Referral Program Design
The prompt
Design a customer referral program. Target new customer acquisition: {{number_per_month}}. Current referral rate: {{if_known}}. Incentive budget: {{amount}}. Output: Referral program structure (what do customers get?). Incentive tiers (more referrals = bigger reward). Tracking and fulfillment process. Projected impact on customer acquisition. Why this works
Structuring the programme around incentive tiers (more referrals = bigger reward) rather than a flat reward creates progressive motivation — customers who have already referred once are more likely to refer again when there's an incremental incentive. The tracking and fulfilment process output is what most referral programme designs omit: a programme with great incentives but a manual, unreliable redemption process will generate referrals that don't convert to goodwill. Projected impact connects the programme design to an acquisition cost per referred customer that makes the ROI calculable.
Risks & review
Referral programmes must be disclosed in referral communications to comply with FTC endorsement guidelines — both the referrer and the referred customer should be aware that an incentive is involved. Also ensure the programme mechanics work for your actual customer communication patterns: a text-based referral programme won't work if your customers primarily communicate by phone. Test the fulfilment process with internal team members before launching publicly.