How to Create and Run a Plumber Referral Program [2025]

What Is a Plumber Referral Program?

A referral program is a marketing strategy plumbing businesses can use to grow their customer base.  It incentivizes existing customers to refer your company to friends, family, and others needing your services.  Incentives could include discounts, gift cards, or other perks.

For example, a plumbing business could offer a free drain inspection or a discount on the customer’s next service should they bring in a lead that books a job.

It’s important to note that although referral programs are similar to word-of-mouth marketing in their delivery method, they are not the same thing.  Word-of-mouth marketing is essentially an organic referral, whereas a referral program offers something in exchange for the referral.

Why is a Plumber Referral Program Important?

Referral programs are essential because they help plumbing businesses attract valuable leads and build stronger relationships with existing customers, boosting customer acquisition and retention.

According to a 2021 Nielsen study, 88% of respondents most trust recommendations from people they know. This means prospective plumbing customers are more likely to convert if they are referred to you.

Simply put, referrals from satisfied customers help establish a connection between you and your prospective customer and position you as a credible and trustworthy plumbing business. A referral program helps you get more referrals. 

How Can You Create a Plumber Referral Program?

You can set up a plumbing business referral program with minimal technical expertise, but you should still properly prepare to give the program the best chance of success.

Here is a step-by-step guide to creating a referral program.

Step 1. Define your goals and target audience

Without a properly defined goal, you will struggle to drive your referral program in the right direction and assess its success. As referral programs are primarily used to increase customer acquisition, you can set a goal to increase customer numbers by a certain amount in a set period.  

You’ll also need to establish your target audience(s) so you can craft the best messaging and incentives for them. Examine the profiles of your current client base and note details like their demographics, homeowner status, and common plumbing needs. Then, use this information to build the profiles of ideal referral program participants.

You can also segment your audience into niches, such as homeowners and renters, and tailor your referral program messaging to better fit the individual groups.

Step 2. Choose incentives that work

The referral incentives you offer should entice customers to join your referral program, so it’s vital to choose appealing rewards while sticking to your budget. To ensure the program's profitability, you should align rewards with the profit margin of the referred job.

Use the details you uncovered in the previous step to inform your choices. Consider speaking to a financial advisor to define your reward structure. You can even send customers a questionnaire to determine what kind of rewards they prefer.

Step 3. Set up a tracking and management system

You should implement a comprehensive tracking and management system as soon as you launch your referral program to ensure you keep up with referrals and rewards.  

A solution like ServiceTitan can help you track referrals and automate your plumbing referral program with ease.  It is an all-in-one service business management platform designed for plumbing, HVAC, and other trade businesses.

You can automate a referral program invite to send after a customer’s first job with the email marketing feature, capture and qualify referral leads with Leads Integration, and track and record customer information and job history with the built-in CRM. 

Step 4. Promote your program

Now your referral program is good to go; it’s time to get the word out about it. There are a few places where you can promote your plumbing referral program, including:

• Social media

• Email newsletters

• On your plumbing website

• Direct mail brochures

• Flyers

• SEO

Pro tip:  ServiceTitan’s Marketing Pro offers a suite of marketing features that help you promote your referral program and your plumbing business through email marketing, direct mail, and SEO.

Step 5. Monitor and optimize

You need to monitor your referral program to ensure it works as you want it to. You should track the number of referral leads you receive and assess how many leads become new customers.  

It’s also worthwhile gathering feedback on the system once your subscribers have seen how it works.

You should track metrics such as:

• Number of customers generated through the referral program

• Customers actively referring 

• Referred customer spend

• Time between referral receipt and follow-up.

ServiceTitan’s Field Reporting software allows you to track the impact of your referral program on revenue. The tool lets you monitor daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly business revenue and spot conversions generated by the referral program as they occur.

If your program is underperforming, you can optimize your strategies and incentives based on the results and any customer feedback you’ve gathered.

What Are the Most Common Challenges of Running a Referral Program?

Setting up and running a successful referral program comes with its own set of challenges.  Here are some of the most common challenges plumbing businesses face.

1. Difficulty in motivating customers to refer

Your referral program will struggle if your customers aren’t motivated to refer your plumbing services to their friends and family.

While the incentive you offer in exchange for a referral must be appealing, your service is the most vital thing to get right.  After all, customers are unlikely to recommend your services if you provide them with shoddy workmanship and a lousy customer experience.

Delivering a high-quality service every time and leaving your customers satisfied will motivate them to refer you.

2. Managing and tracking referrals manually

Manually tracking referrals, checking if they convert, and managing rewards can quickly become complicated, overwhelming, and unmanageable.

Instead, you should automate as much of the process as possible. Start by creating a referral message that lets customers opt in to the referral program and triggers it to send after their first completed job.  

Once the customer signs up, you can automate email campaigns like a welcome series, milestone emails, reward notifications, and re-engagement campaigns.  Doing so lets you handle all referral program communications automatically.

By automating the referral process, you can let your referral program run with minimal manual touch. This will free up your time and allow you to focus on providing top-notch plumbing services instead of data entry and analysis.

3. Ensuring program rewards are appealing and fair

Customers may not feel incentivized enough to go out of their way to refer your plumbing business if the rewards offered don’t align with the effort required.

Consider offering a mixture of service-related and non-service-related rewards and, if possible, let the referrer choose their reward from a selection.   Potential incentives include discounted pricing for customer referrals, gift cards, tickets, and cash rewards or a referral fee.

You can also offer two-way incentives that reward both the referrer and the referee, such as providing discounted service on the referee’s first job and a gift card for the referrer.

4. Addressing low participation rates

You might still find that your referral program has a low participation rate, but don’t be disheartened. Your program likely needs a few tweaks to get customers to participate.

Try running some A/B tests on your messaging and incentives to ensure you’re selling the referral program properly.  You can also review your service logs and check customer satisfaction.

If participation has dropped off, try refreshing your reward offers, sending a re-engagement email campaign to your customers, and checking that your technicians are providing top-quality service.

What Are the Best Strategies for a Successful Plumber Referral Program?

Follow the best practices below to give your plumbing referral program the best chance of success.

1. Make the referral process easy and user-friendly

Whichever promotion methods or combinations you choose, you must make it as easy for your customers to join your referral program..  

A good way to do this is to create a dedicated landing page for referral sign-ups. Then, you can direct customers to the page to opt in and become a referral partner.

2. Use customer relationship management tools like ServiceTitan

A good field service CRM like ServiceTitan can help you at various stages across the referral program setup and management process.  Firstly, you can access customer information and job history to build your target audiences.

Then, you can segment your audiences and send hyper-targeted email or direct mail campaigns to invite customers to join your referral program.  You can also promote the program with ServiceTitan’s integrated marketing tools.

Next, you can qualify referral leads, check if they become customers, and see how much they spend. This allows you to easily follow up with the referrer and send them the appropriate reward.

Finally, you can track your referral program's performance and optimize it accordingly.

3. Regularly communicate with participants to keep them engaged

Regularly touching base with your referring customers can help keep them engaged and keep your business at the top of their minds.  This way, when an opportunity arises for them to refer your business, you will be the first business they think of.

Ensure you update your referral program participants on the status of their referrals and respond quickly if they’ve earned a reward. Additionally, it is vital to communicate any changes or updates to the referral system and incentives.

4. Offer exclusive or limited-time bonuses for referrals

If your referral leads aren’t turning into customers at the rate you’d like, you can create exclusive or limited-time benefits to incentivize them and create a sense of urgency.

For example, you can offer an additional five percent discount if a referred customer books within five days of their follow-up. This can help speed up decision-making and sweeten the deal, making you more likely to close the job.

It’s Your Turn Now

A plumbing referral program is an excellent and cost-effective way to acquire more customers.  It can help you generate leads, increase brand awareness, and boost customer loyalty.

Using the tips and best practices discussed in this article, you can set up a successful referral program and attract new plumbing customers. 

To maximize your efforts, use a tool like ServiceTitan to create, promote, and monitor your referral program.

Book a ServiceTitan demo today to learn more about how it can enhance your plumbing business. 

ServiceTitan is an all-in-one business management software used by plumbing and HVAC professionals and other service-based businesses.  It is trusted by over 100,000 contractors across the nation.