We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tatiana Knight a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tatiana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry.

As Miami’s only Board-Certified Professional Organizer® and a member of the industry for the past 15 years, I keep up to date on trends throughout the world by following my colleagues on social media to see what everyone is working on.

The biggest trend in the industry is all about organizing products- which ones to get and where to put them.

Thanks to social media (mainly Instagram), photos of the insides of drawers, cabinets, shelves, closets, offices and garages, all perfectly organized with fancy products and shiny labels, are the new norm.

Now that the Professional Organizing industry has become well-known, clients who contact us typically want a space that functions well AND looks beautiful- so we are spending more time shopping than ever. Neat with Knight® is partnered with The Container Store®, so that is always our first stop.

Organizing products are called “solutions” because they were invented to solve a widespread problem, such as the fact that most drawers are missing inserts to hold the silverware and most closets are missing shoe racks.

The widespread popularity of organizing supplies has had a positive impact on professionals and our clients
because more and more product solutions are being brought to market.

Netflix has two popular shows featuring Professional Organizers, “Get Organized with The Home Edit” and “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” where both companies also have their own product lines at The Container Store® (as well as some other retailers).

The fact that industry experts are now designing their own products has helped to create even more specialized solutions, such as The Home Edit’s stackable refrigerator drawers made for storing fruits and vegetables in a way that maximizes vertical space while protecting the food inside.

In the past, there were limited options to offer our clients and only a few places that sold them. Today, you can find organizing supplies at almost every retailer, online, and even in some supermarkets and pharmacies, so I do not see this trend fading away anytime soon.

Tatiana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Neat with Knight, LLC® is a Professional Organizing company based in Miami, Fl. I began organizing for clients in 2007 on my own and now the company has grown to the point that we can manage projects with as many as ten Professional Organizers a time.

Our company’s mission is to simplify client’s daily lives, decrease stress, re-gain control, and save time, by organizing the spaces in which they live & work.

The “Knight Krew” and I focus on teaching clients about essential organizing skills so that they are fully empowered to maintain the new systems once they have been put into place. We work directly with clients to declutter and create personalized organizing systems designed to meet each client’s specific needs in homes, offices, garages & storage units.

Our Services Include:
– Professional Organizing
– Expert Product Shopping
– Moving Services (Un-packing & Supervising movers)
– Custom Luxury Closet Design from our partner, The Container Store®
– Interior Re-design and Space Planning
– Training Classes for New & Aspiring Organizers

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing our clientele over the past fifteen years has been through referrals and reviews from our current and former customers. The combination of direct referrals from clients and a long list of glowing Five-Star online reviews sets us apart from our competitors.

As a company focused on earning excellent reviews and referrals, our strategy is to do such a great job that a client will hire us several times until all of their projects are completed and then go on to enthusiastically refer us to others with no-strings attached.

The most impactful leads come from referrals within my personal network which includes friends, family, schoolmates, networking partners, club members, and professional association members, to name a few. Working with someone who was referred to me is best because the prospective client has already heard about my honesty, integrity and professionalism from someone they trust and just needs to decide if we are right for the specific job.

I believe I am able to successfully reach my networking goals because the moment I meet a new client, I plant the seed that we will be asking for their referrals and online testimonials in the future. The team also reinforces the importance of reviews while they are on-site with a client.

I find it is best to ask customers to post their reviews while the experience is still fresh in their minds. Reading new testimonials makes my day and is a constant reminder of why we do what we do.

In 2022, the plan is to keep the “referral ball” rolling with a new program that automatically requests reviews and offers special perks for those who immediately create their posts online.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

We keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty by creating a real connection that goes beyond how well we organized their space. The team and I take the time to get to know the client, their families (and even their pets), so that we can best learn how to help them.

As a company, we try our best to stay in touch and provide whatever support we can, while still respecting the fact that everyone is very busy and has limited time to get back to us unless they have a new project to begin.

I pride myself in how often past clients call us back to work, whether it be several times per year or over a span of years. We have even had clients call us from fifteen years ago for help! Being remembered so long after working with someone is the best compliment I could ask for and I am always happy to see a past client and get an update on how they have been doing.

Some of our customers are so amazing that they keep in touch even after they have moved away or have no more need of our services. At my Bridal Shower in 2015 and my Baby Shower a few months ago, the outpouring of love from our current and former clients as well as their generous gifts were some of the most unexpected surprises that I sincerely appreciated.

In terms of actual communication channels, I do the following:

– Save client’s contact information indefinitely
– Email quarterly newsletters with big announcements and Organizing tips
– Text clients to say hello and see how things have turned out since our last project
– Contact them when we see a product we remembered them needing and to promote special offers
– We connect with clients on Instagram and Facebook where we post daily organizing tips and product recommendations
– The team leader in charge of a client also contacts them regarding the next phase of their ongoing project to schedule the next appointment.
– I publish a monthly article in the local newspaper on “DIY Organizing Projects” so that readers can do a lot of the work on their own. We also post the articles on our website for the general public.

With all of that said, our customers know that anytime they need something all they have to do is ask.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://neatwithknight.com/
• Instagram: @neat_with_knight
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/NeatwithKnight/?ref=bookmarks
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/proorganizermiami
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UChq_TGmnktw7x3iXAb3GjKg
• Yelp: https://yelp.to/FQqwPXjBNob
• Other: Google Reviews https://g.co/kgs/gtgg1e

Image Credits
All taken by me or my team