The sky is falling! The sky is falling! The economy is depressed, spending is down, and those fat tax-stimulus checks are going straight to Chevron, Mobil and Shell in $4.29 increments. Remodeling companies are taking the downturn in the shorts — many are laying off sales people, reducing ad budgets, and just hoping to survive. Grab a helmet; it looks like Chicken Little might be right this time.

Meanwhile, Dan Wolt just logged his best sales month ever. Again.

Wolt, who owns Columbus, Ohio-based Zen Windows, seems oblivious to the large chunks of falling sky that seem to be pummeling his competitors. It’s 8 a.m. on a sunny early summer morning, and he’s on his way to the first of his two daily sales appointments. Both leads are referrals, and he’s smiling because he knows there’s a 90 percent chance he’ll close both deals.

Dan should know — he’s got plenty of experience working with referrals. Since he started the company in 2005, his referral business has risen from less than 10 percent that first year, to 20 percent in 2006, to 35 percent in 2007 — and clear up to just over 50 percent this year.

That’s over a million dollars a year in sales from referrals, from a 3-year-old company, in a down economy, in Columbus, Ohio. This from a man who sells windows at full price, encourages “one-leggers,” refuses to run leads after 12 noon, and has no formal referral program in place. Please resist the temptation to light yourself on fire.

Before we get too far, I should mention that this article is not about how to get more referrals. It’s about how to achieve total customer satisfaction — and referrals are just a tasty little treat that results from customers who love you. But the fact is, you don’t just wake up one morning and find that your customers are so thrilled that they’re willing to give you a million dollars. It takes some planning and some work. But it is achievable.