You always get a late summer slowdown in this business. Well, maybe not YOU 
, maybe you’re booked out for months in advance year around and in that case this threads not for YOU 
but I think in general a late summer slowdown is a thing we mostly all have to deal with. I’m always just as eager to BOOK jobs as I am to BILL jobs. Sometimes more eager to book actually, because that’s like job security. But by mid summer and the schedule is full and I’m weeks out for the next available and we’re going into late summer I notice the booked jobs start tilting down and I’m billing more than I’m booking. I’m eating through my schedule. Fine, that’s good, I’m making bank, this is what we DO but in the back of your head you might be getting nervous (I know I do). 4 weeks out goes to 3, then 2, then awww crap you’re sitting at 1 week out, its August 10th and you’re not sure how the month is going to look for revenue.
For the late summer slowdown, ideally you plan ahead and book your schedule out a bit but however you cut it, that slowdown can be a little nerve wracking. If you’ve been through it enough, then you know what to expect and you can plan ahead. Any tips from vets about how to schedule yourself, marketing, whatever? I got lucky this year and I coasted through at one point I got as short as about 5 days out on my schedule but I never was dead in the water completely, but I feel like it was only chance that 1-2 good contracts came through when they did that filled me back out. A little EDDM ninja kung fu, some signs up, a little text blast. I wasn’t doing NOTHING but I still feel like it was dicey. Next year we’re taking a longer vacation in August before school starts and bookend the vacation with work and then expect to field a few calls during vacation to schedule a little bit for my return. I think that’s just the smart idea because I hate leaving things up to chance to hope the schedule fills out in the right way.
How do you deal with it? If its not an issue for you, then do you think you do anything operationally different than the normal guy out there that sets you apart and makes you more invulnerable? I think the slowdown is over for my area at least, I’m back booked out to 5 weeks but was just thinkin while I was washing today.
What is your current close rate? If it’s north of 50% and you’re booked 5 days a week and 5 weeks out… it’s time to raise prices.
1 Like
What is your current close rate? If it’s north of 50% and you’re booked 5 days a week and 5 weeks out… it’s time to raise prices.
Good point, you’re probably right. Right now I’m booked 5 weeks out and my close rate is probably around 75% (I don’t have the exact metrics on hand but that’s a pretty close stab at an answer). The feedback I get is that my prices are very reasonable, not the lowest but definitely not the highest. I will often give repeat customers extremely good deals on something like a house wash if they are easy to work with and I can schedule it here or there in between bigger jobs. Could I stand to raise my prices a little? Probably, but then again I’m doing great numbers wise vs last year vs year before that vs year before that so I’m pretty happy with revenue overall looking at it from a yearly perspective.
August was the lowest month of my season if you “pro rate” March (season starts in mid March ends around Thanksgiving) but compared to last year’s August it was a home run.
If August still beat last year’s August, you’re clearly doing something right year after year.
I prefer staying about 2 to 3 weeks booked. I’ve found that most homeowners don’t want to wait much longer than that anyway. I’m comfortable with a lower close rate, I’m around 45% this year, because I’m getting a higher average ticket and better margins. That still gives me enough demand to be selective, enough flexibility to schedule efficiently, and more gross profit per workday.
Being booked five weeks out with a 75% close rate tells me you probably have some room to test pricing. You may lose some jobs, but if you lose the lower margin, more price sensitive jobs (and customers) and keep the better work, the business can actually make more money with less wear on you, your equipment, and your schedule.
Then when August or another slower period comes around, you’re not relying on every week being full to keep things moving. You’ve got better margins, the coffers are full, and you have open capacity to take the good jobs and clients when they come in.
1 Like
What is your current close rate? If it’s north of 50% and you’re booked 5 days a week and 5 weeks out… it’s time to raise prices.
Also, thinking about this a little more…what changes with your relationship to the customer on an individual basis when you’re booked out for 5 weeks vs 1 week? You think we should raise prices if we’re more booked out. No matter what my schedule is…I still value that relationship very dearly and want to cultivate good will/good rapport/long term relationship. Every customer I’m thinking short term (as in “what can I do for them that they need me to do”) and also more importantly long term like “that roof is going to need cleaning one of these years or that deck is going to need refinishing”. Thinking long term with somebody I’m still going to offer them the $400 house wash if I’m 5 weeks out vs raising it up to $450 or whatever and risking losing the relationship. Over $50 dollars? Nah, that’s not my style. That might work for some business models but I’m building a book of relationships and those are long term value that supersedes the short term mark up on pricing.
I completely agree that relationships are the real asset in this business. The purpose isn’t to squeeze a loyal customer. It’s to keep the base price healthy enough that you can continue providing the level of service, reliability, and goodwill that built the relationship in the first place. The good customers you’re building relationships with generally are not going to disappear over a reasonable increase. They are not loyal solely because you are $400 instead of $450, they value that you answer the phone, show up, communicate, do good work, and stand behind it. If a small, fair increase loses a few price-only customers, that is not necessarily bad.
What I’m saying is that if you’re consistently closing around 75% and staying five weeks booked, that is market feedback that your standard pricing structure may have room to move… not that Mrs. Jones gets charged more this week than she would next week or during the slow months.
1 Like
I completely understand, its more big picture stuff you’re talking about. That’s a good nugget to think about how to move forward on.
Exactly, big picture is not necessarily more jobs, but better jobs, better margin per day, and enough cushion that a slow patch doesn’t have you sitting nervous in the office twiddling your thumbs watching the calendar.
1 Like
