One Customer Is Worth $15,000 Over 7 Years

Let me show you some math that should change how you run your business.

The average homeowner spends $3,000 per year on home maintenance and improvements. Not in one lump sum — spread across HVAC tune-ups, plumbing fixes, painting, landscaping, small remodels, and repairs.

If a homeowner uses you for just 30% of that spend over seven years, that is $6,300. Add in one medium project (a bathroom refresh, a deck build, a kitchen update) and you are at $12,000-15,000.

Now add referrals. A loyal customer refers 1-2 people over the life of the relationship. If even one of those converts, you have doubled the lifetime value.

One customer. $15,000 or more. And yet most contractors spend 90% of their energy chasing new leads and zero energy keeping the customers they already have.

Why Retention Beats Acquisition

Acquiring a new customer costs 5-7x more than retaining an existing one. A new lead needs to find you, trust you, get a quote, and decide to hire you. An existing customer already trusts you. They already have your number. They just need a reason to call.

Repeat customers close at 60-80%, versus 30-40% for new leads. They spend 20-40% more per job because they are not price-shopping. And they are 5x more likely to refer you.

Despite all of this, the average contractor has no follow-up system. They finish a job, collect payment, and never contact the customer again until the customer happens to think of them.

That is leaving money on the floor. Here is how to pick it up.

Step 1: The Post-Job Sequence (First 30 Days)

The first thirty days after completing a job are the highest-leverage window for building a long-term relationship. The customer's experience is fresh. Their satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) is at its peak. This is when they are most likely to leave a review, refer a friend, or flag an issue.

Day of completion: Walk the finished work with the homeowner. Point out details. Show you are proud of what you did. Then ask: "If you are happy with the work, a Google review would mean a lot. I will text you a link." Follow up with the link within two hours.

Day 3: A check-in text. "Hey [name], how is everything looking? Any questions or anything we should adjust?" This catches small issues before they fester into complaints. It also signals that you stand behind your work.

Day 7: An email with a care guide. "Here are a few tips to keep your [project] in great shape." For a deck, it is staining recommendations. For HVAC, it is filter replacement reminders. For painting, it is touch-up care. This is genuinely helpful, which makes it welcome rather than salesy.

Day 30: A referral prompt. "Hope you are still loving the [project]. If any friends or neighbors need help with similar work, I would love an introduction. Here is a link you can share." Include your contact info or booking page.

This four-touch sequence takes maybe 15 minutes total per customer. Most of it can be templated in advance.

Step 2: The Quarterly Touch (Ongoing)

After the first month, shift to quarterly contact. The goal is not to sell. The goal is to stay in their mental Rolodex so that when they need something — or when their neighbor asks "know a good plumber?" — your name comes up first.

Seasonal maintenance reminders are the natural vehicle for this. Every trade has seasonal touchpoints:

Spring: "Time to check your AC before it gets hot. Want us to schedule a tune-up?" Summer: "Great season for deck staining and outdoor projects. Let us know if we can help." Fall: "Before winter hits, it is smart to [weatherize, check the furnace, clean gutters]. We have openings this month." Winter: "Hope you are staying warm. Quick reminder to change your furnace filter."

These are not sales pitches. They are genuine reminders about things the homeowner should actually do. The fact that you can do them is implicit.

Send these via text or email. Text gets higher open rates. Email allows more detail. Pick one and be consistent.

A quarterly touch does two things: It generates direct repeat business (homeowners who read the reminder and think "actually, yeah, I do need that"). And it keeps you top of mind for referrals.

One HVAC contractor I spoke with sends quarterly texts to his entire customer database of 1,200 past clients. He estimates each quarterly batch generates 30-50 callbacks and $40,000-60,000 in booked work. The texts take his office manager two hours to send.

Step 3: The Annual Check-In

Once a year, send something more personal. This is the touch that separates you from every other contractor in the customer's life.

Options:

A handwritten card. "Happy holidays from [company]. Thanks for trusting us with your [project] last [month/year]. Hope you and your family are well." This takes 60 seconds to write. Nobody does it. That is exactly why it works.

An annual maintenance offer. "It has been a year since we [installed your water heater / painted your living room / built your patio]. Want us to swing by for a quick check?" This is a soft sell wrapped in genuine service.

A milestone acknowledgment. "One year ago we helped you with your kitchen remodel. How is it holding up? If anything needs attention, we are here." This reminds them of the great experience and opens the door for new work.

The annual touch is about the relationship, not the transaction. It says "we remember you and we care." In a world where most businesses forget you exist after the invoice clears, that stands out.

The Referral Flywheel

A well-executed retention system does not just generate repeat business. It creates a referral flywheel.

Here is how it works: You finish a job well. You follow up. The customer feels valued. They mention you when their neighbor asks about contractors. The neighbor calls you. You do great work for the neighbor. You follow up with them. They mention you to their coworker. And so on.

The flywheel is slow to start. It takes 6-12 months of consistent follow-up before you see meaningful referral volume. But once it is spinning, it is the lowest-cost, highest-quality source of business you will ever have.

Dave, the HVAC contractor I mentioned in another article, tracks his customer source data obsessively. After two years of running his follow-up system, 38% of his revenue comes from repeat customers and 24% from referrals. That is 62% of his revenue from people who already trust him, at nearly zero acquisition cost.

Building Your Retention System

You do not need software to start. You need a list and a calendar.

This week: Export or write down every customer from the past 12 months. Name, phone, email, service, date.

Next week: Send a check-in text to everyone from more than 3 months ago. "Hey [name], [your name] from [company]. Hope the [project] is holding up great. Anything we can help with?"

Ongoing: After every completed job, run the 30-day post-job sequence. Every quarter, send the seasonal reminder to your full list. Every December, send a year-end card or note.

The first round will feel awkward. You will worry about bothering people. You will not. Homeowners are consistently delighted when a contractor follows up. It is so rare that it feels special.

Within a quarter, you will start seeing callbacks. Within two quarters, referrals will pick up. Within a year, you will have a retention machine that generates more reliable revenue than any lead platform ever could.

One customer is not one job. One customer is $15,000 over seven years. Treat them accordingly.

Related reading: