How Client Referrals Can Boost Your Construction Business

In this episode we talk about the power of client referrals and how it can be a game-changer for your construction business, helping you build trust, increase your client base, and create a steady flow of projects without relying on expensive marketing tactics. However, it’s essential to foster genuine relationships and provide exceptional service to keep clients coming back and referring others.

If you’re ready to grow your business organically, focusing on client referrals is a proven strategy that can lead to long-term success. And remember, building a strong referral network takes time, but the rewards are worth the effort.

Watch/Listen/Read and learn with 3 Questions with BLC how to create a referral system that attracts high-quality clients, strengthens relationships, and keeps your construction business thriving.

Builder Lead Converter ATTRACTS, CAPTURES & CONVERTS high-quality leads for home builders & remodelers so they can pick & choose their clients & jobs. Find out how at https://www.builderleadconverter.com

Transcripts:

Rick: Today on Conversations That Convert, we’ll talk about the best ways to get more client referrals and repeat business.

Narrator: Welcome to Conversations That Convert. Every week, we’ll spend about 10 to 15 minutes tackling relevant lead generation, marketing, and sales topics for remodelers, home improvement companies, and home builders. Conversations That Convert is brought to you by Builder Lead Converter, your perfect sales assistant.

And now, here’s Rick and Daiana.

Rick: Hey everyone. Welcome to conversations that convert Daiana. Welcome. How are you doing?

Daiana: Welcome. I’m very well. Thank you. And you looking forward to see what wants to happen in this conversation and what can we convert?

Rick: That’s right. Exactly. And our topic today is referrals and how to get more client referrals for your custom home and remodeling business.

And of course, this is part of our series, three questions with builder lead converter, where we take and ask three of the most common questions. From a variety of topics ranging from leads all the way to conversions and obviously getting referrals is a huge part of the type of leads or the most desired type of leads that home builders and remodelers want to bring into their company.

So what do you say? Should we jump into it?

Daiana: Yes, are you ready for the first question?

Rick: I am, fire away.

Daiana: All right, so what is the best way for builders to get more referral leads and repeat business?

Rick: Yeah, well the simple answer to that is to stop with capital S T O P. But stop relying on organic referrals.

And the vast, vast majority of builders, again, when we’re, when we’re talking to them, we ask them, how are you getting your leads? Well, typically the number one answer is always going to be referrals. And we say, well, do you have a systemized referral process? The answer is no, we just happens organically.

So in other words, you, you just, You know, do a good job and then you cross your fingers and you hope that that client is happy enough and satisfied enough that they are going to go out of their way to refer you. And of course some do but really the best way to get more referral leads and repeat business is just to make it part of your marketing plan.

In other words, you have a system and a process and a budget. For say paid ads or for your website or maybe for your signage and you have a sales process. And so you have all these things set up. It’s like, well, you need to have a referral, a systemized referral process as, as well. So the very, very best way for bill is to get more referral ease and repeat business.

is just to focus on it and then it will expand. You just do something, not just waiting around, you know, saying a prayer and hoping that, you know, your happy clients are going to send, send people your way.

Daiana: All right. The second question, how should builders ask for referrals and repeat business?

Rick: Good question, Daiana. So as we talked about, what is the best way to get more referrals and repeat business is to have a system or a process. So part of that is going to be, how should you ask for referrals and repeat business?

And I remember years ago when I first got into this, we, I would have trainers that would say, make sure you always ask for referrals. And so, but I’m like, well, when, how should I, I mean, should it be like when I first meet somebody and say, hi, my name is Rick, do you have any referrals you want to send my way?

So there’s obviously a process for this. You can’t just say, just do it. It’s like, you know, there’s an effective way to do it and there’s an ineffective way to do it. And of course, you could annoy your customers to or your leads when he asked for referrals. If you’re doing it in the wrong way. So the first thing I look at is, okay, how should I do this?

So I have to have a system or a process. Well, I want to use multiple mediums. If I’m only relying on email, Okay. To ask for referrals, I’m missing out. If I’m only asking when I’m face to face with somebody, I’m missing out. If I’m only say making a phone call or sending a text message with no other follow up, I am missing out.

So really, you have to combine All those sorts of mediums, email, text messaging, phone calls, voicemails and, and do it in a system. And then most importantly, Daiana, is that you want to offer an incentive and you also want to offer something that is time sensitive. So interestingly enough, the FTC in the inside the U.

1. just came out with a ruling saying that and it’s a little bit, there’s some interpretation to be done here. But what they said is that you cannot pay people to leave you a review. Okay. So now we’re asking for referrals, but oftentimes part of that ask is going to be a review. So there’s you, you, yes, you do need to offer an incentive.

You do have to word it in a way, though, as part of your system or your process. That is going to comply with the FTC rules. So one of the things, example that we like to do is that if somebody sends you a lead and that lead turns into a, a contract for you, is that we would reward both the referrer, in other words, the person that sent you the referral, as well as the referee.

The person that is the new client that bought. So each of them gets a reward. So that’s the number one thing that that you want to look at. And then also make those rewards time sensitive. In other words, if you’re sending out a campaign to ask for use, you want to limit that campaign, but it’s time sensitive and perhaps even like a number.

So, hey, the next three clients to send us a referral, it turns into a, a customer of ours will receive this, you know, you must send a new referral by such and such a date. So you make it funny, make it a contest, but most importantly, you create urgency with that. So multiple mediums use an incentive and make sure it’s time sensitive.

Any, any thoughts on that, Daiana?

Daiana: That’s it. So I think if you just create this process and you stick to the process, then with time and the results will come and

Rick: you have to systemize it. So it’s easy to replicate duplicate because this is something you should be doing. Week in and week out. And you ideally would, once your system is designed, is that you, maybe as the owner of the company, you might be one aspect of that, but yet you can have an administrator or even automate a lot of this.

And so you don’t, you’re not fully reliant on you to actually push this communication out there.

Daiana: Question number three. When is the best time to ask for referrals and repeat business?

Rick: Yeah. So this is, this is really where the rubber meets the road because there are certain times you do not want to ask for a referral or a review.

And there are certain times you absolutely want to ask. So what we are looking for is when the emotional excitement is at its peak. So what I’ve done is I’ve identified some areas of where typically your buyers or your clients, emotional commitment, or let’s say excitement is really at its peak. And that’s when they’re most likely to give you a referral.

So let’s start with work in process. Okay. So these are people that you’ve signed a contract with, but the project is not complete. The best time to ask for a referral is when the plans and specs are complete. Okay. But construction has not so in other words, you have a plan, you have specifications, you maybe even have selections done yet, you haven’t started the project, so there’s this honeymoon period where they’re very excited to get started, there hasn’t been any job site issues yet, there hasn’t been any change orders where, you know, they’re complaining about how much something costs, but, you know, they’re committed, they’re ready to go, they’re excited because they can start to see the vision because they’ve, they’ve got everything selected.

Okay, that’s the emotions are at their peak. That is a great time to not only ask for a referral, but also a review. Now, let’s look at after completion. I like to do ask one month after completion. Now, a lot of people will say, well, Rick, why don’t you ask right at completion? Because typically, you know, Their emotions are, or their stress level is high, I should say because maybe they’re moving.

Maybe they’re trying to coordinate moves. They’re having issues selling their current house. Maybe you have a bunch of punch list items or something’s backordered and they’re and they’re not happy because of that. So I always found is that you need to have about a 30 day settling in period and what that allows you to do, of course, is that you can complete any punch list items.

Normally you can get backordered items in place. They get a chance to move in and You get a chance maybe to do another walkthrough with them, make sure that everything is punched out, completed, and they’re happy. And then that point you want to start asking for a referral. Now this is also typically about the time when they would start inviting people over to start seeing the project because they might be buying furniture.

They might be redecorating or they’re waiting for you to get this in place before they do the quote unquote big reveal to their, to their friends and family Then at 13 months. Now, the reason I say 13 months is because most builders are going to provide a 12 month workmanship warranty. So from the time the home is closed or the project’s completed, you’ve got a full 12 months there at 12 months, a great idea or roughly 11 months to do is you send a letter out to your client.

You say, look, your 12 month warranty is about to expire. Send us a list of any workmanship items that you would like us to look at. Let us take care of them. Now, here’s, what’s interesting, Daiana, This is pretty much standard practice for home builders. Oftentimes because, I mean, it’s a law in their state.

They have to provide a 12 month workmanship warranty. A lot of remodelers, they just sort of just, they don’t even deal with this. They don’t send a letter out. They’ll go out and take care of something if they get a call, but they don’t make it a part of their process. Something that I learned a long time ago from a very seasoned builder is he said his warranty department, he treated it like public relations.

In other words, he would purposely want to go out, he would, he would proactively reach out to his clients, he would say, What can we fix for you? And then he would make sure that it was fixed and then it was done at the client was happy and there should be a 12 months. Now he was also known to fix warranty items that might be up to two years after completion.

So a full 12 months passed when he had to. And his reasoning was, he said, look, if I argue with this person and I say, I’m not going to fix it because you’re technically out of warranty, which he’s in the right. What is that person going to do? They’re going to get upset. They might go on and leave them a bad online review.

They’re going to go out of their way to tell other people not to use that builder. Now conversely, you can bite the bullet. You can go out and you can fix whatever the item is. You can listen to them. You can try to deal with it and help them out. And now that person is going to go out of their way to Refer people to you.

So it’s more of a public relations thing. So I think remodelers a lot of times they just don’t follow through with their workmanship warranty. I think this is a, it’s a real opportunity that, that they’re missing. Because again, it’s a public relation aspect and with remodelers, you’re much, much higher chance of getting repeat business.

You know, whereas you build that custom home, most people might live in it for 30 years and you know, it’s one and done But with a remodeler you say remodel their kitchen Then they come back and have you do their bathroom or their basement or an addition or an adu or whatever it is So you might be back to that project many times.

So proactively using this 12 month warranty to Not only make sure that they’re sending you things that you can fix for them But also But it gives you another opportunity to get in touch with them, stay top of mind, go out of your way to make sure they’re, they’re excited and satisfied as that warranty expires, and then you ask for a referral.

So then that last stage is going to be 13 plus months. So in other words, now they’re out of warranty. I recommend again that you reach out to those past clients seasonally with relevant maintenance tips for their home. So every climate has four, or every market I should say, every climate has four seasons and there are certain things you should be looking at for your home in the spring, in the summer, in the fall, in the winter.

So why not be a resource for your clients? Even if you only remodeled their kitchen, why not give them tips of things they should be doing in your market? If you built a new home for them, obviously it’s very simple. You know, here’s the things you want to maintain. You’ve invested all this money. Why not take care of it?

And I’ve even seen some clients that say, Hey, I’m going to offer this as a service and they’ll, they’ll create a little side business doing things like this. But again, the most important thing is you stay top of mind. With the client you’re delivering relevant information for them. And then you also gives you an opportunity to continue to ask for referrals and repeat business.

So final thoughts.

Daiana: That’s interesting. So if you just have a structure and then stick to the structure and then ask for referrals when they’re happy and they were, they enjoy, they, They happy and then just stick to the routine. So after a month, after 12 months, after 13 months, so just do your, do your thing and follow up with them and see what’s there.

Rick: That’s right. Yeah. And the consistent theme here is. What’s in it for me at every one of these milestones that I mentioned, you have proactively done something to go out and make sure that the client is satisfied. Okay. So if you go back and look at that schedule again, work in process. Okay. The client is satisfied.

The plans are signed off on the specifications are done. Perhaps the selections are done. You’ve agreed upon the final price. They’re excited to get started. They’re happy. You’ve delivered what you said you were going to do. Okay. That’s number one. Then the project is complete and you’ve completed the punch list items from the, from the final walkthrough.

They’re happy. They’re satisfied. 13 months, you proactively reach out to them, ask for warranty items, tell them that you want to complete those items for them, make sure they’re happy with The the completion of those items and then you ask then you send out relevant quarterly maintenance tips So give them something first and then ask for something in return.

That’s a reciprocal basis of really getting a referral Is make sure the client always feels like they’re getting something first before you ever ask for anything in return Yeah, i’m, sorry

Daiana: dana any final

Rick: thoughts yeah, I

Daiana: just want to give and receive

Rick: Exactly and that’s you know, what and that’s life that’s how we operate Is that we think highly of people that offer to do something for us first and then make sure that we are happy with what their service they provide.

And then, right, what do we do? Like, we go out to a restaurant, we get served, we have good food, service says, how was everything tonight? He said, oh, it was wonderful. What do we do? We leave a tip. That goes, that goes to them. So no different here. This is just human nature. But if you would like to set up your own referral and repeat business system, you’d like to know more about how we attract, capture and convert high quality leads for our builder partners.

Go ahead and click the link right below. Schedule your strategy call. I’ll be happy to talk to you. About this system and all the other ways that we partner with our builders. And so for, for my brothers and sisters in Christ, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy spirit be with you all, always, we’ll see you next time on conversations that convert.