How to approach a business that could refer you work

Pick the business, not the category

Our guide to getting referrals from other businesses covers which kinds of business see your customers first. This one starts after that, at the point where you have to choose one actual business and write to a real person there for the first time.

Out of the twenty real estate offices near you, a few will be worth far more to you than the rest. Look for the ones whose customers need you often and who work in the suburbs you already cover. An agency with a big rental list needs vacate cleans and small repairs every week, while a boutique office that only sells prestige homes might need a painter twice a year. Their website and their listings page will usually tell you which kind they are.

Then look for a reason to write to that business in particular. The best reasons are things you already share, such as a job you just finished in a street they manage, a landlord of theirs you have worked for, or a supplier you both use. A visible gap is a good reason too. If their reviews complain about a slow tradie or a bond clean that had to be redone, you know what they are short of without having to ask.

Start with two or three businesses where you have a real reason to get in touch. Those approaches are the easiest to write and the most likely to be read.

Find the person who gets asked

The owner's name is on the door, but the owner is often not the person a customer turns to for a recommendation. Think about who is standing there when the question comes up.

A team page usually lists names and roles. Our guide to writing a first email to a business goes through finding the right address, and the short version is to use one the business publishes on its own website rather than guessing.

Email, phone or a visit

All three work, and the right one depends on how that person spends their day. A property manager is out at inspections most mornings and gets more calls than they can return, so an email they can read at their desk at four o'clock is kinder than a phone call. An accountant in the thick of tax time won't welcome a visit but may well read a short email. A business with a front counter, like a nursery or a hire shop, is easy to walk into on a quiet weekday, and people remember a face for longer than they remember an email.

If you have just worked alongside someone on a job, ring them. You have a reason to call and they already know who you are.

A first email to a business you haven't dealt with is a commercial message under the Spam Act 2003, so the usual rules apply. Write to an address they publish, keep it relevant to their work, say clearly who you are and give them a way to opt out, which you then act on within five working days. Our guide on whether cold emailing is legal in Australia has the detail.

What to say the first time

The usual mistake is asking for work. "Send me any jobs you have" asks a stranger to risk their name on you, and the honest answer is no. A smaller ask is much easier to agree to, which is whether you can be a name they give when a customer asks.

A good first message covers four things in a few lines. It says why you chose them, which of their customers you could look after, what happens when they pass someone on and one piece of proof. Here is a made-up example from a bookkeeper writing to an accountant.

Hi Rachel,

I run a two-person bookkeeping business in Toowoomba, mostly for tradies and small shops. I noticed on your website that you look after a lot of trade businesses around the Darling Downs.

When a client's books turn up in a mess at year end, I can usually take them on within a fortnight and have them reconciled before they reach you. I'd let you know as soon as they've been in touch and again when the file is ready.

If that sounds useful, could I send you a one-page sheet to hand to clients who ask? Happy to leave it there if not.

Thanks,

Mel

It works because the ask is small and the benefit to Rachel is plain, which is tidier files at the busiest time of her year. It also makes a specific promise she can check.

In person the same idea fits in a sentence or two: who you are, what you do for customers like theirs, and whether you could leave a card for the next time someone asks. Then go, because a five minute visit that ends when you said it would is remembered better than a twenty minute pitch.

Be careful about what you claim, both now and later on. The Australian Consumer Law makes it unlawful to make false or misleading representations about testimonials or about the sponsorship or approval of your services, and the regulators' guide for business sets this out. So don't write "recommended by" a partner on your website or put their logo on your flyer until they have actually agreed to it, and only quote a partner or a customer using words they really said.

What to offer in return

Before you think about money, think about what would make this person's week easier, because that is what a partner remembers. The basics of lowering their risk (a fast response, a report back, your licence and insurance details) are in the main referrals guide. The useful extra step is an offer that fits their particular business.

• A cleaner can offer an agency to fit urgent vacate cleans in at short notice when a new tenant is waiting to move in.
• A bookkeeper can offer an accountant files that arrive reconciled.
• A photographer can offer a venue a set of images of its space from a wedding, with the couple's permission.
• An electrician can offer a builder a set time to fix defects so that handovers aren't held up.

Sending work back counts as well, but only promise it if your own customers really do ask you about what they do.

Leave fees out of the first message. If they raise one, or you want to offer one later, read referral fees in Australia first. Some professions can't accept a fee or must disclose it, and in NSW any business that gets a financial incentive for referring consumers has to tell them about the arrangement before they commit, under section 47B of the Fair Trading Act 1987. Whatever you agree, pay the business on an invoice with the owner's knowledge and never a staff member on the side.

Make the first referral easy to send

Once they say yes, make passing you on take no effort at all. Send one short paragraph they can forward to a customer as it stands, with your name, what you do, the suburbs you cover and your mobile number. Tell them what you don't do as well, so they never send you a job you have to turn away.

If they want to see your work first, offer to do a small job for them or for a customer they trust you with, at your normal price. A discounted trial tells them your real price is negotiable, and a job done well at full price tells them you're worth recommending.

When the first referral comes in, message the partner the same day to say thanks and that you've made contact. The handover, the report back and the thank-you that follow are covered in how to keep referrals coming.

If they say no, or say nothing

Silence is the most common answer and it usually means busy rather than no. One polite follow-up a week or two later is reasonable, and our guide on following up a business email has examples. After that, leave it, and only try again in a few months if something has changed, such as a job you've done close to them.

"We already have someone" is a better answer than it sounds. Their regular tradie will be booked out or on holidays at some point, so ask whether you could be the name they try next. Being the backup is a fair way in because the first job you get is one they couldn't otherwise fill.

"We don't do referrals" sometimes means a company rule, often at a franchise office or a business that keeps a formal supplier list. Ask how suppliers get onto that list and follow their process instead.

"Not now" deserves a note in your diary for the date they gave you. And if anyone asks you to stop writing, stop. The Spam Act requires it for email, and it is also how you keep your name good in a town where business owners talk to each other.

If finding these businesses and writing that first email is the part that never gets done, Curlew does it by email in your business name and passes anyone interested back to you.