How some moving companies thrive in a housing market crisis

It’s not just you. The housing market isn’t kind to moving companies all over America. The National Association of Realtors reports that home sales went down by 4.2% and the average home price went up by 3.1% compared to last year (2023).

But there are some moving companies that are surviving and thriving in this crisis. Here’s what you can learn from them.

1. Thriving movers make every lead count

If you’re in a tough season and you’re not getting as many leads as before, you can’t afford to miss out on the ones you are getting.

Many small movers struggle because they don’t have a repeatable process for following up with leads and booking them. It’s not enough to simply send a quote and stop there. You can’t forget to follow up on time, either. By the time you do, the lead has gone to another moving company.

But when you treat every lead with care and have the best sales process in place, you’ll book most of them. You’ll also get predictable business throughout the year instead of only relying on summer peak seasons.

Adam French (the owner of Adam's Moving & Delivery) is living proof. He started seeing a 50+% closing ratio in a muted peak season. He did it by revamping his sales processes, using automation, and having strong follow-ups.

Here are some practical ways you can thrive like Adam.

1. Prepare a first-call script with standard questions

Having standard questions gives you a repeatable process to follow and helps you meet each lead where they are. When you get a lead, you might ask opening questions like: “Have you moved before?” and “What are you most worried about?” to figure out what their needs are.

For example, if your lead is a first-time mover, you might let them know you’ll be there for them and send them a helpful guide to help them prepare. But if your lead moved before but didn’t have a great experience, you might ask them what they didn’t like and tell them how you’ll do better.

We suggest you write down your first-call script and share it with your team. That way, they can handle leads with a process that works, and you get more time to do other things. It also means you won’t have to train everyone one-on-one.‍

You can learn more about building great sales processes in The Modern Sales Playbook. Our experts wrote it for movers like you.

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2. Set up your follow-up process

Sometimes you follow up sporadically because you’re busy juggling every part of your business. But according to industry research in moving, 55% of Americans expect a response to their initial inquiry within a few hours, with the majority expecting it within an hour. If they don’t get it, they’re gone.

Here’s how you can follow up with leads quickly and consistently — even if you don’t have the time.

First, decide when will you follow up with leads and why. For example:

• Send a first email that goes out as soon as the lead requests a quote on your website
• Send another email after you give them a quote
• Send another reminder email 24 hours later
• Send another email a week after that

Then, write your template follow-up messages. They make this process repeatable. Here’s an example of a template you might send right after the lead requests a quote on your website:

*Hi {CONTACT_FIRST_NAME},*

*Thank you for reaching out to {COMPANY_NAME}. We have received your inquiry, and are busy preparing your quote to share with you soon.*

*Moving can be quite the ordeal, we get it! That's why our team is here to make it as stress-free as possible for you.*

*Our friendly and knowledgeable team will walk you through every step and provide top-notch moving services tailored to your needs.*

*Thanks for thinking of us. We look forward to hearing from you!*

*Thank you,*

*{COMPANY_NAME}*

*{COMPANY_PHONE_NUMBER}*

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“We are sending personalized messages (to our customers) and we have some templates in the library. I started doing this at the end of July and our engagement has gone through the roof.”

- Adam French, Owner of Adam's Moving & Delivery in Seattle

3. Use automation tools

We suggest investing in automation tools to make this process easy and free up your time. They can send follow-up messages for you, even when leads come in late or when you’re too busy to follow up personally.

There are many tools out there, but Supermove is built for movers. You can use our Automations feature to automate repetitive tasks and follow-ups. Check out this series of videos to see how it works.

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2. Thriving movers know their cost vs profit

Many small movers price their moves by only looking at what competitors charge. This is a big mistake.

Knowing what others charge is important, but if you don’t consider your cost of business (like your crew’s time, trucks, etc.), as well as competitors’ service, you don’t know whether your business is profitable.

Maybe your price is actually more competitive because you offer more to customers. Maybe your competitor has a lower cost because they charge additionally for boxes. You have to know these things. Here’s how.

1. Analyze your costs of doing business

Do an inventory of all your expenses, like:

• Labor: How much do you pay your crew
• Trucks: Maintenance and fuel costs
• Marketing and advertising costs
• Overhead: Rent and utilities
• Other expenses
• Your total cost

2. Do a deeper competitive analysis

Don’t just look at your competitors’ prices, go deeper. Call your local moving companies to see:

• What’s their range of prices — and what services come with that?
• What are their packages? What’s included?
• How do they invoice you? What’s included in that invoice?
• How are they asking for what services you need?
• What questions do they ask?
• Do they have a (sales) playbook?
• Would you book a move with them?

This helps you set profitable prices that not only cover your costs but also match your superior service.

‍3. Adjust your business to improve profit margins

When you know your costs and the market, you can make better decisions to improve your profits. This can mean raising your prices, changing how you package your moves, increasing your volume, cutting costs — or a little bit of everything.

For example, if you need 50 jobs this month to stay profitable but you’re not booking enough leads, then it might be time to improve your sales processes. The Modern Sales Playbook can help you.

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TIP: You should be able to use your moving software to track and improve your profit margins.

For example, Supermove lets you see your costs and revenue for each job. You can easily spot opportunities to cut costs or adjust your pricing to improve your profit margins. Check out how it works in this video.

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3. Thriving movers think long-term

The mortgage rates will go down. The economy will get better. We’re already seeing the signs. According to Freddie Mac — the main industry source that kept records since 1971 — the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage has dropped to 6.09% as of 09/19/2024.

There’s more encouraging news. Realtor.com rounded up key players: the Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae, and Wells Fargo. By Q4 2025, Fannie Mae expects the mortgage rate will average out at 6.2%. The MBA expects 6.0%, while Wells Fargo forecasts 5.9%.

By the time a stronger peak season happens next year, you want to be prepared for it. Now you can afford the time to ask yourself:

• Are you generating enough leads?
• Are your profit margins healthy?
• Do you need a better sales process?
• Which repetitive tasks take too much of your team’s time — and what will you automate?
• Where can you get better?

Use this off-season to invest in the right infrastructure and tools. Adopt them, get used to them, and become great at them. Moving companies like Matt’s Moving did just that.

But just because you’re preparing for the next peak season doesn’t mean you should ignore the off-season. There’s still a lot of business to be made. Can you diversify your business lines, or serve a different customer base so you can generate revenue throughout the year? Take it from Stephan Lowy who diversified his revenue to survive and thrive in the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic.

“Our strength is in diversification. We were prepared for this as we have been for the last 7 recessions we have seen. It's much easier to offer your existing clients more quality services & products than it is to find new clients. We have been successful growing with this strategy.”

- Stephan Lowy, CEO at Lowy's Moving Service

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Final thoughts

Today, many small movers are barely keeping their heads above the water. But with a few big improvements to your internal processes and infrastructure, you could be set up for growth similar to Adam’s Moving, Matt’s Moving, and Lowy’s Moving Service mentioned in this article.

The savviest business owners will make incremental changes. You can start by getting a free sales audit to improve your sales process and book more leads.