Psst... Know a Good Contractor? Contractor referral services grow by Leland Stone ord-of-mouth advertising can be elusive: You can't get it unless you have it, and you can't have it unless you get it. In the construction industry, there haven't been many ways to break this frustrating Catch-22. Lately, however, contractors have begun taking a second look at using referral services. Referral services have long been used to hawk the skills of everyone from lawyers to auto mechanics. Radio, television, or print media ads (and more recently, Web pages) encourage consumers to call a toll-free number from which they're referred to local professionals. This marketing technique is now being offered to contractors. The most basic type of referral service
