Referrals and referral credits

A referral link lets a client send you a friend. Crewtavo keeps track of who sent whom, and once the friend pays their first invoice, the client gets a credit on their own next invoice, by itself.

Referrals are part of the Marketing app, on Marketing → Referrals. See Marketing for who can open it.

Set the credit, offer and email

Under Credit, offer and email (owners and admins):

1. Credit for each friend who becomes a client: pick $ amount, like $50, or % of their first job, like 10%. A percentage is of the friend’s first job, after discounts and before tax.
2. Offer shown to friends (optional): written to the friend, like “10% off your first service”. It’s on their referral page, and quoted in the Client Hub and the referral email. Crewtavo doesn’t take it off by itself: use a promo code or a discount on their quote.
3. Referral email: what a referral ask says. {{link}} is the client’s own link, and {{rewards}} says what they and their friend get.
4. Choose Save.

Friends already referred keep the credit they were offered when you change it. Once a credit or an offer is set, your clients can share their link from their Client Hub (Share my link).

Give a client their link

Under Ask for referrals, pick the client, then:

• Email their link sends the referral email, with a Your referral link button. It goes by email only.
• Copy link copies their link for you to send yourself.

It says when they were last asked. Recent asks under it lists the last few, and whether each was automatic or failed.

From a client’s page, ⋯ has Ask for referrals by email and Copy referral link too. A client who unsubscribed from marketing, is archived or has no email address can’t be emailed. Their link keeps working for years.

Ask automatically

Ask automatically emails each client their link a week after a job is completed, at most once every 6 months per client. It starts off: owners and admins whose role has Automations turn it on with the switch. It needs a credit or an offer set, and your email connected.

Recurring clients aren’t asked automatically: ask them with Ask for referrals. The switch is the Ask for referrals after a job rule in Automations, where you can change its wait.

What the friend sees

The link opens a page on your Crewtavo address (/refer/…) with your logo, saying the client “thinks you’ll like working with” your business, and your offer. The friend fills in Your name, an Email or Phone, Address where you need the work and What do you need?, and chooses Request a quote.

That adds them as a lead (lead source “Referral”), makes a request called “Referral from Jane Smith” in Requests, and notifies the office.

A friend who turns out to be the client themselves, or someone who’s already your client, doesn’t earn a credit.

When a credit is earned

The credit is earned when the friend pays their first invoice in full. A percentage credit is worked out then, from that first job.

If the friend’s request is archived, or their quote is marked lost with nothing else open, the referral is Lost and its credit goes with it. If the work comes back (a quote sent or approved, the request restored), so does the referral. If the friend’s payment is refunded or disputed, the credit is taken back while it can be.

Want a rule to tell the client? The automation trigger A client earns a referral credit fills in Friend’s first name, Their credit and Invoice the credit went on.

How a credit lands on an invoice

An earned credit goes on the client’s next invoice by itself:

• Their open draft first, otherwise their oldest invoice awaiting payment or past due.
• Only an invoice with no payments on it yet. Not a deposit or a retainage invoice, not one made in Stripe or with a bank payment clearing, not one autopay is charging, and not one already in QuickBooks or Zoho Books.
• It comes off before tax, like a discount, and never more than what’s left after discounts. What doesn’t fit waits for the next invoice.

On the invoice it shows as Referral credit “for referring Maria”, below the discount. Remove takes it off while the invoice is open and unpaid: the credit stays earned and goes on their next invoice instead. Apply referral credit puts an earned credit on an invoice that has room. An invoice a credit covers whole says “Covered by a referral credit.”

If the invoice is voided or deleted before it’s paid, the credit is given back and goes on the next one. See Invoices.

The client sees “You have $50 in referral credit. It goes on your next invoice.” in their Client Hub, and their page in Crewtavo shows Referral credit with what’s left.

Track referrals

Across the top of Referrals:

• Revenue from referrals: what referred clients have paid, before tax.
• Credits earned: credit not on an invoice yet, with how many friends haven’t paid yet.
• Credits applied: on clients’ invoices.
• Credits given: given outside Crewtavo.

Top referrers lists the clients who’ve sent you the most.

The Referrals list shows each friend, who referred them, when, and what the credit is and where it went, like “$50 credit on invoice #1042” or “No credit: they referred themselves”. The status says New lead, Quoted, Won or Lost until there’s a credit, then Earned, Applied or Given.

From a referral’s ⋯ menu:

• Apply to an invoice… picks one of the client’s open invoices with room for it, and Apply.
• Keep off invoices stops it going on by itself. Apply automatically again turns that back on.
• Mark given is for a credit you gave another way, like cash or a gift card. Undo is there for a moment.
• No credit for this one gives none, after asking.
• Give a credit anyway is for one Crewtavo gave no credit, like a friend who was already a client.

If Marketing is uninstalled

Credits clients have earned, or earn later from links already shared, still go on their invoices. Referral asks stop. See Uninstall Marketing.