What are Referrals?
Referrals allow you to collect, track, and reward the people who refer new business to you, directly from the Applause platform. Applause intelligently solicits referrals from your happiest customers at exactly the right time using advanced logic that's fully configurable by you. When a referral converts into a paying customer, you can send the referrer a cash or gift card payout with just a few clicks.
Referrals live directly within the Applause platform, bringing automation and simplicity to your referral program. Real-time tracking, flexible payout options, and instant delivery keep referrers engaged while reducing manual admin work.
Why Referrals Matter
Satisfied customers and technicians are your best marketing assets. Referrals make it effortless to turn word-of-mouth into measurable revenue growth.
With Referrals, you can:
Automatically solicit referrals from your happiest customers at the right moment.
Create and manage referral forms that fit every channel and season, from email to social to special promotions.
Accept referrals from multiple channels: customers, technicians, and custom form links.
Track form performance with conversion rates, click-throughs, and detailed insights.
Manage all referrals from one centralized view.
Send instant cash or gift card rewards with complete control over when and how much.
Referrals make growth simple and rewarding, helping you turn satisfied customers into active promoters of your business.
Key Benefits
Applause Referrals makes it easy to engage your network, track conversions, and reward referrers, all from one place.
Intelligent Referral Solicitation: Applause automatically asks your happiest customers for referrals at exactly the right time, using advanced logic you can customize. The system makes it easy for them to share, maximizing your chances of getting quality leads.
One Place for All Your Referral Forms: Create and manage referral forms that fit every channel and season—from email to social to special promotions. Segment where and how you ask for referrals, then track performance with conversion rates, click-throughs, and detailed insights. Identify what's working, pivot your strategy, and grow smarter.
Multiple Referral Channels: Accept referrals submitted by customers through your rate request flow, technicians via the mobile app, or anyone through shareable form links.
Automated Tracking & Audit Trail: Track referral status changes, payout history, and notes in an immutable audit log. Filter and search by payout status, location, employee, or referral name.
Zero Friction for Referrers: Recipients click a link and get paid instantly. No account creation, no login, no extra steps. They simply choose to deposit to their account, Venmo, or an Amazon Gift Card, and receive their reward.
Complete Control for Your Team: You decide exactly when to send payouts. Only reward referrals that convert to paying customers, ensuring every dollar drives real business value.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our team will activate the feature and help tailor it based on the offer you’d like to provide to customers who refer and any offerings for referees.
When Referrals is enabled, it will take priority and replace the "Tipping" feature. The referral module is exclusively triggered when a customer submits an NPS rating of 9 or 10. This ensures that referrals are generated only from customers with highly positive sentiment.
Setting Up a Referral Form
To set up a Referral Form, navigate to the Referrals section in your Applause admin portal.
Go to Referrals → Referral Forms.
Select “New Form”
3. Input the Referral form name. This name is not visible to external users and should reflect its purpose. Example: Social Campaign: Q1 2026
4. Select the link type you want to create, and hit Continue.
Standard referral form: collects both the referrer and referrals’ details, best when you want to track who submitted each referral, and works for enabling referral payouts.
Direct referral form: collects only the referral’s details - best for gathering leads directly from social media, websites, flyers, and more.
5. Create your referral form.
Input Referral location: Select the location that should receive credit for the referral. The referral will be attributed to the location’s reporting.
Select a cover image
Give a title to your referral. Note that the title will be external-facing.
Write a short description to give more context to your referral. You can include more details, such as how it works, if there is a reward or discount, etc.
6. Complete the Submission Screen
Note this is what the referral will see
Select “Create referral form.”
Setting Up a Referral Payout
To enable Referral Payouts, navigate to the Referrals section in your Applause admin portal.
Note: Only users with the Configure Payout Settings permission can enable and configure referral payouts.
Go to Referrals → Settings.
2. Scroll down to “Referrer Payout” and switch the toggle to enable. Set your desired payout amount (default is $50) and click “Save”.
Recommended Payout Strategy: Most customers set payout amounts between $25 and $100. We recommend offering higher incentives (>$50) to motivate quality referrals rather than volume.
Higher incentives tied to actual conversions create stronger motivation for referrers to send leads that result in real business.
Managing Referrals
All referrals appear in the Referrals table in your admin portal. From here, you can:
View referrer name, contact info, referral details, and submission date.
Update referral status: Pending, Converted, or Did Not Convert.
Add notes to track follow-up or CRM details.
Filter by payout status, referral status, location, or employee.
Search by referrer or referral name.
Understanding Referral Statuses
Pending – Referral received, not yet acted on.
Converted – Referral became a paying customer and is ready for payout.
Did Not Convert – Referral did not result in business.
Note: Payouts can only be sent when the referral status is "Converted." Changing the status to "Converted" does not automatically trigger a payout; you decide when to send it.
Sending a Payout
When a referral converts to a paying customer:
Navigate to the Referrals tab.
2. Locate the referral and click the three-dot menu or open the referral detail drawer.
3. Click the Pay action.
4. Review the confirmation dialog showing the referrer's name, contact info, payout amount, and delivery method (SMS or email).
5. Click Confirm. The referrer receives a text or email with a link to claim their reward, usually within one minute.
What the Referrer Experiences
The referrer receives a text message or email with a link to claim their reward.
They click the link and go directly to choosing their payout method, no account creation required.
They select their preferred option: ACH (bank transfer), Venmo, or Amazon Gift Card.
They receive their payout.
No sign-up. No login. No extra steps. This streamlined experience keeps referrers happy and motivated to send more business your way.
Tracking Payout Status
A separate payout status indicator appears in the referrals table:
Unpaid – No payout has been sent yet.
Sent – Payout successfully delivered to the referrer.
Error – Payout failed. You can review the error and retry if needed.
All payout actions are logged in the audit trail, including who triggered the payout, to whom, when, the amount, and the delivery method.
Access and Permissions
Referral Payouts introduce two permissions, both granted by a Superadmin:
Trigger Payout – Allows users to send payouts to referrers.
Configure Payout Settings – Allows users to edit the payout amount.
These permissions are independent. For example, you might let office staff manage referral statuses and add notes, while restricting payout triggers to branch managers. Or you might let one person configure the payout amount while several people can trigger payouts.
Users without payout permissions will not see or be able to trigger the payout action.
Important Details
Once a payout is sent, the referral status is locked at "Converted" and cannot be changed.
Payouts cannot be rescinded or clawed back once sent.
Only one payout is allowed per referral.
Employee referrals are supported. An employee indicator icon will appear next to their name in the referrals table, and you can still send them a payout.
All referral types are eligible: customer-submitted, technician-submitted, and form link referrals.
Troubleshooting
What if the referrer didn't receive the payout link?
If the original SMS or email failed to deliver, you can retry the payout from the referrals table. If the first send was successful but the referrer lost the link, contact Applause Support for assistance.
What if a payout fails?
An "Error" status will appear on the referral row. Review the error details in the audit log and retry if the failure was temporary. For persistent errors, contact Applause Support.
What if the referrer has trouble claiming their reward?
Direct them to the support resources included in the payout notification email.
For additional questions about Referral Payouts, reach out to your Applause representative or contact Applause Support.