We always love checking out referral programs "in the wild"– there's always a lot to study and learn from!

Today, let's look at Carpathia's referral program, which impressed us with its polished sheen:

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Carpathia sells large scale, B2B/enterprise cloud solutions.

It's great to hear that they're having success with their referral program– some B2B marketers make the mistake of thinking that referrals only work in very "consumer-ish" markets.

But enterprise and big business clients are made up of people too! People know people, and want to help.

Let's take a look:

What do they get right?

Pay attention to...

• Skilful use of colors schemes. The mix of white and grey creates a visual hierarchy, making it much easier to scan the information in order of importance.
• Bold typefaces. Obviously a professional designer's hands were at work here! But the basic principles of making text readable are fairly straightforward. Emphasize some things (but not all– then you emphasize nothing).
• "3 Simple Steps" – always assume that your reader is busy. Don't make them think. Make it as easy as possible for them to know what you're about, and what you want them to do.

This is killer! Social proof is one of the most powerful things influencing consumer decisions, and Carpathia understands this very well.

A quote and a name go a long way in helping people feel more reassured when they're making important business decisions, especially when those decisions involve long-term infrastructure commitments such as Dedicated Cloud Servers.

“We have worked hard to make the program both easy and compelling to join, mostly by continuing to provide top-notch service and offerings. The success of the program is further proof that Carpathia remains focused on making the success of our partners and their customers a top priority." –  Dave Stinson, Carpathia’s vice president of sales.

Check out more successful referral program examples.