Hard time of year (every year)

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kiddrock

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November through Janurary have been tough for us for the past 6 years (our only 6) . We our primarily residential and commercial service based. Just wondering if any of you guys might have some good marketing tips for a small service company? Our shop consists of 4 men, 2 lettered service vans and an office secretary. Our customer base right now is about 700.:)
 
For years I noticed that I got real busy around the end of May when tax money started coming back and it's just about the begining of summer, then I would also get kind of busy around October when everyone was starting to get their houses ready for the holiday's and then it would slow down from about Thanksgiving to after the New Year.
 
kiddrock said:
November through Janurary have been tough for us for the past 6 years (our only 6) . We our primarily residential and commercial service based. Just wondering if any of you guys might have some good marketing tips for a small service company? Our shop consists of 4 men, 2 lettered service vans and an office secretary. Our customer base right now is about 700.:)
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This time of year is usually rough for all the trades. I have made good money changing fixtures for people who will be having out of state company over the holidays. You could advertise doing Christmas decorations if it got real bad. If you hurry you could come up with your best 50 or 100 customers and get a card in the mail wishing them a safe and happy holiday and your company is there to help with all of their electrical needs.
 
it depends

it depends

I dont know where you are located but right now the agriculture industry here in wisconsin is booming thanks to federal kick backs the farmers are getting for updating and remodeling/building on there land.Including there electrical-the only catch is that not just your agerage electrician can do this work you have to be ag- certified. there are alot of wierd rules and even special inspectors for this type of work.But those guys say they will be busy till next summer..I know though everone says to find your own niche in your area and go with it like solar or charging stations, wind turbines and stuff... but the bottom line is we can get certified and schooled to death for stuff but if no one wants to spend any money to do it then its all for nothing.I have been solar certified for 2 years and havent even come close to doing an install yet. the kick backs from the electric company dont even come close to what the cost will be to the customer.Maybe target certian industrys my company sticks with health care and insurance companys that seems to be where allthe money is these days around me...
 
It always slows down this time of year.
If you can find a way to get into government facilities, military bases, contractors like Raytheon, Lockheed, etc, they tend to dump money this time of year so they don't have their budgets lowered.
They are very hard to get in and a PIA to bid, invoice, etc, but they have work and the money to pay for it.
We do this kind of work out of our special projects/service dept. And we just landed a few jobs with Raytheon. Some large private companies dump money too. AT&T has us bidding like crazy for work to be done through the holiday months.
I don't know how anyone can survive on just resi right now in this economy.
I would think that resi service has to be slow during the holidays, unless forces of nature create some emergency work.
 
We usually slow somewhat at this time of year. Last year we had a long winter. This one looks better with work into Jan along with a couple weeks of shop time that we take to clean, sort, etc.. Ag is good in this area right now. Land values shot up 40% + in my county and it sells.
 
Try doing a little advertising@ installing hard wired smoke detectors.I've had some succcess in the past, ranch style homes with a decent attic are usually only a couple hours work for two guys. Print up some flyers and include stats from the NFPA surprising how many people still value family safety. You're not going to make millions but you may keep a couple of men(women) busy a few days out of the week.
 
While slow last year the office help decided she would make up some direct mail flyers showing what we have done in respect to updating older industrial services and installing PLCs with HMIs for motor control. We also hit the advertising pretty hard in the AG related monthly journals. The flyers that she made targeting the AG related customers was the only thing that we know added any business, but that wasn't until late summer and fall.
 
Amazing how smart I can be when I'm not actually trying to find work ....

So, just speaking academically .... did you know we just got our first freeze last night? Sure was nice, having shirt-sleeve weather last Friday, as we hung the Christmas lights ....

Which brings me to my point: cater to predictable needs. Team with landscapers for Christmas light installs; network with property managers. Likewise, get with plumbers for installing heat-trace lines to protect pipes.

Notice that it get dark pretty early now? Now is a good time to do lighting surveys, and sell the idea of lighting instals and maintenance.
 
renosteinke said:
Amazing how smart I can be when I'm not actually trying to find work ....

So, just speaking academically .... did you know we just got our first freeze last night? Sure was nice, having shirt-sleeve weather last Friday, as we hung the Christmas lights ....

Which brings me to my point: cater to predictable needs. Team with landscapers for Christmas light installs; network with property managers. Likewise, get with plumbers for installing heat-trace lines to protect pipes.

Notice that it get dark pretty early now? Now is a good time to do lighting surveys, and sell the idea of lighting instals and maintenance.
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I agree with your point about catering to predictable needs, but our area is filled with greedy plumbers, hvac guys and handymen that will only use an EC if a permit is a must or if there knowledge is subsequent, so we're pretty much on our own. Light surveys are a good tool to use. We've done the christmas lights thing a time or two at the customers request, but never marketed it. Our marketing dollars have never been much.
 
Look, it's not a matter of 'greed.' Heck, we're all in business to make a living.

Rather, it's a matter of letting folks know that you, and your assets, are available for their use. You have ladders, maybe a bucket lift, trucks with all the stuff you need to do electrical work, and guys who know how to use them. There's no reason you can't work with other contractors to 'upsell' the customer on things like freeze protection.
 
This is typically a good time for us.

Residential clients are doing things for the holidays and commercial clients are spending the balance of their annual budgets.
 
I generally get a surge of business in November and December after a slow October. This usually dies down a week before the end of the year.

Not much going on in January, so it's nice getting to sit around in my pajamas while it's bitter cold outside.
 
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