Every Day's A Holiday

Remember the classic yuletide movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, where the Griswold family’s plan for a big Christmas at home predictably turns into a disaster? As the first relatives arrive, Clark Griswold flees to the roof to rig the holiday lights and complications, of course, are inevitable. First, he falls off the ladder. Then, he staples himself to the roof. Finally, when he plugs in the lights after the job is complete, they don’t work because the outlet is overloaded.

But, as Michael Hornung pointed out, this goofball, slapstick scene of chaos and catastrophe isn’t too far from fact when clients hang their own holiday lights and displays. “When you drive down a street and notice a homemade holiday job vs. a professional one, it’s like comparing the Griswold’s home to the Taj Mahal,” explained Hornung, president, Valley Green, St. Cloud, Minn. “You don’t see hooks or staples – there’s no evasive hanging mechanisms. It just looks amazing.”

So, with movies like this on their side, contractors find selling convenience is easy. However, to truly boost holiday lighting sales, contractors must have heaps of creativity – a seasonal vision, if you will – a little spirit and experience so they can offer this service profitably. Most of all, ‘tis the season to be jolly. “Whether you’re old or young, everyone looks forward to Christmas,” Hornung enthused. “To me, it’s not about having a sales tactic – people know that Dec. 25 comes every year – it’s more about boosting the good mood everyone is in during the holiday season and making it fun.”
 
CHRISTMAS IN JULY. When selling holiday lighting, Christmas starts early. To attract new residential clients, Swingle Tree sends out direct-mail pieces August through November. “We buy lists on home value and if it’s $300,000 to $400,000 and above, we feel they have the discretionary income to buy our product,” explained Jeff Oxley, the Denver, Colo.-based company’s director of operations.

Completed jobs also create visual marketing. “If we get five or six houses done on one block, we will leave fliers at their next door neighbors that say, ‘Take a look at this house,’” Oxley said. “Then they can see a finished job, especially when there’s more than one shining house on the street, standing out from the rest. It’s all about curb appeal – how neighbors want their homes to look better than others.”

And with renewals, residential clients receive them in June, Oxley said. Once a customer is sold, they tend to stick around the following year, as reflected in the company’s 85-percent client retention rate. “This is a high-retention business,” Oxley explained.

Reinstalls begin Oct. 1, and if clients are interested in hanging lights sooner, the company offers a discount for early installation. “We push this with commercial clients, and if they take it we’ll start hanging lights in their trees in September,” Oxley said. “We try to make sure reinstalls are done by Nov. 1 so then we have a chance to take on new sales installations. If we get to Thanksgiving and we don’t have a particular client, then we know we’re not going to get them.”

Timing is crucial in this business, and based on client mix every contractor has his or her own schedule. Kory Ballard, president, Perficut, Des Moines, Iowa, concentrates on selling holiday decorating to high-end residential clients, and although some jobs can be sold in the summer months, Perficut’s busy season starts in early October.

Hornung sends out renewal letters in early September and if he doesn’t receive a renewal confirmation by Sept. 15, he prepares to drop off products clients bought the year before that he had stored. By Oct. 1, his installation crew morphs into his first holiday crew. By Nov. 1, a second crew joins in and by Nov. 15, a third – both from his lawn care division. Customers choose between design, set up, take down and storage services, but the majority want a turnkey deal, Hornung said. “As we sell new installations, we fit them into the schedule,” he said. “This is also part of a sales tactic for us. If clients are really interested in Christmas decorating then they are very concerned with their schedule date. After we present a proposal to a client we tell them when we can schedule them, and we warn them that by tomorrow the date may change because of other clients who accept proposals.”

Viewing other jobs also solidifies sales, said Hornung, who shows clients photos and gives them a list of referrals to contact. “If you drive up in a Corvette, people notice – it’s the same with nice holiday décor,” he remarked.
Hornung’s three-person sales team is busy from Thanksgiving until Dec. 5 or 8. The last day they install lights is Dec. 15 – clients typically don’t want décor installed after that date.

Oxley gives clients a discount in the 10- to 20-percent range if they are late on theschedule – Dec. 15 or later – and still want Christmas lights. “You have to work with clients when you have such a small window in which to get things done,” he advised.

Price is another factor that influences sales. Most contractors want clients to spend a minimum of $500 on a project. Hornung’s biggest residential clients spend upwards of $5,000. Perficut’s average first-year client pays $1,200 to $2,500. Then, an average reinstallation is $350, take down is $200 and storage is $150. “We base price on the amount of product used,” Ballard said, adding that he has three managers sell work and manage crews.

Average single-family home clients pay between $890 and $1,000 with Swingle Tree, and some orders reach $10,000 to $20,000, Oxley said. The company only offers the service one way – as a package deal. “We tried offering design, install, take down and storage separately, but we found when we break out costs clients tend to back out at the end,” he said. “For instance, if it’s $700 for installation and $300 for take down, when we call to take the lights down in January and bill them $300, they cancel on us and take the lights down themselves.”

Since everything is included, Oxley breaks up price by product, including installation, take down, storage and product cost. “We offer clients a menu of pricing – the ridgeline of the house with lights will be one price, a lit tree will be another,” he said. “So, if it’s $250 to light the fascia of the house, that includes everything. Then, the next year, clients just add on different things as they want.”

Equipped with visual props and pricing pointers, then all contractors have to do is ooze enthusiasm. And having a creative vision is helpful too, Oxley said. “You have to be a designer and talk about how colored lights will touch every tree limb and branch and talk about the crisp, clean light lines outlining the home and about using timers so lights come on at perfect times,” he described.

SHOPPING VS. SPIRIT. Though an imaginative eye and “Jingle Bells” talk lures residential clients, commercial clients are different. In Allan Davis’ case, “a commercial property manager isn’t buying for the spirit of the holiday,” said Davis, vice president, R.A.R. Landscaping Co., Baltimore, Md. “Instead, holiday decorating creates an image for a shopping center and enhances the shopping experience for the customers of the center’s tenants.

“Smart shopping center owners are looking for ways to market their centers and bring added value to their tenants,” he continued. “Commercial clients don’t generally get excited about the Christmas aspect of the deal. They get excited about hassle-free service and reasonable pricing.”

Leasing or renting holiday products has worked well for Davis’ commercial clients – in fact, 98 percent of them purchase the service this way. After showing clients various design options based on budget, clients choose what they want and R.A.R. Landscaping creates a three-year lease/rental agreement. “Under this program, we still own the products, ” Davis explained. “Then the clients don’t have the headaches of ownership. They don’t have to insure products or worry about them wearing out or getting stolen. They don’t have to depreciate them as a capital expenditure – instead, they just expense the cost as advertising.”

Also, since the Christmas spirit doesn’t excite commercial clients, Davis gets an opportunity to sell in January, while the holiday is still fresh in customers’ minds, especially if they had a profitable shopping season.

For Swingle Tree, commercial contacts are made in February and March and new prospects and renewals receive proposals in May, June and July. “If they don’t authorize a deal by then, they either don’t have the money in their budget or we won’t be able to order products in time for them to have what they want – commercial clients tend to like specialty items,” Oxley  explained.

With more landscape contractors exploring holiday lighting as an add-on service, hopefully more clients will lean toward paying a little bit more for convenience instead of hurting themselves trying to do it alone. “Our clients don’t want to be like the Griswolds – they are busy and don’t want the hassle,” Hornung said. “That’s where we come in, and hopefully are able to brighten up their holiday.”

The author is Managing Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at nwisniewski@lawnandlandscape.com.