TradeEngage Playbook
TradeEngage is the referral workflow and payments platform built exclusively for home services. Connect with local companies and extend referral partnerships to teams who submit referrals in two clicks from a mobile app or Chrome Extension and get paid. We remove the friction in making a referral, while redistributing lead costs to techs and CSRs and improving customer experience.
Meet Referral Partners
Message and connect with the owners and operators of local home service companies or affiliates.
Extend Partnerships to Techs and CSRs
Use the mobile app in the field or Chrome Extension in the office to refer services out-of-scope and recoup marketing costs.
Customize Your Price
Pay for every referral or only on sold jobs. Optimize for what gets a tech's attention — not CPL.
Why TradeEngage Benefits Your Business
2.7%
Customer Acquisition Cost

vs. 15-20% average across most trades
60%
Uplift in
Referral Volume

From existing partnerships migrated to TradeEngage
1:04
Average Time
to Refer a Job

Minimizes any distractions for your team
$6K
Annual Earnings per Tech/CSR

Rewards that don't come out of your pocket
Expand Lead Channels
Recommended Partners for Aire Serv
The most successful heating and air contractors don't just fix problems—they build ecosystems of complementary service providers who create mutual value. Your network should be strategic, with trades that naturally intersect with yours, so their team can refer jobs to you.
Plumbing
Inbound: Water leaks affecting HVAC; pipe issues near HVAC units.
Outbound: HVAC installs needing water hookups; AC condensate drainage; water heater service during furnace checks.
Electrical
Inbound: Wiring issues; panel upgrades for AC; circuit problems affecting furnace operation.
Outbound: Faulty thermostat wiring; HVAC power supply issues; electrical panel safety concerns near HVAC installs.
Roofing
Inbound: Roof leaks affecting attic/HVAC ducts; damage to rooftop AC units; ventilation issues impacting HVAC efficiency.
Outbound: Attic heat retention from poor roofing; damaged roof vents affecting airflow; structural issues near rooftop HVAC units.
Pest Control
Inbound: Pest damage to HVAC wiring/ductwork issues; insect infestations affecting indoor air.
Outbound: Pest evidence in HVAC; rodent damage observed during maintenance; infestations affecting HVAC in attics/crawlspaces.
Other Potential Partners
General Contracting & Handyman
Glass Services (Residential)
Insulation
Home Inspection
Realtors
Property Management
Lower Your Own Lead Costs
Recommended Referral Fees for Aire Serv
Industry averages show that a single lead can cost around $150. With TradeEngage, these can dramatically reduce this to just $25 per lead by setting your own referral fees.
Industry Lead Cost
$150
Our Lead Cost
$25
Our Acquisition Cost
$50
Many successful companies use a hybrid approach to reward both effort and results. This saves you money; and directly boosts your profitability, supercharges your return on investment, and frees up capital that can be reinvested into growing your business.
Pay for Every Referral: $25
Instant gratification! This rewards effort, encourages high volume, and is ideal for when you're ramping up.
Pay When Job Closes: $25
This performance-based model preserves lead quality and aligns with revenue.
TradeEngage in Action
Featured Job for Aire Serv
Real numbers from a real referral tell the complete story of TradeEngage's impact. This featured job demonstrates how the platform transforms a traditional lead into a high-value opportunity while creating win-win outcomes for all participants—the referring technician, the service provider, and most importantly, the customer.
Job Revenue Generated
$19K
Earnings Paid to
the Tech or CSR
$25
Customer Acquisition Cost
0.13%
Why This Matters
Compare this 0.13% customer acquisition cost to the industry standard of 15-20%, and the TradeEngage advantage becomes immediately clear. This Aire Serv captured nearly $19,854 in revenue while spending just $25 —100x more efficient than traditional marketing channels.
View This Job

Neighborly Training

Click to Watch Owner Testimonials

"TradeEngage is the #1 thing that will change the system this year." - Tyler Watson, Neighborly St. Louis

Start Getting Referrals
What Does It Cost for Neighborly?
We offer transparent pricing designed to ensure annual referral network dependability while maintaining the flexibility of monthly billing—no hidden costs, just predictable ROI.
Pricing for Neighborly Owners
  • Single price for all continuous franchise IDs
  • Annual commitment paid in monthly installments
Unlimited Referrals
Unlimited Users
National Accounts
Referral Challenges
ServiceTitan Integrations
Consider the return on investment: At $300/month for locations generating $2M+ in revenue, you're investing just $3,600 annually. If TradeEngage delivers even 10 additional jobs per year at your average ticket of $1,500, that's $15,000 in revenue from a $3,600 investment—a 4x return before accounting for the reduced acquisition costs and increased team retention.

How to get TradeEngage for free
Offset your marketing costs fees by referring out jobs your team can't take on. The "Technician Split" allows you to control the percentage of referral fee earnings your team members keep vs. what returns to the company. Use our calculator to determine how many referrals your team needs to make!
Onboard to TradeEngage
Implementing TradeEngage takes less time than training a new employee, and the return on that investment begins immediately. Our streamlined onboarding process starts here.
Complete Onboarding
Time Required: 5 minutes
Join TradeEngage and set up your company profile and start connecting with local partners.
Activate Your Subscription
Time Required: 5 minutes
If you already onboarded, sign up for the membership to start getting referrals.
Invite Your Team
Time Required: 5 minutes
Add CSRs, then your field team and any business development managers instantly!
Book Team Training
Time Required: 15 minutes
Schedule a live training session where we walk your team through how to give referrals and get paid! We're happy to join your team meeting any day.
Connect with Partners
Time Required: 5 minutes
Explore our database of 1M+ home service companies. Invite your existing referral partners to join TradeEngage too. Ask about how they get free access!
Start Referring!
Time to Submit: Under 2 minutes
Every referral is tracked, and commissions are calculated to offset your marketing costs.
Dedicated TradeEngage Support
Ready to eliimnate customer acquisition cost and maximize earnings? Our dedicated support team ensures your success with comprehensive assistance throughout onboarding, training, and daily operations, helping you maximize value from the TradeEngage platform.
Book a Demo
Experience a personalized demo tailored to your trade.
Onboard
Sign up and activate your account to begin getting jobs.
Email Support
Get partnership and strategy optimization advice.

Common Questions
I don't want to commit to a 12-month membership. Why is TradeEngage an annual membership?
The annual commitment ensures marketplace stability and consistent service quality for everyone on the platform. It prevents fluctuations in participation due to seasonality or capacity shifts, which helps maintain reliable coverage, faster response times, and a trusted network.
Is TradeEngage just for my family of brands? I don't have any affiliate partners nearby.
TradeEngage connects franchise owners to 1M+ home service companies—not just your family of brands. Our database includes independent companies and other franchises, plus members of local BNI chapters, chambers of commerce or other local referral groups. It also includes business owner or general manager contact information including names, email addresses and mobile phones, making it easy for you to connect with any local partner.
Plus, business owners, account administrators and business development teams can invite their existing partners to join. When companies migrate their existing referral partnerships to TradeEngage, they typically see a 60% uplift in referrals. Additionally, any local referral partner you invite gets free access to TradeEngage. They can refer and receive jobs to and from your company, while accessing a limited version of the platform.
What if I don't have a partner that offers the service? I don't want my techs or CSRs referring to their friends or picking a random partner that I haven't vetted.
Business Owners and account Administrators maintain complete control over referral partners. Techs and CSRs do not have the option to select a referral partner at any time.
TradeEngage also includes an Open Network feature that intelligently addresses situations where you don't have an established partner for a specific service. When a tech or CSR refers a service where no approved partner exists, TradeEngage uses AI to route the referral to the top-rated partner in the area based on Google Reviews, peer ratings (coming soon), and their propensity to refer jobs back to you. This serves two purposes: it ensures your customer gets the service they need, and it kickstarts a potential new referral partnership that can become a valuable referral source for your company.
The Open Network helps you expand your referral ecosystem organically while maintaining quality standards through data-driven partner selection. If you prefer to work exclusively with pre-approved partners, you can disable the Open Network from Settings and maintain a closed network.
There are multiple owners with the same brand in our market. How does the referral get to the right franchise owner?
TradeEngage automatically handles multi-territory routing based on the homeowner's address. When a user refers a job, they enter the homeowner's address or zip code. The platform routes the referral based on two factors: the homeowner's location and your ranking of referral partners.
The referral goes to the first-ranked partner that services that specific zip code according to their service territory. If your company is connected to two franchise owners with the same brand, the referral automatically goes to whichever owner has territorial rights for that homeowner's address.
This eliminates the confusion and awkward conversations that happen with traditional referrals when multiple owners share a brand in the same region. The system ensures each lead goes to the correct franchise owner based on contractual territories, not guesswork.
I don't want to get "junk leads" from local techs. How do you ensure the homeowner is actually interested? What if a tech sends fake leads?
TradeEngage is built on trust, and the platform economics naturally discourage junk leads. Referral partners—both owners and techs—value their reputation, response time, and quality of service over quick referral fees. If a tech refers a misclassified job or service the homeowner didn't want, it reflects poorly on them and damages their credibility with partners.
Misuse of TradeEngage is extremely rare—it's happened only once. The platform has built-in safeguards to prevent abuse: alerts flag multiple jobs at the same homeowner address, referrals with limited detail, or unusually high volumes during a short timeframe.
TradeEngage also works with owners and account administrators to monitor referral quality with integrations. Partners who consistently send low-quality leads or fail to reciprocate can be deprioritized or removed from your network. The system rewards good actors and naturally filters out bad ones—making quality control far easier than with traditional lead sources like Google LSAs.
My techs don't want to pay taxes and I wouldn't know where to begin to do that. Do I need to handle tax reporting for my team or referral partners?
TradeEngage handles all tax forms automatically through our secure third-party payments partner, Stripe. If a user meets the IRS reporting threshold—currently $600 in gross payments for the year—Stripe will generate and provide Form 1099-K on their behalf and send it by email at year-end. There's no additional administrative burden on the owner or their accounting team.