The most common way to secure items from clients is to go and pick them up. This can happen at the client’s home or at a previously arranged public meeting point. This is only practical if the person is within a reasonable driving distance, but most of your clients will be local anyway.

Offering pick-up with your service is a major selling point, as it involves the least amount of work on the client’s part. All they need to do is get the box of stuff ready and hand it to you. The less work something is to do, the more likely people will actually do it, so for many potential clients, offering pick-up can be the main feature that makes the deal for you.

Photo by emmajanehw

A few things to consider when going to pick up items from a client:

• You want to look neat and professional, but traditional business attire such as a suit or skirt is a little over the top for most pick-ups. Though it is your first client contact, you’ll also likely be doing some heavy lifting. Most of what you will be handling will be dirty, dusty and otherwise messy, so a neat shirt (no inappropriate sayings) and pants, possibly even nice jeans, are likely fine.
• Make sure whatever vehicle you bring will have room enough to carry all the items you are picking up. You’ll want to clean out your trunk ahead of time as well. It is very unprofessional to force your client to wait as you tidy up. You should have a sense of the volume of items you’ll be picking up before you go, so you’ll know ahead of time if you need to secure another, larger, vehicle.
• Make it clear to the client that they will need to have the items ready for you to take. In other words, you should not have to climb into their attic and fetch the boxes yourself, nor should you have to sort through a box of books for that one rare edition they want you to sell. They should have them either waiting for you outside or in another reasonably accessible location, already sorted.
• At the risk of sounding like your mother, please take caution when entering the house of a complete stranger. Make sure your loved ones know where you are and try to bring someone else along with you if possible. If you are uncomfortable with the situation, arrange to meet the client in a public place to collect the items.

Photo by emmajanehw Photo by apyykko