09 · Capture loop
Referral loop
The purest compounding loop there is: its output is its own input. Every converted customer becomes a distribution node — invites, shared itineraries, “send this report to your partners”.
Scores are illustrative — an example of a client dashboard, not a promise.
Loop Score · this cycle
The climb is the compounding
What it is
The purest compounding loop there is: its output is its own input. Every converted customer becomes a distribution node — invites, shared itineraries, “send this report to your partners”.
It compounds into a customer base that grows itself. Referral rate by reward and by moment shows what actually triggers a share, so the ask keeps moving to where it spreads — and referred customers refer again, by design.
How the loop runs
Four stations, one cycle.
Make sharing effortless
the invite moment designed into the experience itself
Reward both sides
incentives that make sharing worth it on both sides
Track every invite
referral links tie every signup back to its source
Referred customers refer again
each cycle starts the next one — by design
The division of labor
Why this loop is different
Labor resets. The loop accumulates.
The traditional version breaks on the same rock every time: it runs on labor, so it resets every month. The measurement step is the first thing dropped when the week gets busy.
Proof & signals
The tell is referral rate climbing as the ask finds the right moment, and a falling blended CAC as referred customers bring more referred customers. It’s the one loop whose own output feeds its next cycle — which is why it compounds hardest when it’s working.
Where teams get it wrong
The recipe is public. The discipline is the catch.
Almost anyone can run it for three weeks. The loop only compounds if you hold the cadence and keep the measure-and-learn honest every single week — the step that turns activity into a system. That’s the part teams quietly drop when the quarter gets loud.
Make sharing effortless — design the invite moment into the experience itself.
Reward both sides — incentives worth it for the sharer and the invitee.
Track every invite — referral links tie each signup to its source.
Find the moment that spreads — referral rate by moment shows where to ask.
Tune the reward — what gets shared decides the economics.
Let referred refer again — each cycle starts the next, by design.
Metrics to watch
Sharing
58- referral rate
- invites / customer
- share-link clicks
Conversion
60- invited signups
- invite → customer rate
- viral coefficient (k)
Economics
68- cost vs paid CAC
- reward ROI
- payback
Reach
61- customers referred
- second-degree referrals
Loop health
65- ask-moment win rate
- reward test velocity
Ways to run this loop
Do it yourself
The recipe above. Yours, free — if you can hold the cadence and the weekly measure-and-learn.
Loop Score audit
We score the loop you’re already running and hand you the fixes. A one-time engagement.
Fully managed
We run it end-to-end — production, scoring, weekly re-weighting. You approve what ships.
Run this loop for you — or score the one you’re running.
Engagements start with a 30-minute call. We map your situation, decide whether this is the right first install, and sketch the first 90 days before you commit to anything.
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