How to Win Repeat Customers as a Tradesperson.

Do what you said, and make it easy to book again. Clear communication, tidy work, good records and sensible follow up beat discounts every time.

• Repeat customer: someone who books you again.
• Referral: a new customer sent your way by an old one.
• Handover: the end of the job, when you explain what you did and give the paperwork.
• Snag: a small thing left to finish or fix.
• Service reminder: a message telling a customer their yearly service or check is due.
• Direct marketing: any message promoting your business, like offers. It has its own rules.

Take the uncertainty out, from the first message to the last:

1. Reply to enquiries.
2. Confirm appointments, and any delays.
3. Agree the job, the price and any changes.
4. Protect their home, and explain what you did.
5. Give them the invoice, guarantee and any aftercare information.
6. Note when it's next due, if that's relevant.
7. Ask how they'd like you to get in touch next time.

• The same completion checklist every time
• Fix any snags before asking for a review
• Keep their details and job history accurate
• Make booking again easy
• Thank people who refer you, without sharing the new customer's details
• Check which services actually bring profitable repeat work

Don't rely on your memory. Keep what you need for guarantees, servicing and your accounts. Keep it safe, keep it accurate, and don't keep it forever without a reason.

Reminders and marketing are different. A plain reminder about their own job, like a service being due, isn't marketing. Add an offer or a promotion to it, and it becomes marketing, with its own rules: you need their consent, or to meet the past customer exception, and an easy way to stop.

Count what matters:

• How many customers book again
• Referrals
• Guarantee calls or complaints, and why
• How quickly you reply
• Services coming up for their yearly check
• Why good customers don't come back