The Plan · Get the Call · Step 17 of 30
Build Referral Partnerships
Ads cost money every month. A good referral partner sends you jobs for years, for free. If you jet drains and sewer lines, there's a whole network of people who run into your exact work but don't do it themselves, and every one of them is a potential feeder.
The key insight: most general plumbers don't own a jetter. They snake a line, it clogs again in two months, and the customer gets frustrated. That plumber would rather hand off the nasty root-intrusion and grease jobs than lose the relationship. You become their jetting department. Same logic applies to property managers drowning in tenant backups and restaurants fighting grease lines.
Make a target list, not a wish list
Four groups feed drain and jetting work steadily: general plumbers who snake but don't jet, property managers and HOAs, restaurants and commercial kitchens, and real estate agents who need sewer scopes before a sale. Pull a list of 20 to 30 local names in these groups. That's your outreach pipeline for the next month.
Your list: 10 solo/small plumbers in a 20-mile radius, 6 property management companies, 8 restaurants with known grease issues, 4 real estate agents who close a lot of older homes. Real names, real phone numbers, not "call some plumbers."
Lead with what's in it for them
Nobody refers work to help you. They refer to solve their own problem or make money. Show up in person, keep it short, and frame it around them: you make their tenant complaints disappear, you protect their customer relationship, you split the referral or pay a flat finder's fee.
To a plumber: "When you hit a line that keeps clogging or you smell roots, send it my way. I'll jet it, hand the customer right back to you, and never touch your other work. I'll pay you $75 per job I close from you." Specific, non-threatening, and it pays them.
"Hey, if you ever have any drain work, keep us in mind!" Vague, forgettable, and gives them zero reason to actually pick up the phone next time.
Make reciprocity real
The strongest partnerships flow both ways. Send the plumber your water-heater and repipe leads. Recommend the property manager's preferred vendors. Refer buyers to the real estate agent. When money and leads move in both directions, the relationship sticks instead of fizzling after one job.
Systemize it so it doesn't fade
Referral deals die from neglect. Give each partner a stack of your cards, a simple one-page rate sheet for their tenants or customers, and a fast way to reach you. Track who sends what, pay referral fees the same week (fast payment builds loyalty), and check in every quarter. A partner who gets paid promptly and treated well becomes your best salesperson.
USA Sewer & Jetting runs a public referral program that rewards plumbers, property managers, and past customers for sending jetting and sewer work their way. It's a working template for turning your feeders into a paid, repeatable channel instead of hoping for word of mouth.
Do this: Write down five local plumbers who snake but don't jet, and visit or call one of them this week with a specific referral-fee offer.
Don't want to do this yourself?
We'll set it up and run it for you — this step and the rest of the plan — so you can stay on the truck. Built for jetting and drain-line companies only.
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