Run a customer referral program

Overview#

Every customer gets a personal referral link. A friend who opens it can book online or leave their details, and lands in your Leads inbox as a customer referral. When the friend's first invoice is paid, the customer who referred them earns a reward. The friend can also get a discount on their first visit. You approve rewards on the Referrals page, or let TradesWork approve them automatically.

TradesWork checks every referral for the usual tricks: referring yourself, a friend who was already referred, and a "friend" who is already a customer. Those referrals are marked Not eligible with the reason shown.

Before you start#

• Setting up the program needs portal.manage. Owners and admins have it.

• Seeing the Referrals page needs reviews.read. Owners, admins, dispatchers, customer service, accounting and viewers have it. Viewers see everything without the buttons.

• Approving, rejecting and marking rewards issued, and marking a referral not eligible, needs referrals.manage. Owners, admins, dispatchers and accounting have it.

• For the friend to book online from the referral page, online booking must be on (Settings › Communications › Web Appointments). Without it, the page only offers the call-back form.

Steps#

Set up the program#

1. Go to Settings › Marketing › Customer Portal & Reputation.

2. In the Referral program card, check Referral program is on.

3. Choose what the referrer earns in Referrer gets: Account credit (the default), Discount on next service, or Gift card.

4. Enter the Reward amount ($). The default is 50.

5. Enter the Friend's discount ($). Enter 0 for none. The default is 50.

6. Enter a Minimum first invoice ($). The friend's first paid invoice must be at least this much to earn the reward. The default is 0.

7. Decide on Approve earned rewards automatically. Off (the default) means each earned reward waits on the Referrals page for someone to approve it.

8. Optional: write Terms shown to customers (up to 600 characters). They appear at the bottom of the referral page.

9. Click Save.

Share a customer's referral link#

1. Open the customer's page.

2. In the Customer portal card, find Referral link. It appears only while the program is on.

3. Click the copy button and send the link to the customer however you like.

The line under the link shows how many people they referred, how many completed, and who referred this customer, if anyone. Customers also see their own link when they sign in to the customer portal.

What the friend sees#

The link opens a page at /ref/<code> that says "<First name> recommends <Company>" and, if you set one, the friend's discount ("As a friend, you get $50 off your first visit.").

• Book online now › See open times: books through your online booking page with the referral attached. A note on the job says who referred them and the friend offer.

• Or have us call you (or Request service when online booking is off): Your name, Mobile number, Email, Street address (optional), City, ZIP and What do you need?, plus a checkbox that lets you text them about the request. They click Send. A lead lands in Leads with the source "Customer referral" and the campaign "Referral".

Approve and issue rewards#

1. Open Marketing › Reputation › Referrals.

2. Read the cards: Referrals, Eligible, Booked, First invoice paid, Waiting for approval and Issued (dollar amounts).

3. In the Referrals table, each row shows Referred by, Friend, Status and Rewards. Statuses are New lead, Booked, First invoice paid and Not eligible.

4. For a reward marked Waiting for approval, click Approve or Reject.

5. Apply the reward yourself: add the account credit, take the discount off the next invoice, or buy and send the gift card. TradesWork tracks gift cards but doesn't buy them.

6. Come back and click Mark issued on the approved reward.

7. To disqualify a referral by hand (for example, a family member at the same address), click Not eligible on its row. Any open rewards on it are rejected.

The friend's discount appears as its own reward with the note "Take this off the friend's first invoice." Approve it and mark it issued the same way.

The Top referrers card lists customers by paid referrals.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Marketing › Customer Portal & Reputation › Referral program: on/off, reward type and amounts, minimum invoice, automatic approval and terms.

• Settings › Marketing › Customer Portal & Reputation › Your brand on customer pages: the accent color and logo on the referral page.

• Settings › Communications › Web Appointments: turns on the Book online now option.

Tips#

• Install the Tag 5-star customers as promoters automation from the Campaign Library. Then you know who to ask for referrals.

• Keep automatic approval off at first. Turn it on once you trust the checks.

• Put the program terms in plain words: what the reward is and when it is earned.

Troubleshooting#

• No referral link on the customer page → The program is off. → Turn on Referral program is on and save.

• A referral shows "Not eligible: Already a customer" → The friend had a job with you before the referral. → This is expected, and its reward can't be approved. If you still want to thank the customer, do it outside the program.

• "This referral isn't eligible, so its reward can't be approved." → The referral has a fraud flag or was marked not eligible.

• "Approve the reward before marking it issued." → Click Approve first, then Mark issued.

• The status stays at Booked → The friend's first invoice isn't paid yet, or it is below your minimum. Rewards move forward automatically when the invoice is paid; opening the Referrals page also checks.

• The friend says "See open times" isn't there → Online booking is off. They can still use the call-back form.

FAQ#

Does TradesWork send customers their referral link automatically? Not yet. Copy it from the customer page, or customers find it in the customer portal.

Can a customer refer themselves? No. A referral with the referrer's own phone or email is flagged Referred themselves.

Is there a limit on how many referrals come in? Yes, to stop abuse: about 10 submissions per hour from one device and 20 per day per referral link.

Does the friend's discount come off automatically? No. It's tracked as a reward. Take it off the friend's first invoice, then mark it issued.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• ServiceTitan has no built-in referral program; shops usually add a separate referral tool. In TradesWork it lives under Marketing › Reputation › Referrals.

• Referred friends arrive in the same Leads inbox as Angi, Thumbtack and website leads, so CSRs work them in one place.

• Friends who leave their details and are booked from Leads get the campaign Referral. Friends who book online from the referral page get the Online booking campaign, with a job note naming the referrer. See Campaigns and lead source attribution.