Resources/Building your program
Start hereFor businesses4 min read
The referral program people actually use.
If you joined your own referral program, would you use it? The best programs are designed from the other side: the person doing the sharing, and the friend they're sharing with. In short: make the first reward easy to reach, give friends an offer they can’t get elsewhere, and build toward bigger rewards.
01
Would you use your own program?
An owner can look at one free class after several referrals and see something generous. The member asked to share it can see a lot of work before anything happens. Only one of them is doing the sharing.
So we start with the member, and three questions in their words:
- 1Why would I start?
- 2Why would my friend say yes?
- 3Why would I keep going?
02
Why would I start?
The first reward is the hook. It has to feel close enough to picture earning this month: a class at a studio, an enhancement or a service credit at a spa. It doesn't need to be extravagant, just worth the first recommendation.
A milestone that looks reasonable on a spreadsheet can feel far away to a real person. Ask for six friends before the first reward and most people never start. We aim for a first win that takes a recommendation or two, then adjust for your prices.
03
Why would my friend say yes?
A willing member is only half of it. Their friend still needs an easy reason to try you, and a great reward on the sharing side won't rescue a first step that's confusing or feels like a big commitment.
It works best when the link carries something a friend can't get on their own. That doesn't have to be a deep discount: a first-visit price that only lives on the link, an add-on or a plus-one can all do it. Keep it clear, easy to book and easy to say yes to.
04
Why would I keep going?
A good first reward gets someone moving. What comes next decides whether they keep going. If the next reward is just more of the first, they'll cash in the first again and again, and drift off.
Better programs build a path from a quick win to something worth working toward: a class, then a pack, then a month of membership. And when a friend becomes a member, that one purchase can move someone most of the way to a bigger reward.
Through a member's eyes
Same studio, two programs.
Both look fine on a spreadsheet. Only one sounds worth the effort to a member.
Less motivating
- The first reward
- Six friends' intro classes before anything happens.
- Going further
- More of the same. Cashing in the first reward over and over is just as good.
- The friend's first step
- Buy a class pack to get started.
“Six friends for one class? I'll pass.”
More motivating
- The first reward
- Two friends take an intro class.
- Going further
- Each reward is a bigger thing. The top one is three months for less than three single months would take.
- The friend's first step
- A $20 first class, only through the link.
“I know two people who'd try this. And if one of them joins, I'm earning a month.”
An illustrative studio, not a client program: $20 intro class, $36 drop-in, $120 for a 4-class pack, $250 a month for Unlimited.
05
A motivating reward doesn't have to be an expensive one.
A class, a treatment or a month of membership can mean a lot to the person earning it without costing you its full menu price. It isn't free, though: staff time and pay, product, capacity and whether that spot would have sold anyway all count. A good program weighs what a reward feels worth against what you can comfortably deliver.
Name rewards as the thing people get, in the words on your menu. “A month of Unlimited” is something to work toward. “$250 off” reads like a coupon.
A live Roeme program
BODYROK, Preston Forest.
A fitness studio in Dallas.
What a friend gets
First class for $20New clients, normally $36- Why I'd start. Two friends who take the $20 intro class are enough for a class of my own.
- Why my friend says yes. A first class at a clear, lower price. One booking, nothing to commit to.
- Why I'd keep going. After the first class, every reward is a membership, the thing regulars buy. The top one is three months of Unlimited for less in sales than three single months.
This shows how the program is built. It isn't a claim about how much it has sold.
A good program doesn't need to be complicated. It needs someone who wants to share it, and a friend who wants to say yes.
Keep reading