5 Strategies for Landing More Referrals

Ask any in-home salesperson to identify their preferred lead source, and the answer is almost always the same: referrals. The most effective referral programs for construction companies incentivize every lead—whether sold or not—provided that lead is a homeowner or business manager that can use your product and will listen to your presentation. An additional incentive or bonus should be added if the lead is sold. 

Remember, you have invested a significant amount of time and money in lead generation efforts. Bringing your referral program up to date will help to maximize revenue from each customer. 

Here are five tactics to modernize your company’s referral program and increase your referral numbers: 

1 | Train your sales representatives to introduce referrals during each presentation.

With proper scripting, your customers will want to help the salesperson, your company and themselves. Coach your salespeople to present the referral program to unsold leads and offer a “leave-behind” information sheet with homeowners. 

2 | Ask new customers for four or five prospects after the completion of their project.

This step can be part of any exit survey you do at the completion of a job and can include family, friends, coworkers and neighbors, among others. 

3 | Extend your referral program perks to all employees.

Get creative with incentives, and reward employees (and customers) who refer multiple people with higher-value offerings such as gift cards, technological products, discounts on future projects and more.

4 | Incorporate automated email, text campaigns and social media messaging to follow up with former customers for referrals.

These messages should go out on a regular schedule, often at 30-, 60- and 90-day intervals, and remind customers of the benefits of your referral program. Additionally, create a dedicated landing page on your website where your former customers can quickly refer someone. 

5 | Monitor the successes and failures of your referrals as you would any other lead source.

These should be tracked regularly so any changes or patterns can be noted and addressed. 

In our experience, your program is working if the number of referrals you receive increases on a month-to-month basis. Create monthly, quarterly and annual incentives for sales reps who bring in the most referral leads.