Referral programs
Two-flow referral engine: an always-on platform program every coach inherits, plus coach-defined client-to-client programs. Discounts apply before the charge, so the buyer pays the already-discounted amount.
- Flow A: platform program every coach inherits, free months for referring coaches
- Flow B: coach-defined programs for client-to-client referrals on packages
- Four reward kinds: subscription months, percentage off, fixed off, ZAR credit
- 31-day reward hold matching the money-back guarantee, with claw-back paths
- Anti-fraud: self-referral block, burner heuristic, monthly cap, stacking guard
- Tier-gated Flow B: Pro 1 active program, Colossal and Studio unlimited
Two flows, one data model
Most platforms ship a single referral surface aimed at growing the platform itself. Colossus ships two. The first is always-on for the platform, every coach gets a referral link the day they sign up. The second is for coaches to run their own programs against their own paying clients.
Flow A: the platform program
A coach refers another coach. The referee gets a discount on their first few months of Colossus subscription. The referrer earns a free month of their own Colossus subscription after every few qualified referrals. Colossus eats the cost in foregone subscription revenue, no cash leaves the building. Default: 30 percent off the referee's first three months; one free month for the referrer after every three qualified referrals. Both numbers are platform-configurable.
Flow B: coach-defined client-to-client programs
A coach builds a referral program against one of their own packages. A current client shares their code with a friend. The friend signs up to the package at a discount the coach sets. The coach pays for that discount out of their own package revenue and rewards the referrer with either an account credit, a discount on next renewal, or a free month of the package. Tier-gated: Pro coaches get one active Flow B program, Colossal and Studio coaches get unlimited.
Discounts applied before the charge
Paystack has no native coupon API, so instead of charging full price and refunding, Colossus resolves the discount before the charge. The pricing engine computes gross, subtracts the referral discount and any account credit, and charges the buyer the already-discounted net. There is no separate refund to wait on: the buyer pays the lower amount up front, and the reward is only marked consumed once the charge succeeds. Account-credit rewards draw down automatically on the next checkout.
The 31-day hold and the anti-fraud net
Every reward sits on a 31-day hold (one day past the 30-day money-back guarantee window). If the referee gets refunded inside the guarantee, the reward is clawed back automatically. Late chargebacks trigger a separate claw-back. The fraud net catches self-referrals at submission time, flags IP/UA burner patterns for coach review, caps rewardable referrals per referrer per month, and blocks discount-stacking so one referee can only ever benefit from one referral code.
Wired into the automation engine
Three referral events (referral clicked, referral qualified, referral rejected) fire as first-class automation triggers, so a coach can build "referral qualified, send a thank-you push and grant a free add-on session" as one flow alongside their other automations.