Holiday lighting: How to make this business-booster work

Looking for a better way to bolster year-end holiday season revenues while at the same time treating your customers to a good dose of holiday cheer? What better way is there to increase customer in-flow than the welcoming glow of holiday lights? The celebratory mood is infectious; it funnels goodwill into your company and everyone feels welcome.

We've always called holiday lights the "Siren Call of the Store Front," and for good reason. This simple holiday feature quickly signifies a business that has the optimism of the season and puts your customers and your employees in the holiday spirit as well. For anyone with a retail establishment or a service business, now is the time to take a no-holds-barred view of the economy, stand out from the crowd and make a marked improvement in your bottom line.

It might be easy to suggest a business simply install as many holiday decorations and lights as the budget allows. However, it makes more sense to take a line-item approach to illuminate November and December's seasonal spirit. Here are some suggestions:

Plan early: With careful planning, decorating your facilities for the holidays can increase your profitability. The holiday shopping season will start sooner than ever and you won't go wrong by investing the time to identify a qualified vendor and discuss what your budget will allow. It's important to get on your vendor's installation agenda sooner rather than later to avoid the headaches of simply fitting in to an already jam-packed installation schedule.

Demand safety and experience: Leave ladders to the professionals! Although it may seem cost-effective to do the job yourself, time and safety are two important factors to consider. Installing holiday lights can be dangerous. It's actually easy to fall off the ladder or roll off a roof as you're trying to save money, so precautions must be taken to do it right. Also, you need to be extra careful not to overload your circuits and start a fire. It takes lots of power to run thousands upon thousands of lights. Expect your vendor to perform a load test to determine the number of lights permitted per outlet. If necessary, take the time to install GFIs (ground fault interrupters) that trip and turn off the electricity in the event of a power outage or water in the lines. The holiday season is no place for an electrical horror story.

Maintain the investment: As soon as your display is complete, maintenance must become a top priority. Make sure the vendor is properly staffed to quickly attend to critical issues day or night. Making customers or guests negotiate a web of dangling lights is at best, tacky; at worst, it could mean a loss of business. Shoddy work speaks volumes to customers and should never become a component in your seasonal plan. If you've just invested the time and energy to installed white lights and wide red ribbons on all of your trees, the wind might very well have its way with your design. Get a guarantee your vendor will be there to repair and replace any issues. A timely response makes any holiday lighting team worth their weight in gold. Service is the keystone of quality.

Licensed and bonded: I can't stress the importance of ensuring you are protected in the wake of any unforeseen event. But what does that mean to you? Being licensed ensures that your service provider has been trained in the proper practices and regulations concerning his service. It also means the business can be held accountable if the regulations are not followed. If a company is bonded, it means that a bonding company has set aside money, controlled by the state and not the company, to pay in the event that the client files a claim against the company. Ideally, this should never happen, but diligence is the key to a good night's sleep. Don't forget to ask your vendor the tough questions.

Plan your visuals: Would pre-lit trees excite your inner Christmas elf? How about strings of bright twinkle lights to outline your building, or rope lights to brighten the entry? Choosing the light styles and colors is just one element to your overall package. Daytime decor such as garlands, pre-lit wreaths, trees and bows keep your audience captivated too. Lighting walkways and trees makes nighttime magic happen. Whether your business is in a mall or on main street, I suggest talking with your neighbors to see if partnering to deliver a stunning building-wide holiday experience makes sense.

You can even go green this season with LED technology. Energy-efficient and sturdy LED lights use only .04 watts per bulb or 1/100th the energy of traditional incandescent bulbs. When comparing your electricity bill to past lighting efforts, you'll quickly identify real savings in these green products. And these lights are incredibly strong and provide a solid vandal-resistant option.

The bottom line: Find a seasoned service provider with several years of holiday decor installation and maintenance under his or her collective belt. One who knows what products are available, is priced competitively, knows how to install them safely and securely, and most importantly, what design will best show off your business and holiday landscape based on the square footage involved in the project.

Reward your customers with a cheerful holiday experience. The results might be brighter than you expect.

Steven Fine is the community liaison for Reno Lawn & Landscape. You can reach him at steve@siglands.com.