- Fix the phone first: most trade businesses lose more work to missed calls than to competitors. Then the free channels: Google Business Profile with reviews, and following up every quote. Those three cost nothing and beat most paid marketing.
- Then referral sources that take months to open and years to lose: letting agents, property managers, other trades, past customers. Only then paid demand, and only if someone can ring back in minutes.
- Paid options all share the enquiry (directories, lead sellers, Local Services Ads) except outcome-priced systems that generate demand for one business per area and charge per booked survey. Judge every channel by cost per booked job.
1. Answer every call (this week, free)
Ring your own number at 5.30pm from a friend's phone. If it goes to voicemail, that is where the work is going: a homeowner rings the next firm within a minute or two. Options, cheapest first: divert to whoever is on the tools; a missed-call text-back so the caller gets a reply in seconds; an AI receptionist that answers, qualifies and books the visit. None of the steps below are worth doing until this one is done, because they all end in a phone call.
2. Google Business Profile and reviews (two weeks, free)
Homeowners search "[trade] near me" and ring one of the three in the map box. Getting in that box is the highest-return free work a tradesman can do: every category filled, a service area that matches where you work, ten or more real photos, and a review request after every completed job. Ten recent reviews beat a hundred old ones. The setup guide for service-area businesses applies to every trade.
3. Follow up every quote (this month, free)
A quote that goes quiet is usually lost to the firm that rang back, not to price. Two days after sending, a text; a week after, a call; a fortnight after, a last message. Do it by hand or let software do it, but do it every time. Over 70% of surveys booked through MyTradeBuddy convert to jobs; unanswered quotes are where the rest usually go. The quote follow-up maths is here.
4. Referral sources that compound (months)
A letting agent with three hundred managed properties sends more repairs a year than most directories. Property managers, housing associations, other trades who do not do your work (a kitchen fitter who needs a plumber, a builder who needs an electrician), and past customers asked at the right moment all work the same way: slow to open, steady for years. The pitch is reliability, not price.
5. Directories and lead sellers (days, shared)
Checkatrade, TrustATrader, MyBuilder, Rated People and Bark all send enquiries, and all sell the same homeowner to several firms. Worth it for quick jobs if you answer in minutes; a poor way to buy big-ticket work. The costs are in Checkatrade cost 2026, MyBuilder fees, Bark and Rated People, and the five-way comparison.
6. Local Services Ads and your own ads (weeks, needs step 1)
Google's Local Services Ads put a badge above the map and charge per lead; your own Google or Meta ads charge per click. Both work when the enquiry is answered in minutes and fail when the form fill sits in an inbox until Friday. Decide who answers before you decide the budget. The lead generation guide covers the setup.
7. Booked surveys, not leads (the benchmark)
For survey-led work (boilers, bathrooms, roofs, extensions, heat pumps, rewires) the job is decided at the visit, which makes the booked visit the unit worth paying for. MyTradeBuddy works that way: demand generated for one business per area, every enquiry answered and qualified, chased until it books or says no, billed per booked survey with no monthly fee and no contract. One business per area means your patch may be taken. Whatever mix you run, track what a booked survey costs you from each channel; it is the only number that compares a free Google profile with a £40 Bark lead.
Trade-specific versions: plumbing, roofing, electrical, building.
Read next
- How to Get More Electrical Work in the UK (2026): 8 Ways Electricians Fill the Diary
- How to Get More Building Work in the UK (2026): 8 Ways Builders Fill the Diary Without Being One of Five Quotes
- How to Get Roofing Work in the UK: 8 Ways Roofers Fill the Diary, Ranked by Speed
- Not Getting Enough Plumbing Work? 9 Fixes Ranked by Speed (2026)
- Lead Generation for UK Trade Businesses: The Complete Guide
Frequently asked questions
In order: answer every call, complete your Google Business Profile and collect reviews, follow up every quote, build referral sources (letting agents, other trades), then add paid demand only once someone can ring back within minutes.
Free channels first: the phone, Google Business Profile, reviews and quote follow-up. They beat most paid marketing for a small firm. Paid demand is worth it for survey-led work with a fast response system behind it.
They can be for quick jobs if you respond in minutes. Every directory shares the enquiry with several firms, so judge each on cost per booked job over a real month, not on the fee.
Google Business Profile, reviews, a website with online booking, referral partners, Local Services Ads or your own ads, and outcome-priced systems that generate exclusive demand and charge per booked survey.