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Member referral tracking and rewards with GoCardless

Referral tracking links each new member to the person who referred them and waits until the new member’s first Direct Debit payment is confirmed. It then queues a reward for each of them in Slack for approval and sends thank-you emails through Brevo once the rewards are applied.

An example of how the studio would build it. No live services are connected.

From a referral code to both people thanked.

  1. Step 01

    Code used

    A new member enters a referral code on the joining form, or the code arrives with the link they followed.

  2. Step 02

    Referral linked

    Match the code to the referring member and record the referral, checking it isn’t the same person signing up twice.

  3. Step 03

    Payment confirmed

    Wait for GoCardless to report the new member’s first payment as confirmed, and for any cooling-off period in your terms to pass.

  4. Step 04

    Reward approved

    Post both rewards to Slack for a person to approve, with the referral details and any warning signs.

  5. Step 05

    Thanks sent

    Send each person a thank-you email through Brevo describing their reward, once it has been applied.

The result

Members who bring friends are thanked every time, and nobody keeps a tally on paper.

Rewards are only queued after a confirmed payment, and each new member can earn a reward for one referrer only. A person approves every reward before it is applied or announced.

Before we connect it.

Where this is useful

Useful for gyms, climbing walls, martial arts clubs, cleaners and window cleaners that run a refer-a-friend offer but track it on paper or not at all. A sensible first version records referrals and alerts staff when a reward is due, leaving the reward itself to be applied by hand.

What we need to connect

  1. 01A joining form that captures referral codes, and a unique code or link for each existing member.
  2. 02GoCardless access to receive payment events through webhooks, so a confirmed first payment can trigger the reward.
  3. 03The terms of your referral offer, how rewards are applied, such as a month’s credit, and who approves them in Slack.

What needs careful handling

People sometimes refer themselves with a second email address, so referrals that share an address or phone number with the referrer are flagged for a person rather than refused. A first Direct Debit can fail or be cancelled, so the reward waits until the payment is confirmed and any cooling-off period has passed. If a member leaves before their reward is applied, the approver decides whether it still stands, in line with your published terms.

Questions people ask.

Can referral rewards be paid as money?

They can, but credit or a discount on membership is simpler to manage and doesn’t involve sending payments. Whatever the reward, a person approves it before it is applied, and the offer’s terms are published so everyone knows the rules.

Does GoCardless have a referral feature?

GoCardless collects payments rather than tracking member referrals, so the referral record lives in your own system or a simple database. The automation listens for GoCardless payment events to know when a referral has turned into a paying member.

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