In-Person Referrals

Overview

If your business includes face-to-face interactions, we have several recommended methods for tracking referrals based on your use case.

Banking and Credit Unions

To effectively track in-person referrals at your bank or credit union branches, we recommend implementing an in-branch referral form. This form enables your staff to link a new member’s account (the friend) to an existing member’s account (the advocate).

The referral form captures details such as branch information, advocate details, and friend details. Depending on your program's setup, the form may also ask for the members’ names, email addresses, member IDs, and/or advocate codes.

Submitting the referral form will either locate the existing advocate or create a new relationship between the advocate and their friend. Both outcomes qualify the friend for the referral reward and attribute the referral to the existing member.

Lead Generation

As a business that supports online lead creation as well as lead creation via phone calls and in-person interactions, we recommend adding referral-specific fields or tags to your r online sales or lead-gen platform.

If applicable, you can also set up an in-branch referral form for your sales agents to enter both advocate and friend information. When leads are created in your online sales system, you can pass that information to Extole either via API or file. Leads that turn into sales should also be passed to Extole.

Also, consider a nurture series or retargeting to ensure that leads that come via referral include timely follow-up. This can include something as simple as a “reminder” email or something broader like a limited-time offer meant to incentivize the lead conversion.

Retail

If you’re a retailer with brick-and-mortar locations where you’d like to reward offline purchases and give in-store rewards, we have two options depending on the type of coupon codes you use and your in-store point-of-sale system.

Single-Use Codes + Email Address or Coupon Code Tracking

• Ideal for single-use in-store coupon codes (can differ from online codes).
• Tracks in-store purchases using email addresses or coupon codes.
• Advocates refer friends online, who receive a coupon via email for online or in-store use.
• In-store purchases trigger referral tracking via API or file upload, using the friend’s email or unique coupon code, rewarding the advocate accordingly.

Single or Multi-Use Codes + No Unique Tracking

• Suitable for both single or multi-use in-store coupon codes.
• Works for untracked in-store purchases; no customer identification required.
• Advocates share your brand with friends online, who receive a coupon code for online purchases.
• Online purchases are sent to Extole via standard JavaScript tags, rewarding advocates via email with a coupon code usable online or in-store.

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Important Note

The second solution requires the friend to purchase online, but advocates retain the option to buy in-store.

Membership and Loyalty

The primary goal of this solution is to drive membership in your loyalty program.

Single-Use Codes + Email Address, Coupon Code, or Member ID Tracking

• Ideal for single-use in-store coupon codes (can differ from online codes).
• Tracks in-store purchases using member IDs, email addresses, or coupon codes.
• Advocates encourage friends to join the loyalty program online.
• Upon signup, friends receive a coupon via email for use online or in-store.
• In-store purchases trigger referral tracking via API or file upload, using member IDs, email addresses, or unique coupon codes, rewarding the advocate accordingly.

Single or Multi-Use Codes + No Unique Tracking

• Suitable for single or multi-use in-store coupon codes.
• Works for untracked in-store purchases; no customer identification required.
• Advocates invite friends to join the loyalty program online.
• Upon signup, friends receive a coupon via email for use online or in-store.
• Online purchases are sent to Extole via standard JavaScript tags, rewarding advocates via email with a coupon code usable online or in-store.

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Important Note

The second solution requires the friend to purchase online, but advocates retain the option to buy in-store.

Home Services

Provide your home services employees, technicians, or repair persons with their personal link or QR code. Enable these individuals to ask for referrals, upsell, or cross-sell while on the job. You can incentivize employees to drive business expansion and/or utilize them as a lead-generation source for customer referrals.

Learn more about Referral Programs for Employees.