Guide to Get 100% Conversion Rate On Your Referral Program

Spreading the word one pension review at a time, find out how a UK-based pension review and planning business achieved a 100% conversion rate with Referral Factory. A specialist firm of independent financial advisers shows us just how effective referral marketing is when it’s done well.

Offering niche pension, retirement, and investment services to a skeptical market already saturated with service providers, this SME financial advisory firm needed a unicorn solution to help them grow. They chose Referral Factory as it offered the fastest and most credible way to generate new leads – by asking their current customers to refer their friends.

About The Pension Referral Program

A double-sided referral, this pension referral program rewarded both the person referring and the friends they invited. Both parties would receive a £100 Amazon gift voucher provided the person invited agreed to a free pension review. Plus, users would also be entered into a draw for a chance to win one of three luxury holidays.

How Their Referral Campaign Performed

The Pension referral program reached almost 1821 people. They contacted their clients personally and invited them to become referrers after each client call.

A total of 246 users joined the referral program. Either registering to refer friends or by signing up to receive a free pension review.

Of all the users in the campaign, 87 referrals were made. In this case, a referral counts as someone who signs up to find out more information about a pension plan.

100% conversion rate from new leads generated by referral, to successful pension review

Key To Their Success 

• The financial advisory firm took it upon itself to personally call each of its existing customers to tell them about their referral program. Encouraging customers to join and to start referring their friends, they were explicit in explaining how both parties would be rewarded.
• Opting to use a highly valued reward that would appeal to both the customer and friends that they invited was a perfect way to create a feel-good feeling that would get people to join.
• From joining the referral campaign as a referrer to signing up for a free pension review, users were communicated with clear messaging and a strong call to action during every step of the referral process.
• The team of financial advisors also registered their customers and sent them their unique referral links making it even easier to start inviting their friends.
• The team used referral software to automate all the management and events of their referral program – meaning they got referrals on autopilot!

What Is a Good Referral Rate?

Referral rates fluctuate due to various influencing factors. The three primary elements are:

1. Product NPS (Net Promoter Score)
2. Reward value
3. User experience simplicity

Companies that optimize these three aspects typically achieve 0.3 referrals per user. For instance, with 1,000 referring customers, you could potentially generate 300 referrals. This ratio serves as the industry benchmark for SaaS businesses.