In the home improvement industry, there’s no stronger way to generate leads than through referrals. Getting referrals is all about nurturing your clients, improving customer satisfaction, and getting them to spread the word about your services.
The best part? Referrals are the lowest-cost way to advertise your home improvement services. Real customer recommendations are more persuasive than any paid marketing campaign is. What’s more trustworthy than the opinion of your friends or family?
In this article, we’ll go over our 7 top tips home improvement pros can use to get more referrals.
1. Improve your customer satisfaction
We can’t stress the importance of customer satisfaction enough. As intuitive as it may sound, giving your customers something to rave about is probably the most important factor in supporting your referral pipeline. That means your home improvement business and your sales pros need to be intentional about exceeding the expectations of your customers. That means being positive and excited about your client’s home improvement, making the process as seamless as possible for them, and communicating thoroughly and efficiently throughout.
2. Nurture clients after the work is done
The job is not done even when the project is. Once you’ve successfully completed a project for your clients, follow up and check in with your client regularly to see how they’re doing and how your work is holding up in their homes. This attention to detail and basic communication tells your old clients that you care and keep you top of mind. That way, when someone in their network is in need of your services, they’re more likely to recommend your business over the next guy’s. Additionally, don’t be afraid to nurture your lost leads, too. At conXpros, we strongly believe that every lead has value, even your lost ones.
3. Use company swag to build brand awareness
Your business could be the best on the market, but if you don’t have brand awareness, you won’t get as many leads as the next business. You can easily create awareness of your business by using promotional materials in your day-to-day processes. For example, if you newly painted your client’s house or built them a new patio, use a bright yard sign to show onlookers that the work comes from your business. This is a simple but brilliant way to get more people talking about YOUR business and ultimately drive more referrals. Give your clients some of this swag so you stay topical with them. Here are some great promo materials you can share with your network and your clients:
- Banners
- Pens
- Business cards
- Signage
- T-shirts, bags, household items
4. Network with other home improvement pros
Sometimes projects don’t fully fall under your scope of expertise. That’s OK because it gives you an opportunity to promote the services of other high-quality home improvement pros in your network! Promoting your peers is a worthy investment of your time because it demonstrates to your client that you are knowledgeable and solutions-oriented, but it also encourages other professionals to put in a good word for you. If you want more referrals, then pay it forward.
5. Create organic content with other pros
Got a high-value podcast, blog, or social media presence? Or maybe you do webinars here or there. Great! That’s an awesome opportunity to connect with your peers in the home improvement space and ask them to collaborate with you in creating helpful, organic content for both of your client bases. What this does is build brand awareness for both of your audiences, opening the door to more exposure, and ultimately more referrals!
6. Incentivize referrals with promotions
Getting referrals is about give and take. If you want more referrals, you can incentivize your past and current clients to pay it forward by offering them some kind of promotion. A referral management system is an excellent way to build a steady pipeline of referrals. You can leverage your current emails to promote a future discount or credits in exchange for a referral, or even use a lottery system to reward clients who spread the word about your business. There are endless ways you can encourage your clients to give you referrals, but the important notion is to give them value in return!
7. ASK!
Those who don’t ask, don’t get! Even if your work speaks for itself, don’t wait for it to do the talking. If you feel you’ve provided high-quality work for your clients and clearly see that they are satisfied, don’t be afraid to ask them for a referral. This is the most tried and true method for generating referrals, and you’d be surprised how many home improvement pros don’t do this! Not sure when the right moment to ask is? Read our other blog by our CEO & Founder, Ari Greenbaum, to learn the art of asking for a referral.
In the words of our founder, Ari, there is no perfect formula for referrals and how to successfully get them. But the best approach is the one you do actionably on a regular basis. It takes time and effort, but leveraging any of these 7 tactics for generating referrals is an excellent way to support your home improvement business’s growth.
For more home improvement sales tips, check out our Sales Tip Center. And if you’re looking for more leads, check out this page to learn how conXpros can help!