In this episode of The Huge Insider Podcast, Sid Graef takes you to the mountaintops of his hometown, Missoula, Montana, to frame today’s powerful topic: referrals. Sid shares how you can create a low-cost, high-conversion referral program by simply asking at the right times. From planting the seed during the initial call to reinforcing the ask after the job is done, Sid outlines a step-by-step strategy that took his business from just a few monthly referrals to 3–5 every week. Referrals bring in high-trust, price-flexible customers who are easier to close—making this free marketing method one of the most profitable strategies you can implement. Be sure to download the free action guide at www.thehugeinsider.com to start building your referral system today.

Show Notes Resources Mentioned

The Huge Insider Action Guide
The Huge Insider Newsletter Signup
Foundations Platform Trial Offer
Huge Mastermind Info Page
The Huge Convention Tickets
The Huge Insider Facebook Group
The Huge Transformations Podcast
(Available at thehugeinsider.com)

Transcript

Sid Graef:
Welcome back to The Huge Insider Podcast. I’m Sid Graef, I’m your host, and this is the show for home service business builders who are trying to break the million-dollar mark.

And here’s why: we’ve gathered a group of experts who run seven- and eight-figure businesses, businesses doing anywhere from $2 million a year to $40 million a year. We get their best wisdom, their best insights, their best advice, and we give it to you straight—undistilled, no fluff. Just, “Here it is. This is a tactic or strategy you can apply in your business today that will make your business stronger, better, more profitable tomorrow.” That’s why we put out the show—we want to help you grow steadily, quickly, profitably.

So today’s topic is referrals. That’s pretty cool.

I’m going to show you around, for those of you that are watching this. Right behind me—let me step out of the way—is my hometown: Missoula, Montana. Missoula is a small to medium-sized mountain town. It’s really beautiful here. There’s a river that runs right through it over here, and mountains surround us all the way around. The iconic “M” Mountain is here—it’s got the big “M” on it for the University of Montana. Over here is the “L”—it’s for Loyola High School, a private school. And then you’ve got neighborhoods and people living off in the woods like this. It’s absolutely stunning.

Let me spin this a little bit more. Also, we’ve got a lot of wildflowers going on. I’m at the top of a place called Waterworks Hill.

So, why do I tell you all that? Here’s why—because this is a part of our community, and no matter where you live, people form communities. You may have a small, tight-knit community, or you may live in a big city, maybe you’re in Minneapolis, but there are community pockets all around within larger metro areas.

So that leads me to the topic of referrals.

Here’s the thing—people, for as long as time has existed, want to do business with those they know, like, and trust.
So how do you get people to know, like, and trust you?

There are a lot of ways. Usually, it’s a handshake, eye contact, a great conversation, and doing something good for someone. That’s how you start a relationship and build trust.

But in a digital age, how do you build trust quickly?
One of the most powerful ways to build trust and gain new customers at literally no cost is referrals.

People love to refer businesses they’ve had great experiences with.
They talk about great restaurants, good movies, sporting events, cool people they’ve met.
So the first part of gaining referrals is being worthy of being talked about.
Do business in a way that is so good, people can’t ignore you—they want to talk about you. That’s the baseline for getting referrals.

But here’s the catch: people don’t refer as often as they could, because you don’t ask them.

If you want to build a deliberate, focused referral program, here’s what we do:

Plant the seed when someone calls to schedule. We say:
“Hey, are you aware of our Good Neighbor Discount? That means if you’ve got a neighbor who wants to have their windows cleaned on the same day, we’ll give you both a $10 discount. That usually saves you $50 a piece. Sound good?”
Remind them in the confirmation message about the Good Neighbor Discount.
At the door, when our team shows up, they say:
“Mrs. Johnson, our goal today is to do such a great job that we earn your five-star review and you’ll want to tell your friends and family about us.”
That’s watering the seed we planted.
After the job is done, we ask them to inspect the work, collect payment, and say:
“Remember when I said our goal was to earn your five-star review and your referral? How did we do? Did we earn it, or could we do better?”
We ask them to leave a review online, and we text them a link to make it easy.
We give them a referral card with a QR code and say:
“If you’ve got friends or neighbors who would appreciate this service, please refer them. You can scan this or take a picture and send it to your friends or post it on Facebook.”
We ask:
“Is there anybody in particular that really needs our service?”

When we instituted that program, we went from getting 3 or 4 referrals a month to about 3 to 5 referrals a week. And that’s free money—no extra marketing cost, just doing great work and asking.

And here’s the beautiful thing about referrals:

Referred customers come pre-installed with trust.
They’re less price-sensitive.
They have a higher closing rate.

So referrals are some of the best new business you can get—low cost, high quality.

Whatever you do after hearing this, sit down and work out a simple, focused referral ask program.

After the service is done, we also:

Send an email thanking them.
Send a postcard thanking them.
Send a coffee card and ask again for referrals.
We continue asking in our email newsletter over the following months.

Because we take the time to ask, we generate more referrals and more money.

That’s it for today.

So what did you learn about referrals?
Did you learn something valuable you can apply today? I hope so.

Make sure to download our four-page action plan that helps you set up a referral program in your business. You’ll gain more customers, gain more trust, expand your influence, and make more money.

That’s the deal.

If you got value out of today’s show, please share it, like it, subscribe, and refer us to your business friends who might benefit.

And don’t forget to check out thehugeinsider.com. It’s got all our resources, including the free weekly newsletter, and our other podcast, The Huge Transformations Podcast—interviews and stories with eight-figure business builders.

We’ll see you next time.

Episode 20: Simple System for Maximum Referrals