The Myth of Plumber referrals

Paying plumbers for leads is the touted as the best sales and marketing strategy for a water damage restoration company by many in the industry.

Plumbers are often the first to discover water damage. Paying them for leads is no different than paying a lead generation company to send you leads, and there is generally good volume with large plumbing companies.

The problem is, plumbers get greedy, and they often will jump ship to send leads to the next restoration company that will give them more per lead. There is less chance of a stable lead source.
Relational>Transactional

Plumbers will sell their leads to the highest bidder.

We have a client that was doing incredible volume and growing rapidly. Their business was growing on the back of a plumbing company who was local to their town. 80% of their new business was coming from this one plumbing company. The owners were friends and the plumbing company owner requested that his field techs send all the work to our restoration client.

It was a great relationship... until it wasn't.
The plumbing company's field techs were offered more money by another local restoration company.

Our restoration client realized that the only way to maintain was to get into a bidding war. It wasn't the direction they wanted to go. Their business suffered for a while while they regrouped and sought out other opportunities.

Don't fall into this trap. Remember: Relational > Transactional.

There are LOTS of other referral partners out there. A plumbing company that aligns with your mission and core values will be eager to send referrals and not expect a referral fee, the same way any other referral partner would.

Diversify your referral partner list. Get involved in your community and build a reputation for solving problems for others.

We talked about this methodology in last weeks blog.
"Get highly qualified leads for less than $5 each"

Get to know other business owners & leaders in your market. 

Figure out what they need, or who their ideal market is, and send them referrals first. You've got to show that you trust them and you want to see them succeed. The right referral partners will be reciprocal. If they are takers and don't reciprocate the gesture after a period of time, you may not have a good referral partner (This is not always the case. Its important to understand that reciprocation doesn't always come in the form of an exchange of business.)

Building relationships take time. Go through your contact list. If someone has referred business to you a few times in the past, give them a call. Sit down for a meal with them. Pay for the meal. Listen to them tell you about their business. Ask them who their ideal client is.

After you leave, go through your contact list again, and find 1 or 2 referrals to send to the person you just had lunch with. You have to give value to get value in return.
Remember. It takes time to build trust.

You have to make the first move.

Another way
Commit to meeting with someone new 2 or three days per week. Follow the process of listening for ideal clients or referral partners and making introductions.

Lastly, look at many different types of referral partners. Get to know HVAC contractors, appliance repair techs, insurance agents, general contractors, house cleaners,

Here are 3 tips to building a strong referral network that will provide you with long lasting and STRONG referrals:

Tip #1: Be genuine. You will only be successful if you genuinely want to help others grow. Relational > Transactional

Tip #2: Give first. Give generously. Remember that to build trust, you have to first show yourself trustworthy. Be abundance minded, not scarcity minded.

Tip #3: Be consistent. As with anything, consistency is the key. Consistently meet with people. Consistently provide value to them. Consistently deliver when leads come your way.

Remember, plumbers are a good referral source, but not always the best referral partners. When you go all in on plumbers, you are likely to get into a bidding war and you will become transactional focused. Relational business is a much more stable way to build your business.