Referral Source & Who Referred Them
Knowing how each customer found you is one of the highest-leverage habits in the business. HandyBook captures it on the customer form in two fields: Referral Source and (for word-of-mouth) Who referred them?
Referral Source
In the Property & Notes section of the New Customer form (and in Edit), pick a Referral Source:
Google · Yelp · Nextdoor · Facebook · Instagram · Referral · Repeat Customer · Yard Sign · Flyer · Home Advisor · Angi · Other
Get in the habit of asking "How'd you find us?" and tagging every new customer. It takes five seconds and the answer is gold.
Who referred them?
When you choose Referral as the source, a Who referred them? field appears. Type the name of the person who sent them your way (e.g. "Jane Smith"). This lets you:
- Thank the referrer personally
- Spot your most prolific word-of-mouth advocates
- Decide who deserves a referral reward
Switch the source away from Referral and the field clears automatically, so a stale name is never saved.
Where it shows
Both values appear on the customer's Overview tab under Contact Information ("Referral: …" and "Referred by: …").
Marketing ROI
The Referral Source field is a record-level note. To measure return on ad spend per channel — cost vs. revenue over the last 6 months — use the dedicated CRM → Lead Source ROI board (Business plan). See Lead Source ROI Dashboard.
FAQ
Can I add my own sources? The dropdown list is fixed. Use Other for anything not listed, or add detail in the Notes field.
Is "Who referred them?" linked to the referrer's record? No — it's a free-text name. For trackable, rewardable referrals with unique codes, use the Referral Program (CRM → Referrals, Business plan).
What if they don't remember? Default to Other. Some attribution beats none.