Vonage Launches Customer Referral Effort

Taking a page from the corporate hiring handbook of the 1990s, Vonage Holdings Corp. (VG) has begun offering its current customers $50 for each friend they sign up for the company’s VoIP service that stays with the offering for over 31 days.

Customers print out a Refer-a-Friend Coupon for each potential new user. The customer can also type in the potential customers’ e-mail addresses so that Vonage can send them an e-mail with the offer.

The reward comes in the form of an American Express gift card, with the original customer being entered into a drawing for a Hawaiian holiday getaway. Each successful referral comes with an additional entry in the vacation giveaway.

Each current customer can get up to two months of VoIP, depending in part on the service plan the referral signs up for. If either drops the service before 90 days, the credits are charged back, according to the Vonage e-mail.

The customer acquisition effort comes roughly a week after Vonage began sending direct mail pieces offering three months of service at $9.95 (excluding tax and fees), after which the rate reverts to $24.95.