Beating the Winter Lull

Something to keep in mind as a personal concierge is that this business can be quite seasonal. Depending on the services you offer and your location, you may experience different peaks and valleys. However, a common experience is for business to ramp up in the Fall, be hectic during the holidays, completely fizzle out in the Winter, and then slowly work back up a more regular pace in the Spring and Summer. If this occurs for you, don’t fret! You have a couple tricks up your sleeve:

Plan Ahead

Yes. Sorry. I probably should have posted this “plan ahead” warning back in the Fall. That said, it is important to save for the low months and make plans in advance of how you are going to cover your personal expenses and fixed business costs those months. If you did make more money during a few months in the fall, it’s an excellent time to build up your business account for the low months and NOT to give yourself a bonus. Over time you will learn what was a true increase in business and what was seasonal.

Build Your Base

In the flurry of the holidays you may have helped some new clients or met some potential clients while on jobs. Now is a great time to follow-up with them and see if you can assist them further. Try to get in the door by offering to clean up holiday decorations, organize their holiday storage, or promote your services in tandem with common New Years resolutions (give them more time to work out, spend with family/friends, eat healthier, etc.). If you can build your client base, you’re more likely to find more regular (non-seasonal) clients to cover the slow months and you’ll make more money during the busy months.

Set up Retainers

If you have any regular clients, see if you can get them on retainers. It is great for a client to know that they have you when they need you and even better for you to know you have regular income coming in. While some concierges offer discounted rates for retainers, I never have needed to. The simple fact that my clients know that they have me for a set time each week or month and don’t have to wonder how much I’ll cost each month makes it worth it to them. However, you will probably have more luck if you provide a small discount or additional service like being available in the evenings.

Follow Up

Another great thing about having a large client base is that, while you may work for most of those clients on an on-call basis, you may have learned of various projects they are “thinking” about or you have come across while providing other services. Now is an excellent time to follow up with all of those clients and see if they are up for tackling that project they’ve been meaning to get to. While most probably won’t feel like a full spring cleaning project like reworking the garage, I’ve had a great deal of success with clients wanting to update or create photo albums (one requested creating 10 years worth of photo albums!), clear out their filing cabinets for the next year, and a random assortment of jobs particular to the client. If you think that a particular client may need some extra motivation, offer that specific client a special price for that particular service.

Network and Market

While consistent networking throughout the year is key to building your client base and your business reputation, it may have fallen by the wayside during the holidays. Time to kick into full gear and attend the groups you’ve liked in the past, set up coffee dates with people you’ve been meaning to meet with, and try out a few new groups. This is also a good time to build that e-newsletter you’ve been meaning to get to and create a marketing plan for the year. A great book to read is Guerrilla Marketing.

Improve your Business

Whether you are a one-person shop or have a full staff, now is a great time to build upon existing skills and learn (or hire) some new skills. Think about what services clients have asked for that you do not currently offer or may not be the best at and see how you can build those into your business and promote them in the spring.

These tricks may not bring you business immediately, but they all help you build your business and will ensure that your business will continue to grow with next year being even better. Best of luck!