Word of mouth can be a powerful tool for organic growth, but it only works if your customers actually talk to each other and are likely to discuss the problem your product solves. Sending NPS surveys with high scores may not lead to referrals if your users don’t interact. In cases where users are unlikely to know each other, running a referral program may be a waste of time and money. Prompted referrals, where a weak conversation thread leads to a product recommendation, can be more valuable than unprompted referrals. It’s important to assess whether your customers talk to each other before investing in a referral program.
https://www.elliotcsmith.com/if-your-customers-dont-talk-nps-is-a-vanity-metric/