Marketing, Diversification Help Cascade Cleaning Services Beat the Winter Lull

 

 For Cascade Cleaning Services (Boise, ID), the winter slow season begins after Christmas and typically lingers into spring, with the slowest month being January.

“Everyone is kind of in a hurry to get their cleaning done before the holidays, before their guests come over,” says Matthew Huck, owner. “Spring and fall are the peaks and coming out of Christmas, January is our slowest month.”

That’s not to say that Huck doesn’t get carpet cleaning, hard flooring and tile cleaning calls during the winter, but it’s far from a substantial amount. So rather than have his employees sit around and wait for the phone to start ringing again in the spring, Huck has taken action to keep cash flow coming in during the traditional non-busy times. He says the biggest thing that he’s done to combat the winter lull is diversify – specifically, into air duct cleaning.

“We utilize the same capital expenditures – we adopted a system that works with the truckmount that is very cost effective,” Huck says of the portable air duct cleaning units he acquired for his business over 5 years ago. “That’s helped out greatly.”

Aside from diversifying his service offerings, Huck has also upped the ante on marketing over the last several winters, taking a much more creative approach and offering more incentives during the slow season.

“Add a little more discount to your baseline service, but also provide more free add-ons,” he says. “You’re trying to keep your employees busy.”

One customer favorite in Cascade Cleaning Services’ market is a deal for free protector if a customer spends a pre-determined minimum on a cleaning service.

“What’s most effective for me is the current client base – never losing touch with the current client base and looking for referrals off of the current client base,” he says.

The payoff has been notable for Huck, who says he diligently monitors his return on investment to analyze what works and what doesn’t. Over the past several winters, he says his sales have consistently increased.