{"id":1449,"date":"2017-05-09T08:12:03","date_gmt":"2017-05-09T14:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estatesales.org\/university\/?p=1449"},"modified":"2017-05-15T07:53:58","modified_gmt":"2017-05-15T13:53:58","slug":"estate-sale-company-success-story-attics-to-basements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/university\/estate-sale-company-success-story-attics-to-basements\/","title":{"rendered":"Estate Sale Company Success Story: Attics to Basements"},"content":{"rendered":"

We hear a lot of success stories from the estate sale companies<\/a> that list on our website. Whether they\u2019ve been in business for decades, have special expertise, are particularly good with clients, or they’ve\u00a0found the\u00a0“special sauce,” successful estate sale companies have a lot to teach us about standing out in a sometimes over-saturated industry. What factors into an estate sale company making it. . . versus barely scraping by?<\/span><\/p>\n

We talked to some of our most viewed estate sale companies to find out some of their secrets. Dallas, Texas<\/a> based Attics to Basements Estate Sales<\/a>\u00a0received the third most views on our website during 2016. We got in touch with owner Mark Pittmann to find out what qualities he attributes to staying in business so long, any advice he has for newbies, and what he says is the most important part of being an estate liquidator.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Estate
Attics to Basements wwner Mark Pittman (left) with his general manager, Mike Hartman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EstateSales.org:\u00a0<\/strong>How long have you been in the estate sale business? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Attics to Basements:<\/strong> This is the beginning of my 19th year\u2014almost exactly, next month will be 19 years, so it’s been many years in the works. I haven\u2019t been advertising on your website that long though\u2014six years I think, but I\u2019ve done at least 500 sales on your website, maybe 600, so I do 3 or 4 a week normally. Next week I actually have five.<\/p>\n

EstateSales.org:\u00a0<\/strong>How large is your company?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Attics to Basements: I\u2019ve got a big staff. There\u2019s 26 of us. I\u2019ve got managers and assistant managers, and I have a special supervisor and a great staff. I love my staff! We are just really close, and we\u2019re all addicted to this line of work. This is my addiction\u2014going into all these houses and selling everything. And we have a wonderful track record. We\u2019re very sincere. Our intent is very clear: anything that we need to do for the client. We always focus on the client.<\/p>\n

EstateSales.org: Do you have a big following?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Attics to Basements: We have thousands of followers, which is wonderful. So when there\u2019s a bad one I make sure that we run them off. . . I don\u2019t have time for a mean person or a thief or a liar, or someone that\u2019s causing trouble, so our following is good people, loyal people. We\u2019ve weeded out all the bad people.<\/p>\n

EstateSales.org: What about your clients?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Attics to Basements: My clients are wonderful. They\u2019re interviewing me for the job, but I\u2019m also interviewing them\u2014they just don\u2019t realize it. You\u2019ve got to make sure the client is someone you can please. There\u2019s one every so often that I don\u2019t feel I can, and so I decline the opportunity to conduct their sale. You know, it\u2019s kind of important to me that I select the best clients for me because I want their complete happiness, I want complete success. Our goal is to please the client and obtain top dollar and an empty house, so whatever that takes, is our job description.<\/p>\n

EstateSales.org: How did you grow your following?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Attics to Basements: This is the beginning of my 19th year so we\u2019ve been around a long time. We\u2019re one of the oldies! The new people in today\u2019s world are trying to figure out how to obtain that. . . and well you know what? The answer is: Get down and get dirty! You\u2019ve got to do the dirty work, you\u2019ve got to do the work that\u2019s required to obtain the reputation. I\u2019m stuck with my reputation, that\u2019s why it\u2019s very, very important to me. That\u2019s why I want happy clients.<\/p>\n

I am the most reviewed estate sale company on Angie\u2019s list with the most A\u2019s, and they featured me in their Angie\u2019s List monthly magazine a few years ago, so all that\u2019s wonderful too. So there\u2019s a lot of things that\u2019s added to it. But my email list is almost 8,000 people\u2014and those are loyal followers\u2014and I\u2019d say, maybe, at the most, 2% of those people are antique dealers. Most of the following are simply people who are addicted to the estate sale world, and looking for things for their collections or their homes.<\/span><\/p>\n

EstateSales.org: Technology has changed a lot over the years. . .\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Attics to Basements: Technology has changed so much since I\u2019ve been in business! We used to not take credit cards! Now people sign up for our email list on our website, [on\u00a0tablets or smartphones] at our sales, however they want to do it.<\/p>\n

\"Attics<\/p>\n

EstateSales.org What would you say is an estate sale company\u2019s biggest challenge?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Attics to Basements: I think it\u2019s integrity. I have integrity, and my followers and my clients will tell you that, and my staff will tell you that, too. It\u2019s extremely important to me to maintain integrity on a day-to-day basis. The new people don\u2019t have a name, and they don\u2019t really know what they\u2019re doing, and they\u2019re hoping that they\u2019ll have success overnight, and it isn\u2019t going to happen. They have to develop that integrity that comes from doing a job well. A lot of people aren\u2019t willing to do a job well done. They\u2019re just not willing to do it because they want instant results.<\/p>\n

See, in the old days when I got into it, I knew there was no such thing as instant results. You can\u2019t get that into anybody\u2019s head space because in today\u2019s world with telecommunications and everything, everyone wants instant results. . . that\u2019s why you have Twitter and Yelp and all this. And I couldn\u2019t be less interested in that, you know, because to me, that doesn\u2019t get you anywhere. The only thing that gets you anywhere is quite simply: integrity from a job well done. You\u2019ve got to earn your stripes.<\/p>\n

EstateSales.org: What are some examples of \u201cgetting down and dirty\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Attics to Basements: You\u2019re gonna have to do the hoarders, right along with the million dollar houses. Every week I probably have a million dollar house, but every other week I have a hoarder. I\u2019ve never been snooty or uppity enough to just take the million dollar houses like some of these estate sale companies will do. I believe in serving the community, and we all live our lives differently, so every house is different. There\u2019s no two estate sales the same. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now I do request a minimum of $10k in estate sale value. In other words, I hope to ring that much on the cash register, so I can\u2019t afford to do little biddy sales because I have too much overhead and I have a very expensive staff. But I am willing to do anybody\u2019s house of value.<\/p>\n

A lot of people go, \u201cWell I don\u2019t do little old lady houses,. . . well you know what? You\u2019ve got to do those! You\u2019ve got to serve the general public, you\u2019ve got to serve the neighborhood, and that\u2019s what you\u2019re well known for. And that\u2019s what I\u2019m well known for. And the more of the general public I serve and I please, the better I do. And that develops your integrity. It\u2019s doing the dirty work, it\u2019s earning your stripes, and it\u2019s pleasing the community. Because if you don\u2019t please the community, you won\u2019t go anywhere. And you\u2019re not going to have overnight success.<\/p>\n

I have been fortunate enough that I have grown every single year of my career\u2014goodness! The last two years was like 150 sales each year and I\u2019m already six sales ahead of last year, and I\u2019m going to exceed that this month. I already have 17 sales booked in May for the four weeks, so it\u2019s going to be crazy. The rest of the year is gonna be just crazy\u2026.but that reason it\u2019s crazy is because I have built that up, and I have made sure that my integrity is in check and the egos are in check with my staff, and we stay centered and focused every day. It\u2019s a 24-hour-a-day job.<\/p>\n

\"attics
Attics to Basements \u00a0Mark Pittman says he loves what he does – and it shows!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EstateSales.org: Do you have any advice for estate sale companies starting out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Attics to Basements: You\u2019ve got to please the client. There\u2019s this guy that just came out with this book. . . and his complaint was that there wasn\u2019t enough customer satisfaction in the estate sale world for the buyers. Well you know, maybe that\u2019s true, but I felt that he completely missed the mark. He said all estate sale companies tended to be too focused on the client and not on the buyer, and I\u2019ve got news for him. He couldn\u2019t be more wrong!<\/p>\n

We go out of our way to please our buyers. We have so many regulars, and I am so fortunate that if I have three or four or five sales a week, they go to every single one. I mean, I have such a wonderful customer base, but the main focus has to be on the client. Like for instance, I\u2019m your client. I advertise on your website, so I\u2019m your client. That needs to be your focus (laughs) and that\u2019s why you\u2019re talking to me right now.<\/p>\n

Well, my client is the one that hires me to conduct their estate sale. That has to be my focus. . . So there you go.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re all gonna need an estate sale one day, and we better do everything we can to please our client. I leave every house the way I would want my house left at the end of the sale. I tidy it up, make sure all the trash is bagged, I make sure it\u2019s just as neat and tidy as I can and that\u2019s what pleases my client. That\u2019s where my reputation comes from. That’s why I was mentioning integrity,<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about integrity. You\u2019ve gotta do exactly how you\u2019d want done to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you’re in the metroplex area, be sure to check out Attics to Basements<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Have you ever been involved in an estate sale? What tips can you offer, either as an estate sale company, client or a customer? We’d love to hear from you!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We hear a lot of success stories from the estate sale companies that list on our website. Whether they\u2019ve been in business for decades, have special expertise, are particularly good with clients, or they’ve\u00a0found the\u00a0“special sauce,” successful estate sale companies have a lot to teach us about standing out in a sometimes over-saturated industry. What\u2026Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[121,89,29,43,123,125],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEstate Sale Company Success Story: Attics to Basements<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find out what it takes to be a successful estate sale company from a liquidator who knows how to stand out from the competition.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/university\/estate-sale-company-success-story-attics-to-basements\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Estate Sale Company Success Story: Attics to Basements\" \/>\n<meta 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