We're excited to introduce a new feature that allows your customers to share referral discount codes with their friends! We're kicking off Referrals as a future larger part of "Loyalty", which we're eager to customize based on your feedback.
You can find this functionality in the new "Referrals" card within your Portal. It integrates seamlessly with the existing Discounts setup to keep things straightforward and flexible. This article will guide you through all the details you need to know.
💡 You can test this feature worry-free! We've designed it so you can try it out without exposing it to all your customers. Enabling the feature doesn't make it visible to everyone; you'll need to confirm and save your settings at the end of the process. Take all the time you need to test!
Pre-requisites
In this version (1.0) we only offer percentage-based discounts. Other kinds of discounts and rewards will come in due time but do tell us about your wishes.
In this version (1.0) we only offer Referral Discount Codes on first-time orders for the referee. Your customer, the referrer, gets a discount on their next billing. If you have thoughts on this please do let us know.
Setting up Discounts for Referrals
With Referral programs, there are two parties. There is one that gives out the referral code (your customer, the referrer) and someone they give their referral code to (someone the customer knows, the referee). As is custom there should not just be a discount for the referee, but also one as a reward for the referrer (but you have the flexibility to decide against that). Let's go over setting up discount codes.
Setting up the Referral Discount Code
Head over to Portal > Discounts and hit Create Discount. In this instance we'll set the discount code for the Referral, so give it something easily recognizable for you (like "Referral Code", you'll need this later on!)
At "Discount in %" you'll fill in the % of a discount that should be applied to the referral for their first order.
Be aware that what you fill in at "Public description" is visible on your customer their invoice, so make it something user-friendly like "10% referral discount code".
You'll want to leave "Automatically apply to all new customers" unchecked.
Hit Create and voila, the first quintessential discount has been created.
Setting up the Referral Reward Code
Head over to Portal > Discounts and hit Create Discount. In this instance we'll set the discount code for the Reward, so give it something easily recognizable for you (like "Referral Reward", you'll need this later on!)
At "Discount in %" you'll fill in the % of a discount that should be applied to the customer who referred another user, on their next order.
Be aware that what you fill in at "Public description" is visible on your customer their invoice, so make it something user-friendly like "5% referral reward".
You'll want to leave "Automatically apply to all new customers" unchecked.
Hit Create and voila, the second quintessential discount has been created. You're all ready to enable Referrals.
Enabling Referrals
You'll be able to find the option to enable Referrals under Settings > Self-Service Center. Hit the toggle to get started:
In the Referral Banner section you will find a checkbox. Checking it means that a call-to-action banner (see below) will become available to your customers on their Self Service Center. You can keep this unchecked if you feel this is too much marketing on their management page. They will still be able to go to /Referrals and find the referral program.
We'll allow for more brandable customizations in the future. If you have ideas, do tell us via the Intercom Chatbubble in the bottom-right corner.
You may wonder if you can adjust that text in the banner so that it feels more in-line with your tone of voice. Of course you can. You can adjust the banner text and the button so that it captivates your audience a lot more. Use the sections for Referral Banner Text and Referral Banner Button for that:
Please be aware the Referral Banner Text will also be used on the Referral Banner on the /Referrals page!
Now the fun part begins! At Referral Codes for customers, you can select the discounts that you have set up earlier for the referee. Search for the name you gave it (probably "Referral Code") and select it. This will now be the discount your customer's Referral Codes will offer their friends and acquaintances.
At Rewards Codes for customers, you can select the discounts that you have set up earlier for your Referrer. Search for the name you gave it (probably "Reward Code") and select it. This will now be the discount your customer will receive on their next order when someone is successfully referred by their Referral Code.
At Referral Code Customization you will be able to put up a prefix that fits your brand. It could be whatever, but for our example, it's FMHS (you can guess why!). Pick whatever you want, but something short seems to be the industry standard. As it's a prefix, we'll add a hyphen next to it and then add a unique code for each of your customers, so that everyone has one of their own. Automatically generated, of course.
You'll also see "Generate Test Referral Code". You'll be able to get a test discount code so you can first make sure everything works as intended before it goes live for all your customers. They will work immediately, so you can test it right away or later.
Finalmente, once we're sure the Referral Codes are installed as intended we can hit go to the last step of the process. Hit the checkbox saying you wish to activate the Referral Program for all of your current customers and the ones in the future (as it'll be automated from now on!) and you'll be on your way:
(If you're not sure yet about it, read on)
If you're not sure about it yet then just hit save without checking the checkbox! The referral program will only activate for all of your users when you're ready for it. If you first want to take your time to have you or others test it, then use the test codes (or generate new test codes) and once you're ready to hit that scary checkbox, it'll be right here for you.
After Checking the Checkbox
After saving your Referral Codes setup and you've hit the checkbox, we'll now generate these codes in the background. If you have many customers (yay you!) that may take a while. But you'll be able to see all these discount codes displayed in Portal > Discount Codes when you want to. You'll also have an overview there, then, of which of your customers have made the most use of your referral program:
