7 Tips to Help Home Improvement Businesses Crush the Competition in the Dreaded Slow Season

Winter is here, and so is the slow season. Jobs are drying up, leads are stalling, and your phone just isn’t ringing like it did.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Every year, home improvement businesses face the same challenge – generating leads, keeping teams busy, and staying profitable even when demand dips. 

Unfortunately, staring at the phone won’t make spring hurry up and get here! Taking action is the best way to fight the slow season.

To help you out, here are seven strategies to keep your home improvement business moving, your team working, and your pipeline full – even when seasonality tries to slow you down.

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1) Embrace Winter  

While it may be frightful outside, there are ways you can pivot your product or service offering to drum up business in the colder months. 

Here are a few ideas to help get your wheels turning:

Roofers – Offer roof inspections and emergency repairs for leaks, ice dams, and storm damage. 

Gutter Companies – Provide gutter cleaning, ice dam prevention, and gutter guard installations to help protect homes from winter damage.

Painting Companies – Focus on interior paint jobs and make the most of each customer by offering multi-room specials.  

Window & Door Companies – Capitalize on the cold drafts homeowners are feeling by marketing energy-efficient window replacements and weatherproofing services to help reduce heating costs.

Remodelers – While families are feeling the pain of limited outdoor time, promote how you can help turn their basement or bonus room into a gym or playroom they can use year-round. 

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2) Network 

Even if the phone isn’t ringing with customers, that doesn’t mean you have to be silent! This is the perfect time to network in your local market. 

Whether it’s a BNI group, your local chamber of commerce, or just meeting for coffee with another local business owner who also serves homeowners – you can build relationships that lead to profitable referrals for years to come. 

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3) Start the Spring Rush Early  

Who says it has to be spring before you start booking appointments and projects? 

Many homeowners wait until spring to start thinking about improving their homes simply because that’s the norm. However, you can reach out to them, get their wheels turning, and make some sales early with a little creativity. 

Human beings are wired to hate waiting. Use this to your advantage! Put out messaging via email, social media, or even direct mail that now is the time to start the conversation about spring renovation projects – if they don’t want to be forced to wait. You can even offer discounted pricing or added value incentives for consultations booked within a specific window of time. 

This strategy can get your calendar filled with projects and deposits so that your busy season starts now! 

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4) Reach Out to Past Customers   

It’s tempting in a home improvement business to always go after new customers. And while that is essential to growing and scaling your business, past customers can actually be an enormous source of profits. 

Here are three reasons why you should reach out to past customers today via phone call, SMS, or email: 

• New Projects – Just because Mr. and Mrs. Jones did a project with you two years ago doesn’t mean they don’t have any new home improvement needs today. They could have moved to a new home that needs repairs, they could have a second home that needs work, or they may have a different project in the same home that you could help them with. You don’t know if you don’t check in and ask. 

• Referrals – Mr. and Mrs. Jones may have all their needs taken care of, but what about their friends, family, and neighbors? That’s a lot of potential prospects. When you reach out to Mr. and Mrs. Jones, ask them if they know any homeowners who may be interested in your services. Provide an incentive, if you can, should the referral turn into a sales opportunity. Your happy customers could turn into your best source of leads, if you stay in contact with them and ask for those referrals regularly. 

• 5-Star Reviews – Even if your past customers don’t need any work right now or know of anyone who could use your services, they could at least give you a 5-star review, or even a video testimonial. Ideally, this process takes place right at the end of a job. However, sometimes the busy season can get chaotic and a customer can get missed in the shuffle. Go back through last year’s completed jobs in your CRM and ensure every happy customer provided some type of social proof that you can use to market your business. 

All of this communication is much easier when you don’t just have a regular CRM for contractors, but an all-in-one business management software like Builder Prime where you can see your completed jobs and easily communicate with past customers. In fact, Builder Prime makes it easy to set up automations that make these client communications a regular occurrence - keeping profitable leads flowing to you year-round.  

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5) Canvassing    

It may sound old-school, but going back to the days of knocking on doors can be an effective and profitable way to generate a home improvement lead. One way to start is to do “radius knocking” and visit the homes surrounding past customers. 

You can let them know that you completed work for Mr. and Mrs. Jones a few months ago, and you are offering a special for other homes in the local area. If you’re a roofer, you could take it a step further and offer a free roof inspection. 

In any case, be sure you have digital estimate software so you can provide an estimate on the spot, helping you win more jobs and maximize your ROI. 

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6) Home Shows & Events     

Check your local area for home shows where you can sponsor a booth. This is a lucrative opportunity where you’ll be surrounded by homeowners who are looking for ways to improve their home–an ideal audience. 

Even if there are no home shows in your area, you can sponsor other local events. From pet adoption events to 5k races and even bingo night at the local senior center–there’s bound to be an event in your area that will allow you to sponsor their event. Just consider your audience when selecting these events. Having accurate reporting will help you determine who your audience is, where they’re located, and where they came from. 

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7) Plan to Win      

Slow times are not just a challenge–they’re an opportunity. This is the perfect time to ready yourself and your company for the busy season ahead. 

Check on these items: 

✔️ Analyze Reporting 

Review reports to see what’s working and what’s not. Look for lead sources to double down on in the coming season and find those that need to be trimmed from your marketing budget or removed altogether. Review which salespeople are performing well and figure out how to duplicate success. Look for common bottlenecks on previously stalled projects that you can fix ahead of the busy season. 

✔️ Tune Up Systems  

Ask yourself, “Is everything in my business performing at 100%?” If not, find out what tweaks you can make to get those systems running on all cylinders. Do you need to install an SMS/text messaging system? Are there automations that would make your life easier and your operations run smoother, such as helpful email integrations? Now is the time to implement those system upgrades. 

✔️ Get Your Team Ready  

If you have employees or installers who are riding out this slow season with you, this is a fantastic opportunity to invest time and energy into them. For employees, they could possibly use training or refreshers ahead of a busy season. Installers could benefit from a meeting with you to go over what’s working and what’s not in your relationship so that you can ensure you’re on the same page. And if you plan on hiring for your home improvement business anytime soon, it’s always best if you can beat your competition to the punch and hire an all-star before they do. 

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Turn this Slow Season into Your Best Season Yet 

While slow seasons can be challenging, they are an incredible opportunity for change, transformation, and growth. 

Take advantage of this chance to try a new lead source or system that could be a huge step up for your home improvement business. 

It could be the perfect time to see if Builder Prime is right for you. Book a demo with our team today. We’ll show you all the ways that Builder Prime’s all-in-one business management software can help you grow and scale your home improvement business.