Winter isn’t a great time for painting in most places. It’s especially bad in the northern parts of the country, where it’s too cold to complete exterior jobs. But the number of paint jobs declines in the winter elsewhere too; home sales are a major catalyst for paint jobs, and home sales are highest in the spring and summer. January and February are particularly bad months for home sales.
Winter is when your website really does heavy lifting for you; if you want to stay busy throughout the winter, you need as many ways for customers to find you as possible. Of course, there are plenty of other ways to get jobs – most of them involve staying in front of your prospects in a way that’s relevant and useful. Here are three ways you can do just that.
3-month follow-up calls: Each week, call customers whose work you completed three months ago and make sure they’re still happy with your work. It’s uncommon that they’ll ask you to fix anything that you haven’t already heard about. But you’ll impress them with your commitment to satisfaction, while also providing them an opportunity to ask for more painting or refer someone to you.
Offer customers cold-weather services: If you live in a particularly cold area, winter is an expensive time. That’s because houses that leak heat can cause the energy bill to skyrocket as the furnace struggles to keep up. Sealing doors and windows, whether accomplished using plastic, caulking, or drywall repair, can save far more than it costs. Bolstering insulation can accomplish the same result. And as December approaches, many people don’t consider their home truly winterized until the Christmas lights are hanging from the roof.
All of these present opportunities to both make money and re-introduce yourself to existing customers. One important note: whatever services you decide to perform, make sure that you’re licensed to do them if it’s required in your state!
Provide value to your prospects: Most customers won’t expect to hear from their painting contractor monthly – there’s simply not enough information about house painting that they care about to make that kind of communication valuable. But if you do want to provide any valuable information to your customers, winter is the time to do it! A painting newsletter could provide information on this year’s most popular colors, safety updates on paint or painting products, or interior services you can perform to update a room’s look (such as decorating walls with crown molding or creating a feature wall). Make sure to include a referral request and a discount coupon for existing customers to help generate leads for your business!
To learn more about how ProPainter Websites can keep you busy through the winter, call us at 855-385-1134 or email us at Team_PPW@ProPainterWebsites.com.