Why Do Some Moving Companies Quit Referral Programs Too Early?

The short answer: Most moving companies that quit a referral program too early either judged it like a paid media channel and expected fast returns, or did not have enough customer volume to feed it. Referrals take several touch points and real trust. Programs work best with steady monthly volume, active partner recruiting, or both. With neither, it is honestly the wrong fit.

Key Takeaways

• Wrong scorecard: Companies that measure referrals like paid ads often cancel before the channel matures.
• Volume is the fuel: The fewer customers and partners you have, the less there is to nurture.
• Two catalysts: Good monthly customer volume, active partner recruiting, or ideally both.
• Deposits, not a vending machine: Every touch point builds goodwill that pays off over time.
• Some partners take years: A few of our own best partners at Snoball took a year and a half to two years to send a first referral.

Most vendors avoid this question. Mark Hirschi asked me anyway on Movified Mondays: “Why do some moving companies end up leaving Snoball?” I gave him a candid answer, and it applies to any referral program, whether you run it yourself or hire help.

What is the most common reason companies quit?

They did not see enough return, and that usually traces back to volume. As I told Mark, “Our ability to deliver value is correlated to how many customers they have and how many referral partners they have for us to nurture.”

A small company without many customers coming in simply has less to work with. The way I put it, “it’s almost like the car doesn’t have fuel, right? It can only drive so much.” The other end is just as clear: for companies that are bigger and doing a lot of volume monthly, I told Mark we are “close to... batting 1000.”

Why does judging referrals like paid ads backfire?

Because the two channels work on different clocks. Paid ads are a short-term play, and referrals are a long-term one. The owners who struggle, in my experience, expect referrals to behave like ad spend, “where they put in a quarter and they get out a certain return. It either works or it doesn’t, they move on, right? It’s just different. Building referral channels takes time.”

I often picture a man chiseling his way out of a cave who gets right to the edge of breaking through and then gives up. That is what quitting at month three can look like. It is the same reason a slow housing market is a good time to build referrals: the payoff arrives later, and it compounds.

Across the 300+ moving companies we work with at Snoball, it takes 3 to 5 touch points on average before a customer sends a first referral. Set expectations with a realistic referral program results timeline, not a weekly lead count.

Who is a referral program the right fit for?

Companies with steady customer volume, companies actively recruiting referral partners, or both. I call these the two catalysts.

Mark added a reality check from running his own companies. If you are doing fewer than 50 moves a month, he said, you are probably not going to see a massive return. That is an honest number to weigh before you sign up for anything.

When the volume is there, results can come fast. One of our customers, Muscular Moving Men & Storage, generated 100+ referrals and booked 29 moves in two months, about a 30% conversion rate.

Can a small moving company still make it work?

Yes, if it brings the second catalyst. I told Mark about a company doing about five moves a month whose owner kept “pounding on our door” saying he was ready to recruit referral partners. Our team told him it was too early. He kept coming back.

Honestly, I was like, “This is not gonna work for this guy.” He has taken off because he’s pounded the pavement on the recruiting referral partner side. Small volume was not the deciding factor. Effort on the partner side was. If you are weighing whether referral programs work for small companies like yours, that is the question to ask yourself honestly.

What does “trust the process” actually look like?

It means treating every touch point as an investment, not a transaction. As I said on the show, “It’s not a vending machine... It’s a deposit of goodwill to build a relationship that over time will create value.”

I see it in our own partnerships. Some of our best partnerships at Snoball are folks that, before we got any referral from them, took probably a year and a half, two years. Now they’re a gift that keeps on giving.

The owner’s job is short and clear. My list: hype the program to your team, empower your team to take part, and avoid “being so myopic and thinking, ‘If I put a quarter in today, I need to have X come out in a week.’” Or as I put it to Mark, “Don’t view us as a lead channel.”

What should you ask before you cancel?

1. Do we have steady monthly customer volume, active partner recruiting, or both?
2. How many touch points has each customer actually received so far?
3. Are we measuring booked moves and revenue, or counting weekly inquiries?
4. Has our team been hyping the program and asking in the home?
5. Have we talked with our success team about what to adjust?

If the answer to the first question is no on both counts, pausing is a fair call, and I would tell you so myself. Heck, if I don’t think it’s a fit for you, I’ll be the first one to tell you. If the answer is yes, give the relationships time to break through.