How do I judge how many holiday lighting customers rebook each November?

Start with the customer list itself. Ask for every install and takedown invoice, with dates and addresses, across as many seasons as the seller can supply. Sort by customer and mark who returned, who skipped a year and who vanished. A tidy list of loyal names is only useful if the invoices back it up.

Then ask why people left. Some move house, some cut back on decorations, some were unhappy with a late install or a bulb that failed in December. A seller who can name the reasons usually knows the customers well. A seller who shrugs may not. Look at how rebooking happens. Do clients get a reminder from the business in late summer, or do they phone on their own? Are prices and designs carried over automatically, or renegotiated each year? Automatic renewals and deposits paid early are stronger signals than a verbal "see you next year".

Finally, check how much the repeat base depends on the owner’s personal relationship with homeowners and commercial property managers. If the owner always handles the quote, ask who else could, and whether past customers would accept a new face on the doorstep.

Key takeaways

• Judge rebooking from invoices by customer and season, not from the seller’s memory.
• Ask why former customers stopped and how renewals are triggered each year.
• Test how much repeat business depends on the current owner personally.