The next 30 days: sell next spring's washes before the cold sets in
Late fall is when pressure washing calls dry up. Use the next 30 days to pre-sell spring house washes and annual plans to the customers you already served.
The phone gets quiet this time of year. Leaves are down, the first cold nights hit, and homeowners stop thinking about siding and driveways until April.
That quiet is the opportunity. The next 30 days are the best window of the year to lock in next spring's work, using customers who already know you. Here is the play, week by week.
Why this works now
Your customers from this year still remember you. The driveway you cleaned in August still looks good. By March, half of them will have forgotten your name and will search Google again, where they will see you next to everyone else.
Booking them now does three things:
- It fills your first weeks of spring before the season starts.
- It gives you cash or commitments in the slowest part of the year.
- It takes those customers off the market before competitors can reach them.
Week 1: build the list and the offer
Pull every customer from this year. Name, phone, address, what you did, and what you charged. Most owners have this scattered across texts, invoices and a notebook. Put it in one spreadsheet.
Pick one simple offer. Do not build five packages. Pick one, for example:
Book your spring house wash now and lock in this year's price. No payment until the work is done. First 20 spots only.
Or, if you want recurring work:
Annual plan: spring house wash plus fall driveway and walkway cleaning, one price, scheduled automatically. Book before November 15 and get your gutter brightening free.
Price-lock offers work because they cost you little. Your prices will likely rise a bit next year anyway, and the customer feels they won something. The pricing and quoting guide covers how to set plan prices that still leave margin.
Week 2: send the text
Text beats email for this. Keep it short and personal:
Hi [name], it is [your name] from [company]. We washed your house back in [month]. I am filling my spring schedule now and holding this year's price for past customers who book early. Want me to put you down for April? Just reply yes and I will send dates.
Send it in batches of 20 to 30 so you can reply quickly. Answer every reply the same day. A customer who says "maybe" today and hears nothing for a week will forget.
Week 3: follow up and ask for referrals
Text everyone who did not reply once more, a week after the first message:
Hi [name], quick follow-up on spring. I have a few early slots left at this year's price. Want one?
Then send a different message to the people who booked:
Thanks for booking. If any neighbors have been talking about getting their house or driveway done, I will give them the same early price. Feel free to pass my number along.
Neighbors see your trailer in the driveway. A referral from a happy customer is the cheapest job you will ever book.
Week 4: tidy up your Google profile for spring
While it is slow, fix the things that will matter when searches climb again in March:
- Post your best before-and-after photos from this year.
- Ask every booked customer who has not reviewed you yet. Many will now, since you just reminded them of good work.
- Add or fix your hours. In our data, 63.4% of pressure washing listings show no hours at all, which makes it look like nobody answers.
The Google Business Profile guide walks through each setting.
A hypothetical example
Say you washed 120 homes this year. You text all of them. If one in five books a spring wash at an average of $350, that is 24 jobs and about $8,400 on the calendar before the season starts, from a few hours of texting. Even half that result is a strong start to April. Your numbers will differ. Run your own in the calculator.
What to skip
- Deep discounts. You do not need 30% off. A price lock or a small free add-on is enough.
- Big ad spending right now. Cold traffic is weak in late fall. Your past customers are warmer and free to reach.
- Waiting until January. By then people are thinking about holiday bills, not siding.
Where you stand going into spring
The median pressure washing company has 9 reviews, and 94.9% of rated companies sit at 4.5 stars or higher. Almost everyone has good stars, so the count is what sets you apart. The benchmark report shows how your listing compares. A few new reviews from this fall's texting can move you ahead before the spring rush starts.
If you want help running this play, try a free 14-day trial of any service, no card, text or call (801) 590-3890.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, pressure washing companies among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor