Referral program audit

A referral program audit is a one-time expert review of how your recommendation program for ordinary customers ("refer a friend") is built and works from the customer's perspective: is the program noticeable and easy to find; at what point in the customer journey are they prompted to share (in time — e.g. after a successful experience, not on day one); is the benefit clear and who gets it (the referrer, the friend or both), does the reward look proportionate to the effort; is sharing mechanically convenient (link, promo code, messengers, social) and does it not break on a phone; do tracking and attribution work correctly (is an invitation credited, can the customer see the status and the reward received); how and when the reward is actually delivered; are there obvious loopholes for abuse (for example, when one person registers dozens of "friends" themselves for the reward). Honestly about the main point: this is diagnosis and prioritized recommendations, not building the program, configuring the platform or running it — implementation is separate work, by us or by your team. And it is not a guarantee of more referrals or revenue: referrals depend first of all on how much customers love the product and are ready to recommend it, plus the occasion and timing; good mechanics help but will not make people recommend something they do not like. So the recommendations are reasoned hypotheses to test, not "we will deliver X referrals" or "+X% revenue". Honestly about data: with access to program metrics (how many share, how many invitations lead to a purchase, where they drop off) the review is deeper and relies on your numbers; without access it is an expert assessment of the program itself — much is visible, but some problems remain unseen without data. It is a snapshot in time: the program and the terms change. An important boundary: this is an audit of a referral program for ordinary customers, not an audit of a partner program (resellers and B2B partners — separate) and not a loyalty program audit (points and retention — separate). If there is no referral program yet or customers rarely return and recommend so far, there is almost nothing to analyze and you most likely do not need the audit yet (first it is worth sorting out the product itself and retention). Picture this: instead of "there is a referral program but nobody uses it" you learn that the prompt to share appears on day one, before the customer has gotten any value, the reward is vague, sharing is only via an awkward link, and the invitation status is not visible to the customer — with a plan of what to fix first. The base price starts from 12,000 ₽ (this is a manual walk-through of the customer journey and a review of the mechanics, tracking and edge cases with a report and hypotheses, not an automated report); it depends on the complexity of the program and the number of scenarios.

• There is a referral program but customers barely use it.
• You do not understand at which step you lose those who could recommend you.
• The benefit or the program terms are unclear to customers.
• Sharing is inconvenient, and the customer cannot see the status and reward.

• Noticeability of the program and ease of finding it
• The moment of the prompt to share (timing in the customer journey)
• Clarity of the benefit and who gets it (referrer/friend/both)
• Convenience of the mechanics (link, promo code, messengers) on desktop and phone
• Tracking and attribution: is an invitation credited, is the status visible
• How and when the reward is actually delivered; loopholes for abuse
• Analysis via program metrics when data access is available
• A prioritized report with hypotheses to test

• A clear picture of what stops customers recommending you
• Priorities: what to improve in the program first
• Understanding whether sharing is convenient and rewards are transparent
• Understanding where the problem is in the program and where in the product itself

• We clarify the program, the customer journey, goals and collect access to the program and its metrics
• We walk the path as a customer and analyze timing, benefit, mechanics, tracking and reward delivery
• We prepare a report with priorities and hypotheses and review it with you

• Will the number of recommendations grow after the audit?

  The audit itself does not raise it. Referrals depend first of all on whether customers love the product and are ready to recommend it, plus the occasion and timing. Good mechanics help but will not make people recommend something they do not like. We give hypotheses, but what will work is verified in practice; "we will deliver X referrals" cannot be promised, and growth is possible only after implementation.

• How is this different from a partner program and loyalty audit?

  A partner program audit is about B2B partners (resellers, affiliates). A loyalty audit is about points and customer retention. This audit is about recommendations from ordinary customers ("refer a friend"). They complement each other, but they are different services.

• Will you build the program and run it?

  No, that is separate work. The audit gives diagnosis and a prioritized plan: what to improve. Building the program, configuring the platform and running it are done separately or by your team. If there is no program yet, help building it is more useful at the start than an audit.