How to create a Membership Referral (Refer a friend)

Summary

This guide explains how to create, publish, edit and unpublish a membership referral offer in Flow.

User role: Administrator
Module: Promotions

Overview

Membership Referrals lets you run a refer-a-friend programme. Members share their personal referral code. New members get a discount when they join with it, and the member who referred them earns a reward once the new membership qualifies. You can have one live offer at a time.

For how rewards qualify and which credit referrers receive, see How membership referral rewards work. For the statistics on the Membership Referrals page, see Membership Referrals home page: referral statistics.

Before You Start

Steps

1. Open Membership Referrals

1. Go to Promotions > Membership Referrals.
2. Click Create referral offer.

If you have never published an offer, the page shows Set up membership referrals with the three steps. If an offer is live, use Edit offer instead (see Editing a live offer).

2. Set the discount for new members

Under Offer for referred customers, enter the Discount amount in pounds (minimum £1). New members get this off their first payment when they join with a referral code.

3. Choose the reward for referrers

Under Reward, choose one option:

• No reward: referrers get nothing.
• Account credit: credit is added to the referrer's account once the referral qualifies. Set it up in step 4.
• A custom (Offline) reward: for rewards you give outside Flow, such as guest passes or merchandise. Enter a Reward description, which customers will see.

4. Set up account credit

One reward for every payment type (the default)

1. Enter the Credit amount in pounds (minimum £1).
2. Set how many days after payment fixed and scheduled memberships qualify (0 to 90, 14 by default). Recurring memberships qualify after the first Direct Debit.

A different reward for each payment type

1. Turn on Set different rewards for each payment type.
2. For each payment type the new member buys (Recurring, Fixed and, if you use them, Scheduled), use the Reward referrer switch to turn the reward on or off.
3. Enter the Credit for each, and the qualifying days for Fixed and Scheduled.

At least one payment type must have a reward. With 0 days, the referral qualifies as soon as the new member pays. If the new member cancels within the qualifying period, the referrer gets nothing.

Credit type and expiry

1. Under Credit type, choose Match the referrer's membership (recommended), Always membership credit or Always general credit.
2. Under Credit expiry, set how many months after it's given the credit expires (1 to 60, 12 by default).

5. Choose who the offer applies to (optional)

• Membership eligibility: turn on Active memberships only so that only customers with an active membership can refer. When it is off, customers with any membership type can refer.
• Exclude membership groups: search for and select any membership groups the offer should not apply to. New members joining these groups will not receive the referral discount. Leave it blank to offer it on every group.

6. Check the summary and publish

1. Check the Summary on the right: what new members get, what referrers get and who it applies to.
2. Click Save and publish.

Result

The offer is live and appears at the top of the Membership Referrals page, above the statistics. Members can share their code as soon as you publish, by copying it from the Referrals page in My Account or using their device's share option.

Account credit	Custom (Offline) reward

Editing a live offer

1. Go to Promotions > Membership Referrals.
2. On the Live offer, click Edit offer.
3. Make your changes and click Save and publish.

The new version replaces the old one, which is listed as Archived in the Offers table. Referrals made before the change are still rewarded under the rules that applied when the new member joined.

Offers published before rewards by payment type was introduced open as Account credit with Always membership credit, rewarding Recurring sign-ups only. Check the settings before you publish.

Unpublishing a Referral Offer

You can stop a live referral offer at any time. This archives the offer immediately and invalidates all existing referral codes.

1. Go to Promotions > Membership Referrals.
2. Click Unpublish.
3. Read the confirmation message and click Unpublish now.

Important: All referral codes stop working until you publish a new offer. This cannot be undone.

The page then shows that no offer is live, with a Create referral offer button. The statistics still cover your past offers.

Past offers

Every offer you have published is listed in the Offers table at the bottom of the Membership Referrals page, with its status, the dates it was live, who published or unpublished it, and its results for the chosen period. Click a row to see the offer's rules.

Troubleshooting

Why is the Save and publish button greyed out?
Check that you have entered a discount amount of £1 or more and chosen a reward. For account credit, enter a credit amount and, if you set rewards by payment type, turn on at least one payment type. For a custom offline reward, enter a reward description.

Can I edit a live referral offer?
Yes. Click Edit offer, make your changes and click Save and publish. The previous version is archived.

Can I have more than one live referral offer?
No. Only one offer can be live at a time.

How do customers apply the code online?
If they share the link, the code is applied automatically and shows in the basket. If they share the code, the new member enters it in the Add promo or referral code field at the Review & select dates step.

How do I apply a referral code at Front of House?
Add it in the Add promo or referral code field on the New membership summary and costs step.

How do I report on the referral programme?
The Membership Referrals page shows the main statistics. See Membership Referrals home page: referral statistics. For your own reports, use the Referral Campaigns data source, which now includes Payment Type, Referrer Credit Type Rule and Referrer Credit Type Awarded.

How do I find all my membership groups?
The search shows up to 25 groups in alphabetical order. Type to narrow the results.

What's Next?

• How membership referral rewards work
• Membership Referrals home page: referral statistics
• How to create a Promo Code