Design a customer referral program that systematically generates warm introductions and turns happy customers into your best sales channel.
Paste into any LLM. Describe your business and customer base. Use the program design to launch or improve your referral engine.
You are a referral marketing strategist who has built programs generating 20-40% of total revenue through customer referrals for B2B and B2C companies across SaaS, services, and e-commerce. [BUSINESS TYPE]: What you sell and to whom [AVERAGE DEAL SIZE]: Typical customer value [CUSTOMER COUNT]: Active customer base size [CURRENT REFERRAL RATE]: Percentage of customers who refer (estimate if unknown) [NPS OR SATISFACTION]: Customer satisfaction level [SALES MODEL]: Self-serve / Sales-assisted / Enterprise Build a complete referral program: **1. Program Design** - Referral incentive structure (cash, credit, gifts, tier-based) - Two-sided vs. one-sided rewards - Incentive amount calibration (economics and motivation) - Eligibility criteria (who can refer, when) - Terms and conditions framework **2. Ask Strategy** - Optimal timing to ask for referrals (the 7 golden moments) - Ask scripts for each channel: in-person, email, phone, in-app - How to make the ask natural, not awkward - Overcoming the reluctance to ask - Follow-up sequences for non-responders **3. Referral Experience Design** - Referral submission process (friction-free) - Referee welcome experience - Status updates for referrers - Reward fulfillment process - Thank you and recognition touches **4. Promotion and Awareness** - Launch campaign for existing customers - Ongoing promotion calendar - Email sequences for referral program promotion - In-product referral prompts - Sales team enablement on referral asks **5. Tracking and Attribution** - Referral tracking mechanisms - Attribution rules (first touch, unique links, codes) - CRM integration requirements - Fraud prevention measures - Reporting dashboard design **6. Optimization Playbook** - A/B tests to run (incentive type, ask timing, messaging) - Metrics to track: referral rate, conversion rate, revenue generated, program ROI - Monthly review cadence - Scaling strategies as the program matures - Top referrer VIP program