June 10, 2021

How Can Trades Businesses Effectively Generate Referrals?

A steady stream of income only happens with a steady stream of work. Having jobs coming in as much as they are being completed, is crucial to the stability of your business. In both the short AND long-term. The best way to make this happen? Word-of-mouth. As simple as it sounds, referrals are what keeps the jobs coming in and your business booming. Below we’ve outlined a few key ways you can get more referrals.

Tip: Make sure you check the end of this article for a link to an online To-Do List you can use to help you with this.

Use Social Media

Some tradies loathe it, others thrive on it. Whatever your feelings are towards social media, it is one of the most important marketing avenues for any business these days. People often check Facebook and Instagram to see what a business has to offer before they call. Many people simply ask friends, family, and others in their community for referrals through these platforms. People want to hire businesses that are recommended by someone they know, even online, so this can help generate interest from potential clients. By having social media accounts that are updated regularly and participate in these online communities, you are much more likely to get more referrals.

Make Flyers

This method of generating referrals is tried and true. It is one of the more inexpensive ways to get word out about your business, and just simply effective. Flyers can take many shapes and forms but they key point that should be stressed is appearance.

Make sure your flyer:

can easily grab someone’s attention
clearly shows what your business is about
include a nice graphic, possibly a picture (or two) of your work
is easy to read
displays clearly who to call and how
includes what your business can offer

Anything more you can do to grab people’s attention, like offering a discount on the flyer, will only improve your likelihood of getting more referrals.

Create a Website

What is the first thing you do these days when you’re looking for a product or service? You certainly don’t reach for the white pages in the cupboard next to the home phone. The first thing that people do before hiring a business is search for the service or product online. If you don’t have a website, people will often skip over you and choose someone who does.

The website provides you with:

Visibility
Legitimacy and;
A platform, to convey the most useful bits of information about your business

It gives you the scope:

to explain all the services you offer
showcase your prior work with images and reviews
as well as, explain a little about yourself as a business owner
to link your social media pages to it

In Summary

Generate referrals by:

Using social media effectively
Making and distributing flyers
Having a great website

All these avenues work together to build trust in you and your business, giving customers confidence that they can rely on you to get the job done. They can also effectively integrate with one another so that your business presents professionally with a sense of cohesion, which makes it much easier to generate referrals. Not just from other customers, but through your local community and other businesses too!

Your To-Do List

Save or print this list

Social Media:

Set up social media accounts on: Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, and/or Pinterest
Build a portfolio of media that can be used to create content to post on your business social media accounts
Create relevant and interesting content that can be posted on your business accounts – this can include samples of your work, reviews from past clients, updates to services, specials on offer
Create a regular automated schedule for posting on your business’s social media platforms
Encourage clients, friends, and family to like, share, and comment on your posts
Join related business and community groups and/or pages on all social media platforms
Be an active member of these online groups and/or pages e.g. comment regularly, share their posts, post your own content in the group
Review available data from social media platforms to see what does and doesn’t work for your business – making adjustments as needed

Flyers/hardcopy marketing:

Review current hardcopy marketing materials to see if they meet the suggestions outlined in the above article
Revise marketing materials as needed (a graphic designer or copywriter may be helpful here)
Create a process to create, distribute, and monitor the success of your hardcopy marketing campaigns
Plan schedule and budget for long-term hardcopy marketing campaigns – being mindful of important dates relevant to your business e.g. air-conditioning services before summer hits

Website:

**most of these can apply to creating a website or reviewing an existing one

Make sure your website has appropriate pages to market your business effectively e.g. About Us, Our Services, Pricing, Reviews/Previous Work, Contact Us, News, etc.
Ensure your website is aesthetically pleasing, professional, and appropriate for your trade (you probably know yourself that old/dated, strange, or poor looking websites can easily turn people off)
Ensure your website is user friendly and can be clearly navigated by potential and returning customers
Have up to date images, video, and written content on all pages
Create a schedule and set up a process to regularly refresh images, video, and written content on all pages
Have links to all social media accounts visible on all pages of your site
Have links to your website on all social media accounts
Set up all pages and content within your pages i.e. images and articles, with key terms that will make your site easier to find on Google
Include a photo of you and/or your team in the ‘About Us’ page WITH some information to make your business more personal and build trust with customers
List all the services your business offers in your ‘Our Services’ section in easy to understand terms so your customer is not overwhelmed by technical information
Outline the customer onboarding process in your ‘Our Services’ section so customers clearly understand what to expect when working with your business
Gather reviews from previous customers into one document and have them available for potential customers to read on your site
Gather past or take new photos and videos from jobs
Keep photos/videos in one place so they can be used in your reviews, on your ‘news’ section of your site, or as an example of services
Check your contact details are correct in your ‘Contact Us’ section
Get customers and others to review your ‘Contact Us’ section to ensure it is clear and direct so customers understand how to get in contact and gathers the relevant information you need to best help a customer
Include a ‘News’ or ‘Blog’ section on your site for updates or important information and frequently update it
Set up an automated email service so customers can be informed of your news and important information

June 10, 2021

How Can Trades Businesses Effectively Generate Referrals?

Use Social Media

Make Flyers

Create a Website

In Summary

Your To-Do List

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