Last Thursday when I was arriving at a house, a housecleaner was there working in other rooms. I chatted with her a bit, making it a point to ask if she also cleaned carpets. She said no, so I told her a little about my service, and asked if I could give her some of my cards to pass along to her customers. She said sure. I told her I would be happy to pay her a 10% referral fee for any customers she sent me.
She called me the very next day with a customer's name and phone number. I called and scheduled the job.

Another approach would be to do a mailing (letter or specially directed post card) to all the housecleaners and maid services in your area, offering them the same sort of deal. Most of them do not clean carpets, and are not in competition with you.

I agree. I have gotten several referrals over the years from a couple of local maids and have never given the anything in return.

I should be ashamed and change my ways.

But I a cheap #$%Eturd.

Great idea Mark! Thanks for sharing.

How about this idea, instead of offering a free room cleaning for all residential referrals, how about a check for a percent of the profit of the referred job? Maybe 10%?

How many companies pay their customers finder’s fees?

-Tommy

We do, not percentage though...even though some companies do.

We give our client's $20 gift certificates that they can use towards their next cleaning, give it to a friend or spend it like cash.

Gift certificates, or a discount on a future job, I think would be more appropriate than cash.