The Fridge Magnet Strategy That Drives 30% of Repeat Calls
Fridge magnets, manufacturer warranty partnerships, and first-call fix rates. Client acquisition for appliance repair.
An appliance repair tech in Minneapolis fixed a woman's dishwasher on a Tuesday afternoon. Standard job: $185, done in 40 minutes. Before he left, he stuck a branded magnet on her refrigerator. His name, phone number, and "Same Day Appliance Repair" in bold red text.
Eight months later, her dryer stopped heating. She did not Google anything. She walked to the fridge, pulled off the magnet, and called him directly. No lead cost. No competition. Just a $3 magnet doing $185 worth of work.
This is the appliance repair business in a nutshell. You are not selling a one-time fix. You are selling a relationship with every appliance in that home. The average household has 8-10 major appliances. Each one will break eventually. The tech who stays top of mind gets all of them.
And nothing (not Google Ads, not social media, not SEO) keeps you top of mind like a magnet on the fridge they open 15 times a day.
First-Call Fix Rate Is Your Real Marketing
The single most important metric in appliance repair is not your close rate or your cost per lead. It is your first-call fix rate. Industry average: about 50-60%. Top operators: 75-85%.
The difference is parts inventory. The tech who shows up with a truck stocked with the 50 most common parts for the 10 most common appliances fixes the problem on the first visit. The tech who shows up, diagnoses, orders a part, and comes back three days later loses the customer and the review.
First-call fix rate drives everything. It drives review scores ("He fixed it same day!"). It drives referrals ("Call my guy, he always has the part"). It drives repeat business (the customer trusts you to be efficient). It drives profit (one trip instead of two).
Invest in your truck inventory. Track which parts you order most frequently and start stocking them. The $2,000-$3,000 in parts sitting on your truck pays for itself many times over in efficiency and customer satisfaction.
The Samsung/LG Niche Nobody Wants
Here is an open secret in appliance repair: Samsung and LG appliances have the worst repair reputations in the industry. They break more often, use proprietary parts, and frustrate both customers and techs.
Most repair companies quietly avoid them. Smart repair companies lean in.
Specializing in Samsung and LG repair (advertising it, building landing pages for it, training on it) puts you in a market with huge demand and almost no competition. The homeowner whose $3,000 Samsung refrigerator is making a clicking noise will pay a premium for a tech who actually knows the unit.
Build GBP posts around it: "Samsung refrigerator ice maker repair." "LG washer error code OE fix." These are high-intent, low-competition searches. The person typing that query has already tried the YouTube fix. They want a pro. Be the pro they find.
Property Management Accounts
A single property management company with 50+ units can generate $15,000-$30,000 in annual revenue. Steady, predictable, no marketing cost after the initial relationship.
The pitch is simple: preferred vendor pricing (10-15% below your retail rate), priority response (same-day for tenants), and a monthly invoice instead of per-call billing. Property managers hate coordinating repairs. They want one number to call for all appliance issues.
Start with small landlords, the ones with 5-10 rental units. They are easier to reach and more willing to try a new vendor. Do excellent work for six months, then ask for an introduction to their property management contacts. One relationship leads to another.
The key is reliability. A property manager who calls you at 8 AM needs a tech on-site by noon. Miss that window twice and you lose the account. Hit it consistently and they will never switch.
Manufacturer Warranty Partnerships
Every major appliance manufacturer needs local techs to handle warranty repairs. These are free leads: the manufacturer sends the customer to you, you do the repair, and the manufacturer pays.
The margins are thinner than retail work. Warranty rates are typically 60-70% of what you would charge a walk-in customer. But the volume is consistent, there is zero acquisition cost, and every warranty repair is a chance to earn a new long-term customer.
More importantly, warranty work puts you in homes. And homes have non-warranty appliances that will break someday. Leave the magnet. Leave a great impression. When the out-of-warranty dryer dies in two years, that homeowner is calling you.