Your best marketing is a finished job and a happy customer. The trick is turning that goodwill into the next job — on purpose, not by luck.
30 June 2026 · 4 min read
Most tradespeople get most work from recommendations — and do nothing deliberate to cause them. Word of mouth is not weather; it responds to a system. Three parts: do the job well (yours), ask at the right moment, and make recommending you effortless.
Goodwill peaks in the day or two after completion — the new bathroom still delights, the boiler works, the invoice was fair. That is the window for both the review request and the referral nudge. A week later the job is just their house again.
"Recommend me to your neighbours" evaporates; a forwardable WhatsApp does not. Send something they can pass on in two taps: a line about what you do, your number, maybe the job photo they loved. For reviews, send the direct Google link — every extra tap halves completion. The Google reviews guide covers the wording.
The system fails where all systems fail: remembering, on your busiest week. GraftG's Review Chaser (Pro plan) sends a polite review-request sequence automatically after each job you finish — the ask happens at the right moment every time, whether or not you remembered.
When a referral lands, thank the referrer — a message, and for repeat referrers a bottle or a discount. Thanked referrers refer again; it is the cheapest customer-acquisition spend in existence.
Within a couple of days of finishing, while satisfaction is at its peak. An automated, politely-worded sequence shortly after job completion consistently beats an ad-hoc ask weeks later.
Yes — happy customers are usually glad to help, they just never think of it unprompted. A light "if anyone nearby needs similar work, feel free to pass on my number" plus a forwardable message does the job without awkwardness.
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