Are you noticing that clients aren’t booking the instant you finish the consult?

How things are changing in 2026 and what to do plus other current events!

You can listen right here by pressing play, or you can read the full transcript below!

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

Melissa Klug: Hey organizers, this is podcast number two of kind of current events. We talked about The Container Store being bought by Bed Bath & Beyond. If you missed that one, just go back one podcast. If you're like, “I’m sorry, what did you just say? Did you just say The Container Store was becoming Bed Bath & Beyond?” Yep, that’s what I said.

So anyway, that podcast is there, but then we talked about a few other things that I thought would be interesting to everyone about the current state of the business and lots of other things. Enjoy. Have a great day, organizers.

Melissa Klug: So this is a non-Container Store question. I was talking to someone the other day who was telling me that they were seeing something different for them in that they were having a lot of people who used to just—they would go on, they would do a consult, people would confirm right away, get on the calendar, all the things.

And she was like, recently, almost everyone has been like, “Okay, I need to think about it a little.” And she goes, “A lot of those people are coming back and they’re booking, but it might be a week later, two weeks later, a few days later.”

I’m just curious what you are seeing in your business.

Cabri Caldwell: Yeah. So we did over 20 consults in March, which was bananas. Like we’ve never had—

That’s a lot. It was a lot. It was too much, honestly. When you’re trying to double stack three and four consults in one day all the way back and forth across town, it is a lot. And so, incredibly grateful for that.

We haven’t had the flexibility to care, if that makes sense. I think when we started April 1st, we only had maybe 10 days in April even remotely available. And about six or seven of those were already penciled in.

And for me, I was actually grateful for those people who were like, “Oh, I need to think about it,” or “I’m not gonna do anything till summer.” And I’m like, great. Think about it longer. I can accommodate that.

But with some of the people that are doing one-on-one coaching, yes, it is very much so a thing. And there’s not really a correlation. It’s all over the country that it’s happening.

And so I just think we’re in that trust recession. People want to know that the people they’re working with are worthy. I think you’re gonna see a lot more shift to referrals versus a cold audience of just Google Ads or them finding you online.

I also think that you’re probably going to have a lengthier nurture sequence. So whereas someone would reach out and want to book immediately, you may have to send them a couple emails. You may have to follow up a couple times. Even the people you do consults with, you may have to put them on a schedule for follow-up to check in and make sure that when they finally are ready to pull the plug, you’re front of mind and you’re right there waiting for it.

Melissa Klug: Yeah. I do think that especially right now, because everyone’s talking about gas prices, which is very legit. It’s legit. It’s a lot. Yeah, it’s a lot at the gas tank.

And there are some things that still, after COVID, never came down. Inflation is still really high. There are still people—and I do think there is a lot more thoughtfulness going into spending versus people who used to just be like, “Oh yeah, that’s totally fine.”

People are definitely being more cautious. It doesn’t mean they’re not spending money. It just means, to your point, you may have to follow up more times.

And I think one of the things that we see a lot is people take it really personally. “Oh, I messed up the consult. They’re not interested in me. I did something wrong.” We internalize it as, “I didn’t do a good job.”

And it’s no. Sometimes a thing is really a thing. Sometimes it is legitimately the person just needs to talk it over with their partner, talk about whether this is an expenditure for them.

I also always advise people that they think about, for someone that’s like, “Man, $10,000 isn’t in the budget right now,” say, “Let’s do a day. Just see where it gets us.” You may have to change your selling habits a little bit too.

Cabri Caldwell: We have quite a few people that I would consider high net worth people. They have not changed. They have not changed their spending habits. They don’t care.

We had literally one client who called us and was like, “Can you just come fold laundry for six hours?” And you do realize I’m gonna invoice you $800? And she was like, “Nah, don’t care.”

Melissa Klug: Don’t care.

Cabri Caldwell: Yeah. There are still those people out there. And for me, that is always still the goal—to attract those types of people and work with those types of people.

I feel like your middle class is probably the one—we’ve even seen it in our own home of, “Do we wanna keep our cleaning service?” For me, yeah. It’s a mental health thing.

Melissa Klug: Yeah.

Cabri Caldwell: Bathroom? For sure. I would much rather pay someone else to come in and help me do that.

And I think just also your messaging whenever it comes to how are you converting them? How are you selling to them? Do they trust you? Do they understand what you’re offering?

Not just the physical, tangible, “Here’s a beautiful pantry,” but are you effectively communicating: here’s less stress, here’s more time, here’s a happier marriage, here’s less fights with your children.

I think the people that are really good at that emotional selling and really getting to the root cause of it’s not what we do, it’s what we create—I think those people are gonna win.

Yeah. I think you’re absolutely right. It’s not an A plus B equals C kind of thing. You are selling the result. You are not selling the work. They’re paying for the result. They are not paying for you taking 20 bags down to your car.

Melissa Klug: That’s not what the result is.

Cabri Caldwell: But with that also, I do have to say that if you’re someone who maybe takes those things a little bit more personally or you feel like, “Oh my gosh, I messed up the consult,” I would challenge you to continue on, reach out, follow up.

I’m a big believer that I follow up until they tell me to stop, and I give them outs. I specifically say, “If this isn’t in the plans, if you’re no longer interested, just let me know. I’ll take you off the list.” No harm, no bad feelings.

And I think that also, even when you’re giving them the out, you’re creating trust that I’m not just trying to sell to you. I’m not just trying to follow up to take your money. If you’re not interested, great. Happy. Still love you as a human. I’m moving on.

Melissa Klug: Yeah. We run into a lot where people say, “I followed up. I sent them a proposal, and then I never heard from them again.” And we’ll say, “Okay, tell us about your follow-up.” And they’ll be like, “What do you mean follow-up? I sent them the one email.”

And we’re like, no. You’ve gotta have a follow-up sequence. And we’re not telling you to be a relentless stalker. We are telling you, you might need to do a one-day follow-up, a two-day follow-up, a four-day follow-up, a one-week follow-up.

There is a structure where you can be not irritating, but also make sure that you’re keeping yourself top of mind.

Cabri Caldwell: Yeah. I don’t remember exactly where it is, but it was way back when Jen, founder of Organizer Studio, did a coffee chat on Facebook Live one night. And she was talking about how typically the industry standard is people need to hear from you or see you seven times before they agree to buy.

Her analysis, or wherever she had sourced that from, she said take that number and multiply it by seven. That’s 49 times that a disorganized, busy, typically mom—because we work with a lot of women—49 times she has to see you, see your social media, see your email, get your reminder texts before she’s finally ready to purchase.

And so then at that point it becomes less personal of, “Oh my gosh, did I do something wrong at the consult?” It is more, okay, how do I make my numbers? How do I do it and not feel stalkish or too salesy? You have to make sure that it’s still genuine and authentic.

Melissa Klug: I also think that, I know I feel this way personally—now that I’ve been off social for three months, I feel a little different about it—but especially on social, people are just being sold to constantly.

And I do think that especially with what we do, we want to tell people that, “Hey, this is a thing. We would love for you to do it.” But sometimes not being pushy and salesy is actually the best way to get in the door.

But I think people confuse following up as being too salesy. You’re not pushing something on someone that they didn’t ask for. They had you in their home. They asked you for a consult. You are just making sure that you’re following up in a decent amount of time.

Cabri Caldwell: Well, and I don’t respond to salesy. I don’t like the feeling. It feels icky. If someone’s pushing too hard, that’s a good way for me to shut down.

And so that’s why I prefer—and our team is taught how to ask for a follow-up, ask for additional scheduling days without feeling pressured, with giving them an out of, “If it’s not in the budget, great, fine. If you’re not interested, that’s okay too. It’s nothing personal.”

But giving them that out—some people just take it for the sake of taking it. Other people, it really does create trust of, “Oh, they’re giving me an out. They’re not just trying to sell directly at me.”

Melissa Klug: The line that I use a lot is, “We’ll be here when you’re ready.” We will be here when you are ready to make the commitment to—and that goes for Pro Organizer Studio or organizing. We’re not going anywhere.

And whenever it fits your budget, your life, your needs, your stress level, we’ll be here. It’s giving—

Cabri Caldwell: Up. I say it’s giving Motel 6 vibes. We’ll leave the light on for you whenever you’re ready.

Melissa Klug: Exactly. When you just said, “That’s giving me Motel 6 vibes,” I go, that’s not positive, but I do understand what you mean. “We’ll leave the light on for you.” That’s really what I thought you were saying, and I was like, man, they’re gonna send us a cease and desist for intellectual property.

No. I would actually not usually like to be associated with the Motel 6.

We’ll share any other current events in the organized world. Anything else happening with you?

Cabri Caldwell: Like I said, I’ve been still social media fasting—

Melissa Klug: How’s it going for you? Tell me about it. I love it. I’m still totally good not being on it.

Cabri Caldwell: I am still on, but I’ve forced myself into restricted hours.Melissa Klug: Hey organizers, this is podcast number two of kind of current events. We talked about The Container Store being bought by Bed Bath & Beyond. If you missed that one, just go back one podcast. If you're like, “I’m sorry, what did you just say? Did you just say The Container Store was becoming Bed Bath & Beyond?” Yep, that’s what I said.