How to Ask for Referrals by Text (With Scripts)

You're rolling up the last drop cloth. The customer walks the hallway one more time, runs a hand along the trim and says, "This looks amazing. I'm telling everybody about you."

She means it. Then she goes back to her week, and the neighbor who needs a painter never hears your name.

Referrals work better when you ask for them. Here's how to do it by text without sounding like a salesman.

Why you have to ask

A recommendation from a friend is the strongest marketing there is. In Nielsen's 2021 Trust in Advertising study, 88% of people said they trust recommendations from people they know more than any other channel.¹

Online reviews matter too, but they haven't replaced a friend's word. In BrightLocal's 2025 survey, 42% of consumers said they trust reviews as much as a personal recommendation, down from 79% in 2020.²

So your happy customers are holding the best advertising you'll ever get, and most aren't using it. They're busy. A text puts your number in their phone with a reason to pass it on.

When to send it

Send it the same day you finish, while the work is fresh and they're still looking at it.

Good moments:

• Right after they say thanks, in person or by text.
• After the final walkthrough, once the invoice is settled.
• After a compliment weeks later. "The AC got us through that heat wave" is an open door.

Bad moments: while there's a problem you haven't fixed, or in the same text as the bill.

Texts 1 to 3: the ask after the job

Swap in your own details wherever you see brackets.

Number 2 is for the one-truck shop.

None of these ends with a question, so the customer doesn't owe you a reply.

Text 4: give them something to forward

To refer you, your customer has to remember your name, find your number and explain what you do. Do that work for them.

Don't ask for the friend's phone number so you can text them yourself. That friend never asked to hear from you. CTIA, the wireless carriers' trade group, says messages should be sent only after the consumer has opted in to receive them, and that one person's opt-in shouldn't be transferred to another sender.³ Let your customer do the introducing.

Text 5: past customers you haven't talked to in a while

You don't need a fresh job to ask. A customer from last spring still remembers you.

Send this one by hand, a few at a time, to people you actually remember. And mean the check-in. If something isn't holding up, you want to hear it before their neighbors do.

Texts 6 and 7: say thank you when it works

When a new caller says "Dana gave me your number," text Dana that day.

Send it whether or not you get the job.

If you want to add a small thank-you, do it after the fact:

Should you offer a reward?

You can, but you don't have to. A handwritten card or a small gift card after the job does plenty. A few things to keep straight:

• A referral reward is not a review reward. Google's policy says businesses may not offer incentives, such as payment, discounts, or free goods or services, in exchange for posting a review.⁴ The FTC also says you can't condition an incentive, like a discount, on a review being positive.⁵ Thank people for sending you customers. Never pay for stars.
• If you hold a license, ask your state board first whether it has rules about referral rewards in your trade.

When you do want reviews, ask for them separately. We covered that in how to get more Google reviews without being pushy.

The rules, in plain English

One text, typed by you, to a customer you just did work for is a conversation. A blast to your whole customer list is marketing, and marketing texts need permission first.³

If anyone asks you to stop texting, stop.

We're not lawyers, and texting rules change. Before you send anything to a list, check with your phone provider or an attorney.

Be ready when the friend calls

The friend will look you up first, which is why it pays to have a website even when your work comes from word of mouth.

Then they'll dial. If you're on a ladder, make sure they get a fast text back. We wrote ten missed-call texts you can copy for that moment.

The bottom line

Your best customers already want to recommend you. They need a nudge and something to forward.

Pick one text from this page, save it in your phone's notes and send it after your next finished job. When a friend of theirs calls, say thank you.