Your best new customers are the friends, colleagues and neighbours of the ones you already have. They live nearby, they eat at the same times, and they arrive already trusting you. A referral programme turns that word of mouth into a habit. Designed carelessly, it also turns into free money for anyone with two phone numbers.
Principle 1: reward both sides
The friend gets a welcome credit, so trying you feels risk-free. The referrer gets a thank-you, so they have a reason to share. One-sided rewards work far less well.
Principle 2: pay after the first delivered order
Paying at sign-up invites fake accounts: sign up, collect the reward, never order. Pay the referrer only when the friend’s first order has actually been delivered. Now every fake account costs the cheater a real, paid meal.
Principle 3: only count new orders
Only orders placed after the referral should count. Otherwise existing customers can be “referred” by each other to collect rewards for orders they were placing anyway.
Principle 4: pay in wallet credit, not cash
A reward in wallet credit comes back to your kitchen as a meal. Cash leaves the business for good. Credit also nudges both people to keep ordering.
Principle 5: cap it
A monthly cap on rewards per customer stops anyone turning your programme into an income. Genuine customers rarely refer more than a few friends a month; a cap of around ten leaves room for your biggest fans.
Principle 6: size the reward to your margin
Work out what a new regular subscriber is worth to you — their monthly spend multiplied by the months they typically stay — and what you can afford to spend acquiring one. A reward worth a meal or two for each side is usually generous and affordable.
Ideas that work well for tiffin businesses
- Office referrals. One customer at an office can bring colleagues at the same address — ideal for a single delivery round. Consider a small extra thank-you when a new office joins.
- Building and hostel referrals. The same logic for apartment complexes and student housing.
- A ready-made message. Give customers a short message and code they can forward on WhatsApp in one tap.
- Thank people personally. A note from the kitchen when a referral lands means more than the credit.
What to watch
How TifTif handles it
Every customer gets a referral code and a ready-made share message. The friend gets their reward, and the referrer is rewarded only after the friend’s first order is delivered — and only for orders placed after the referral. You set the reward amount and a monthly cap (10 by default), and the growth dashboard shows referrals rewarded and the payout. See loyalty and referrals.
More on keeping and growing your customer base in how to grow a tiffin business.