Estate agents and letting agents refer work to the tradesman who makes their life easiest: the one who turns up fast, keeps tenants and buyers happy, invoices clearly and never embarrasses them in front of a client. Become that name for two or three local agents and you have repeat business for years, without paying a penny for a lead.
This is written for plumbers, electricians, builders, decorators and any trade that wants work from agents. Not for agents looking for referrals, and not for homebuyers. If that’s you, this isn’t your page.
The job source most tradesmen walk straight past
Think about what a letting agent does all day.
They manage several properties, sometimes several hundred. Every one of them has a boiler, a fuse board, a roof, a bathroom and a landlord who wants problems fixed without being bothered. Tenants ring in. Things break. Someone has to go.
Now think about the estate agent on the sales side. Every property they take on needs to look right for viewings. Every sale throws up a survey with a list of jobs the buyer wants sorted. Every completion has a new homeowner who needs a plumber, an electrician and someone to hang the curtains, and who has no idea who to call.
That’s not a lead. That’s a tap. And most agents have nobody reliable on the other end of it.
I’ve watched trades spend money on Checkatrade and Google Ads for years while the letting agent two doors down was ringing whoever answered the phone last time. The agent didn’t want to shop around. They wanted one name they could trust. Nobody had bothered to become it.
What agents actually want from you
It’s not the cheapest quote. Agents rarely pay the bill themselves, so price matters less to them than you’d think. What they’re judged on is how quickly the problem goes away and whether the landlord, tenant or buyer complains afterwards.
So what they want is:
- Someone who answers the phone, or calls back within the hour.
- Someone who can get to a property today or tomorrow, not next week.
- Someone who’s polite to tenants and doesn’t leave a mess.
- Clear, itemised invoices with no surprises, sent promptly.
- A quick text afterwards saying what was done and whether anything else needs watching.
That last one is worth more than the other four put together. An agent who gets a two-line update from you can pass it straight to the landlord and look organised. You’ve just made them look good in front of their client. That’s the whole game.
How to get in the door
Don’t email. Don’t send a leaflet. Walk in.
Have your compliances, guarantees and risk reversal ready in hand.
Pick an agent whose window you pass regularly who ideally manages properties that are either rented, or are a block of flats and they do block management. Go in at a quiet time, mid-morning midweek, and ask who looks after property maintenance. In most branches that’s one person, and they’re usually delighted anyone asked.
Then say something like this:
“I’m a local electrician. I know you’ll already have people you use, and I’m not asking you to drop them. But if you ever get stuck, something urgent when your usual chap’s not available, I’d be happy to help out so you can see how I work. Here’s my card. I’m fully compliant, have full Health and Safety compliance, Public liability insurance to £10m. We guarantee what we do, and if there’s anything you are unhappy with, you don’t pay.”
Notice what that does. You’ve acknowledged they have someone. You’ve asked for nothing except a chance. You’ve offered to be the backup, which is a low-risk decision for them to say yes to.
And you’ve made it easier by already giving them the compliances they need, to be able to use you.
You’re taking pressure away from them, and they’ll thank you for it.
Backups become the first call the moment someone lets them down. And at some point, that is likely.
Turning the first job into a partnership
The first job an agent gives you is a test. They’re watching to see whether you turn up, do the job properly, and leave the tenants happy.
So over-deliver on it. Turn up when you said. Text the office when you arrive and when you leave. Be lovely to the tenant. Send the invoice that afternoon. Add a line: “Anything else you need looking at, just get in touch.”
Then, a week later, drop in or ring. Not to chase work. Just to ask if everything was alright with the job and whether the landlord was happy. Regular contact, light and friendly, is what turns one job into a standing arrangement.
Most tradesmen do the job and vanish. The agent forgets them by the following Tuesday. Don’t be most tradesmen.
Should you offer a referral fee?
Some agents will hint at a kickback. A percentage, a bottle at Christmas, a “what’s in it for us.”
My advice, after thirty years of building referral relationships in businesses like yours, is don’t pay for the introduction. Not because it’s illegal, though for some agents it may breach their own rules, but because it changes what you are to them. You stop being the trusted tradesman and become a supplier with a margin they can squeeze.
What works better is making the agent’s job easier every single time. Being the one who never causes a complaint. That’s worth more to a branch manager than fifty quid, and it’s a win for the landlord and tenant too, which is the only kind of arrangement that lasts.
Saying thank you is different. A genuine note after a good run of work, or a small job done gratis when they’re in a fix, is gratitude, not a bribe. The order matters. Reward after, never bait before.
The mistakes that get you dropped
Agents drop tradesmen for the same handful of reasons, and none of them are about the quality of the work:
- Not answering the phone. If they can’t reach you, you don’t exist.
- Quoting one price and invoicing another.
- Upsetting a tenant. The tenant complains to the agent, the agent blames you.
- Going around them to the landlord directly. That’s the fastest way to be cut off.
- Being slow with paperwork. Agents need invoices to bill landlords. Late invoices are a headache.
Fix those and you’re already better than most of the competition, because most of the competition doesn’t even know these are the rules.
Which agents to go for
Independent letting agents and managing agents with a decent-sized portfolio are the sweet spot. Big enough to have constant maintenance, small enough that the person you meet is the person who makes the decision.
Estate agents on the sales side are slower to bear fruit but the jobs are bigger: pre-sale tidy-ups, survey snagging lists, and the new homeowner who’s just moved in and needs everything.
Aim for three agents to start. Not one, because you’ll be vulnerable if the relationship changes. Not ten, because you can’t serve ten properly and you’ll let someone down. Three well-looked-after agents can fill a diary on their own.
Frequently asked questions
How do I approach an estate agent for work?
In person, at a quiet time, asking who handles maintenance. Offer to be their backup for urgent jobs rather than asking them to replace their existing trades. Leave a card and follow up lightly a week later.
Do estate agents pay tradesmen directly?
It varies, but mostly no. Letting agents often pay from the landlord’s rent account and recharge it. Sales-side agents usually just pass your name to the buyer or seller, who pays you directly. Ask how they’d like to be invoiced at the start and stick to it.
Should I offer estate agents a referral fee?
I’d advise against it. It turns a trust relationship into a supplier one, and some agents’ own rules forbid it. Being reliable and making the agent look good to their landlords is worth far more than a fee, and it lasts longer.
How many agents should a tradesman work with?
Two or three. Enough that no single agent controls your diary, few enough that you can give each one fast, reliable service. Letting agents are usually the quickest to start sending regular work.