Prompt: Build a Referral Program

This prompt build referral program gives you a complete system with incentives, timing, tracking, and the exact messages to send. Not just "ask for referrals." The full program.

Referrals close at higher rates and cost less than any other acquisition channel. But most businesses ask once, feel awkward, and give up. A program removes the awkwardness.

The Prompt

You are a growth strategist specializing in referral programs. Build a complete referral program for my business.

Business: [what you sell]
Average customer value: [monthly or total LTV]
Current customer count: [approximate]
Customer satisfaction level: [high/medium, or NPS if you know it]
What I can afford to give as a referral incentive: [e.g., $50 credit, free month, gift card, percentage discount]
How customers currently find me: [main acquisition channels]

Build the complete referral program:

1. INCENTIVE STRUCTURE:
- What to offer the referrer (and why this amount)
- What to offer the referred person (and why)
- Whether to make it one-sided or two-sided
- When the incentive triggers (on signup, on first payment, after 30 days)
- Cap or no cap on referrals per customer

2. TIMING AND TRIGGERS:
- The exact moments to ask for referrals (which touchpoints in the customer journey)
- The trigger that identifies a customer ready to refer (satisfaction signal)
- How often to remind without annoying

3. ASK TEMPLATES:
Write the actual messages for:
- First ask (in-person or email, right after a positive moment)
- Email request with referral link
- Follow-up reminder (14 days later)
- Thank you message when a referral converts
- Quarterly nudge for customers who have not referred yet

4. TRACKING SYSTEM:
- How to track who referred whom
- Simple tools that handle this (no enterprise software)
- Metrics to monitor: referral rate, conversion rate, LTV of referred customers

5. PROGRAM PROMOTION:
- Where to mention the program (email signature, invoices, website, onboarding)
- How to launch it to existing customers
- Ongoing visibility tactics

6. COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID:
- What kills referral programs in my business type
- How to handle referral fraud
- When to adjust the incentive

The Timing Matters Most

Section 2 is the critical differentiator. Asking for a referral right after you deliver a great result converts at 5-10x the rate of a random ask. Build the ask into your delivery workflow and it happens automatically.

Start Small

Launch to your 10 best customers first. Test the messaging, track the results, and refine before opening to everyone. A small cohort shows you what works without the risk of a bad program going wide.

Build These Systems

Ready to implement? These step-by-step tutorials show you exactly how:

• How to Automate Referral Program Lead Tracking - Track referral leads and reward referrers automatically.
• How to Optimize AI Prompts for Speed - Rewrite prompts to get the same quality output in fewer tokens and less time.
• How to Set Up Anthropic Claude with System Prompts - Configure Claude behavior with system prompts for consistent business outputs.