Earlens: Building a Fully Automated Multistage Referral Program
Author
Alex Molchan
COO at Dizzain
Earlens, a medical device company with a groundbreaking hearing solution, partnered with Dizzain to build a fully automated, multistage referral program that scaled effortlessly and increased customer acquisition without increasing workload. By deeply integrating tools like Referral Factory, Salesforce, ActiveCampaign, and Zapier, the team eliminated manual processes and created a seamless experience that motivated customers to refer friends from first click to final purchase.
Key Takeaways
- Automated workflows eliminated all manual referral tracking and reward processes.
- Referrers earned $50 for consultations and $500 for purchases, keeping them engaged throughout.
- A Zapier-powered tech stack integrated Salesforce, ActiveCampaign, Referral Factory, and Postmark.
- Referral friction was minimized with one-click scheduling and easy sharing options.
- Real-time reporting enabled ongoing optimization of the referral funnel.
The Challenge: When “Plug-and-Play” Isn’t Enough
Earlens, whose device was named one of Time magazine’s Top 100 Inventions, wanted to scale its business through referrals — but faced significant hurdles. While they had chosen Referral Factory to launch their program, off-the-shelf features quickly fell short:
- CRM disconnects: Salesforce integration was buggy, requiring manual entry of contact and referral data.
- Scalability issues: Without automation, the program was labor-intensive and error-prone.
- User drop-offs: Lack of visibility into user status led to gaps between referral initiation and purchase.
Earlens turned to Dizzain to engineer a referral system that could scale intelligently, automate reliably, and perform consistently across systems.
The Strategy: A Two-Stage Incentive to Drive Full-Funnel Conversion
Dizzain designed a multistage reward structure to reduce drop-off and encourage referrers to stay invested in their friends’ progress:
- $50 for a scheduled consultation
- $500 for a completed purchase
- $550 discount for the referred customer
This tiered incentive kept referrers engaged throughout the entire funnel — from awareness to purchase — making them active participants in driving conversion.
But a brilliant strategy needed an equally strong operational backbone.
Building the Engine: A Fully Integrated, Low-Code Tech Stack
To execute this strategy, Dizzain built a low-code system using the following tools:
- Referral Factory for program management
- Salesforce for CRM and status tracking
- ActiveCampaign for email automation
- Zapier as the middleware to connect it all
- Postmark to guarantee transactional email delivery
This architecture ensured that:
- Contacts and referrals synced in real time
- Status changes (e.g., “consultation booked”) triggered automatic rewards
- Notifications and follow-ups were instant and accurate
Why Zapier Was the MVP
Instead of waiting on complex dev work or brittle APIs, Dizzain used Zapier to create automation chains that:
- Captured and distributed referral codes
- Tracked referral milestones
- Updated statuses across platforms
- Sent timely reward emails and reminders
This low-code approach allowed for rapid iteration and easy scalability without developer bottlenecks.
Creating a Frictionless User Journey
User engagement is everything in referral marketing. Dizzain made the process effortless for both referrers and their friends:
Simple Referral Options
- Landing Page Form: Customers could directly input a friend’s info.
- Personal Referral Link: Easily shareable via email or text.
Calendly Integration for Consultations
Referrals could book consultations in just a few clicks via Calendly. However, Calendly didn’t support referral code tracking out of the box — so Dizzain used Zapier to patch this gap by syncing referral IDs across systems.
From Consultation to Purchase: Automating Milestone Rewards
A referred friend’s journey didn’t end at booking.
- Once they scheduled a consultation, Salesforce logged the milestone.
- This update triggered Zapier to initiate the $50 reward in Referral Factory.
- Simultaneously, ActiveCampaign dispatched a confirmation email.
- If the friend later purchased, the system repeated the process with the $500 payout
Every part of the journey was automated, traceable, and fast.
Email That Actually Lands (and Converts)
Transactional email delivery is often overlooked but critical. Marketing emails can get stuck in Promotions tabs, while transactional emails are more likely to land in the inbox.
Dizzain leaned on Postmark to ensure high-priority messages — such as reward notifications and appointment confirmations — actually reached their recipients.
They also layered in an automated email sequence:
- 3 follow-up reminders
- Timed intervals to maximize re-engagement
- Behavior-based triggers to nudge drop-offs
The Results: A Scalable System That Just Works
By the end of the build, Earlens had a fully automated, reliable, and scalable referral program:
- Zero manual entry required
- End-to-end integration across five platforms
- Real-time performance metrics for optimization
- Low friction for users, high engagement for referrers
For the marketing team, this meant more than just automation. It meant confidence: knowing that every referral was tracked, every reward was sent, and every touchpoint was measured.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Just Add a Referral Program — Engineer One
What Earlens learned — and what more companies need to recognize — is that a referral program isn’t just a button on a website. It’s an ecosystem.
The magic happens when that ecosystem is:
- Seamlessly integrated
- Fully automated
- Designed for both users and admins
If you’re relying on manual spreadsheets or a plug-and-play solution that doesn’t talk to your CRM, you’re leaving growth (and revenue) on the table. It’s time to level up.
