Get the most out of professional organizing by being a great organizing client...
When we work with our organizing clients, often they ask what they can do to make things more efficient or to go more smoothly. My answer is often things like getting rid of things you know you won’t want or spending down consumables. But we know that what really makes the process awesome is when we have clients who are engaged and participating in the process in an optimal manner. So read below for my top tips for how to get the most out of professional organizing by being a great organizing client!
Prepping ahead of time
How to get the most out of professional organizing
Being a great organizing client isn’t about the ability to declutter. Your prep work for organizing is usually pretty minimal because we’ve found that while intentions are great – follow through often isn’t due to time and energy. We always take each project in the state it is in when we get there so don’t stress if pre-organizing tasks aren’t complete. And many tasks aren’t physical – most are mental and hopefully more easily done!
If you want to be fully prepared – here’s what you can do to make the process move more quickly….
Getting ready for the organizers...
If you want to get the most out of professional organizing, here’s how you can prep for us:
- edit as much as you can - get rid of any low hanging fruit that is an easy toss/donate
- ensure you are available as much as humanly possible on the organizing session days - the more you are with us, the faster the process will go and the more effective the systems will be
- make any decisions about products ahead of time if your organizers have sent you some suggestions - this way we can have what you want on site
- have a plan for kids and pets if possible so the focus can be on the project and not them
- give yourself some grace and recognize that we are here to help and not judge
- be fueled up with a good nights sleep, food, and be fully caffeinated! ☕️
Trust Your Organizer
Let us guide the process...
Most of our clients are smart, capable people who are used to running the show. Organizing, however, is a skill set that isn’t in everyone’s wheelhouse so typical ways of managing business or people don’t always work – and while you may be brilliant in your field – this isn’t necessarily it. This shows itself when clients tell us how long something will take or how to do the process or how many organizers we’ll need. Things that aren’t really accurate as it relates to the work we are doing. Our expertise is knowing how to make the process work effectively and micromanagement by someone who doesn’t do this all the time can actually derail the process and make it take longer (and be more costly).
Pro tip: Allow us to do our job completely. We have a process and when we follow it – things get done efficiently and effectively. When you ask us to only do part of it or not in full, it’s disheartening as we recognize there’s a good chance things won’t go well. We are pretty sure you aren’t going to take those items for donation, add the labels, sort through that other closet, or buy those last bins. There’s a reason we are here and it’s because the projects we are working on haven’t been completed. Part of our job is to make sure every detail is buttoned up and if you don’t allow us to make sure it’s fully wrapped up – it’ll be more of a challenge to maintain and honestly, you’ll feel cheated in the long run as it won’t have that satisfaction of a finished product.
Get the most out of professional organizing by investing in product.
We don’t mean you have to spend a ton but in our experience, investing in good quality products like well made shelving units, modular drawer organizers, sturdy bins or matching bins/baskets generally means you’ll have products that will last and work really well in your space.
One of the specialties of most organizers is being able to find just the right organizing materials that fit your space and function perfectly. If you hamstring the project with a too tight budget or want us to use random stuff at the dollar store, you most likely won’t get the results you want and it won’t hold up in the long run.
Plus you are paying an organizer to shop for product so if they need to do a lot of running around to save a penny, it’ll end up costing more in the long run for that time.
There is a lot that can be done with minimal or no product and this can work for many types of projects. If your goal is having a space that looks amazing – products is generally the way to accomplish that in conjunction with well thought out organizing.
Pro Tip: Discuss your product preferences and budget with your organizer ahead of time – we can almost always find something that will function properly at a lower price point.
A few more tips
Be an organizing client rock star!
- sign the client agreement promptly
- pay your deposit & final invoice promptly
- treat us with kindness and respect when we are working together - and please don't worry if you cry or get upset because we know that is normal and we are here for you
- be honest with us about how you feel during and after the process - it doesn't do us any good if you tell us what you think we want to hear (spoiler alert - it's not!)
- if you aren't 100% happy - let us know (nicely!) so we can make changes or revamp something and know that change is hard and can feel uncomfortable so we ask that you live with it for a bit to see how it feels. If it's still not working for you - give us the chance to fine tune it so it does work - our only goal is to make you happy!
Partner with us
With so many years of experience organizing our clients in every aspect of their lives, this is what we’ve come to realize makes a project the most successful. And while this is an investment, it can be an even better one if you hire the right organizers and trust they’ll do the right thing for you!
