Building Referrals: Guide for Tradies

Knowing How to Grow Your Business

The “word of mouth” source of business appears elusive to many but remains highly valued across all practices and industries. As referrals are one of the best sources of clients and business, it is best for tradies to understand how best to establish such program. Here are key factors in building referrals for your business.

Reaching Out to Customers

Often, clients feel a higher level of comfort given fewer degrees of separation between them and the tradie. In a nutshell, people are more comfortable working with a person recommended by someone they know or trust than simply those found on Yellow pages – or at the very least, clients are more comfortable working with a tradie many people put in a good word personally or online.

More importantly, having a good referral system saves you time and marketing costs. Basic steps in working out your referral system include:

1. Determine/list down qualified referral sources.
2. Adopt a long-term approach focusing on relationships.
3. Learn more about needs and motives.
4. Build an industry group.
5. Take care of your referral sources.

Third-party endorsements are powerful offering you high marketing value. Take note of the following sections discussing more ways on creating and maintaining a good referral network.

Work Your Existing Customer Base

Your existing clients can be the best source of referrals. If you have done a good job then chances are they will likely recommend you to people they know. However, more than just trusting your clients to recommend you, it is also possible to encourage referrals more. For instance, offer discounts or rewards to clients who can refer a friend or family. Give 10% discount or similar offer to your next service. You can also do a double deal for clients and people they know if they ask you to work on both their projects. Add more rewards or privileges to those who can bring more regular customers. This should encourage workflow and business repeatedly.

Tap Into Social Media

In a report by Shareaholic, figures revealed that social media remains the top driver of all referral traffic to websites. Since December 2014, around 31.24% of referral traffic came from social media platforms, this is quite a growth rate considering in 2013, social media referral traffic only accounted for 22.71%. This gives you a good opportunity to tap into social media to draw more attention to your business.

Home purchase is not done on a whim. It is one of the most important purchases people have to make thus prospects should be nurtured over a course of period. Using Facebook to reach out to customers and encourage engagement is one of the best ways to build referrals. Testimonials and review from your previous clients can help build your customer base on Facebook.

Facebook also has its limits when bringing people to you. You cannot bombard followers with so many posts regardless if you have been recommended to them. Twitter allows you to emphasize your business without bearing down too much on your prospects. You can put up multiple posts to remind people that you have business to share.

Build A strong Online Profile As A Recommended Business

More than social media, you can build more credibility and integrity by building a strong online preference. More than just creating your website, you should also network with other reputable sources online. One way is to be part of a professional listing with enough credibility. For instance, Tradebusters Connect offers a group of professionals that has years of experience and achievements under their belts. Being part of a network reinforces the idea to your prospective customers that you know what you are doing and that other people in your field have recognized this as well.