If you want to know how to get more work as a tradie, start with the work you're already close to winning. The cheapest new jobs come from three places most trade businesses under-use: enquiries they already get but miss, customers they have already done work for, and reviews they never asked for. Fix those first. Paying for ads or leads works far better once they're sorted.
Here are eight things that work, roughly in the order they pay off.
1. Answer every enquiry, and answer it fast
There's no point paying for more enquiries if a share of the ones you have go unanswered. A missed call from a new customer usually means they ring the next name on the list. A web enquiry answered tomorrow is competing with two answered today.
- Make sure every call is answered or captured with the caller's details, even when you're on the tools.
- Reply to web forms and messages the same day, ideally within the hour.
- If you can't take the job, say so quickly and politely. People remember that, and some of them ring back.
The options for covering the phone, from voicemail to an AI receptionist, are compared in how to stop missing calls.
2. Get your Google Business Profile right
When someone searches "plumber near me", the map and the businesses listed with it come from Google Business Profiles. A complete profile is free and it's often the first thing a customer sees.
- Pick the right primary category, such as Electrician or Plumber, and add related ones
- Set your service area to the suburbs you actually want to work in
- Add your real hours, including whether you take emergency calls
- List your services in plain words
- Upload photos of real jobs, your ute and your team, and keep adding them
- Reply to every review, good or bad
Google has its own guide to setting up a Business Profile.
3. Ask every happy customer for a review
Reviews are what make a stranger trust you enough to call. Most happy customers will leave one if you ask at the right moment and make it easy. Most won't think of it on their own.
- Ask the same day, while they're still pleased with the work.
- Send a direct link to your review page by text. Every extra step loses people.
- Keep the ask short: "Thanks again for today. If you were happy with the job, a quick Google review would help us a lot." Then the link.
- Reply to every review. A calm, professional reply to a bad review often does more for you than five good ones.
4. Stay in touch with past customers
A customer you've already done good work for is the easiest job you'll ever win. They trust you, they know your prices, and they don't need to shop around. Most trade businesses lose repeat work by going quiet, not by being beaten on price.
Contact them when it's useful to them, not every week. Most trades have natural moments:
| Trade | When to get in touch | What to offer |
|---|---|---|
| Air conditioning | Before summer | A service and filter clean |
| Electricians | Any time, and before Christmas lights | Smoke alarm checks, safety switch testing |
| Plumbers | Before winter | Hot water system checks |
| Roofers and gutter cleaners | Before the storm season | Gutter clean and roof inspection |
| Pest control | Spring | Termite inspection |
| Pool and spa | Before summer | Opening service and water test |
| Any trade, for business customers | Before 30 June | Work they want done this financial year |
One well-timed email or text a season is plenty. Make it about them and their property, not about you.
5. Show your work
Photos of finished jobs are the best marketing a trade business has. They prove you do the work and they show the standard.
- Take before and after photos on every job, from the same angle.
- Post the good ones on Facebook and Instagram with a line about the job and the suburb. Never the street address.
- Add the best ones to your Google profile and your website.
Two good posts a week beats ten rushed ones.
6. Build referrals with other trades
Builders, property managers, strata managers, real estate agents and other trades all come across work they don't do. A plumber who gets on with a good sparky sends them jobs, and the favour comes back.
- Turn up when you say you will. That's the whole reputation for many property managers.
- Leave other trades' work as you found it.
- When you pass someone a job, tell them. When they pass you one, say thanks.
7. Make your website do one job
Your website doesn't have to be big. It has to make it easy to call you. That means your phone number at the top of every page, the services you do, the area you cover, real photos and a few reviews. Add a short enquiry form for people who would rather not call. Everything else is optional.
8. Use lead sites, but count the cost
Sites such as hipages, ServiceSeeking and Airtasker can fill gaps in the diary, especially early on. You pay for leads, credits or a subscription, and you're often one of several businesses contacted about the same job. That makes speed and a clear quote matter even more.
Keep a simple tally for a few months: what you spent, how many leads, how many became jobs, and what those jobs were worth. Then you know what a job from each site really costs you, and you can compare it with the free channels above.
| Channel | Cost | How quickly it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answering every call | Low | Straight away | Every business |
| Google Business Profile | Free | Weeks | Local searches |
| Reviews | Free | Weeks to months | Trust with new customers |
| Past customers | Low | Straight away | Repeat and seasonal work |
| Social posts | Free, plus time | Months | Showing your standard |
| Referrals | Free | Months | Steady, better-paid work |
| Lead sites | Paid per lead or plan | Straight away | Filling gaps |
Track where the work comes from
Ask every new customer how they found you, and write it down. After three months you'll know which of these is paying off, and which you can stop.
The short version
Answer every enquiry first. Set up your Google Business Profile properly and ask every happy customer for a review. Keep in touch with past customers when it suits them. Post photos of real jobs, build referrals with other trades, and keep the website simple. Use lead sites to fill gaps, but count what each job really costs.
Questions
Answering every enquiry and staying in touch with past customers. Both cost very little, and they turn work you're already close to into booked jobs before you spend anything on ads or leads.
Ask on the day the job finishes, while the customer is happy, and send a direct link to your review page by text. Keep the message to one or two lines. Reply to every review you get, including the bad ones.
They can be, especially for filling gaps. Track what you spend, how many leads turn into jobs and what those jobs are worth, so you know the real cost of each job won.
A small one helps. It should show your phone number, services, service area, real job photos and a few reviews. Many customers check it after finding you on Google, before they call.