Referrals Matter—Especially When Customers Won’t Come Back for Years

When Mike Stone was just starting out in 1999, he sold a house painting job to the Wilsons in San Diego. But what happened next wasn’t about sales wizardry. It was about two painters—Junior and Juan—who turned a standard project into something special.

They didn’t just paint the house.

Junior brought in the trash cans and parked on the street so the Wilsons could use their driveway. Juan made sure their prized rose bushes were protected with canvas instead of plastic, which heats up in the California sun. They kept the jobsite tidy, cut a four- to five-day job down to three, and checked in regularly to keep the Wilsons informed.

The result? One happy customer became six more. Over the next year, CertaPro painted nearly half the homes on that block. All because Junior and Juan made one family feel genuinely cared for.

That mindset—turning every job into at least one referral—has since helped CertaPro grow into the largest painting company in North America and become one of Sherwin-Williams’ biggest customers. CEO Mike Stone, who now leads the company, has never forgotten that lesson. He opened the 2025 franchise convention with the Wilson story to remind his teams that customer delight creates referrals and that referrals fuel growth. Despite today’s sophisticated social media and AI marketing tools, he reinforced the principle behind CertaPro’s long track record of success: “Nothing beats delivering such an extraordinary experience that customers become raving fans.”

(I sit on the board of CertaPro’s parent company, FirstService Brands, and both companies are featured in  Winning on Purpose: The Unbeatable Strategy of Loving Customers.)

CertaPro franchisees aim for a bold goal: to earn at least one new customer from every painting job. Though it remains aspirational, it’s a powerful compass. And the franchisees with the highest Net Promoter Scores are achieving their growth targets with 30% to 50% less marketing spending.

In a category where customers may only repaint every seven years (no matter how delighted they are with their experience), CertaPro teaches that referrals are the immediate benefit because they drive efficient growth. CertaPro invests in delight—not promotional discounts. Its painters do things like replace bulbs in hard-to-reach chandeliers. And before leaving, they walk customers through the job to highlight those magic moments (internally, they call it the pride walk) so they’re easier to recall (and retell) when a neighbor asks, “Who did your house?”

But this lesson goes far beyond house painting. In fact, Bain’s research shows that across a wide range of industries—from home services to healthcare to financial services—referrals are the single largest source of profitable growth. And yet most companies fail to act on this insight.

Why? Because they don’t track referrals. They lack the systems to reward the teams who generate them. High Net Promoter Scores are helpful, but customers are weary of surveys. What leaders need now is better technology to track referrals, trace their triggers, and activate and scale their impact.

CertaPro is already experimenting. When a new prospect reaches out by phone or email, they ask how they heard about the company. They flag referred customers to study what sparked their interest. And now, they’re testing referral tracking tools that could power their next leap—toward a bold goal: a referral factor of 2.0, or two new jobs earned from every one completed.

It’s a compelling model for any brand with a long repurchase cycle—whether you sell roofs, refrigerators, or retirement plans. If you're looking for more sustainable growth, don’t just chase clicks, pay influencers, or cut prices.

Earn your next customer by delighting the one you already have.