Sixty houses, lit by Thanksgiving.
Some of your customers want their lights on by Thanksgiving weekend, the rest by the first week of December, and every one of them needs a takedown in January. Redline shows you how full each install week is, books the takedown the moment you book the install, and fits outage calls in by town.
Laying out an install season
Set crews for the season
On Team and up, group each crew for the day and pick "until undone", so the same people stay on one truck through December without regrouping every morning.
Space installs to the house
A ranch with a simple roofline isn't a three-story with peaks and wrapped trees. Leave room after the big ones when you book, so the day matches what a crew can actually hang.
Book the takedown at the same time
"Install Nov 17 at 8, takedown Jan 5." One message, two visits on the job. Nobody gets forgotten in January because their takedown was never on the calendar.
Watch the deadline weeks
Ask how full the week before Thanksgiving is. If it's packed, offer the next customer the first week of December, or book them early in November and tell them why.
Slot outage calls by town
A dead section of roofline in December is a short visit. Ask for a time and Redline offers slots on days a crew is already working in that town.
Early November, still selling
Installs booked: 14 this week, 18 the week of Nov 16, 6 the week of Nov 23 (Monday to Wednesday). Marco's crew has Monday, Nov 23 open and is in Wellesley on Tuesday the 24th.
Put the four Wellesley houses on Marco's crew Monday the 23rd?
Booked Monday, Nov 23: Whitman 8:00, Ames 10:00, Bianchi 1:00, Rourke 3:00, all on Marco's crew. Takedowns booked Tuesday, Jan 5 at the same times.
Booking by chat works on every plan. Crews and the dispatch board are on Team ($129 a month) and up.
The lighting year on the calendar
| Visit | When | How to book it |
|---|---|---|
| Measure or design visit | Late summer and fall | A single visit, photos of the house on the job |
| Install | November to early December | A visit, spaced for the size of the house |
| Takedown | January | Booked in the same message as the install |
| Outage or repair call | December | A single visit, slotted by town |
| Next year's install | Following fall | A 12-month series for customers on a multi-year plan, or booked at renewal |
Note on each job whether the lights are the customer's or yours and the storage bin number, so the takedown crew knows where everything goes.
The season is a capacity problem
Holiday lighting has one of the strangest calendars in the trades. Ten weeks of installs, a few weeks of service calls, a few weeks of takedowns, and then most of the year with no trucks out at all. Every install day you lose in November is a house you can't fit in before the date the customer cares about.
So the useful question all fall is how full each week is. Redline answers it from the calendar when you ask, crew by crew if you've grouped them, and it puts each new install on a day that crew is already in that town. Rain or ice on a roof is your call; when you make it, one message moves the day.
Takedowns are the quiet risk. They're booked months after the sale, often after the crew has gone back to other work. Booking them in the same message as the install is the simplest way to make sure January has every house on it.
Straight answers on holiday lighting scheduling
Redline does
- Book install and takedown in one message
- Tell you how full each install week is
- Keep crews grouped on one truck for the season (Team and up)
- Offer outage call slots on days you're already in that town
- Move a rained-out day in one message
Redline doesn't
- Know how many houses a crew can hang in a day
- Let customers pick their own install date online
- Text customers that the crew is coming tomorrow
- Track light inventory or what's in each storage bin
- Watch the weather and move jobs on its own
Questions contractors ask
How do renewals and deposits fit with this?
Renewals are the sales side: last year's customers, re-quoted with a deposit. That's on the Christmas light installation software page. This page picks up once they've said yes.
Can a customer move their takedown?
Yes. Each visit moves on its own, so moving the takedown doesn't touch the install, and the reverse. Say the new date in chat or drag it on the calendar.
Do I need Team for one crew?
No. If you run the only crew, Free covers the calendar and booking. Team at $129 a month (3 seats, owner included) adds the dispatch board, the crew app and grouping. Team+ at $299 has 10 seats. See pricing.
Will my crew see the design for each house?
On Team and up, the crew app shows the job's checklist and office notes. Attach the design photo to the job and write what goes where in the notes, so the crew hangs what was sold.
More for holiday lighting
- Holiday lighting softwareThe whole lighting workflow in Redline
- Christmas light installation softwareRenewals and deposits
- Holiday lighting invoice templateFree, with install, takedown and storage
- Crew dispatch and tech appGrouping crews for the season
- Job profit calculatorWhat a house makes after lights and labor
Keep reading
- Holiday lighting softwareRenew last year's houses, take early deposits, book install and takedown.
- Christmas light installation softwareRenew last year's houses, collect deposits early, book install and takedown.
- Christmas light estimate appRoofline by the foot, trees and shrubs each, three design levels and a deposit.
- Scheduling and calendarAsk for a time, get the 3 best open slots. Optimize tightens the week.
Run your business by chat.
Redline is free to start. Tell it about the job and it handles the quote, the schedule, the invoice and the follow-up.