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Rewards are controlled using Reward Rules. You can reward the person making the referral, the person being referred, or both. Rewards can be monetary, commission-based or custom, and they can be issued manually or through connected reward providers and automation tools.
The basic flow is:
Create a Reward Rule -> someone completes the required action -> the reward becomes Due -> the reward is issued -> Referral Factory tracks the result.
What is a Reward Rule in Referral Factory?
A Reward Rule tells Referral Factory exactly how a particular reward should work.
Each Reward Rule defines things such as:
- who receives the reward
- what type of reward they receive
- how much the reward is worth
- what needs to happen for them to earn it
- whether it can be earned once or repeatedly
- how the reward will be issued
- whether it should be issued automatically
- whether there is a limit on how many rewards someone can earn
You can create multiple Reward Rules in the same referral campaign, which gives you flexibility to reward different people or different actions.
Who can receive a referral reward?
A Reward Rule can be created for either the Referrer or the Lead.
The Referrer is the person making the referral.
The Lead is the person who was referred.
For example, you could reward the Referrer with a $50 gift card when their friend becomes a customer, or give the Lead a $20 credit when they qualify.
Can I reward both the Referrer and the Lead?
Yes.
To create a double-sided referral program, create:
- one Reward Rule for the Referrer
- one Reward Rule for the Lead
The two Reward Rules do not need to be identical. You can give each person a different reward, use different values, or even issue the rewards in different ways.
For example:
Lead: 20% discount
Referrer: $50 gift card
What types of referral rewards can I create?
Referral Factory supports three main Reward Types.
Fixed Monetary Value
Use a fixed-value reward when you want to offer a specific monetary amount.
For example:
Refer a customer and earn $50.
This works well for cash, gift cards, account credits and other rewards with a fixed monetary value.
Commission
Commission rewards let you reward someone with a percentage-based amount.
For example:
Earn 10% commission for successful referrals.
If your CRM or another connected system stores the total sale or deal value, that value can also be used as part of the commission calculation, depending on your integration setup.
Custom
Custom Rewards are useful when the reward is not simply a monetary amount.
For example:
- loyalty points
- miles
- tokens
- credits
- virtual currency
- other values defined by your business
You choose the Metric Name and Metric Amount that Referral Factory should track.
What can trigger a referral reward?
The Reward Rule determines what needs to happen before someone earns the reward.
A new referral
The reward can be created when a new referral joins the campaign.
This should be used carefully because the referred person has not necessarily completed a meaningful action yet.
A qualified referral
This is the most common setup.
The reward is created when the Lead becomes Qualified, meaning they have completed whatever action your business considers a successful referral.
For example, qualification could mean that they:
- made a purchase
- became a paying customer
- signed a contract
- completed onboarding
- reached another meaningful conversion point
Qualification can be handled manually or automatically through integrations and other workflows.
A Custom Goal
You can also use a Custom Goal when the reward should be connected to another action that matters to your business.
This gives you more flexibility when a simple sign-up or qualification is not enough to describe your referral journey.
Can referral rewards be one-time or ongoing?
Yes.
A one-time reward is earned once for the action defined in the Reward Rule.
For example:
Earn $50 when your referral becomes a customer.
An ongoing reward can repeat at the interval configured by the business.
For example, a commission reward could be issued every 30 days while the conditions for that ongoing reward continue to be met.
Referral Factory can also support milestone-style reward structures, where a Referrer earns rewards after reaching specific referral goals or thresholds, depending on how the campaign is configured.
What happens when someone earns a reward?
When the action defined in the Reward Rule happens, Referral Factory creates the reward.
In most setups, the reward first appears as Due.
That means the person has earned the reward, but it has not yet been issued.
You can then review and issue the reward manually, or use Auto Issue if you want eligible rewards to be issued automatically.
Once the reward has been processed, its status changes to Issued.
What do Due, Issued, Canceled and Failed mean?
DueThe reward has been earned and is waiting to be issued.
IssuedThe reward has been processed using the issuing method selected for that Reward Rule.
CanceledThe reward has been canceled and will not be issued unless it is restored.
FailedReferral Factory attempted to issue the reward through the configured method, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
These statuses make it easier to see which rewards still need attention and which have already been processed.
How can I issue referral rewards?
When you create the Reward Rule, you choose how the reward should be issued.
Depending on your setup, your options can include:
Issue YourselfReferral Factory tracks who is owed a reward, but your business handles the actual reward outside Referral Factory.
TremendousUse a connected Tremendous account to issue eligible digital rewards.
PayPalIssue eligible cash rewards through your connected PayPal account.
Stripe CreditsApply credits through your connected Stripe setup.
WebhooksSend reward information to your own system so your backend can handle the next step.
Zapier or Make.comPass reward information into an automation workflow and connect Referral Factory to other apps.
n8nReferral Factory also provides n8n as an issuing option. The exact workflow depends on how your n8n integration is configured.
Businesses with their own systems can also build custom reward workflows using the Referral Factory API.
Can Referral Factory issue rewards automatically?
Yes.
By default, you can keep rewards as Due until someone reviews and issues them.
If Auto Issue Rewards is enabled on the Reward Rule, Referral Factory can automatically start the issuing process when the reward becomes eligible.
Manual approval gives your team an opportunity to review rewards before they are sent, which can be useful for checking unusual referrals, mistakes or possible fraud.
Auto Issue is useful when you are comfortable with your reward rules and issuing workflow and do not need to approve each reward manually.
Who actually pays for the referral rewards?
Referral Factory manages the reward rules, tracking and issuing workflow, but the reward value comes from your business or the reward provider you connect.
For example:
- if you use Issue Yourself, your business fulfils the reward
- if you use Tremendous, you fund your Tremendous account
- if you use PayPal, the payout comes through your connected PayPal setup
- if you use Stripe Credits, the credit is handled through your Stripe account
Referral Factory does not hold a central balance containing all of your referral reward funds.
Can I limit how many rewards someone can earn?
Yes.
A Reward Limit lets you cap how many rewards a person can earn from a particular Reward Rule.
For example, you could allow each Referrer to earn a maximum of 10 rewards.
Once they reach the limit for that rule, they cannot continue earning additional rewards from it.
Reward Limits are useful when you want to control reward costs or put boundaries around a particular promotion.
Can I send an email when someone receives a reward?
Yes.
Each Reward Rule can have its own reward notification.
When enabled, the notification is sent when the reward is Issued, not simply when it becomes Due.
You can customise the subject and message and use variables to personalise the email for the recipient.
Can I use different rewards in the same referral campaign?
Yes.
A campaign can have multiple Reward Rules.
For example, one campaign could have:
- a $50 reward for the Referrer when a Lead qualifies
- a discount for the Lead
- another reward connected to a different Goal
- different rules for different reward values or structures
Each Reward Rule is managed separately, so you can build a reward structure that matches the different actions and people in your referral journey.
Can I connect Referral Factory to my existing loyalty or rewards system?
Yes.
If your business already has a loyalty program, wallet, points system or another internal reward platform, Referral Factory can still manage when the referral reward is earned.
For example, you could create a Custom Reward for:
500 Loyalty Points
Referral Factory records who has earned the 500 points. Your own system can then add those points to the customer's existing loyalty balance using your API, Webhooks or another connected workflow.
This means you do not need to replace your existing loyalty system in order to use Referral Factory for referral rewards.
Where can I see and manage my rewards?
You can manage rewards from the Rewards section in Referral Factory.
Here you can see rewards across statuses such as:
- Due
- Issued
- Canceled
- Failed
You can open reward records to see more information about who earned the reward, what it is worth and which referral caused it.
From the Due rewards view, you can also issue or cancel eligible rewards individually or in bulk.
What should I decide before setting up my referral rewards?
Who should be rewarded?The Referrer, the Lead, or both?
What should they receive?A fixed monetary reward, commission, points, credit or something else?
What should they need to do to earn it?Should the reward be earned for a new referral, a qualified referral or another Goal?
How often can they earn it?Once, on an ongoing schedule, or at particular milestones?
How should the reward be issued?Manually, through a reward provider, or through an automation or custom integration?
Do you need a limit?Decide whether each person should be able to earn unlimited rewards or whether you want to set a maximum.
Once those decisions are clear, the Reward Rule tells Referral Factory how to manage the rest of the reward journey.