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How to get repeat business as a tradie

Updated 22 Jun 20262 min readAll trades

Every job is a fork in the road: it becomes a customer for years, or a one-off you never hear from again. The only real difference is whether you stay in touch. Most tradies do not, which is exactly why the ones who do clean up.

Why repeat work beats chasing new

A new customer has to be convinced. A past one already is. There is no lead fee, no race against three other blokes, no quote you might not win. It is the cheapest and highest-margin work you can get, and you have already done the hard part: earning their trust.

Stay in their phone

Keep a simple record of who you worked for, what you did, and when. That is all you need to send the right nudge at the right time, like the 10-minute win-back text that brings people back before a season.

Give them a reason to come back

  • A seasonal check before summer or winter.
  • The thing you spotted on the last job but did not do yet.
  • An annual service or safety check.

Each one is a genuine reason to reach out, not a sales pitch.

Ask for the referral too

Happy customers will pass your number on if you make it easy. A quick "if you know anyone who needs a hand, I would appreciate the referral" at the end of a good job does more than any ad.

The catch

Doing this properly across a few hundred past customers (working out who is due, what they had done, and actually sending each message) is a weekend you will never get back, so it never happens. That is the bit BizEdge Reach Out does for you: it works out who is due, writes the message, and sends it for your approval, on repeat. It is built to pay for itself with a single won-back job, which makes it about the cheapest work in your week.

// common questions

Common questions

How do tradies get repeat customers?
Stay in touch after the job. Save who you worked for and what you did, then send a friendly, well-timed reminder before the season or service when they are likely to need you again. Most tradies never do this, which is why it works.
How often should I contact past customers?
Not often enough to annoy them. Once or twice a year is plenty: a seasonal reminder, or a nudge when something you flagged is due. The point is to land in their phone right when a need comes up.
What is the cheapest way for a tradie to get more work?
Repeat and referral work from customers you have already won. There is no lead fee and no convincing required, because they already trust you. It is the highest-margin work you can get.