Getting more referrals is a crucial part of a contractor business, but it’s not always easy to consistently get them. The truth is that there’s no sure-fire one method on how to get referrals, but a series of tips and techniques that will help you get more on a long term basis.
If anything, the “secret” to getting more referrals is to always be trying new things and not committing to a single method – even if that one method works, it will never get you the full range you could be reaching for.
But enough with the broad terms, let’s get down to specifics:
Improve your online presence
We’ve discussed this several times in the past and its importance cannot be overstated. Word-of-mouth is still useful even nowadays, as previous clients will recommend you to friends and family – but remember that the first thing they’ll do when they hear about you is to search for you on Google or Facebook.
This is where a good online presence really delivers: make sure your profile pages are updated with your contact information and most recent posts. But also make it a habit of checking your most recent reviews – having a series of positive reviews does wonders for you.
But even if you have a negative one, it’s important to reply to it publicly. Here are some tips on how to deal with negative reviews!
Ask clients to accept calls
As far as tips to get referrals go, this is one of the simpler and more obvious ones – but still very effective: whenever you’re at the final stages of a project, be sure to ask your clients if they could accept potential calls from other clients as a way to answer questions about your work. If you get someone who’s especially well-known in your local community, even better!
These people can put in a good word for you with everyone they know, which massively builds your reputation on a local scale.
Use quality photos and video
You can go a long way with well-taken pictures for Facebook and Instagram, so learning how to take better pictures with your phone is already a major step up. The same applies to videos if that’s something you feel comfortable doing!
But investing in professional photography is even better for special projects. For example, if you’re working on a particularly big project with an awesome result, you could hire a photographer to take pictures of the completed job for your website – the quality of the pictures speaks louder than words when potential clients see the love and care you put into presenting your brand and work online. It’s a small investment considering it will get referrals fast!
Use online surveys
Online surveys are extremely easy to set up with the likes of Google Forms and their usefulness extends to any part of your business.
These are most effective when directed at previous clients. Create an assembly of questions related to the quality of your service and customer experience, and ask customers to take a few minutes to answer. This will help you understand which are your strengths and where you need to dedicate your efforts for your next jobs.
But most importantly, you can also ask clients if they would refer you to others, and if not, why? Knowing this “why not” will be a game changer for your business, because now you will know exactly where to invest your time to get more referrals.
Nurture relationships with other pros
Competition is healthy, but cooperation is even better. Remember to create and nurture healthy relationships with other pros from your area and work in a referral network between you. Recommend them for clients that might need their services and they can do the same for you – not only is this healthy for both businesses, but these pros are definitely the best people you could ask for to speak highly of your business.
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