Referral Programme Builder

The thing that kills most referral programmes isn't the incentive — it's the friction. Asking "know anyone?" forces the client to think of someone, qualify whether they're a fit, draft an introduction, and remember to actually send it. Four steps, all on them. A £500 bonus with that much friction loses to a £0 programme with a one-click forwardable intro. The skill is built around that principle.

The design covers four components. Incentive structure matched to the business model — reciprocal value works best for services and B2B, cash works for transactional and B2C, goodwill-based works for high-trust professional services, hybrid combines goodwill with a thoughtful thank-you. Three ask scripts for different moments — the proactive ask right after delivering a result, the passive prompt that lives in your email signature, the structured ask for a formal launch. A six-step referral process with explicit owners and timings. And follow-up sequences for both the referrer and the referred prospect.

The forwardable intro template is treated as the highest-leverage asset and gets the most attention. Most clients want to help but don't know how to make the introduction — a pre-written, customisable email they can forward in one click removes the biggest friction point that kills the programme. The skill writes this template specifically for the user's audience and offer.

It refuses a few things. Won't build a formal programme for under 10 active clients — that's where informal asks work better and the programme infrastructure feels forced. Won't recommend launching during a service issue, right after a price increase, or with mixed client satisfaction. Won't add three follow-ups when one is enough. And it bakes in the principle most programmes get wrong: ask after value, not after invoicing — the moment to ask for a referral is right after the result lands, not when the bill goes out.