Holiday lighting can be an excellent source of seasonal revenue. Part of being successful in generating revenue is understanding the benefits for your customers.
However, when companies add new services, it can be challenging to know how to structure the service. Ewing’s National Category Manager for Specialty Products, Roger Ramsey, shares his tips below to help you determine the logistical set up for providing holiday lighting as a service.
One of the most common questions we get asked is, “Who owns the holiday lights, and where are they stored?” The answer isn’t universal. When considering who owns and stores the lights, look at your budget and your customers’ needs. Here are details to two different approaches to product ownership.
These options can be altered and customized to fit what is best for your business and customers.
If you own the lights, it’s your responsibility to store the inventory. For your customers, this can offer another solution to a common problem for homeowners – lack of storage.
There are many factors to consider for pricing out the installation and takedown of holiday lighting, including specs of the home, the existing landscape lighting and the customers’ specific design elements.
Each customer can have a different request for their holiday lighting. While one customer may ask for the traditional warm white C9 lights, another customer may want 5mm holiday lights or spotlights. A customer may want to keep the lighting on their roofline, while another customer requests their landscape, driveway and porch to be included. The more complex the design, the more labor and time will be needed to complete the project.
Usually home specs in other industries are based on the number of rooms. In this situation, we are talking about square feet and single or multilevel homes. A multilevel home has more risk to your employees which increases the cost of labor.
You’ll want to look at the specifics of each job to determine pricing. The labor isn’t just the time it is going to take. Ramsey recommends considering the products, time, design, square footage of the home and landscape to define the cost of installing holiday lights.
As you prepare your schedule, break the customers into two groups: repeat customers and new customers. Ramsey recommends offering early install for repeat customers at a discounted rate. This can create install business in late October or early November, keeping your staff busy into the colder months. Install doesn’t mean the lights are turned on; light it up in a follow-up visit. Using this strategy, your employees are available closer to the holiday season to do brand new lighting installations.
After the season has ended, apply the same logic. Offer first pick to the repeat customers, and then fill in your schedule with the new customers. If you cannot get to the customer before they want the lights turned off, schedule a quick visit to turn off the lights and then return for takedown at a later date. With this approach, you can keep your employees working into the new year.
When adding a new service, setting up the service structure is only one part. Part two is marketing. Holiday lighting is a visual service your customers want to see. Sharing on social media is a helpful way to use visuals to get the word out.
Customers who are happy with the outcome will end up talking to their family, friends and/or neighbors, so don’t be afraid to ask for referrals. Your customers know the value of the service and may have already told people about you. Other effective, budget-friendly marketing opportunities include mailers and door hangers.
Now you are ready to start offering holiday lighting and to grow your seasonal revenue. Visit your local Ewing branch for more information on holiday lighting products and ideas.
