How Do You Get More Referrals From Past Customers?

Your next 10 jobs are already in your phone.

They're in the contact list you've built 1 job at a time. Do 40 jobs a year for 5 years and that's 200 homeowners who paid you, loved the work, and told you so. And most of them haven't heard from you since the day you loaded the truck and drove off.

Every one of those people has a neighbor, a sister, or a coworker who'll need a contractor this year. When that moment comes, they'll recommend whoever they remember. If you've been silent for 2 years, that isn't you.

Most contractors don't have a referral problem. They have a "never talked to them again" problem.

You get more referrals from past customers by asking when they're happiest, giving them something easy to share, and staying in touch through the year so you're the name they remember when a friend asks. These are the cheapest jobs you'll ever book. No ads, no bidding against 4 other contractors, and a customer who trusts you before you ever knock on the door. Below is when to ask, what to say, what to offer, and a simple schedule that keeps the referrals coming.

Referrals you wait for are luck

I've written before that a business built only on referrals is a problem. I still believe that. When referrals are your only source of work, you don't control when the phone rings.

Now, I don't think that means you should ignore referrals. It means you should stop waiting for them.

There are 2 kinds of referrals. The first kind happens when a happy customer remembers you on their own, at the exact moment a friend needs your trade. That's luck. The second kind happens because you asked, gave them a reason to share, and stayed in front of them. That's a system.

The system is what this post is about.

Ask when they're happiest

The best moment to ask is the same moment you'd ask for a Google review: the final walk-through, when the job is done and the customer is standing in their new kitchen or looking at their new roof. They'll never like you more than they do right then.

Ask for the review first. Then ask for the referral:

"I'm glad you're happy with it. Most of our work comes from people like you telling a friend. If you know anyone who needs [your trade], would you send them my way? Here are a couple of my cards."

That's it. Hand them 2 cards, not 1. One for their fridge and one to give away.

Notice what that ask does. It tells them referrals matter to your business, it names your trade so they know what to listen for, and it puts something physical in their hand. "Let me know if you know anyone" does none of that.

If you have a review routine already, add this to it. If you don't, start with reviews, because a referral who looks you up and finds 12 reviews from 2022 might not call.

Give them something easy to share

People want to help you. They don't want to do work to help you. So give them something they can forward with 1 tap.

The easiest version is an offer. Text or email your past customers an offer, say 5% or 10% off their next job, and tell them they can share it with friends and family:

"Hey [name], it's [your name] with [company]. Thanks again for letting us work on your [job] last year. We're booking [season] work now. Here's 10% off your next job, and feel free to pass it along to friends or neighbors who need [your trade]."

You'll be surprised how many people needed that nudge. Some book again themselves. Some forward it to a friend down the street. And some post it in their neighborhood Facebook group, which puts your offer in front of a whole neighborhood that already trusts the person sharing it.

That last one is worth thinking about. A post from a neighbor in a local group carries more weight than any ad you could buy, and it costs you nothing until someone books.

Stay in touch all year

One ask at the end of the job isn't enough. Life moves on, and in 6 months they've forgotten your company name. Staying in touch fixes that.

You don't need a newsletter or anything fancy. A few well-timed messages a year do the job:

• 1 week after the job: a thank-you and a review request, if they haven't left one.
• 1 to 2 months later: a quick check-in. "How's the new deck holding up?" This one isn't selling anything, which is why people remember it.
• Before your busy season: an offer like the one above, timed to when people think about your trade. Spring for outdoor work, fall for heating, early winter for interior projects.
• On the job anniversary or the holidays: a short card or message. Almost nobody else they've hired does this.

Text gets read faster, but only text customers who've agreed to receive texts from you, usually through a line in your contract or a checkbox on your form. Email works for everyone else.

Win the street you're already working on

The neighbors are watching every day you're on a job. They see your truck every morning, they hear the saw, and they walk past on their evening stroll. Plenty of them are wondering what it's going to look like and what it cost.

Use that:

• Put up a yard sign, with the homeowner's permission, while you work and for a week or 2 after.
• Leave a door hanger on the 10 houses around the job: "We're working at your neighbor's house this week. Sorry for the noise. If you've been thinking about [your trade], we're right next door."
• Ask your customer if you can show the finished work to a neighbor who's curious. A neighbor seeing the real thing in person sells better than any photo.

The best part is that these neighbors already have proof. They watched you show up on time and clean up every day.

Thank every referral, every time

When someone sends you a customer, call them and thank them. Not a form email. A call. It takes 2 minutes, and it's the reason they'll send the next one.

Then decide on a thank-you that fits your work. A $50 restaurant gift card is a nice thank-you for a repair job. A remodeler finishing a $60,000 kitchen might send something bigger. Credit toward their next job works too, and it brings them back as a customer.

A few rules to keep it clean:

• Ask every new customer how they heard about you, and write it down. You can't thank a referral you don't know about.
• Thank them whether or not the job closes. They did their part. Reward the referral, not the sale.
• Be careful on insurance jobs. In Texas, a contractor can't waive, rebate, or absorb a homeowner's insurance deductible, and a credit to the homeowner on an insurance-paid job can look like exactly that. Keep referral rewards separate from any claim, and if you work a lot of insurance jobs, run your program by an attorney.

Want past customers bringing you jobs without you remembering to ask?

All of this works. The hard part is doing it for every customer, every season, while you're running jobs. That's where most contractors stop.

That's what our managed marketing system for contractors handles. We send review requests for you after every job, and we send offers to your past customers on your behalf throughout the year, the kind they can book again from or pass along to a friend. You keep doing the work. Your past customers keep hearing from you.

So here's my question. How many people in your phone would hire you again tomorrow, and when did they last hear from you?

Want to put that list to work? Book a call and I'll show you how it works.