A referral program is a referral habit plus five decisions written down: who refers, what a valid referral is, what it pays, who owns follow-up, and what both sides can see.
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Pick a structure (percentage of collected revenue is the standard) and a rate. For a simple introduction, 5–10% is typical; 10% is the most common starting point.
A defined fee alone beats the status quo. If you stop here, you’ve already given your partners something most firms never do: a number.
Agreement first, intro second. One page covers the fee basis, attribution window, what qualifies, payment timing, and what the referrer sees.
Who gets credit when two partners refer the same prospect? When the deal closes eight months later? Answer these before the dispute, not during it.
Record who introduced, when, what it became, and what it pays. A structured spreadsheet works for a small referral program. Software earns its place when overlapping payout horizons outgrow memory.
A short note at four moments (received, qualified, closed, paid) costs minutes per referral and is the single thing that makes partners send the next one.
Most firms already get referrals. The question is whether those referrals are managed or accidental. In the Influitive study, firms with formal programs saw 45% referral-to-close improvement versus 21% for those without one.[1]
Formalizing doesn’t make it transactional. It protects the referrer: they get credit, updates, and fair economics. The program is respect, not bureaucracy.
10% of collected revenue for a simple referral. Published data shows a median 20% across formal partner programs. The artifact sequence above works as-is.
Agencies & consultants solutions →Fee division between attorneys is governed by ABA Model Rule 1.5(e): proportional work or joint responsibility, written client consent, and a reasonable total fee. The agreement step is an ethics requirement, not just a best practice.
Law firms solutions →5–10% of monthly recurring revenue for 12–24 months. The recurring math means step 4 (tracking) matters more than usual. Each referral generates payouts for the life of the account.
MSPs & IT solutions →For the week-by-week version: How to start a partner program: the first 90 days
Four numbers expose the leaks that kill programs. All four are countable from the tracker artifact you just built, so no software is required for week one.
Three signals: partners start asking for self-service status views, you’re calculating recurring payouts across overlapping windows, or you have more than one attribution rule. At that point the spreadsheet becomes the leak, not the system.
Introzy runs the same five steps once the spreadsheet stops keeping up. You set a fee plan once, and the terms are on record before the first introduction. Referrals come in from email, Slack, a form, or a referral link, and Kai creates the record with the partner attached as the source, so credit is settled from the start. Introzy calculates each commission on collected revenue, generates the invoice, and settles the payout through Stripe. Partners get their own portal, where they see each referral’s stage the moment it changes, check what they’ve earned, and download their statements at any time.
Track introductions, keep attribution honest, and pay commissions on collected revenue. Free to start for up to 5 active referrals, with every feature and unlimited partners.