In this episode of Marketing Without Rules, Lewis Vandervalk sits down with Kendall Hines, co-founder and CEO of Clicki, who transformed his family's struggling lawn care business from 90 customers to over 2,000 customers and nearly $1 million in revenue within six years and then went on to start a software company changing the game for business referrals.
Kendall shares his journey from building his first software solution out of necessity (Lawn Bot, which was acquired by Real Green and later WorkWave) to creating Clicki, a referral platform that automates the entire referral process for service businesses. He reveals how rising digital advertising costs on Google, Facebook, and platforms like HomeAdvisor are forcing small businesses to pay $100-400 per customer acquisition, eating into profits and growth potential.
Kendall demonstrates Clicky's automated system that sends referral invitations immediately after job completion, tracks referrals through CRM integration, and handles payouts automatically via Venmo, Cash App, Amazon gift cards, or Visa cards.
The conversation covers building B2B partner programs with real estate agents and other complementary businesses, the new mobile-optimized promoter app with magic links that eliminate login friction, and strategies for creating omnipresent marketing campaigns. Kendall emphasizes the importance of systematic approaches to growth, sharing how one client reached $650K in revenue in their first year spending $0 on traditional digital advertising by focusing entirely on referrals and community marketing.
Interested in seeing if Clicki is the right fit for your business? Click here to book a demo (& snag a $50 gift card)
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction to Marketing Without Rules
02:31 Kendall's journey: From lawn care technician to software entrepreneur
05:27 Building and selling Lawn Bot to Real Green/WorkWave
07:03 The referral problem: Why most programs fail
09:13 How Clicki automates the entire referral process
13:18 Live demo: Setting up referrals for Joe's Junk Removal
17:28 Building B2B partner programs with real estate agents
19:37 The new promoter app: Mobile-first referral experience
22:37 Tracking, leaderboards, and gamifying referrals
24:57 Magic links: Eliminating friction in the referral process
28:45 Overcoming objections: Why referrals matter for growth
31:07 Building omnipresent marketing across multiple channels
32:22 Year-end planning: Reverse engineering your growth goals
34:18 Final thoughts and getting started with Clicki
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