Neighborly Taps AI to Unify 4,000 Franchises in Referral Overhaul

MIAMI, FL – February 12, 2026 – Neighborly®, the global home services giant, is launching a major strategic initiative to digitally connect its vast network of franchises. The company has announced a collaboration with TradeEngage, an AI-powered platform, to enable seamless cross-brand referrals among more than 4,000 franchise locations across 19 of its U.S. brands, including well-known names like Mr. Rooter® Plumbing and Rainbow Restoration®.

This partnership marks a significant shift away from the home services industry's traditional reliance on expensive third-party lead aggregators. By implementing TradeEngage's referral enablement technology, Neighborly aims to create a powerful internal economy, allowing its diverse family of brands to share business, reduce customer acquisition costs, and increase earnings for thousands of service professionals on the front lines.

Forging a Digital Backbone for a Fragmented Industry

The home services industry has long been characterized by fragmentation. For homeowners, a single issue like a burst pipe can quickly spiral into a multi-faceted project requiring a plumber, a water damage restoration specialist, and perhaps even a painter or contractor. Finding and vetting trusted professionals for each distinct task is often a frustrating and time-consuming process. For service companies, opportunities to recommend a trusted partner are frequently lost, representing unrealized revenue.

TradeEngage's platform is designed to serve as the digital backbone that connects these disparate services within Neighborly's extensive ecosystem. The system provides a mobile-first tool for service technicians to identify and submit referral opportunities in real-time. For instance, a plumber from Mr. Rooter® Plumbing on a service call who spots signs of significant water damage can now use the TradeEngage app to submit a referral in under 30 seconds. The platform's AI then instantly routes this qualified lead to the appropriate local Rainbow Restoration® franchise.

"Neighborly has built the premier network of home services brands in the country, and TradeEngage provides the infrastructure to unlock the full value of that network," said Chelsea Fusselbaugh, Co-Founder of TradeEngage. "Every service call generates potential work for complementary trades. Our platform turns those moments into revenue." This transforms what was once a missed opportunity or a casual recommendation into a trackable, monetizable, and seamless transaction for all parties involved.

Reshaping the Economics of Home Service Franchising

At the heart of this collaboration is a fundamental rethinking of the economics of customer acquisition and employee compensation in the trades. For years, franchise owners have budgeted significant portions of their revenue for digital advertising and lead generation platforms, where costs can be high and lead quality inconsistent. This new model turns existing customer interactions into a primary source of new, qualified business.

By generating referrals internally, Neighborly franchise owners can receive high-intent leads from trusted sister brands, drastically lowering their customer acquisition costs. TradeEngage reports that the average cost for a booked job through its platform is just 2.7%, a fraction of what many businesses pay for leads from external aggregators. This allows franchisees to retain more value and reinvest in their operations and teams.

Furthermore, the platform introduces a powerful incentive for the service professionals themselves. Technicians who identify and submit these cross-sell opportunities can earn a significant financial bonus, with the potential for upwards of a 15% increase in their total compensation. These payments are processed instantly through the platform, creating a direct and immediate link between their sharp-eyed service and increased earnings, all without any out-of-pocket cost to the franchise owner.

"This collaboration with TradeEngage strengthens our ability to deliver comprehensive solutions for homeowners while creating new opportunities for our franchise owners to reward their service technicians," said Mike Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Neighborly. "When our brands have the ability to receive qualified referrals seamlessly both inside and outside our network—everyone wins, especially the customer."

The Power of AI in a Scalable Network

Executing referral partnerships on a national scale has historically been a logistical nightmare. Corporate-level agreements often fail to translate into meaningful action at the local level, bogged down by manual processes, lack of communication, and inconsistent follow-through. Technology, specifically artificial intelligence, is the key to overcoming this challenge.

TradeEngage's platform uses AI for "intelligent partner matching," analyzing factors like service type, geographic territory, availability, and even historical performance to ensure a referral is sent to the ideal recipient. This automated routing eliminates guesswork and manual coordination, ensuring the lead is handled by the best-suited franchise quickly and efficiently. This AI-driven workflow is what makes the relationship "turnkey," transforming a complex web of independent businesses into a cohesive, responsive network.

"National partnerships can be the growth engine for platforms and franchise systems," explained Andrew Fusselbaugh, Founder & CEO of TradeEngage. "Handshakes at the corporate level rarely translate to job volume at the local level. We make these relationships turnkey, which enables us to drive 60% more revenue for home service companies when they migrate referral partnerships to our platform."

This infrastructure not only strengthens connections within the Neighborly family but also opens the door for scalable partnerships with external companies. Neighborly franchisees can now more easily connect with national and local partners in complementary industries such as real estate, home security, solar installation, and moving and storage, further expanding their referral sources and service offerings.

Crafting a Seamless Homeowner Experience

While the operational and financial benefits for Neighborly and its franchisees are substantial, the ultimate goal is to redefine the customer experience. For homeowners, the new system promises a more integrated, convenient, and trustworthy approach to home maintenance and repair. Instead of having to research and contact multiple companies for a single project, a customer's initial call to any Neighborly brand can become a gateway to a full suite of vetted services.

This integrated model leverages the brand trust Neighborly has cultivated over decades. A customer who has a positive experience with a Mr. Electric® technician is more likely to trust a referral to a Mr. Appliance® location for a broken dishwasher. The TradeEngage platform formalizes this transfer of trust, ensuring the handoff is smooth and the quality of service remains consistently high across the network.

By breaking down the silos between its brands, Neighborly is positioning itself not just as a collection of individual service providers, but as a comprehensive home management solution. This strategic integration of technology and service delivery signals a significant move toward creating a more connected and efficient ecosystem within the home services sector, a model that could set a new industry standard.