Sales Dead In January,,,

enforcer

2010 was the best year i ever had,could barely keep up. so far i have only gone on 3 estimates in january and NO SALES. hope it just the weather and the fact that january is usually slow.

angus242

January is always slow for me. I use the time to make any changes I want to for the upcoming year and make sure all the previous years tax stuff is in order.

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Bill Z

Enforcer,

Do you feel any of the slowness is a result of ending the Energy Tax Credit?

Mpc_Mikey

I would say its more because people used all there cash on christmas. When taxes start coming back it will pick back up. Plus the Cold temps.

MagicPoolSvcs

Dont feel bad, January is always a slow month for business.
We still opened up 6 new accounts, but 4 cancelled.

Plus 2 for January.


Now is the time for you to be working on your business

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nlgutters

Same thing here. My sales trainer said its all over the northeast. From windows too gutters they are all slow as hell.

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ohiohomedoctor

I am sorry to year that. We are having a great start to the year. Signed jobs until mid April. I always start canvassing previous customers about October for new work in the first few months of the year. We send holiday cards and coupon emails, it seems to work. People always feel like they are getting a deal this time of year, and we make sure they do.......

http://www.ohiohomedoctorremodeling.com

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welterweight

I feel it as well. Weather, people still having a holiday spending hangover and Definitely the expiration of the $1500 tax credit.

Tom Struble

hopefully the bad weather will spur some work come spring time

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Andy BM

I can't help but think that the bad weather (global warming) would have an impact. Historically our market (commercial) begins the ascent out of the 'December dead' about now. We're pretty busy and our web traffic has doubled over last year do the efforts of our SEM guy. We have had weather issues but not nearly as bad as other parts of the country.

Take a look at Google Trends sometime for your market. Depressing since it shows an overall decline in construction but also shows January as the month that activity begins for the year (for Commercial).

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enforcer

what bothers me is the fact that my phone is'nt ringing at all. again,we have had severe weather up here and i gotta think that has alot to do with it but i just hate to sound lazy and just blame the weather. canvassing is out because the snow is so deep and people are'nt in buying mode or open to in home estimates when its freezing with lots of snow; it alters their mood.

woodenfloorshop

It could be a good time to maybe get cracking on a facbook page or uppgrading the website. As long as you uyse your quiter times constructively you can matybe even turn it into a positive.

Hope things turn round for you though.. Sucks to see the state of things nowadays

Bill Z

Good point. Just like the excavation guys are getting their equipment ready for spring work, this is a good time to sharpen our sales (people) skills. Seems like they'll be plenty of sales guys on CT the next few days.

I have a sales training exercise I'm going to post (in its own thread), it's about sales resistance. Identifying where we meet resistance from the prospect and how to deal with it. I did this in a sales training program a few years ago and it is amazing what you can learn if you step back and examine.

Something to do in a blizzard that has a positive outcome!

woodenfloorshop

let us know when it s up. Sound like its worth a read.

Bill Z

It's up. More of a participation thing than a read. Post real world issues and see how other people deal with resistance.

Under marketing and sales:
How do YOU deal with Resistance?

BamBamm5144

It is always slow in these months, especially for people who do exterior remodeling. Most everything is covered by snow, its always bad weather and majority of people are always inside and never pay attention to their homes.

February starts to pick up especially near the end and it also picks up when snow slowly melts off the roof and people start seeing leaks. What I have noticed is Dec-mar= slowest , April-June= very busy, July-September little less busy, then Oct - Nov = really busy because everybody wants to get everything done before winter.

THINKPAINTING

Did he say Global WARMING.....

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Mike's Plumbing

Most of my friends in business had a bad month. Spring should be decent for you remodelers I think...I hope

Mike

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ApgarNJ

I'm slow too. It was gang busters right up to new years day, and that was finishing several projects that we had going all fall.

I would say jan/feb are the slowest months of the entire year, usually the weather but also people recouping after spending money on christmas.

I use the time to get caught up on paperwork, year end tax issues, spend more time with my kids, etc. Go snowmobiling more.....

Unless we happen to be in the middle of a big remodel or addition, jan is dead. everyone is in the same boat. i've talked to contractors in my area that do great work who have been around for 20 years in this business and they are slow as well.

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HomeSealed

January was definitely a bummer, even as january's go... That being said, for myself and others who's bread and butter are window sales, it was to be expected with the tax credit ending. Everyone who wanted windows done this winter got them in before the end of the year.... We've at least had a few jobs per week to keep our guys busy and pay the bills, but I expect it to pick up dramatically in the next few weeks. Spring Nari show has been an awesome launching point for us in years past.

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