Zenith Arc (“Spec”)
Est. read time: 7 mins
Hey, it’s Min!
I’m at that age where many of my friends are getting married and looking for interior designers. 🛋️
Over the conversations I had with them, a thought popped into my head…
“Actually…these firms are great beneficiaries of referral programs!” 👥
Think about it:
Interior design (ID) firms offer high-ticket services averaging thousands of dollars. Just one referral brings them value of that much, with relatively little cost.
ID firms provide “highly-emotional services” where homeowners swear by a design they love. With such strong, positive feelings evoked, it becomes much easier to land referrals.
ID firms have customers whose network often comprises people of similar profiles - friends going through the same renovation phase…or neighbours in the same residential launch. This increases the likelihood of successful referrals.
It’s not just me who think referral programs are great - look at this recent Reddit thread:
Credits: Reddit (thread dated 12 March 2026)
A referral program is one of the highest-ROI levers a business can have. 💰
92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family over any other form of advertising (Nielsen). Referred customers are also 4 times more likely to buy, and they generate 16% higher lifetime value on average (Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania).
Like, what?!
Seems like referrals is my theme this week, so I made a “spec” piece for a referral program I thought would be useful for an interior design SME.
I came across Zenith Arc, a Singapore-based boutique interior design firm known for its modern yet functional approach to both residential and commercial spaces.
Established in 2016, Zenith Arc provides end-to-end design management, from consultation to material selection, project management, and the final quality assurance. It also maintains in-house carpentry, which allows for better quality control and seamless execution of custom builds.
The firm not only does residential, but also office, retail and hospitality spaces.
It is reputable and celebrated - HDB-registered, CaseTrust-accredited, holding a Qanvast SuperTrust badge, and maintaining 4.8 to 5-star ratings across platforms like Google and HomeTrust.
What a great firm - but they don’t have a referral program.
And there is so much upside there.
I thus took things into my own hands, and designed a “what-if” referral program for them.
Let me walk you through my thought process, and I welcome feedback if any!
Overview of The Referral Program 🔎
The best referral programs aren’t complicated - they are just well-structured.
I designed Zenith Arc’s referral program with the following components:
A “Referral” page on their company website
A dedicated “Refer a Friend” page, accessible after the client logs in to his / her account
Emails comprising requests for referrals, especially in the post-home-reveal thank you email sent to clients, to best leverage on their positive emotions at that point in time
“Referral” Page on Website 👥
I created a dedicated page for “Referral” on Zenith Arc’s website to highlight the importance of the program.
A clear header - “Share Zenith Arc & Earn Rewards” - is used to highlight the main idea behind the page.
I then used a clear CTA (“Invite Friends”) to push for action. Always make CTA “dumbproof”.
I then told clients how the referral program works, with simple graphics and short sentences to keep things clear.
The “Invite Friends” CTA button appears again (in case anyone is already sold, and just wants to quickly invite their friend).
A graphic illustrates the tiered nature of the program for better visualisation of rewards, and to innately push them to move up the ladder.
Finally, the page ends with a short FAQ addressing their key queries, and a CTA button with the added word “today” for more urgency.
“Refer A Friend” Page After Client Logs In 🤝
This page appears after clients log in to their accounts, or after they click the “Invite Friends” button and log in.
The main section of the page (a.k.a. the hero section) again spells benefits to clients very clearly - “invite friends & win up to $2,800 cash”.
I also included a disclaimer that these “friends” could be their friends in the same renovation phase, or neighbours of the same residential launch, to paint a concrete picture of who these “friends” might be.
It’s easier to act when things are concrete.
Clients may either copy their referral link, or click the “share” button to open up a window that allows one-click shares to main communication channels, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Chrome, Instagram and Reddit.
Make it easy so people will share it.
I then reinforced the benefits to both their friends and them to stir up motivation, and a final section for clients to track the status of referral links they sent out, so there is more accountability.
I included the “Invite Friends” CTA again. Generally, ask more and you get more, especially at the end of a section.
Thank You Email With A Call For Referrals
Customers usually feel the most emotional moments after seeing their beautiful new home for the first time.
I structured a thank you email to be sent automatically to clients after their home reveal, which is also usually the end of Zenith Arc’s services.
Firstly, we thank the client for engaging our service.
Secondly, we reference the extremely happy and emotional moment they had when they first saw their new home, with beautifully-taken, HD photos of their home and their raw emotions captured attached, offered to them for free as goodwill.
This building up of goodwill is important as we want it to help us get favourable reviews and even referrals later on.
These photos are also useful for us as we may use them for content, publicity and social proof, with permission from the clients.
We then come to the “call for reviews” section where we leverage on the goodwill we built to ask for reviews. If the clients are satisfied with their new home, they usually will leave good reviews when asked.
Finally, we come to the “call for referrals” section, where we place emphasis on the outcome of their friends getting a beautiful home, instead of just stating “Know someone else who wants a renovation service?”.
Sell the sizzle, not the steak.
In the description, we reiterate the rewards both them and their friends may get from referrals, and we end the email with “Gift your friends the same joy you had with us today!” to capitalise on the strong joy they had that day. This increases the likelihood they’ll act upon the request.
I urge to include a similar “call for referral” section at the bottom of all other emails Zenith Arc sends out, but with slightly different phrasing (not referencing the home reveal day anymore as it is over) to ensure the referral program stays at the top of clients’ minds.
And that concludes my “spec” piece this week!
Would like to reinforce again that none of these was commissioned, or represents Zenith Arc commercially in any way. It’s just a thought piece from me.
A shout-out to Zenith Arc for your amazing services. Hopefully, this “spec” piece will inspire you to keep optimising your business in great ways. 🎊
And to the rest, let me know your thoughts in the “Comments” section if you have any. Share this piece with anyone who might find it useful. 👇
Thanks and I’ll see you again soon.
