A post by Scott over at Active Renter reminded me of the value of referrals and the benefit of setting up a loyalty programme for a vacation rental business.
Rewarding your frequent renters for recommending your property has a double whammy effect in that it not only brings more clients to you – but those clients have already been pre-screened to some extent. We heard recently from one of our own regular rental customers:
“We’ve recommended you to a lot of our friends and told them how special your place is, and we’ve also told them they have to look after the cottage really well and leave it exactly as they found it. We don’t tell everyone about it – only those who will value their time there as we do”.
We offer a sliding scale of discounts that lead up to a 50% discount on an off season mid-week break. And of course our most loyal clients get a lovely gift basket on their arrival too.
Every client you have has the potential to generate repeat business so it’s worthwhile giving them the opportunity to sing the praises of your property and reap the benefits of it.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the mention! In addition Referrals clearly demonstrate that you deliver an excellent product or service, and it increases your chances of getting repeat business.
With the money you save on Marketing you can put that saved money towards home upgrades which will only increase referrals. Sounds like a good cycle to me!
Scott V’s last blog post..Referral Business is Good Business
I agree! And we can’t forget on how important reviews are as well. Always, always, always ask for those who’ve rented to to post a review.
Jason
Hi,
The reservation rewards program is especially handy for those people who dine out often, due to the extensive database of 35,000 participating restaurants within the reservation rewards network. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Thanks
Sofia.