The problem
Our reps built real relationships with learners, and happy learners started referring friends on their own. The business team saw this and ran campaigns rewarding successful referrals. Referrals grew to 10% of total revenue.
But the whole process was manual. Learners passed referrals to the sales team directly. That led to duplicate entries, late rewards and confusion about who referred whom. Support was flooded with tickets asking about referral status and rewards, and it got worse as referrals grew.
What we set out to do
- Build referrals into the platform, so referring someone and tracking it was easy.
- Grow referral revenue from 10% to 20% of total revenue.
- Cut the support tickets and make the experience better for learners.
What I did
I designed and launched a referral program inside the platform.
- A referral page: learners could see everyone they'd referred and the rewards they'd earned.
- Validation in the backend: each referral was checked automatically, which removed duplicates.
- Automatic payouts: rewards were paid on time without anyone processing them by hand.
- Reminders to refer: email, in-app and SMS notifications encouraged learners to refer others.
- Live status updates: learners always knew where a referral stood, so they didn't need to ask support.
What changed
- Referral share of revenue from 10% to 16% in two months, against a target of 20%.
- Blended customer acquisition cost down 5%.
- Referral-related support tickets down 75%.
- Referrals became a channel that could grow without adding manual work.