How much should a referral reward be?

Enough to be worth acting on, small enough to fit your margin on a real job. A fixed dollar amount or a service credit both work. The number matters less than naming it. 'A $50 credit when their job's done' beats 'I'll look after you' every time, because it tells the customer exactly what they get and when.

When should I ask for a referral?

About 30 days after the job, once you have handed over well, checked the work held up, and added something useful. By then you have earned the ask. Lead with it and you sound like you only wanted the next sale.

What's the difference between a referral ask and a review ask?

A review is public proof for strangers, asked a few days after the job, never incentivised. A referral is a private introduction to one person, asked about a month later, and it can be rewarded. Different jobs, different timing, different rules. Do not collapse them into one message.

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The Referral Offer Worth Forwarding

Q: Is it legal to pay for referrals in Australia?

Yes. Rewarding a customer for sending you work is a normal, legal referral arrangement. What you cannot do is reward anyone for a Google review. Incentivised reviews breach Google's policy and can breach the Australian Consumer Law. Keep the referral reward for the work they send, never for the words they write.

'Tell your mates' is not a referral. The named offer, the ask, and the message your customer forwards in one tap, with both sides rewarded.

By Antony Loomans
3 July 2026 · 6 min read

The short version: name a real offer with a number on it, write the message your customer forwards for them, and reward both sides. “Tell your mates” is a hope. A forwardable offer with a reward on each end is a mechanism. This is how you turn the word of mouth you get by luck into referrals you get on purpose.

Ask a good tradie where the work comes from and you hear the same answer, with the same quiet tell at the end of it:

“Most of my work is repeat business or referrals, thank goodness.” Operator

Hear the “thank goodness.” That is a man who knows his best channel is not in his control. It arrives when it arrives. He has no way to turn it up, because he has no mechanism, just goodwill and hope.

Goodwill without a mechanism is just a warm feeling. Your customers would refer you. Most never do, not because they were unhappy, but because nobody made it easy, concrete, or worth their two minutes.

This is touch five of the Aftercare Engine. By the time it fires you have handed over well, checked the work held up, and added something useful. You have earned the ask. Now make it concrete.

The three moves

A referral that actually happens is three things, not one.

Name the mechanism. A real offer with a number on it. Not “tell your friends.”
Make it forwardable. Write the message for them, so sharing is one tap.
Reward both sides. The referrer gets something, the new customer gets something. Both have a reason to move.

Here are the scripts for each.

The scripts

Decide the two numbers once, then save the messages. Swap every [bracket] for your details, and say it the way you would say it to a customer you like, because that is who you are sending it to.

THE OFFER   (decide these two numbers once, write them down)
What the new customer gets:  [NEW-CUSTOMER OFFER, e.g. "$50 off their first job"
                              or "a free [small service]"]
What your customer gets:     [REFERRER REWARD, e.g. "a $50 credit" or "$50 back"]
                              paid when the referred job is done.
Both sides win. Pick numbers worth acting on that still fit your margin.

THE ASK   (send about 30 days after the job)
"[NAME], most of our work comes from word of mouth, so here's the deal:
anyone you send our way gets [NEW-CUSTOMER OFFER], and you get [YOUR REWARD]
when their job's done. Just have them mention your name, or forward the
message below. Appreciate it. [YOUR NAME]"

THE FORWARD   (write it FOR them: the message they send their mate)
"Hey, we just had [BUSINESS] do our [JOB] and they were straight up:
turned up when they said, did what they quoted, cleaned up after.
If you mention my name you get [NEW-CUSTOMER OFFER]. Their number: [PHONE]."

THE THANK-YOU   (when the referred job is done)
"[NAME], the job [REFERRED PERSON] sent us came off well. Your [REWARD]
is sorted: [HOW THEY GET IT]. Genuinely appreciate you putting your
name on us."

The one that does the work is the forward. Most operators ask for a referral and leave the customer to figure out how to phrase it, so they never do. Write it for them, in plain words they would actually use, and all that is left is one tap.

Set the offer once, send the ask on a schedule

Pick your two numbers this week and write them down so you never have to decide again. Then make the ask a standing step about a month after each job, not a thing you do when you remember. Set once, sent on a schedule: that is the difference between a referral channel and a lucky streak.

The line you do not cross

Reward referrals, never reviews

You can reward a customer for sending you a job. You cannot reward anyone for a Google review. Incentivised reviews breach Google’s policy, and in Australia undisclosed incentivised or fake reviews can breach the Australian Consumer Law, which the ACCC enforces. Keep the two completely separate: the reward is for the work they send you, never for the words they write about you. The review ask is a different message, on different timing, with no incentive attached. See Google Reviews: the ones that make you the obvious call.

A worked example

A landscaper finished a courtyard, got a glowing thank-you, and said “if you know anyone, send them my way.” Nothing happened. Not because the customer did not mean it, but because referring meant composing a message, digging out his number, and explaining why they should call him. Too much work for a busy person, so it stayed a nice thought.

He changed it to a real offer: fifty dollars off for the new customer, a fifty-dollar credit for the referrer, and a ready-to-forward message he sent a month after each job. Now the customer taps forward and they are done. In the first season he booked four jobs he can name the source of, each one a customer who arrived already trusting him because a mate had vouched. No ad spend. No quote-off.

He did not get luckier. He stopped leaving the easiest work he gets to chance.

What if it doesn’t fit your trade

You do mostly one-off, big-ticket jobs. The reward shifts from a credit to something useful: a free annual check, a priority call-out, a gift that fits the spend. The mechanism is the same, only the currency changes.
Your customers are businesses, not homeowners. The forward goes to a procurement contact, and the reward might be a rate held or a free add-on rather than cash. Keep it clean and above board, especially with anyone bound by their own procurement rules.
It feels awkward to ask. That is why you write it as an offer, not a favour. You are not begging for help. You are handing a customer you looked after a good deal they can pass to someone they like.

The referral is the cheapest job you will ever win, and the mechanism is fully yours to build. Set your two numbers and save those scripts before you forget the job that just went well. Or have the whole engine, this touch and the other six, built for you: book a call.