You don't know who your happiest users are
Send an NPS survey. Anyone who scores 9-10 gets an immediate referral ask. They just told you they love you — capitalize on that.
When to use
You have active users (30+ days) and want to identify and activate your biggest fans.
Hypothesis template
If we ask NPS promoters (9-10) to refer immediately after their survey, we'll get [target] referrals/month because they just confirmed they love the product.
Method
The problem: You don't know which users would actually recommend you. You're asking everyone to refer when most aren't enthusiastic enough.
What works: Send a simple NPS survey ("How likely are you to recommend us?"). Users who score 9-10 are your promoters. Immediately after they submit, show a referral prompt: "Great! Want to share with someone who'd benefit?"
The result: Referral asks after a positive NPS score convert 3-5x higher than generic referral requests because the user just self-identified as a fan.
How to do it:
- Send an NPS survey to users after 30 days of active use
- For scores 9-10: show a referral prompt immediately after submission
- For scores 7-8: ask what would make them a 9-10
- For scores 0-6: ask what's wrong and route to support
- Make the referral one-click: pre-written email or share link
- Track: NPS distribution, referral rate from promoters, referred user quality
Key insight: NPS isn't just a metric — it's a segmentation tool. Use it to find your fans and activate them.
Success metrics
- •NPS response rate
- •Promoter referral rate
- •Referrals per promoter
- •Referred user retention
Prerequisites
- An NPS survey tool or simple in-app prompt
- A referral mechanism (share link, email invite)
- Enough active users to survey (50+)
Common pitfalls
- •Surveying too early (wait until users have real experience)
- •Not acting on detractor feedback
- •Sending NPS too frequently (quarterly max)
- •Making the referral ask feel transactional
Source: Common growth pattern. NPS promoters convert to referrers at 3-5x the rate of unsegmented asks.
Suggested ICE scores
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