Set up referral rewards

Turn on Refer a Friend

Referral rewards live on the Refer a Friend card in Organization settings > Challenges, set once for your whole practice and every location.

1. Open the menu at the bottom of the left sidebar and select Organization settings.
2. Select Challenges under Client Experience.

3. Turn on the switch in the Refer a Friend card header. The card’s settings become editable.

Choose what each patient receives

Refer a Friend rewards two patients: the friend who joins with a code (Reward for the new customer) and the patient who shared it (Reward for the referrer). Each side is set on its own.

1. Choose Points or Free service under Reward for the new customer, then enter the reward:
   • Points: a whole number of points. The card shows its value beside it, ≈ $10.00 cash value for 1,000 points.
   • Free service: select Browse, check the service under Choose a service to comp, and select Done. The friend receives a voucher for it.
2. Set Reward for the referrer the same way. To reward only the friend, enter 0 points.
3. Enter the most referrals one patient can have, 1 or more, in Max referrals per patient, or leave it empty for no limit. Expired and rejected referrals free a place.

Referral points join the patient’s balance at 100 points to $1.00 of wallet credit, as How points work explains. They appear in the Point Ledger at the bottom of Rewards Program under every location, because referral rewards belong to the whole practice.

Decide when rewards are paid

Referral rewards are paid the moment the friend joins with the code, unless you turn on Require activation or set Approve referrals to Manually. With activation on, Velarya waits until the friend meets an Activation rule within the Activation window, and counts only what the friend does after joining.

1. Turn on Require activation. With it off, a referral qualifies as soon as the friend joins with the code.
2. Choose an Activation rule:
   • Spend ≥ $X: what the friend pays your practice after joining, less refunds, reaches the Minimum spend you enter, in whole dollars.
   • Buy a service: the friend pays for a service, and it isn’t fully refunded.
   • Buy a membership: the friend starts a membership plan, and it is active.
3. Enter the number of days the friend has after joining in Activation window. The default is 30 days.

4. Choose Automatically or Manually under Approve referrals. Manually holds each referral that qualifies as Awaiting approval in Rewards > Referrals until your team approves or rejects it.

A referral that meets the rule in time is rewarded: both patients receive their rewards at once, or when your team approves it. One that misses its window is marked Expired, and neither patient receives a reward. How referral rewards work shows how to approve and reject referrals.

Set an end date and save

A Campaign end date closes Refer a Friend at the end of the day you pick, in your practice’s time zone. Leave it empty and Refer a Friend runs with no end date.

1. Pick the last day in Campaign end date, or leave it empty. With a date set, the app shows “Ends MM/DD/YYYY” on the challenge.

2. Select Save in the Unsaved changes bar at the top of the page. The bar closes, and patients see the updated challenge the next time they open Rewards.

What do patients see?

Refer a Friend appears to patients under Challenges on the Rewards tab of the patient app, with a title Velarya writes from your settings:

Tapping the card opens How it works and More need-to-knows, written from your rule, window and limit. Invite A Friend then shows the patient’s code with steps that follow your rule, and shares it with a link to your practice’s invite page. The patient’s side of a referral, from the shared code to both rewards, is in How referral rewards work.

How do referral rewards behave when you change them?

Velarya applies a saved change to the rewards or rule of Refer a Friend to referrals that are already pending. A new Activation window applies only to referrals that start after you save.

If something goes wrong

The card shows “Enter a points amount greater than 0”. The Reward for the new customer is set to Points with no points. Enter a whole number above 0, or choose Free service.

The card shows “Pick a service to comp”. A reward is set to Free service with no service chosen. Select Browse, check a service and select Done.

The card shows “Set an activation window” or “Set a minimum spend amount”. With Require activation on, the Activation window needs at least 1 day, and Spend ≥ $X needs a Minimum spend above $0.

The card shows “Must be a whole number”. Minimum spend is in whole dollars. Enter 50, not 49.50.

The card shows “Enter 1 or more, or leave empty for no limit”. Max referrals per patient is 0 or below, and the field is outlined in red. Enter 1 or more, or clear it for no limit.

Referrals sit at Awaiting approval and nobody is rewarded. Approve referrals is set to Manually. Approve them in Rewards > Referrals, which needs Challenges (check-in/referral) at moderate, or choose Automatically for referrals that qualify from then on.

Challenges isn’t in my Organization settings menu, or its settings are read only. Seeing the page needs Challenges (check-in/referral) at view, and changing it needs edit or above. Ask an Admin to update your role; see Loyalty roles and permissions.

A patient’s friend joined, but no referral appears in Rewards > Referrals. Velarya starts a referral when the friend enters a code from your practice as they join it in the app, including a patient already in your Clients list, while Refer a Friend is on and before its Campaign end date, if you set one. The referring patient must also be under their Max referrals per patient. How referral rewards work lists every check Velarya runs before it starts a referral.