The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things, including how we must do business. With most people staying at home, and tight restrictions in place for public places and gatherings, the way home service businesses will receive customer referrals are changing. Though it is a challenging time, your company has a unique opportunity to reach customers in different ways.
Here are three ways customer referrals will change for home service businesses:
1. Personal referrals will change from in-person to online.
Right now, people are not gathering at their kid’s hockey games, large family gatherings, and other social events. Word of mouth marketing will still exist, but not in a person-to-person way. If you have relied on personal referrals for your home services business, you must consider that this will change because of COVID-19, and it probably has already.
Just because people are not talking about your business face-to-face, doesn’t mean they still can’t refer you to a friend. Your customers are spending more time online these days, and these referrals can still happen on social media and other virtual channels. Consider how your business is marketing online during these times. Do you have a social media presence? Are you investing in online advertising? If you want those person-to-person referrals (online), now is the time to do so.
Third-Party Certifications & Accreditations
Over 71% of consumers look for a third-party seal of approval.
2. Business owners will help other business owners.
One positive thing that has come out of all of this is the spirit of mutual aid among business leaders. We have seen instances of business owners helping each other through referrals and sharing of resources. Home service companies often rely on related businesses in the industry for referrals, and through strategic partnerships, we can help each other survive and even thrive through this crisis.
If you have some downtime, use it to engage with other business owners. When people need home services, they often will need more than one type of contractor. For example, while getting their roof repaired, they might discover they need new eavestroughs. These situations present an opportunity for a referral from another business. Start connecting with other home services business owners, offer to refer them to your customers, and ask that they do the same in return.
3. Referral websites will grow.
What is a referral website? In basic terms, a referral website is a website used to get a visitor to another site. For example, you might be reading an interesting blog on one website, and then see a link to a related product or service. You click on the link to do more research and, in that sense, are referred from one website to another.
Having links to your website on referral sites is an excellent way to increase web traffic and leads for your business. Because most consumers have turned to the internet for research, purchasing products, and inquiring about services, these types of referrals will expand. They were already an effective way to increase referrals for your business, but because of stay-at-home recommendations amid COVID-19, they will only become more effective.
When your company has a blog on RenovationFind’s blog, we include a link to your website in that blog article about your company. You also have a link to your website on your directory listing. RenovationFind acts as a referral website for the companies listed on our website.
To learn more about how you can get more online referrals with RenovationFind, contact us.
Today’s Consumers are Digital.
Did you know Google released a stat indicating users check out 10.4 sources before purchase.
Trustworthy home improvement companies on RenovationFind.com
When a homeowner finds a company on RenovationFind.com they can consider it a personal, unbiased and truthful personal recommendation from us to them. This is good for business.
Another Helpful Article is >>> TOP 5 WAYS TO GROW YOUR HOME IMPROVEMENT BUSINESS ONLINE
This post first appeared on https://blog.renovationfind.com