CarpetBossPro Blog — Running a Carpet Cleaning Business

Getting Through the Slow Season in a Carpet Cleaning Business

Every carpet cleaning business has slow stretches. In many areas it is the weeks right after the holidays, when customers have just spent money and the weather keeps people from wanting wet carpet. In others it is the middle of summer when families are traveling. Whenever it hits, the slow season can feel like a crisis if you are not ready for it. With a plan, it becomes a time to fill gaps, win steady accounts and fix the business.

After the Rush

The busy pre-holiday weeks are covered in The Holiday Rush: Booking and Running a Carpet Cleaning Business Before Thanksgiving and Christmas. The slow season often follows right behind it, and the way you handled the rush affects how slow things get.

Look at your own calendar from past years if you have it. The slow weeks are usually the same weeks each year. Knowing that ahead of time lets you plan cash, staffing and outreach instead of reacting in a panic.

Work the Waiting List

Your best source of work in a slow week is the list of customers you already have. In CarpetBossPro, the Waiting List shows every home that came due plus new requests on a live map. Pins are colored not due yet, due now and overdue past a 7-day grace. In a slow week, go through it in order:

• Overdue homes first. These customers are past their usual cleaning and may not have realized it.
• Due homes next. Offer them a day when a van is nearby.
• Not-due-yet homes last. Offer an early cleaning, maybe with a small extra such as a free deodorizer, to pull work forward into the slow weeks.

Two-way texting from the office makes this quick. A short text to a dozen customers in one area can fill a day.

Reach Past Customers Who Never Came Back

Not every past customer is on a repeat cleaning. Many one-time customers from the last couple of years would book again if asked. Use your client list, tags and reports to find customers who have not had a job in a long time, and send them a friendly text or email. Then put the ones who book on a yearly cleaning so they show up on the Waiting List next time.

This is also a good time to ask for reviews from happy customers you never asked. Reviews help bring in new customers when you need them most.

Lean on Steady Accounts

Commercial and property manager work does not slow down the same way homeowner work does. Offices need their carpets maintained whether it is January or July. Rentals turn over all year. Slow weeks are the best time to win these accounts because you have room to take a few trial jobs.

In CarpetBossPro, offices can be set to monthly carpet maintenance, and accounts set to Monthly get one statement covering every address. Property manager work is covered in Property Manager Accounts: Turnover Carpet Cleaning on One Monthly Statement.

Promote the Services People Forget

Many customers think of you only for carpets. Slow weeks are a good time to remind them of upholstery, area rugs, mattresses and tile & grout. A sofa or a rug is a smaller job that does not need the whole house cleared, which can be easier for a customer to say yes to after the holidays. Make sure these services are in your service list with clear prices, so estimates go out quickly.

Be careful with discounts. A small seasonal offer can fill a day, but deep discounts train customers to wait for the sale. If you offer something, make it an extra service rather than a lower price on your core cleaning.

Fix the Business While It Is Quiet

Slow weeks are also the only time many owners have to work on the business instead of in it. Use the time well:

• Clean up customer records: phone numbers, gate codes, pets, access notes.
• Set repeat cleanings on customers who should have them.
• Review your service list and prices.
• Look at the simple reports and see which kinds of jobs and which partners paid best last year.
• Maintain the van and equipment before the next busy stretch.
• Train a new tech while the days are lighter.

Slow seasons are easier when you have saved some of the busy season's money for them. Plan for the slow weeks the same way you plan for the rush. For every guide on running the business, go back to the carpet cleaning business software page.