How do I check a flooring company’s reliance on big-box store referrals?

Start with the invoices. Ask the owner to mark each installation job with its origin: a store referral, a past customer, a builder, a website enquiry or a walk-in. Do not rely on a verbal estimate. Compare the totals across a few busy and slow seasons so one unusual stretch does not mislead you.

Then ask how the relationship with the store actually works. Is there a written agreement, or is it a handshake with a store manager? Find out who at the store sends the work, whether the arrangement is tied to the current owner personally, and whether installers are rotated among several companies. If the store can send jobs elsewhere tomorrow, the flow is fragile.

Look at margin as well as volume. Referral jobs are sometimes priced tightly because the store sets the customer’s expectations, so compare their profit with jobs the company wins on its own. Finally, ask for any complaint or callback records tied to referral work, since a store tends to judge installers on those. Keep a note of any seasonal pattern as well, since store-driven demand often rises around the same promotions each year and drops away between them.

Key takeaways

• Tag every past job by where the customer came from before you form a view.
• Ask whether the store relationship is written down and whether it follows the business or the owner.
• Compare profit on referral jobs against jobs won directly.
• Note whether referral volume rises and falls with store promotions.