Grow your list from word of mouth

The Refer a Friend feature enables operators to automatically encourage existing patrons to spread the good word about your business to family and friends, which is a very powerful method of advertising. The module works by compensating referrers with a stored value bonus and/or a digital coupon you configure wrapped inside a special referral thank you note sent by email or text message.  Your patrons will love receiving messages like this thanking them for their referral efforts and offering them something special for their next visit.    

Behind the scenes, the Refer a Friend feature activates the {refpromo} tag, which automatically displays a refer a friend advertisement inside automated email campaigns that are currently sending to your patrons (e.g., Thank You Note, Happy Birthday, Account Activation).

Requirements

Your business must have the Premium Automated Promotions feature enabled in order to use the Refer a Friend suite of templates.  Please check your Feature Dashboard to verify Premium Automated Promotions has a green checkmark.  If its red, click the link to request enabling of the module from the help link. 

In addition, you must have an online landing page for accepting new signups online. We recommend implementing the Website Tools Guide to give patrons an easy way to signup directly from your website or other domain you control.   

How to Setup Refer a Friend Automated Campaigns

Once above requirements are setup on your account, perform the following steps:

1. Click SETTINGS> Registration Settings and set Refer a Friend field to Yes and save changes. 
   
2. Click MARKETING> Automated Promotions and scroll down to the “R”s. You will see three (3) new campaign templates including Refer a Friend Introduction, Referred Activation and Referred Sale. 
   
3. Click EDIT next to Refer a Friend Introduction Auto Email to open the email editor and click the Enabled checkbox. You may customize this template as desired without deleting the {refpatron} tag which displays the referrer’s name to the prospective referee.  This email sends to recipients when eager referrers enter the email address(es) of the people they wish to refer (we’ll get to HOW they do this below).   

4. You now have two options for creating a referral incentive such as a stored value bonus or digital coupon, Referred Activation and Referred Sale. The Referred Activation campaign triggers when a referred patron signs up and joins your list. The Referred Sale campaign triggers when a referred patron has their very first sale processed through Virtual, VeriFone or POS integrated terminal. The Referred Sale campaign will only be applicable to operators running a stored value loyalty and rewards program. Click +New Stored Value Bonus or +New Digital Coupon for Referred Activation and/or Referred Sale (or both) to configure desired incentive for successful referrers. 
    
5. Click EDIT next to Referred Activation Auto Email and/or Auto Mobile message to open the email/text editor and click the Enabled checkbox.  You may customize this template as desired without deleting the {refpatron} tag which displays the referrer’s name to the prospective referee. This campaign only triggers and thanks referrers when the referee joins your list.  If a stored value bonus is configured (i.e., $5/$10 reward), the message will report the bonus earned by the referrer and report when the bonus expires. If a digital coupon is configured (e.g., Free Dessert, 50% Off Total Bill), the message will display and link to the deal where the {coupon} tag is displayed inside the message.  If you’re NOT loading a stored value bonus, DELETE ALL SENTENCES that reference the {bonus} tag since they are unnecessary. Make sure you don’t delete {coupon}, however, by mistake, which serves up the digital coupon inside the message.  
   
6. If your business operates a daily loyalty/rewards program where transactions are processed through a terminal consider enabling the Referred Sale campaign to generate an additional referral incentive thank you note (Otherwise, skip this step).  If applicable, repeat the same steps performed in Step 5 above by clicking the Referred Sale Auto Email and/or Auto Mobile message to open the email/text editor and click the Enabled checkbox. This campaign only triggers and thanks referrers when referees have their very first sale processed through the Virtual, VeriFone, or POS integrated terminal. The campaign only sends once and does not repeat after the referred patron’s first sale transaction through the terminal.   
   

At this point, you should have at least one of the following campaigns enabled (or both, if applicable) in order to thank referrers when a person they referred (referee) joins your list (Referred Activation) or has their very 1st sale processed through a certified terminal (Referred Sale). The choice of value (stored value or digital coupon) and when the offer expires is yours. The choice of delivery method (email and/or text) is yours.  You must configure at least one stored value bonus or digital coupon in order to activate the refer a friend advertisement displaying wherever {refpromo} is published inside your automated messages.  

How Patrons Refer their Friends or Give Referrers Credit

When your refer a friend campaign is setup in previous steps the following happens: 

• The registration (signup) form as configured in SETTINGS> Registration Settings is upgraded with a new optional Referred By field that allows patrons to enter the mobile # or email address of a referring patron.  If a patron enters a matching mobile or email address of a referring patron during signup the referring patron will receive the Referred Activation campaign.  
• The {refpromo} tag activates inside every automated email promotion that displays this tag (which is most of the default templates). This tag displays your refer a friend advertisement and referral incentive(s) that encourage patrons to click and start referring their friends. 
• When patrons click this advertisement off automated emails (e.g., Thank You Note, Happy Birthday, Account Activation) they are routed to a special landing page customized with your logo and referral incentives. This page has fields to enter the email address(es) of friends and family that kick off your introductory Refer a Friend Introduction automated email configured above in Step 3. 

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Test your Refer a Friend Links 

The easiest way to test your refer a friend tags and links is to open the automated Thank You Note email from MARKETING > Automated Promotions> Thank You Note.  Click EDIT icon to open the auto email editor and send yourself a test email to verify {refpromo} displays your refer a friend advertisement that links to your customized refer a friend online form.  Remember, the {refpromo} tag will only work and display your advertisement as long as you’ve configured at least one referral incentive stored value bonus OR digital coupon under either Referred Activation or Referred Sale automated promotions.  

Manually Recording a Referrer-Referee Affiliation from Back Office

The Refer a Friend module supports the ability for authorized users or clerks to manually edit a patron profile by filling in the matching email address or mobile phone number of a referring patron already in your database. This action triggers the Referred Activation campaign immediately and sends the referral thanks message along with the coupon or bonus configured in MARKETING > Automated Promotions> Referred Activation.  Perform the following steps to manually record a referring patron affiliation to give that person credit for the referral and send them a referral thanks message.  

1. Click EDIT button inside Virtual Terminal if you have the referred patron profile on screen. Alternatively from the back office, click PATRONS > Patron Search> Enter referred patron details to search and click EDIT to open that patron’s profile. 
2. Scroll down to the Referred By Field. Enter either a matching email address or mobile phone number of the patron who is responsible for referring this patron. The referring patron must already be in your database for the lookup process to return results.  
3. Tap or click the Lookup button to verify the referrer exists in your database. 

4. Click or tap Submit to save changes and officially record the referrer-referee affiliation in the database.  This action will dispatch the Referred Activation auto email/mobile messages as configured in MARKETING> Automated Promotions> Referred Activation.