7 Strategies to Win Referral and Repeat Business

There are plenty of reasons for businesses to prioritize repeat and referral business. For starters:

• It’s 5-25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.
• Repeat customers spend 67% more than those new to your business.
• Referred customers have a 16% higher lifetime value compared to others.

With statistics like these, it’s easy to understand the importance of encouraging current customers to hire you again and tell their friends to do the same. But how do you do it?

Read on for seven strategies to win referral and repeat business.

Table of contents

1. Provide excellent service
2. Ask for feedback
3. Keep in regular contact
4. Consider a subscription program
5. Offer incentives to repeat customers
6. Ask for referrals
7. Create a formal referral program

How to get referrals and repeat business

Referral and repeat business gives you a means of recurring revenue as well as opportunities for growth. Here are our tips for how to earn this kind of business.

1. Provide excellent service

This one might sound like a no-brainer, but we’re going to say it anyway: Wowing your customers with their current service experience makes it all the more likely they’ll want to repeat it.

In addition to hitting the basics of a job well done—completing it correctly, on time, and on budget—these other touches can take your service from great to stellar.

• Let your customer know in advance which service tech will be on-site. Share their name, photo, and contact information so your customer feels comfortable opening the door when your tech arrives.
• Over-communicate before, during, and after. Send a confirmation text the day before you arrive. Allow your customer to track their tech in real time the day of, so they know when to expect them. Follow up the next day to make sure everything went well.
• Reach customers on their terms. Did you know most 35 to 54-year-olds prefer text over any other form of communication? Texting allows customers to respond when convenient for them, and it provides everyone with a written record of your conversation.

2. Ask for feedback

After each visit from your team, invite your customers to share their feedback. Whether excellent or bleak, what they tell you about their experience presents an opportunity.

If they say your team was great, it opens the door for you to ask for a referral. If they have complaints, you can set things right and attempt to convince them to give you a second chance.

How you choose to solicit feedback is up to you. You can send a private survey or ask if your customer would be willing to write a public review.

Google makes it easy for businesses to create a link so customers can leave you a review with one click.

A review has the added benefit of acting as an immediate referral tool for your business. Nearly half of consumers say they feel an online review is as trustworthy as a personal recommendation from a friend, so they have the power to impact future readers’ purchase decisions.

3. Contact customers regularly

Even if someone had a great first experience with your business, they might not remember you 18 months from now when they could use your expertise again.

That’s why staying top-of-mind with past customers is essential. Not only does it remind them that you’re there to help them, but it also positions you to be the first service provider they think of when a friend or neighbor asks for a recommendation.

There are several tactics businesses can use to stay on customers’ radar screens.

• Set a cadence for email outreach. Whether it’s a monthly newsletter, a quarterly check-in, or something in between, make a point of appearing in customers’ inboxes regularly.
• Use social media. The average person spends 2.5 hours on social media daily. Posting informative, educational content lets you stay in people’s feeds (and on their minds). It’s also a great way to generate leads.
• Participate in your community. Create a solid brand identity—including an instantly recognizable name and logo—and become a regular fixture at community events. The more people see your business around town, the more they come to know, like, and trust you.

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4. Consider a subscription program

This won’t be the right fit for every business, but some home service businesses lend themselves to subscription offerings.

If your business offers regular maintenance as part of its service, a subscription program might suit you. For example, an HVAC company can create an annual subscription that includes two cleaning services plus priority access to your team when an emergency need arises. (See our free service contract templates too!). A landscaping business can establish a subscription for weekly lawn care during the warmer months.

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Subscription programs can be convenient for your customers as they no longer need to remember to book services. They’re also excellent for your business because they create guaranteed recurring revenue.

5. Offer incentives to repeat customers

Don’t think you can only use discounts to lure new leads. Existing customers want to feel appreciated, too!

How you choose to structure those thank-you offers is up to you. Some ideas include:

• Send new customers a discount code immediately after their first service. This encourages them to return to you next time, which can be the cherry on top of an already stellar customer experience.
• Send a discount offer to customers you haven’t seen in a while. A “we miss you” discount can sometimes remind a past client that they enjoyed working with you the first time.
• Create a loyalty program. Again, this won’t be the right fit for every business. But a company that offers regular maintenance service can structure a loyalty program to offer every Nth visit at a discounted rate.

Some businesses create a page on their websites for special offers available to all customers. Image source

6. Ask for referrals

Sometimes, the best way to get something you want is to ask for it. After someone has expressed that they’re happy with your service, follow up to see if they’d be willing to refer you to friends and neighbors!

Being so direct can feel intimidating or vulnerable, just remember to keep your ask simple and sincere. (If you need help drafting your email, this is one of those places where a generative AI tool like ChatGPT can come in handy!)

You can automate referral requests with Hatch.

7. Create a formal referral program

If you want to take things a step further, you can establish a formal program to encourage referrals.

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You’ve likely seen other service-based businesses use this sales technique. They offer current customers a discount on their next service when they refer a friend. Sometimes, they also extend a discount to the new customer to sweeten the deal for all parties involved.

Formalizing the referral process can encourage your customers to remember your name the next time a neighbor or friend asks for a recommendation.

Referral and repeat business for the win

While there’s certainly great value in seeking out new leads and customers, it’s also worth remembering that there’s a lot of potential value among the customers you already know.

Cultivating repeat and referral business can go a long way toward strengthening your revenue, boosting your pipeline, and ensuring the long-term health of your business. When looking for ways to engage existing customers, keep these seven referral strategies in mind:

1. Provide excellent service
2. Ask for feedback
3. Keep in regular contact
4. Consider a subscription program
5. Offer incentives to repeat customers
6. Ask for referrals
7. Create a formal referral program