The next 30 days: book the January lease-end moves while other movers coast
December is quiet for most movers, but January lease-end and new-job moves get booked now. A 30-day plan to fill the first weeks of the year early.
- Week 1: find who moves in January in your market
- Week 1: fix the profile for winter shoppers
- Week 2: talk to the people who send you renters
- Week 2: reach past customers
- Week 3: run a small, tight ad campaign
- Week 3: offer something that costs you little
- Week 4: answer every call and text the same hour
- Your 30-day checklist
The first two weeks of January are hard to fill for most moving companies. The holidays are over, the weather is bad, and the phone is quiet. Then February hits and the work comes back.
But January moves do happen. Leases end on the 31st. People start new jobs on the first Monday of the year. Couples who spent the holidays deciding to move in together need a truck. Those customers start shopping in late November and December, when most movers have turned their marketing down.
Here is a 30-day plan to book them now.
Week 1: find who moves in January in your market
Before you spend a dollar, figure out who your January customer is. In most markets it is a mix of three groups:
- Apartment renters whose leases end December 31 or January 31.
- Job relocations that start right after the new year, often paid or partly paid by the employer.
- Downsizers who waited until after the last family holiday in the old house.
Check your own records from last January. Pull every job and note the type of home, the distance and how far ahead they booked. If most booked two to four weeks out, your window to win them is now through mid-December.
Week 1: fix the profile for winter shoppers
Your Google profile carries most of the weight in a slow month. Check these three things:
- Hours. 29.6% of moving company profiles list no hours. A December shopper wants to know if you work over the holidays. List your real hours, and add special hours for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
- A winter post. Write a short post: "Booking January moves now. Weekday dates still open. Free estimates by video." Posts with a date in them feel current.
- Photos with snow or rain gear. If you have them, add photos of your crew wrapping furniture in bad weather. They answer the worry about winter moves before anyone asks.
The Google Business Profile guide has the full checklist.
Week 2: talk to the people who send you renters
Apartment managers see the move-out notices before anyone else. Make a list of the ten largest complexes in your area. Drop off a one-page sheet at each leasing office with your number, your weekday rate range and a line like this:
"If any of your residents are moving out at the end of December or January, we have weekday dates open and can do a video estimate the same day."
Do the same with two or three real estate agents you have worked with. Agents often have a January closing or two and a client who needs a mover fast.
Week 2: reach past customers
Your past customers know people who are moving. Send one text to everyone from the last two years:
"Hi Sam, this is Jordan from Two Rivers Moving. Hope the new place is treating you well. If anyone you know is moving in January, we have dates open and would take good care of them. Just have them text this number."
No discount needed. A referral from someone they trust beats any ad.
Week 3: run a small, tight ad campaign
If you run Google Ads, do not turn everything back up. Pick a tight list of searches: "movers near me," "apartment movers," "local movers" plus your town names. Set a budget you can live with. A hypothetical small mover might spend $20 to $40 a day for three weeks.
Send the clicks to a page that says January dates are open and shows your price range for a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom. The Google Ads guide covers which campaigns waste money for movers.
Week 3: offer something that costs you little
January is cheap to fill if you give people a reason to pick a quiet date. A few options that do not cut your hourly rate:
- Free wardrobe boxes on any January weekday move.
- A guaranteed arrival window on weekdays.
- A free second-day box pickup.
These cost you little and give the customer a reason to book with you instead of the next quote.
Week 4: answer every call and text the same hour
December shoppers are often comparing three movers in one evening. If you call back the next morning, they have booked. Set a missed-call text-back that goes out within a minute:
"Sorry we missed you. We are on a job. Are you looking at a move date in December or January? Reply with the date and your zip code and we will text you a price range tonight."
Run your numbers through the calculator to see what one missed call a day costs you over a month.
Your 30-day checklist
- Pull last January's jobs and note when they booked.
- Fix hours, holiday hours and add a dated winter post.
- Visit ten leasing offices and two or three agents.
- Text every past customer once.
- Run a small, tight search campaign for three weeks.
- Answer or text back every call within the hour.
If you want help running this plan, the free 14-day trial covers any service, no card required. Text or call (385) 396-5586.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, moving companies among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor