Guide

Keeping the diary full in quiet months

Every trade has a dead patch. January for some, the middle of summer for others. The mistake is only thinking about it once it arrives, because most of what fixes it needed doing three months earlier.

Know your own pattern

Look back over last year and mark the weeks that were thin. Most trades find the same weeks come round every single year, which means they can be planned for.

Once you know them, you can aim work at them instead of reacting.

Find the work that fits the gap

There is usually a job type that suits your quiet season. Interior work when the weather is bad. Servicing before the cold. Commercial and rental work during school holidays.

Build a page for it on your site and push it a couple of months before you need the calls.

Marketing works on a delay

Anything you do to get found takes weeks to have an effect. Starting in your quiet month is already too late for that month.

That is the whole argument for steady monthly work on visibility rather than panicking twice a year.

Use the time on the business

A quiet week is the best time for the jobs you never get to.

  • Photograph and write up the last few jobs
  • Chase the quotes that went quiet
  • Ring past customers who are due something
  • Get your reviews up
  • Fix whatever on the site is out of date

Take the smaller jobs

Work you would turn down in June keeps the van on the road in January, and small jobs often turn into big ones later. A quiet week costs more than a cheap job does.

Common questions

When should I start marketing for a busy season?

Two to three months beforehand. Search visibility builds slowly, so the pages need to be live and ranking before demand arrives.

Should I drop my prices when it is quiet?

Try filling the gap with different work first. Cutting prices trains customers to wait for a discount.

Where to go next

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