Reaching out to see if anyone has successfully partnered with " We Hang Christmas Lights" and “Clipa”
Backstory: This is our first year with offering “Professional Christmas Light Installations” In the beginning of 2021 we signed up with “CLIPA” For online training and support. The online training was a good intro for someone that had no previous experience with CL’s. However wanting to be as prepared as possible we also committed to a one year contract with " WHCL".
The initial conversations we had with WHCL they offered GOOD STRONG PROFITABLE leads and support.
As an extra step to plan for success we also signed on for Google ADWORDS with an agency.
So we were prepared!
Having a good client base is the ONLY thing that allowed for us to be profitable.
Yes we did get a good share of leads thru ADWORDS but absolutely zero from WHCL.
WHCL was a total loser for us… We literally got 1 job from WHCL 1 JOB! And I can not be confident we would not have gotten the lead thru other sources.
So we literally lost every penny we invested in WHCL.
In the beginning of the season we also had terrible, TERRIBLE support from CLIPA… We purchased their 40 house starter package mid summer and the entire package was never completely shipped until mid October. We had to rely on other suppliers for items we purchased from CLIPA that they were unable to fulfill in a reasonable time (odd that other suppliers had immediate shipping of items CLIPA could not get)
So I wanted to reach out to see if there were any others that experienced better, worst or same support from WHCL & CLIPA? Or were we an isolated case and our fault for not being able to capitalize from them?
Our first year hanging CL’s was a game changer with profits. The CL installations were fun, exciting and rewarding overall.
Knowing what we know now, (as with everything our success is solely dependent on our ability) partnering with WHCL is not a consideration or need.
When did you sign up with them? If they are new to your area then it will take awhile to get that seo rolling and that’s pretty much what you’re paying for, their website, name, and SEO. We used them this year with very good success but luckily they’ve already been around our area past years. I’ve heard you get more leads from them the longer you use them. Yard signs helped boost whcl leads too, put out as many as you can around town. As for the shipping delay we also didn’t get alot of our stuff in till late October and into November, but you can’t really hold that against them there kinda was a nation wide shipping crisis lol. I would call them and have a chat about it tho we received good support from them and good leads this year.
We signed up with WHCL in Sept. They had previously been in our area and the company did not renew with them for 2021 so we signed on. I understand shipping was an issue this year for some suppliers while others offered plenty of merchandise and laser fast shipping. I will say Matt Hayden and Chelsea with CLIPA are worth the investment alone. They make themselves available and are extremely knowledgable. Its just frustrating being our first year and really not knowing what to expect…
Yea that is too bad I wonder what went wrong
The problem is, y’all are a bunch of pressure washers trying to hang Christmas lights instead of washing or sitting in a deer stand. Hanging lights is one step removed from being a window washer. There isn’t anything lower than that. @dcbrock @Infinity are two no account rapscallion window washers but they are trying to better themselves by becoming pressure washing contractors. Hanging lights is just going in the wrong direction if you are aiming for legitimacy and acceptance from manly men.
I’m with you. It is a dangerous slippery slope they are on. First it’s Christmas lights, then they go downhill to window washing, next thing you know they will do is hit up the rubber scrubber thread and start detailing big rigs with @Hotshot . This should be a warning to all young jedi PW, beware the dark side.
Hey, I’m growing a beard, that should count for something.
Next thing you know Alex will be be growing a beard.
So we’re in year 4 of lights, and we’ve been with WHCL the whole time (I think, just year 2 for me). We didn’t even ut out our signs this year (until leads started to dry up a bit after Thanksgiving, lessin lerned, a bit earlier and we would have done better). It is far and away our best source. I don’t handle the marketing #s, so I can’t speak to specifics, but I know we had leads rollng in non-stop. I raised prices 20% (like everyone else) going into the season due to material increases, but I raised them (and minimums) another 20% mid-season just to pare down the leads to manageable #s.
I am torn on the long-term utility of WHCL for us, since we went to using our wash business name as a light installer this year, that also led to a ton of business, trading off our stellar reputation there as well (again, just general impressions, I don’t have solid #s to lean on yet). It is directly related to putting out the signs, wearing the shirts, etc. It’s memorable, marketable, etc., so that is helpful.
CLIPA is good, but I use them for training, and only buy stuff from (or utilize the buyers group discounts) when I run low on something late in the game. I bought bulk from Orman this year, ordered mid-summer and got my stuff early October-ish.
As for having lights as a part of your business…if you run with employed technicians, it’s a no-brainer. It keeps guys wokin g during most of the slow months (mid-Atlantic). I’m working on adding other stuff to cover the 2nd half of January through March too…better to keep good guys on and making money, rather than hire/train new every year almost. I just refuse to ride the off-season unemployment horse for my guys.
Secondly, lights is going to account for about 30% of our revenue this year, so I’d say it was a worthwhile endeavor financially. It was 8 weeks of utter insanity, and 60-70 hour weeks on my end (and I only had a hand in installing 3-4 jobs probably). Next year we know better what to expect. There was a lot of uncertainty this year, being my 2nd, and COVID last year, plus we got rid of multi-year contract requirements last year.
So, this led me to go pull our #s from the year…best data we have so far:
WHCL: 20%
Google Ads: 25%
Facebook Ads: 6%
Referrals: 16%
Wash Customers: 6%
Balance was radio, truck, EDDM, knew employee, etc.
Of course, these don’t mean the same for you, in your area, and any and all are subject to good execution of them. We’re still very weak on FB, and we have a lot more than 6% crossover business, but this is “initial lead” source at the time of first contact only.
All in all, ready for a break, and Christmas! A few jobs left to go up, then a break…until Jan 3. lol
Someone’s gotten coal in their stocking 1 too many years 
. As much as I’d like to be slingin bleach all year round our pressure washing dies off in October till Spring. Christmas lights have helped fill that void plus its fun to do something different this time of year. This is our 2nd year doing lights but really it’s our 1st year we’ve had the capacity to make a big push. It definitely could have gone better but we’re around $90,000 in lights this season and that’s working around our gutter cleanings and window cleaning too. I see Christmas lights being more profitable then pressure washing as we build our repeat clientele.
#realmenhanglights 
Nice! That’s good #s for year 2 I’d say. Start watching what you YOY return rates are for each year’s clientele. From my best analysis so far, we lose about 20% of each year’s clientele the following year, and 20% each subsequent year,so we’re getting to the point where residual clients are really piling up. It is beginning to create storage/organization pressures though, lol
Christmas lights isn’t anything I personally cared to do, although I absolutely LOVE Christmas and Christmas Lights! Paying good workers thru the off season is my only concern.
The CL Hanging for us was ridiculously simple, having a PWing company that literally has everything needed for CL installs (other than the materials for the light and of course the lights) made it a really easy transition. Our biggest issue was having the CL Leads start so early and still having a ton of PWing jobs made the balancing difficult at times.
We got really fortunate, we had one of our clients for our PWing spend 40K on CL’s. The install took one week (early Oct. instal, huge advantage) and she was thrilled as were we!
We earned an additional 90k of revenue for December (I pushed all CL installs $$$ into Dec.) When typically we are working on trucks and equipment bleeding money with little to no new revenue.
Typically my wife and I went on vacation thru December into January, with the Covid travel restrictions we opted to stay in the USA the last 2 years. So having the CL is a great addition when you have staff to do installations, takedowns etc…
Knowing what I know now with the CL’s and knowing what to expect (sort of) we will be way more prepared for the incredible amount of leads in such a short window of around 3 weeks! I am sure I let a fair amount slip thru just because of my pricing at first, I literally had no idea what we could get. The previous WHCL affiliate was getting $4.50 Ft. Leasing… (one of our PWing clients that had moved this year sent me their bill for 2021) $4.50 is extreme low but really requires no salesmanship, so just depends on what your goals are? Were getting anywhere between $8-12.00 due to us being able to be super selective of our clients and 50% were already our PWing clients!
I plan on being more aggressive next year and stockpile a ton of lights!
I see no reason 3-4 years into lights, gross revenue will approach 250k
The money is there you just have to be able to do so much in such a small window of time. #HUSTLE
Realistic expecttions I’d say. Year 4 = $300k for us…with year 3 being COVID, I had a lot of uncertainty and was understffed…now I know, lol
This Christmas light talk needs to be flagged, reported and dealt to lol.
That’s awesome! Its crazy ridiculous how quick the money rolls in with CL’s. I have read a lot of companies seem to average the same 10-20% client drop off. Keeping 80% of the clients in addition to the new ones is where the real $$ starts adding so quickly! All by simply adding Christmas Lights, who would have ever thought?
as long as you keep useable, labelled re-installation diagrams. Last year, we had little-to-no info from my predecessor, so every job was essentially a new install. 
We got that licked when we took them down though…it went way smoother this year. Guys have to think about putting them up when they take them down…not just yank it, stuff it in the box, and roll out. Storing all of the wreaths & garland is a whole other monster.
What will you/your employees do for work after the Christmas season?
We’ll still have 6-8 weeks of down time most likely. We tell our guys to plan for it, and to use their Christmas bonus and Christmas light profit-sharing bonus to carry them through as best as they can. We’ll do some commercial jobs, some marketing trades, and maybe look into a few add-on possibilities to run us through that time. I (and the other slaried folks) will be budgeting, cleaning up the shop and storing all the lights. Working on the marketing calendar for the year, pre-writing blog posts, etc. This year specifically I will probably be looking for our new CRM system, and implementing it. Lights pretty much reduces the downtime on the office side to post-year cleanup and next year planning. We have our first planning meeting in the morning to get the ball rolling. Onward and upward for next year! 
Nice!!!
Onward & upward aka Spring = Boinggg!!! Hahaaa. Can’t wait! Also… What CRM are you using & why would you want to replace it??? Earlier this year I tried a 14 day free trial with Markate & it seemed pretty awesome. Killer, actually! I couldn’t justify the expense / need for it as a one man show but it was stout. Real stout. Super easy & straightforward. As long as a man with big bucks like you stays away from casinos & plasmas clinics for a while, you’ll probably be alright.
