Introduction
The Refer a Friend program in Configio helps customers spread the word about products and services. In doing so, coupons may be earned and awarded to use on future purchases. Upon checkout, the customer will see a Refer button in the Share Your Purchase section of the Order Confirmation Page. Clicking it returns a form to input the name of a Friend and their email address. Configio sends the Friend a customized email message including a link to the Product. If the Friend purchases the Product, or other qualifying Products, the customer will be sent an award email with a coupon code. This code will discount a future purchase of any Products to which that code has been assigned.
You may have multiple Refer a Friend programs, and each of them may run simultaneously.
In addition to being able to Refer a Friend through the Confirmation Page, there is a button to refer from the Order History page as well. This allows the customer to send referrals on previously created Orders. Referring from the Order History page sends the customer to a dedicated Landing Page for the Referral Program. This Landing Page may also be used to send referrals to potential customers, without the existing customer already having purchased a qualifying Product. Therefore, there are two different types of referral emails, one is called "Referral Invitation w/o Product" and the other is called "Referral Invitation with Product."
Admins can also send referrals on behalf of their customers via a Referral Icon in the Admin Order History.
Reporting
The legacy reports that relate to this module are:
- Refer a Friend Report: Reports on who was referred
- Referral Report: Reports on the accounts that were awarded a referral coupon and the code issued
Getting Started
There are several System-level Configurations related to this feature.
Login to the Administrative side of your database and navigate to Settings > Setup > Configuration. Search for "refer." In the Shopping Cart : Payment & Checkout Pages section, there is a toggle to "Make the refer a friend button on order confirmation screen full width." Turn it ON to make the button stand-out more by being wider. Also, you can customize the label on the button via the "Refer a friend button text on order confirmation" config. Click to SAVE your changes.
The Refer a Friend feature is closely related to the Share Your Purchase feature, and some of the Share Your Purchase configurations affect the Refer a Friend feature. Search for "share". If you want the Refer a Friend feature to work from the Order Confirmation page, ensure that the Configuration titled "Enable the share links on the confirmation page" is set to ON. If you would like the Share Links, including the Refer a Friend link, to be displayed in a modal, as well as appearing on the main window, then set the Configuration titled "Turn on to show the share your purchase control in a modal" to ON. Click the Save button.
Please see the linked articles related to creating Discounts with Coupon Requirements.
In this example, a Discount is created worth $5.00. It may be used an infinite number of times. No Coupon Codes were created, because the Refer a Friend program will generate them for me.
Instructions follow about other ways to setup the Discount, including having a limited number of manually created codes.
The Edit Referral screen appears. There are four sections to the screen: Basic, Confirmation Page, Landing Page, and Terms.
Title: Input the name of the Referral Profile. This name is shown in the User Interface, so be sure to use a Title that is friendly to customers.
Discount: Select the Coupon-based Discount that will be awarded.
Invitation with Product: Select the "Referral Invitation" message created above. It will be sent when the referral originates from the Order Confirmation page or the Order History page.
Invitation w/o Product: Select the "Referral Invitation w/o Product" message created above. It will be sent when the referral originates from the Landing page.
Awarded Mail Message: Select the "Referral Award" message created above. It will be sent to the original customer when their friend makes a qualifying purchase.
Priority: Input the Referral Profile's priority. Multiple Referral Profiles may be created, and multiple profiles may be assigned to the same Product or Category, and so the Priority value defines which Profile is used when multiple Profiles are assigned. "1" is the highest Priority.
Start Date: Input when your program will start to be available to your customers. After this date, the Landing Page will be usable, and the Confirmation page will display the link.
End Date: Input when your program will no longer be available to your customers. After this date, the Landing Page will be not usable, and the Confirmation page will not display the link.
Require Account: Indicate whether or not your customer must be an Account holder to Refer a Friend. If checked, only Account holders will see the Refer link on the Confirmation page and be able to use the Landing Page. If not checked, Guest customers (anonymous customers) will also see the Refer link on the Confirmation page and be able to use the Landing Page.
Require Purchase: Indicate whether or not your customer must make a qualifying purchase to Refer a Friend. If checked, customers who go to the Landing Page, but have not made a qualifying purchase, will not be able to use the form. Also, if your customer has made a qualifying purchase, then makes a referral, then has their qualifying purchase cancelled (Refunded and Removed), and then their friend makes a purchase, they will not be awarded the coupon.
Exclude Existing Accounts: Indicate whether or not the friend must be new to your database to be referable. If checked, and your customer tries to refer someone whose email address is already associated with an Account (or a Participant under an Account), then that person will not get the Invitation Email Message.
Exclude Staff: Indicate whether or not your Staff are referable. If checked, and your customer tries to refer someone whose email address is already associated with a Staff Member, then that person will not get the Invitation Email Message.
Exclude Coordinators: Indicate whether or not your Coordinators are referable. If checked, and your customer tries to refer someone whose email address is already associated with a Coordinator, then that person will not get the Invitation Email Message.
Referral Frequency: Input the minimum days between sending a referral to same email address. For example, if set to "1," and someone is referred twice in one day, then they will only get one Invitation Email Message. Set to 0 (zero) to not allow sending to same email.
Award Frequency: Input the minimum days between sending an award from this profile to same account. For example, if set to "1," and someone is would have gotten two awards in one day, then they will only get one award. Set to 0 (zero) to not allow giving more than one award per account for this profile.
Purchase Limit: Input how many days between getting an invitation and making a qualifying purchase will result in an award being granted. For example, if someone is referred on a Monday, and Purchase Limit is set to "1", then their friend will need to make a purchase by Tuesday for your customer to get the Award Email Message with a Coupon Code.
Auto Generate Codes: Check to allow the System to create a unique Coupon Code for every Award. It will create it based on the Length and Format defined below. If unchecked, the System will use the Codes created on the Requirements screen for the Discount. If unchecked and no Codes are available, the Discount will not be available, and no Award letter will be sent.
Auto Generate Length: Input a code length between four and fifty characters for Auto Generated Codes.
Auto Generate Format: Specify the format of Auto Generated Codes. Available options are: Letters only (A-Z); Numbers and Letters; Numbers and Letters Except 10; Numbers and Letters Except IO; and Numbers Only (0-9).
Clicking the Content Builder button will return the Content Builder modal. In this example, I have added a Text Content Block and inputted basic descriptive text. Click the Save button when you are done. If you are new to building content via our CMS, please see the article linked above.
After you have clicked the Save button in the Content Builder, you can exit out of it via the close icon in the upper-right hand corner.
URL Path: This the URL of the Landing Page. The System will auto-generate a full URL path for you, or you can edit the last section of the path to be friendlier.
Layout: The Layout of the Landing Page. The "Both Sidebars" layout will have Search Controls and a Minicart; the "Cart Sidebar" layout will just have the minicart; and the "Full Width" layout has neither.
Theme: Choose a Theme from your Library, or use your Default Theme.
Content Builder: Like the Content Builder for the Confirmation Page, you can use this tool to add messaging to your Landing Page.
Navigate to Settings --> Assignments --> Categories and select the Category whose Products you would like to be eligible to be Qualifying Purchases. Find Referral Profiles, drag the profile from the Unassigned to Assigned Category, and ensure that it is set to "Apply".
Here, I am making a Product in my "Incredible Events" Category to be eligible as a Qualifying Purchase for my Referral Profile titled "Refer a Friend Program."
You can also make individual Products eligible to be Qualifying Purchases by doing the above via the Assignments tab of the Products screen. Here, I am making my Product titled "Great Times" eligible to be a Qualifying Purchase for my "Refer a Friend Program."
You can also exempt individual Products in a Category that has been assigned the Referral Profile by setting the profile to "Deny" on that Product. Here, I am making my Product titled "Neat Times" be ineligible as a Qualifying Purchase for my "Refer a Friend Program."
Clicking the "Refer" button returns a modal with a form to input their friend's name and email address. They can also add a Comment, and if the Referral Comment Operator is in the Referral Invitation type of Email Message that is assigned to this Referral Profile, then their friend will see that comment when they view the email message. As you can see, the Terms are also displayed.
After they hit the Send button, the System will check for exclusions. If they are excluded, (for example, if existing Accounts are excluded and the friend's email address is already associated to an Account in your database) then the System will inform your customer with a "Referral Not Sent" message.
If they are not excluded, the System will inform your customer with a "Referral Sent" message.
If they like, your customer can then re-use the tool to refer other friends.
If their friend is not eligible, there will be failure messaging, and their friend will not get the invitation message.
If Require Purchase is ON (see above regarding "Require Purchase"), and if your customer has not made a qualifying purchase, then there will be success messaging, however the Invitation will not be sent.
The Refer a Friend modal will appear. Complete the form and click the Send button.
If success, there will be a Referral Sent modal. If not, for example if the referral would be excluded due to going to an existing customer, then there will be failure messaging.
They can then click the link to go the Product's Details Page.
There are several System-level Configurations related to this feature.
Login to the Administrative side of your database and navigate to Settings > Setup > Configuration. Search for "refer." In the Shopping Cart : Payment & Checkout Pages section, there is a toggle to "Make the refer a friend button on order confirmation screen full width." Turn it ON to make the button stand-out more by being wider. Also, you can customize the label on the button via the "Refer a friend button text on order confirmation" config. Click to SAVE your changes.
The Refer a Friend feature is closely related to the Share Your Purchase feature, and some of the Share Your Purchase configurations affect the Refer a Friend feature. Search for "share". If you want the Refer a Friend feature to work from the Order Confirmation page, ensure that the Configuration titled "Enable the share links on the confirmation page" is set to ON. If you would like the Share Links, including the Refer a Friend link, to be displayed in a modal, as well as appearing on the main window, then set the Configuration titled "Turn on to show the share your purchase control in a modal" to ON. Click the Save button.
Creating the Discount
First, create a Discount if one with a Coupon Requirement does not already exist.Please see the linked articles related to creating Discounts with Coupon Requirements.
In this example, a Discount is created worth $5.00. It may be used an infinite number of times. No Coupon Codes were created, because the Refer a Friend program will generate them for me.
Instructions follow about other ways to setup the Discount, including having a limited number of manually created codes.
Creating the Email Messages
There are three types of Email Messages that are part of this feature. You can create multiple versions of each type of message, which can be helpful when you have multiple referral programs. Go to Settings --> Management --> Email Messages. Click add new email message, select the type, enter a title and save. See Creating Email Messages for more information.The Referral Invitation Message
This message is sent to the friend when the Referral originates from the Order Confirmation page or the Order History page.Referral Invitation w/o Product
This message is sent to the friend when the Referral originates from the Landing page. The difference between this message and the Referral Invitation Message is that this one cannot direct them to a Product.The Referral Awarded Message
This message is sent to the original customer after their friend makes a qualifying purchase.Creating the Referral Profile
Login to the Administrative side of the database and navigate to Settings > Assignments > Referral Profiles. Click the Add New Referral button.The Edit Referral screen appears. There are four sections to the screen: Basic, Confirmation Page, Landing Page, and Terms.
Referral Profile - Basic
The Basic section has the following fields:Title: Input the name of the Referral Profile. This name is shown in the User Interface, so be sure to use a Title that is friendly to customers.
Discount: Select the Coupon-based Discount that will be awarded.
Invitation with Product: Select the "Referral Invitation" message created above. It will be sent when the referral originates from the Order Confirmation page or the Order History page.
Invitation w/o Product: Select the "Referral Invitation w/o Product" message created above. It will be sent when the referral originates from the Landing page.
Awarded Mail Message: Select the "Referral Award" message created above. It will be sent to the original customer when their friend makes a qualifying purchase.
Priority: Input the Referral Profile's priority. Multiple Referral Profiles may be created, and multiple profiles may be assigned to the same Product or Category, and so the Priority value defines which Profile is used when multiple Profiles are assigned. "1" is the highest Priority.
Start Date: Input when your program will start to be available to your customers. After this date, the Landing Page will be usable, and the Confirmation page will display the link.
End Date: Input when your program will no longer be available to your customers. After this date, the Landing Page will be not usable, and the Confirmation page will not display the link.
Require Account: Indicate whether or not your customer must be an Account holder to Refer a Friend. If checked, only Account holders will see the Refer link on the Confirmation page and be able to use the Landing Page. If not checked, Guest customers (anonymous customers) will also see the Refer link on the Confirmation page and be able to use the Landing Page.
Require Purchase: Indicate whether or not your customer must make a qualifying purchase to Refer a Friend. If checked, customers who go to the Landing Page, but have not made a qualifying purchase, will not be able to use the form. Also, if your customer has made a qualifying purchase, then makes a referral, then has their qualifying purchase cancelled (Refunded and Removed), and then their friend makes a purchase, they will not be awarded the coupon.
Exclude Existing Accounts: Indicate whether or not the friend must be new to your database to be referable. If checked, and your customer tries to refer someone whose email address is already associated with an Account (or a Participant under an Account), then that person will not get the Invitation Email Message.
Exclude Staff: Indicate whether or not your Staff are referable. If checked, and your customer tries to refer someone whose email address is already associated with a Staff Member, then that person will not get the Invitation Email Message.
Exclude Coordinators: Indicate whether or not your Coordinators are referable. If checked, and your customer tries to refer someone whose email address is already associated with a Coordinator, then that person will not get the Invitation Email Message.
Referral Frequency: Input the minimum days between sending a referral to same email address. For example, if set to "1," and someone is referred twice in one day, then they will only get one Invitation Email Message. Set to 0 (zero) to not allow sending to same email.
Award Frequency: Input the minimum days between sending an award from this profile to same account. For example, if set to "1," and someone is would have gotten two awards in one day, then they will only get one award. Set to 0 (zero) to not allow giving more than one award per account for this profile.
Purchase Limit: Input how many days between getting an invitation and making a qualifying purchase will result in an award being granted. For example, if someone is referred on a Monday, and Purchase Limit is set to "1", then their friend will need to make a purchase by Tuesday for your customer to get the Award Email Message with a Coupon Code.
Auto Generate Codes: Check to allow the System to create a unique Coupon Code for every Award. It will create it based on the Length and Format defined below. If unchecked, the System will use the Codes created on the Requirements screen for the Discount. If unchecked and no Codes are available, the Discount will not be available, and no Award letter will be sent.
Auto Generate Length: Input a code length between four and fifty characters for Auto Generated Codes.
Auto Generate Format: Specify the format of Auto Generated Codes. Available options are: Letters only (A-Z); Numbers and Letters; Numbers and Letters Except 10; Numbers and Letters Except IO; and Numbers Only (0-9).
Referral Profile - Confirmation Page
You can add some messaging on the Confirmation Page that explains the program to your customers. This uses the Content Builder that is part of the CMS. Click the "Save" button to be able to add the messaging, return to the Profile, then click the Content Builder button.Clicking the Content Builder button will return the Content Builder modal. In this example, I have added a Text Content Block and inputted basic descriptive text. Click the Save button when you are done. If you are new to building content via our CMS, please see the article linked above.
After you have clicked the Save button in the Content Builder, you can exit out of it via the close icon in the upper-right hand corner.
Referral Profile - Landing Page
The Landing Page section allows you to define where your Landing Page will be located, how it will appear, and what will appear on it. Let's take a look at each field.URL Path: This the URL of the Landing Page. The System will auto-generate a full URL path for you, or you can edit the last section of the path to be friendlier.
Layout: The Layout of the Landing Page. The "Both Sidebars" layout will have Search Controls and a Minicart; the "Cart Sidebar" layout will just have the minicart; and the "Full Width" layout has neither.
Theme: Choose a Theme from your Library, or use your Default Theme.
Content Builder: Like the Content Builder for the Confirmation Page, you can use this tool to add messaging to your Landing Page.
Referral Profile - Terms
There is a WSIWYG Editor to allow you to define the Terms of your Referral Profile. These Terms are displayed on both the Confirmation Page and the Landing Page. This allows you to inform your customer exactly how the Referral Program works. Input text, tables, and images as you would with any other WSIWYG Editor in Configio, and click the Save button. Here, I composed some basic Terms, based primarily on the information defined in the higher sections.Assigning the Referral Profile
Like other Assignments in Configio, you can assign a Referral Profile to a Category or to Product. When your customer purchases something from the Category (or purchases that specific Product), they will have made a Qualifying Purchase. If they refer a friend, and that friend also make a Qualifying Purchase, then your customer will receive the Award Email with the Coupon Code.Navigate to Settings --> Assignments --> Categories and select the Category whose Products you would like to be eligible to be Qualifying Purchases. Find Referral Profiles, drag the profile from the Unassigned to Assigned Category, and ensure that it is set to "Apply".
Here, I am making a Product in my "Incredible Events" Category to be eligible as a Qualifying Purchase for my Referral Profile titled "Refer a Friend Program."
You can also make individual Products eligible to be Qualifying Purchases by doing the above via the Assignments tab of the Products screen. Here, I am making my Product titled "Great Times" eligible to be a Qualifying Purchase for my "Refer a Friend Program."
You can also exempt individual Products in a Category that has been assigned the Referral Profile by setting the profile to "Deny" on that Product. Here, I am making my Product titled "Neat Times" be ineligible as a Qualifying Purchase for my "Refer a Friend Program."
Referring via the Confirmation Page
If your database is configured to have Share Your Purchase ON (see Getting Started above), then your customer can go to your Product Catalog, select a Product that is eligible to be a Qualifying Purchase, and purchase it like any other Product. Then on the Confirmation Page, they will see the Share Your Purchase section including the Refer link. If your database is also configured to have the Share Your Purchase control in modal (again, see Getting Started above), then your customer will also see the section in a modal, as below. As you can see, the Confirmation Page description of the Referral Profile is displayed in the Share Your Purchase Modal.Clicking the "Refer" button returns a modal with a form to input their friend's name and email address. They can also add a Comment, and if the Referral Comment Operator is in the Referral Invitation type of Email Message that is assigned to this Referral Profile, then their friend will see that comment when they view the email message. As you can see, the Terms are also displayed.
After they hit the Send button, the System will check for exclusions. If they are excluded, (for example, if existing Accounts are excluded and the friend's email address is already associated to an Account in your database) then the System will inform your customer with a "Referral Not Sent" message.
If they are not excluded, the System will inform your customer with a "Referral Sent" message.
If they like, your customer can then re-use the tool to refer other friends.
Referring via the Order History Page
After your customer places an Order for a qualifying Product, they can go to their Order History to refer friends. They will see a "Refer a Friend" button. Clicking it returns the Landing Page. Because they went to the Landing Page from the Order History Page, they system knows which Product they are referring. So, when they are referring a friend, the system will send the "Referral Invitation with Product" email message.Referring via the Landing Page
Your customers can navigate to the Landing Page. Perhaps you direct them there via a Custom Menu Item link, or perhaps you direct them via a Triggered Marketing Campaign. However they arrive at the page, they will have an opportunity to Refer a Friend, as long as they meet the Requirements -- see Require Account and Require Purchase in the "Referral Profile - Basic" sub-section of the "Creating the Referral Profile" section above. Then, like on the Confirmation Page, they can complete the referral form. Because the system does not know which product is being referred, it will sent the "Referral Invitation w/o Product" type of email message.Referring via the Landing Page - Exclusions
If their friend is eligible (see above regarding exclusions), then your customer will see success messaging, and their friend will receive the Referral Invitation email message.If their friend is not eligible, there will be failure messaging, and their friend will not get the invitation message.
Referring via the Landing Page - Requirements
If an Account is not required (see above regarding "Require Account"), then your customer can go to the Landing Page without having to first Login. They can indicate who they are in the "Send From" section.If Require Purchase is ON (see above regarding "Require Purchase"), and if your customer has not made a qualifying purchase, then there will be success messaging, however the Invitation will not be sent.
Referring via the Admin Order History
To send a referral on behalf of a Customer, login to the Administrative side of your database, navigate to Accounts, find the Account, and view the Order. If an Ordered Item has a Referral Profile, there will be a Refer icon.The Refer a Friend modal will appear. Complete the form and click the Send button.
If success, there will be a Referral Sent modal. If not, for example if the referral would be excluded due to going to an existing customer, then there will be failure messaging.
The Friend Receiving the Invitation Email
Once the referral has been made by your customer, the System will send the Invitation Email to their friend. If you are using the pre-seeded Email Message, the friend will see something like below. Obviously, if you edit the message, or if you create your own, then they will see it per your changes.They can then click the link to go the Product's Details Page.
The Friend Also Making a Qualifying Purchase
The friend can then purchase the Product via the normal Checkout process. They can then refer their friends to potentially receive a coupon themselves.The Generation of the Coupon Code
If you are auto-generating Coupon Codes, the System will generate a Code. You can see the Code in the Administrative side of your database by logging in, returning to Discounts, and clicking on the Requirement. There, you will see the single-use auto-generated code.
e Consumption of the Awarded Code