How do you get referrals from other businesses?
Find a few businesses that serve the same customers as you without competing, such as a painter and a flooring installer, and ask plainly whether sending work both ways would help. Make it easy for them: one short line about what you do and one link to pass on. Send good work back when it fits. Record every referral with the source channel referral and the partner's name, so you can see which partnerships bring jobs.
Who makes a good partner
- A business your customers often hire just before or just after you, such as a roofer and a gutter cleaner.
- Someone whose work you have seen and would recommend to a friend, because a referral reflects on both of you.
- A business with a similar kind of customer and a similar standard of service.
- Not a direct competitor, and not someone who would feel uneasy sending you work.
How to approach them
Start with businesses you already know, or ones your customers already mention. A short, direct message or a visit usually works better than a pitch: say who you are, what kind of customer you serve, and that you would be glad to send them work when it fits.
Ask what kind of job they would most like to be sent, and what they would rather not get. One or two partners who really send work are often worth more than a long list of names.
Make it easy to refer you
- One short line they can repeat, such as: "For drainage work, call [your business]. I would trust them with it."
- One link to send: the page on your website about the service they would refer, rather than your home page.
- A simple hand-over: they give the customer your number, or pass on the customer's details only with the customer's okay. Call or text a referred person only with the person's consent.
- A word on what happens next, so they know their customer will be looked after.
Return the favor and say thanks
Send partners work when it fits, and only when you would use them yourself. Tell them when a referral turned into a job; the related answer on referral programs covers thanking people.
If a partner gets anything in return and mentions you in public, the related answer on referral programs covers disclosure. If you work in a licensed field, ask your licensing board whether referral payments are allowed before paying or accepting any.
Record every referral
Record each one as a referral with the partner's name, as the related answer on setting up a simple lead tracker describes; after a few months it shows which partnerships bring work you win.
Related answers
- How do you set up a simple lead tracker?
- Should a small business have a referral program?
- What should you do with a lead you cannot serve?
- How can a small business get leads without paying for ads?
Lead systems and lead tracking
A lead that waits a day goes cold, and a lead with no source teaches you nothing. Ascent Vision fixes both.