For estate liquidation companies, slow periods, typically in the fall and winter, can be a lull for business activity. But with some proactive strategies, you can use these dips to set your business up for future success.
Here are five ideas to help your estate liquidation company be productive during the slow season:
1. Diversify Your Service Offerings
The slow season is the perfect time to branch out beyond traditional estate sales. Revisit your leads and see if they need any additional assistance with decluttering or valuing their personal property.
Clear Out and Downsizing Services: Some clients might not need a full estate sale but could use help with decluttering or clearing out household items especially if they’re retiring or relocating.
Appraisal Services: Use your expertise to value antiques, artwork, or high-end items. Clients preparing for future sales will appreciate knowing the worth of their treasures.
By diversifying, you open new revenue streams that can help revenue coming in during slow sale periods.
2. Leverage Marketing to Build Awareness
The slow season is a golden opportunity to ramp up your marketing efforts. Strengthen your online presence, grow your client base, and showcase your expertise. Here’s how:
Content Creation: Write blogs or create videos about estate sale tips, industry trends, or highlight unique finds from past sales. Sharing valuable content builds trust with potential clients.
Social Media Engagement: Stay active on social media to keep your audience engaged. Run promotional campaigns, feature upcoming sales, or offer estate planning tips.
Email Campaigns: Send newsletters to past clients with updates on your services, upcoming events, or tips for preparing for estate sales. Consistent communication keeps you relevant even when sales are slow.
Marketing during slower months will help ensure your business is ready to pick up speed when busier seasons arrive.
3. Network and Strengthen Relationships
The slow season is a prime time to focus on relationship-building. Strong connections with referral partners, clients, and other professionals can lead to future business. Here’s how:
Collaborate with Local Realtors: Realtors often refer clients for estate liquidation services when homes are being sold. Building relationships with them now can lead to new leads in the future.
Join Industry Associations: Participate in estate liquidation or auction associations to tap into valuable networking opportunities, continuing education, and potential client referrals.
Here are a couple of great examples:
National Estate Sale Association (NESA): NESA offers a wealth of resources, including online video tutorials, forums for sharing ideas, and discounts on business essentials. Joining NESA can help you stand out in the crowded estate liquidation market.
American Society of Estate Liquidators (ASEL): ASEL provides education and support to estate sales professionals. Membership benefits include access to industry best practices, ethical guidelines, and a network of fellow liquidators.
National Auctioneers Association (NAA): NAA is the largest professional association for auctioneers, offering educational programs, advocacy, and community support. It’s a great resource for those looking to expand their auction services.
By joining these associations, you can build strong industry connections and stay updated on the latest trends and best practices.
Connect with Past Clients: Reach out to former clients for testimonials or to see if they know anyone in need of estate liquidation services. Positive word-of-mouth is a powerful tool in a slow market.
Building relationships during slower months ensures you’re well positioned for referrals when demand picks up again.
4. Focus on Financial Management
Keeping your finances in check during the slow season is crucial for long-term sustainability. Here are some tips:
Reevaluate Expenses: Cut unnecessary costs and focus on what's essential. Go through all your expenses to find areas where you can save money. This could mean renegotiating contracts or improving how you work to reduce waste. Look for ways to make your business run more smoothly, like using technology to automate tasks or adjusting your staff levels to match the slower season. Even small changes can add up, helping you save money during the slow months.
Plan for the Busy Season: Use this time to create a financial forecast for the upcoming busy season. Set clear revenue goals and find ways to maximize sales during peak times. Take a look back at your lead and sale funnel, determine how many leads it takes to get a client contract signed, then map out how you plan to generate leads in the next period to achieve your sales goals.
Offer Discounts or Early Bird Specials: If you need to boost revenue during the slow season, consider offering discounted rates for clients who book future sales or services early. These promotions can provide a quick influx of cash while filling your calendar for the busy season.
By taking time to review your finances, you can ensure that your business will remain profitable even during slower times.
5. Lay the Groundwork for Future Success
Wouldn’t it be nice to pause time to study that online course or pursue that accreditation you’ve always wanted to do? Why not consider the slower months a time to be proactive in preparing to expand your service offerings or improving skillsets.
Declutter: Clear out unsold items or redundant inventory in your store or warehouse by creating a sale on EstateSales.NET’s Marketplace. The EstateSales.NET Help Centre has a variety of resources to help you learn more about selling on the Marketplace.
Explore Online Auctions: Put infrastructure in place to host online auctions over the busier months. Onboard to our sister marketplace, LiveAuctioneers, get set up for online payments (atgPay) and shipping services (atgShip) so you’re ready to go when a suitable estate or curated sale can be formed.
Pursue Auctioneer Accreditation: Some states require auctioneer licenses to conduct. Auctioneer licensing requirements vary by state and by auction type.
Here is a resource on state auctioneer licensing for you to explore.
Industry Training Courses: Well-known estate sale organizations such as the American Society of Estate Liquidators (ASEL) and the National Association of Estate Liquidators (NAOEL) offer a wide range of courses on topics relevant to the estate sale industry covering topics like marketing, business strategy, and negotiating. Encourage your team to take advantage of these resources.
External Workshops: LinkedIn Learning has a variety of courses that focus on customer service and conflict resolution that can help employees new to the workforce to gain basic skills and encourage tenured staff to develop.
Surviving the slow season requires a blend of creativity, proactivity and a forward-thinking approach. By diversifying your services, strengthening your marketing efforts, nurturing key relationships, tightening your financial strategy and future proofing your business, will help you to thrive when the estate sale market quiets down.