hvac-marketing-skills/skills/referral-program/SKILL.md

---
name: referral-program
description: "When the user wants to create, optimize, or analyze a referral program for contractors, distributors, or homeowners. Also use when the user mentions 'referral,' 'contractor referral,' 'homeowner referral,' 'word of mouth,' 'refer a friend,' 'distributor incentive,' 'contractor co-op,' 'referral incentive,' 'how to get referrals,' or 'customers referring customers.' Use this whenever someone wants existing customers or partners to bring in new business."
metadata:
  version: 2.0.0
  compendium:
    mode: enhanced
    tools: [search, analyze]
---

# HVAC Referral & Partnership Programs

You are an expert in viral growth and referral marketing for HVAC. Your goal is to help design and optimize programs that turn customers, contractors, and partners into growth engines.

## Before Starting

**Check for product marketing context first:**
If `.agents/hvac-marketing-context.md` exists (or `.claude/hvac-marketing-context.md` in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

### 1. Program Type
- Homeowner referrals, contractor referrals, or both?
- B2C or B2B?
- What's the average job value?
- What's your current CAC from other channels?

### 2. Current State
- Existing referral program?
- Current referral rate (% who refer)?
- What incentives have you tried?

### 3. Audience
- Are customers/contractors natural advocates for your work?
- Do they talk about you to others?

### 4. Resources
- Budget for referral incentives?
- Ability to track referrals (CRM)?

---

## Referral Types in HVAC

### Homeowner Referral Programs

**Best for**: Residential HVAC contractors with strong local reputation

**Characteristics**:
- Referred customers are high-quality (come from trusted source)
- Higher lifetime value (referred customers have 25-40% higher LTV)
- Natural word-of-mouth from satisfied customers

**Typical incentive**: $50-150 per referred customer who books service or completes job

**Example**: "Refer a neighbor and get $100 toward your next service"

---

### Contractor-to-Contractor Referral Programs

**Best for**: HVAC contractors referring overflow work to other contractors (non-competing areas)

**Characteristics**:
- Contractors naturally refer overflow/out-of-area work
- Higher job values than homeowner referrals
- B2B relationship-based

**Typical incentive**: 5-10% of job value OR flat $100-300 per referral

**Example**: "Refer an out-of-area job and earn 8% commission"

---

### Distributor Incentive Programs

**Best for**: Equipment manufacturers and distributors incentivizing contractor adoption

**Characteristics**:
- Drive equipment sales through contractor partners
- Ongoing relationship (not one-time)
- Tiered rewards based on volume

**Typical incentive structure**:
- Volume discounts: 5% off at $5K/month, 10% off at $10K/month
- Cash rebates: $50-200 per piece of equipment sold
- Tiered bonuses: Hit $50K quarterly volume → $500 bonus

---

### Property Manager / Real Estate Partner Referrals

**Best for**: Commercial HVAC contractors and equipment companies

**Characteristics**:
- High-value, recurring relationships
- Multiple buildings per partner
- Long sales cycle (relationship-based)

**Typical incentive**:
- Referral fee: $500-1000 per building/property onboarded
- Ongoing commission: 2-5% of annual maintenance contract value
- Co-marketing funds: $1000-5000 annually for joint marketing

---

## Referral Program Design Framework

### The Referral Loop

```
Trigger Moment → Share Action → Convert Referred → Reward → (Loop)
```

### Step 1: Identify Trigger Moments

**High-intent moments for referral**:
- Right after excellent service experience (technician did great job)
- After completing a large installation (customer excited, just paid)
- After solving an emergency (gratitude is high)
- During seasonal tune-up (annual reminder touchpoint)
- When customer mentions knowing others with same problem

### Step 2: Design Share Mechanism

**Ranked by effectiveness**:
1. **Referral card/flyer** (technician hands out after service) — easy, tangible
2. **Personalized link or referral code** — trackable, low friction
3. **Email/text campaign** — permission-based, high reach
4. **Word-of-mouth incentive** — customer tells friend, you track by referring customer name
5. **Social sharing** — low conversion but high reach

### Step 3: Choose Incentive Structure

**Single-sided** (referred customer gets reward):
- Simpler, lower cost
- Works for low-touch ("First service $50 off")
- Less motivation for existing customer to share

**Double-sided** (both get reward):
- Higher conversion
- Win-win framing
- More cost but higher ROI

**Tiered rewards** (escalate as customer refers more):
- Gamifies process
- Increases repeat referrers
- Example: 1st referral = $50, 2nd = $75, 3rd = $100

---

## Program Mechanics

### Homeowner Referral Example

```
Existing Customer Refers → Friend Calls with Code/Referrer Name → Friend Books Service
→ Friend's First Service Complete → Both Get Reward (e.g., $50 off next service)
```

**Incentive structure**:
- **Referrer** (existing customer): $50 credit toward next service
- **Referred** (new customer): $50 off first service
- **Cost per acquisition**: $100 (vs. typical $150-250 CAC from ads)
- **Lifetime value of referred customer**: $800-1200 (higher than average due to trust)
- **ROI**: 8-12x

### Contractor Referral Example

```
Contractor A Gets Out-of-Area Inquiry → Refers to Contractor B in That Area
→ Contractor B Completes Job ($5000) → Contractor A Gets 8% Commission ($400)
```

**Mechanics**:
- Clear tracking: Referred contractor mentions Contractor A by name to homeowner
- Payment: Net-30 after job completion and customer payment
- Tax: 1099 to referring contractor for commissions
- Cap: None, unlimited referral earnings

### Distributor Program Example

```
Contractor Orders Equipment → Reaches Volume Milestone → Gets Tiered Rebate
→ Repeat Purchases Increase → Annual Bonus for Top 20 Contractors
```

**Incentive structure**:
- Volume tiers: $0-25K (standard pricing), $25K-50K (5% rebate), $50K+ (10% rebate)
- Annual bonus: Top 10 contractors ($1000 bonus), Top 11-20 ($500 bonus)
- Co-op marketing fund: All participants get $500 annually for local marketing

---

## Measuring Success

### Key Metrics

**Program health**:
- % of customers who refer (target: 10-20% for high-satisfaction programs)
- Average referrals per referrer (target: 2-3)
- Referral conversion rate (referred leads who book/buy)
- Cost per referred customer acquired (referral incentive cost)

**Business impact**:
- % of new customers from referrals (target: 20-40%)
- CAC via referral vs. other channels
- LTV of referred customers
- Referral program ROI (rewards paid / revenue from referred customers)

### Typical Benchmarks

- Referred customers have 25-40% higher LTV than paid-acquisition
- Referred customers have 15-25% lower churn
- Referral CAC is 50-70% lower than other channels
- Referral program ROI: 5-10x

---

## Launch Checklist

### Before Launch
- [ ] Define incentive structure and reward amounts
- [ ] Build tracking system (spreadsheet, CRM field, or dedicated tool)
- [ ] Create collateral (referral cards, email template, flyer)
- [ ] Train technicians and sales team on program
- [ ] Set up fulfillment process (how rewards are delivered)
- [ ] Create program terms and conditions
- [ ] Test tracking with small pilot (10 customers)

### Launch
- [ ] Announce to existing customer base via email, text, in-service handouts
- [ ] Train all technicians on presenting the program
- [ ] Update website with program details
- [ ] Brief support team

### Post-Launch (First 30 Days)
- [ ] Track conversions daily
- [ ] Identify and reward top referrers publicly
- [ ] Gather feedback from customers and technicians
- [ ] Fix friction points (unclear reward, hard to share)
- [ ] Send reminder emails to top customers ("You have $X in referral credits available")

---

## Email Sequences

### Program Launch

```
Subject: You can now earn $[reward] for sharing us with friends

Hi [Name],

We just launched our referral program! It's our way of saying thank you for the great reviews and recommendations you've given us.

Here's how it works:

1. When you know someone who needs HVAC service, just mention us or give them this code: [REFERRAL_CODE]
2. They book a service using your code
3. You both get $[reward] — they get it off their first service, you get it off your next one

[Simple explanatory graphic]

Questions? Reply to this email or call [number].

Best,
[Company Name]
```

### Referral Nurture Sequence

- **Day 7**: Highlight benefit ("You could earn $200 this month if 4 friends sign up")
- **Day 30**: Share a success story ("John earned $150 last month by referring neighbors")
- **Day 60**: Seasonal reminder ("Spring is busy season for referrals — share now!")
- **On referral**: Immediate notification ("Your friend just booked! You're $X closer to your reward")

---

## Common Problems & Fixes

| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---------|-------|-----|
| Low awareness | Customers don't know program exists | Train technicians to mention it; include in every invoice; email campaign |
| Low share rate | Unclear how to participate | Make it one step: just give referral card or mention name |
| Low conversion | Referred prospects aren't following through | Make referral seamless: gift card, discount applied automatically |
| Fraud/abuse | People gaming the system | Require actual service completion; track by phone/email; approve manually |
| One-time referrers | Customers refer once then stop | Gamify with tiers: $50 → $75 → $100 per referral |

---

## Task-Specific Questions

1. What type of referral program (homeowner, contractor, distributor)?
2. What's your average job size or customer LTV?
3. Existing program or starting from scratch?
4. What incentive budget do you have?
5. Do you have a CRM to track referrals?
6. Are your current customers naturally advocates for your work?

---

## Compendium Integration

Use Compendium to support referral program optimization:

- **Competitive analysis**: Research competitor referral programs
- **Customer analysis**: Identify high-LTV customers most likely to refer
- **Incentive testing**: Analyze which incentive levels drive most referrals

**Tool tiers**: Search, analysis

---

## Related Skills

- **marketing-ideas**: For integrated referral campaign strategy
- **email-sequence**: For referral nurture campaigns
- **marketing-psychology**: For understanding referral motivation
- **sales-enablement**: For training teams on referral pitch
- **pricing-strategy**: For incentive sizing and margin impact