Thinking of becoming a professional organizer? There are a few things you should know about the job…
First of all, it’s extremely rewarding to help someone organize their life. You may only see the surface of it, but you have the power to eliminate stress and chaos from each client’s daily life. Second, it is an emotional career path to dive into. Not that this is a bad thing – but we want you to be prepared if you ever encounter a difficult client situation!
Ready to find out what it takes to be a true professional organizer? Read on for the top four skills you’ll need to master!
In any job, you need to be flexible in case anything comes up unexpectedly. When you first begin working with a professional organizing client, be prepared to accommodate a hectic schedule! And yes, we know it can be tiresome having to work different hours each day because your client is all over the place.
However, if you are able to accommodate your client’s needs – even just by changing the time of an appointment – they’ll see you as flexible and reliable. Both of these are important aspects of any home design business!
Since you are the organizing professional, you should have your business appointments mapped out each week. Always have your calendar on hand so you can easily see when you are available for clients. Being organized is the backbone of your home design business, after all!
It takes creative vision to be able to see a space in disarray and picture it at its best. Once you master this skill, you can use décor and color schemes to add some livability to your client’s home!
Becoming a professional organizer takes practice and patience, but it’s well worth it in the end. From changing the way your clients live to building lasting business relationships, you’re starting a career where you’ll always feel fulfilled!
Patience
Becoming a professional organizer means you need to find clients to work with. Depending on your speciality, whether it be homes or offices, you’ll be working with quite a few characters in your career. Whoever you end up working with, it’s important to exercise patience when you sign on with difficult clients. By the time most people call a professional organizer, they have reached their breaking point. Things have become too hectic to handle themselves, or they simply cannot find a system that works. Having a chaotic home adds a lot of stress to people’s lives. Your job is to banish this stress and give your clients a peaceful place to come home to! So, how do you keep your patience in check when you’re working with a challenging client? You need to see the situation from your client’s point of view – they may have lived their whole lives in a hectic environment, and any sudden changes can throw them off. Plus, they may have a lot of sentimental items that are causing clutter and disorganization. These can be difficult for clients to say goodbye to! Explain your reasons and be logical – it may take them a few days to come around, but when they do, your job will be ten times easier!Flexibility
In any job, you need to be flexible in case anything comes up unexpectedly. When you first begin working with a professional organizing client, be prepared to accommodate a hectic schedule! And yes, we know it can be tiresome having to work different hours each day because your client is all over the place.
However, if you are able to accommodate your client’s needs – even just by changing the time of an appointment – they’ll see you as flexible and reliable. Both of these are important aspects of any home design business!
Since you are the organizing professional, you should have your business appointments mapped out each week. Always have your calendar on hand so you can easily see when you are available for clients. Being organized is the backbone of your home design business, after all!
Creativity
Home designers always need to be creating original ideas for their clients. No client wants a tired old design for their home! Even for professional organizers, being creative with space will set your skills apart. You’ll show the difference between simply being organized and training others to become organized.Working with new spaces is a challenge for professional organizers. Small spaces with too many items or rooms with clutter coming in from all over the house are especially difficult.
Since every client is different, you’ll need to assess what is most important to them. What should the focal point of each room be? What kind of organizing system is the best for them to maintain and use? Where can you add organizing systems that won’t stick out?
Empathy
Empathy can be a hard skill to master, but once you do you’ll notice a difference in how you work with clients. Everyone is capable of being empathetic, so it’s important to know how to harness this feeling as a professional organizer. Crazy families and workdays can cause a lot of disruption in the home – this means that you’ll be dealing with very intimate parts of your client’s life. Having empathy for their situation will make them feel more comfortable putting their trust in you! It’s important to remember to show empathy. Demonstrating to your client that you understand how they are feeling will allow them to feel more confident in speaking about their issues. You want to get to the cause of their disorganization, and you’ll need your clients to be open and honest in order to do this successfully.
Becoming a professional organizer takes practice and patience, but it’s well worth it in the end. From changing the way your clients live to building lasting business relationships, you’re starting a career where you’ll always feel fulfilled!