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A well-prepared support team can resolve most customer reward inquiries quickly without escalating every case to the Extole support team or Customer Success Manager. This guide outlines the information, processes, and documentation your support organization should have before launching an Extole referral program.

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Train Your Team on the Customer Journey

Support representatives don’t need to understand every technical detail of your Extole implementation, but they should understand how customers become eligible for rewards. Your team should know:
  • What customer actions qualify for rewards
  • When rewards are expected to be issued
  • How long reward delivery typically takes
  • Common reasons a reward may not be issued
  • When an issue should be escalated
For an overview of the reward lifecycle, see WISMR 101: Understanding Missing Reward Requests and Investigating Missing Rewards and Attribution​.

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Document Your Program Rules

Every support representative should have easy access to your program’s key details.

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Eligible Participants

Document who can participate in your referral program. Examples include:
  • New customers only
  • Existing customers
  • Employees excluded
  • Geographic restrictions

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Qualifying Actions

Document the customer actions that generate rewards. Examples include:
  • Account opening
  • First purchase
  • Account funding
  • Subscription
  • Trial completion

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Reward Details

Document:
  • Reward types
  • Reward amounts
  • Delivery method
  • Expected delivery timeframe

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Eligibility Requirements

Clearly explain any requirements that affect reward qualification. Examples include:
  • Minimum purchase amount
  • Qualifying products
  • Campaign audience restrictions
  • Account type requirements
Keeping this information in a shared internal knowledge base helps support representatives answer common questions without additional investigation.

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Establish an Investigation Process

Define a consistent process for handling missing reward requests. Support representatives should know:
  1. What information to collect
  2. Where to find participant information
  3. When they can resolve the issue themselves
  4. When the issue should be escalated
Use Investigating Missing Rewards and Attribution as the standard investigation guide.

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Create a Standard Information Checklist

Before escalating a case, collect:
  • Participant email address(es)
  • Approximate date and time of the qualifying action
  • Expected reward
  • Referral, order, or account ID (if available)
  • Campaign or program name
  • Screenshots or error messages
Collecting this information before escalation significantly reduces investigation time.

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Define Escalation Criteria

Not every reward inquiry requires technical investigation. Support teams should first verify:
  • The customer completed the required action
  • Enough time has passed for processing
  • The reward delivery window has not yet expired
  • The customer meets basic eligibility requirements
Escalate the case when:
  • Reward attribution needs investigation
  • Campaign configuration may be incorrect
  • Reward evaluation appears to have failed
  • Reward delivery cannot be confirmed
  • The cause cannot be determined using the standard investigation workflow

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Prepare Customer Response Templates

Providing consistent responses improves the customer experience and reduces handling time.

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Reward Still Processing

Thanks for checking in. We can confirm your qualifying action has been received. Your reward is currently being processed and should be delivered soon.

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Additional Information Required

We’d be happy to investigate. Could you provide the email address you used, the approximate date of the qualifying action, and any relevant order or account information?

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Customer Isn’t Eligible

We reviewed your participation and found that the qualifying requirements for this promotion weren’t met. Because of that, a reward couldn’t be issued.

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Investigation in Progress

We’ve collected the information needed to investigate your request. We’ll review your referral activity and follow up as soon as we’ve completed our investigation.

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Keep Documentation Up to Date

Whenever your referral program changes, update your internal support documentation. Review documentation whenever you change:
  • Reward amounts
  • Qualifying events
  • Eligibility requirements
  • Campaign audiences
  • Reward providers
  • Delivery timelines
Keeping documentation current helps prevent inconsistent customer responses.

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Best Practices

To help your support team resolve customer inquiries efficiently:
  • Train representatives on your referral program before launch.
  • Maintain clear documentation for every active campaign.
  • Standardize the information collected for every investigation.
  • Use a consistent investigation workflow.
  • Keep customer communications clear and non-technical.
  • Update documentation whenever your program changes.
A well-prepared support team can resolve many reward inquiries without escalation, improving both customer satisfaction and response times.

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Recommended Support Resources

Every support representative should have access to these documents.