty lousy to give up.
Numerous hours upon hours ofwork for them to not hire you.
And sometimes stuff like thathappens and you can't avoid it.
But You know, there is this balanceof you want to do a really good
(35:43):
job on a pitch and a bid andan estimate and all the things.
But don't do so much.
You don't even know ifthey're going to hire you.
I'm not even talking productwith a client until I know if
they're even going to hire us.
If they hire us, then we'll godown that road and we'll talk.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (35:58):
Yes.
Brandie | How To Summit (35:59):
But you know, we, depending on what, the job is, , sometimes
if we're pitching a really big relocation,it's going to be incredibly expensive.
We have a pitch sheet thatwe put together and it'll.
Have an image of their current houseand an image of their new house on it.
Like Ryan, she's kind of has thistemplate put together and then we
enter, you know, all the informationand it's impressive when you get it.
(36:22):
I'm not going to do that for a 1, 500 job,you know, not worth that to me, but if I'm
for pitching a move, who knows, that's.
60 to 90, 000, or 35 to 60, 000.
We're going to do a little bit of thework and make this presentation nice.
But even with that, I'm not gonnain my mind, price out exactly what
(36:44):
their moving supplies might be.
I've kind of got an estimate there.
I'm not pricing out product fortheir kids room at their new house.
Because that is so much work and Ihave, I don't even know that we're
going to get this job from people.
There's just this balance in the amountof effort you put in to get a job.
And I think maybe sometimes people areputting a lot more time into getting the
(37:06):
job and they end up not even getting it.
And then they're discouragedand they're frustrated and they
feel like they're wasting time.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio: A hundred percent. (37:12):
undefined
And also, I think that there aretimes that a certain client could
get that wonderful thing that youput together and be like, cool.
I can just, I have all the tools.
I can just go do it myself.
Obviously you're not going to do that witha 90, 000 move, but if it's a 1, 500 job,
someone might go, I have a blueprint now.
(37:33):
And you have done allthat blueprint for them.
Yeah.
For free.
Totally.
And so I really wanted people to thinkabout and you're exactly right if you guys
are pitching a 90, 000 move, you could andshould put more time and effort into that.
I think this is another thing wherewe say, Oh, when I, when a client
(37:54):
comes to me I do the consultation andthen I do a proposal and then I do.
And I always ask why?
Does the expect a proposal.
Is that just part of your process?
It's totally fine for that to be a partof your process, but I also want you to
think about how much time and effort doI have to put into this to nail this job?
And sometimes the answeris no effort whatsoever.
(38:15):
Yeah.
I want them to examine whythey're doing something.
Yeah.
So like, why am I doing it?
Is it revenue producing?
If you do five proposals a weekand only one of them hits, maybe
think about what am I doing?
Where am I spending my time?
Brandie | How To Summit (38:30):
And I think for a lot of people it leads to discouragement
because it feels like a waste of time.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (38:35):
That discouraging feeling then translates to
the next time you have a consultation.
I will tell people, so you know, wehave different, you and I the two of you
and I have different businesses, right?
I rarely do a proposal.
I mean, rarely.
Yeah.
I'm plenty busy.
Now, if I were doing a 90,000 move with 10 people, that
(38:55):
would be a different story.
I'm not doing that, but I just say I haveit handled and I'll keep in touch with you
but I'm not going to give you a 10 pagewritten document with the plan because I
don't want to spend the time doing that.
And my clients do not need it either.
I just want people to be thinkingabout why am I doing the thing?
Brandie | How To Summit (39:10):
Funny.
This move we're going on tomorrow.
I've always dealt with the wife, butthen the husband has kind of gotten
involved, which to be honest, he's beenpretty easy and delightful to deal with.
Cause some men are juststraightforward and bottom line.
But there are some details thathe wanted that it's not something
I would have broken down the waythat he wanted it broken down.
And I think it's because.
(39:31):
He's never been the onedirectly working with us.
So I think maybe some of ourverbiage of how we do things and say
things was a little foreign to him.
I said something to Ryan, I was like, Ikind of don't actually know how to explain
this further than I've explained it.
Would you look at thisand give me some tips.
So I put some more information in andwhatever I said that worked for him.
He signed an agreement and paidthe deposit within 20 minutes
(39:53):
and that's all we wanted.
And I could have come back withthis doesn't make sense to you.
What more do you want me to say?
But it was like, he just neededa little bit more information.
It was no big deal.
It did not take me anysort of length of time.
And that was enough for himto say, great, we're good.
Send me the invoice.
I'll have it paid immediately.
And he did.
And it was great.
Melissa | Pro Organizer Studio (40:12):
In general, and I think it goes back to what
you said at the beginning where you weretalking about we re evaluate our stuff
all the time, I just want people to bethoughtful about what they're doing.
And if you are going into it andyou're like, okay, I thought this
through and this is important tome because blah, blah, blah, but
don't decide that something isimportant when it actually isn't.
And just think about what arethose things that are actually
(40:34):
important to the client experience?
come back tomorrow for part two of myconversation with Brandie and Ryan and
I hope you have a great day Organizers.
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