Holiday guests are about to see the kitchen. The next 30 days are for booking spring remodels
Thanksgiving and December hosting make homeowners notice what is worn out. How a remodeler can turn that into booked design meetings for spring projects.
Over the next few weeks, a lot of homeowners will cook for twelve in a kitchen built for four, line up guests for one bathroom, and apologize for the cabinet door that will not close. By New Year's Day, some of them will have decided to remodel. The question is whether you are the contractor they think of first.
Most remodelers go quiet between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Crews finish open jobs, the office slows down, and marketing stops. That is a mistake, because the decisions made in December become the projects you build in March and April. Here is a four-week plan.
Week one: get ready for the holiday conversation
The people who decide to remodel over the holidays rarely call right away. They search on their phone after the guests leave, look at photos, and save a few names. You want to be one of the names.
Start with your project photos. Look at your Google Business Profile and website and ask one question: if someone wanted a new kitchen or bathroom, would they find three or four strong examples in under a minute? If not, upload your best recent work, one project at a time, with a short caption: the room, the town and what changed. "Kitchen in (town). Opened the wall to the dining room, new island, quartz counters." The Google profile guide shows how to organize photos and services so the right ones come up.
Then check your hours. 28.3% of remodelers in our benchmark report list no hours on Google. Set your holiday hours now so nobody thinks you closed for good.
Week two: write to everyone you have quoted this year
Pull every estimate from this year that did not sign. Some said "not now." Some went quiet. Many of them are about to spend the holidays looking at the same old kitchen.
Send a short, personal message to each one:
"Hi (name), it is (your name) from (company). We talked about your (kitchen or bathroom) back in (month). We are setting our spring schedule now, and I wanted to check whether that project is still on your mind. If it is, I would be glad to update the numbers or talk through a smaller version. No pressure either way."
Mentioning a smaller version matters. A lot of people who balked at a full remodel would do the bathroom alone, or the counters and backsplash without moving walls.
Do the same for past customers. A homeowner who loved their bathroom remodel in 2024 might be ready for the kitchen. Ask how the bathroom is holding up and whether there is another room on their list.
Week three: give people a reason to book in December
Homeowners hesitate to schedule a design meeting during the holidays. Give them a low-effort first step.
A good one is a short planning call or visit in January, booked now. "Book a 30-minute planning visit for January and we will bring a rough budget range for your project, so you can decide over the holidays how big to go." It costs you nothing to book, it puts a date on the calendar, and it catches people right when they are thinking about it.
Another is a simple budget guide. One page on your website: what a mid-range kitchen, a bathroom and a basement typically cost in your area, with honest ranges. Homeowners searching "how much does a kitchen remodel cost" over the holidays will find you, and AI tools that answer that question look for pages exactly like it. The pricing guide covers how to show ranges without boxing yourself in.
Week four: be easy to reach between the holidays
The week between Christmas and New Year's is when a lot of homeowners finally have time to look. Many contractors take that week off entirely. Your office can too, as long as someone answers messages.
Set up an auto-reply for calls and texts that come in while you are out:
"Thanks for reaching out to (company). We are out for the holidays and back on January 2. If you are thinking about a remodel, reply with the room and your town and we will be in touch first thing in the new year to set up a planning visit."
That one text keeps a warm lead from moving on to the next contractor. The missed calls guide has more on follow-up timing.
Ask for reviews from this year's finished jobs
Every project you finished this year is a chance at a review, and December is a good time to ask. Clients are home, happy with the room, and often hosting in it. Remodelers have a median of 9 reviews in our data, and the top quarter starts at 31. A few more strong reviews before the January search wave can move you up the list. The review guide has the ask.
What this adds up to
Four weeks of small steps: photos, follow-ups, a booking offer and a holiday auto-reply. None of them take more than an afternoon. Together they mean that when a homeowner decides on December 26 that this is the year, your name is already in front of them.
If you want help setting up the follow-ups or the holiday auto-reply, any one service is part of the free 14-day trial, no card required. Text or call (385) 899-2246.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, general contractors and remodelers among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor