Thanksgiving week is one of the busiest of the year for many service companies. Customers want their homes ready before guests arrive, and then, on the Friday after the holiday, kitchen drains and garbage disposals fail across the country. Plumbers call it Brown Friday. Companies that plan staffing, hours and messages two weeks ahead turn the week into record revenue instead of chaos.
In this article
The calls that spike
- before the holiday: furnace tune-ups, water heater checks, house cleaning, gutter cleaning and small repairs before guests arrive;
- Thanksgiving Day: emergencies only, mostly drains, disposals and no-heat calls;
- Brown Friday: kitchen drains, garbage disposals, toilets and sewer lines;
- the weekend after: leftovers from Friday and early Christmas lighting jobs.
Fill the days before the holiday
Two weeks before, send a message to past customers: "Guests coming for Thanksgiving? Book your furnace tune-up or drain cleaning before the 25th." Those jobs fill Monday to Wednesday and prevent emergencies later.
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Staff for Brown Friday
Ask for volunteers early and pay a holiday bonus for Thursday and Friday shifts. Put your best drain technicians on Friday, plan a backup and keep the dispatcher or answering service ready from early morning.
Stock the trucks
Garbage disposals, augers, toilet parts, wax rings, igniters, flame sensors and filters. A second trip to the supply house on Brown Friday costs a job.
Holiday hours everywhere
Update special hours on Google, your website, voicemail and booking page. If you offer emergency service on Thanksgiving, say so clearly with the holiday rate.
Message your customers
- a tip list: what not to put down the disposal and how to avoid a clogged drain;
- your holiday hours and emergency number;
- a thank-you message after the holiday, with a review request.
Take care of the team
Rotate holiday shifts fairly, pay what you promised and give a day off the following week to those who worked Thursday and Friday.
An example
A plumbing and HVAC company in Texas sent a pre-holiday message to 4,200 customers, booked 160 tune-ups and drain cleanings before Thanksgiving and put five technicians on Brown Friday instead of two. It completed 61 jobs that Friday, its best day of the year, with no missed calls.
Common mistakes
Leaving the schedule to the last minute, one technician on Brown Friday, empty trucks, wrong holiday hours on Google and no message to past customers before the holiday.
Price every call so it pays.
We help service businesses set clear policies, book better jobs and turn more calls into profitable work.
Frequently asked questions
What is Brown Friday for plumbers?
Brown Friday is the nickname for the day after Thanksgiving, when many plumbing companies get their highest number of calls of the year. Grease, food scraps and extra guests overload kitchen drains, garbage disposals and toilets. Companies plan extra technicians, stock parts and offer an on-call schedule for that day.