Referral relationships for Manitoba trades

What this service is

We turn your referral sources into a channel you can see and manage. That means four things.

1. A partner list. Every person or company that has sent you work in the last two years, how many jobs, and what those jobs were worth.
2. A contact rhythm. Who you check in with, how often, and through what: a call before the season, a short update when you add a service, a thank-you after every job they send.
3. Simple tracking. One question on every new job ("How did you hear about us?") and a column in your job software, so referrals are counted rather than guessed.
4. Better hand-offs. A one-page summary partners can share, a direct line or text number they can pass on, and a promise about how quickly you respond that you can actually keep.

We are not a referral club or a lead broker, and we never sell your details or other people's. Everything is done under your business's name.

Who it's for

It fits trades whose work comes from other businesses as well as from homeowners:

• Electricians, plumbers and HVAC trades working with new-home builders and renovators
• Roofers and restoration trades that hear from insurance adjusters and property managers
• Finishing trades (flooring, painting, cabinets) that rely on general contractors
• Small-town trades where the hardware store, the lumberyard and the co-op are the real lead source

In Steinbach and Winkler, both of which have large manufacturing and building-products employers according to their Steinbach and Winkler Wikipedia articles, the builder and supplier circles are especially worth mapping.

A worked example from a typical partner list

Say you are a Winnipeg electrician with 12 builders and renovators who have sent you work. When you list them, you find:

• 3 partners sent 70% of referral revenue last year
• 5 sent one or two jobs each, then stopped
• 4 haven't sent anything in 18 months

If each of the five "one or two job" partners sent just two more jobs a year at $2,500 each, that is $25,000 in extra revenue with no ad spend. That is why we start with the list before any outreach. The list also shows where you are exposed: if one builder sends a third of your work and slows down, you want to know that before the quiet month arrives, not after. In a town the size of Winkler or Portage la Prairie, losing a single steady partner can change your year, so spreading referral work across more partners is a goal in its own right.

What's included and the timeline

• Weeks 1–2: interview you and your office team, pull job history, build the partner list
• Weeks 3–4: contact rhythm, templates with placeholders such as [Partner name] and [Project address], and the referral-source question added to your intake
• Month 2 onwards: quarterly partner reviews, seasonal check-ins before your busy months, and a monthly report

Our referral partner playbook explains the whole method if you'd rather do it yourself.

How results are measured

• number of active referral partners (sent work in the last 12 months)
• jobs and revenue from referrals, by partner
• time from referral to first contact
• partners who have gone quiet, flagged for a call

Mistakes to avoid

• Thanking only the biggest partner and forgetting the steady small ones
• Slow responses to referred customers, which embarrass the person who recommended you
• Cash payments to referrers without checking whether their employer or regulator allows them
• Never asking "How did you hear about us?", then guessing
• Treating referrals as separate from your online presence. Referred customers still look up your reviews and Google profile before they call.

See pricing or contact us to talk about your partner list. We are a marketing and consulting service, not a contractor; we help the work find you.