Referral: what it means
DefinitionA referral is a new customer who comes to a business because an existing customer or contact recommended it. Referrals usually close faster and cost less to win than cold leads, because the recommendation carries trust that advertising has to build from nothing.
How it works in a service business
Most service owners say referrals are their best leads, but few track them. Recording who referred whom lets you thank the referrer, see which customers send work, and learn what they have in common. The tradeoff is incentives: a small thank-you or credit can encourage referrals, but rules on rewards differ and a reward can feel pushy. A common mistake is waiting for referrals to happen. Ask satisfied customers at the right moment, such as right after a compliment, and make it easy with a short link or card. Capture the referrer's name on the new customer's record so credit is accurate. Keep any incentive simple, written down and applied the same way for everyone.
Example
A new customer says a neighbor recommended the crew. The owner enters the neighbor as the referrer, and sends her a thank-you note and a credit toward her next visit.
Where Apex touches this
Rolling out
The screen and the rules are built and tested. Saving real customer data is not connected yet. Status as of 2026-10-07; the badge shows the least-built feature involved.
- LD26Referral tracking from customers(Rolling out)
- MK06Referral program(Rolling out)
Apex Flow Scheduler is in early access. See how we label status.