If you want to work with concierges, you can save time and make your company more attractive for recommendations by offering a concierge referral program that can be found on your website.
There are a few elements that any good concierge referral page should include:
A concise description of your tours or activities.
Your website’s tour descriptions should be vivid and convincing — but on your concierge page, stick to the facts. Most of the time, concierges are visiting your website because they want to help a guest book your tours, so they don’t need a sales pitch, they need clear, helpful information. Do your tours proceed on foot, by bike or in vehicles? What sorts of stops do you make? Are your lessons for kayaks or stand-up paddleboards? Misunderstandings about basics like these can ruin the guest’s experience — and by extension, the concierge’s day.
A direct method of contact
Even if you work with concierges who book directly through your Rezgo point of sale, they may sometimes have important questions that need immediate answers. Your concierge page should include information about who they can reach in a hurry when needed, and how. Concierges don’t have time to wait for your customer service team to answer an email during business hours — their guests often want same-day bookings.
The Seventh Room is a popular escape room location in Austin, TX. Its concierge program page includes a dedicated phone line and a direct link to book, so concierges always know they have priority.
A list of any available perks
Concierges love to be able to promise special perks to guests who book through them. Their relationships with local businesses are one of the major benefits guests see for working with them over booking online, after all.
Your concierge page can list those perks if that’s appropriate for your business. Otherwise, make it clear that the happiness and comfort of their guests are your highest priority.
If you offer standard referral fees or perks for concierges, you can also list those (though that will limit your ability to negotiate!).
Sui Generis, a high-end consignment retailer in San Francisco, CA, offers a concierge referral program with a 10 percent discount for referred guests and a credit of 10 percent from those sales for the concierge. To maintain that popular program, they use Google Forms to let concierges sign up directly on their website.
Important facts and FAQs
Save concierges time and trouble by listing any necessary pre-booking information on the concierge page. If there’s a cut-off or a minimum booking number they need to know about, listing it here will save them from promising guests what they can’t deliver.
Common questions your guests ask before booking can also be listed here — chances are, the concierge will need to field some of those questions, so help them sound more knowledgeable by giving them answers before anyone asks.
Finally, consider mentioning and linking to your cancellation policy. If an issue crops up with a guest cancellation, neither the concierge nor the customer should be surprised by the terms.
The chance to join up
One last thing: don’t forget to give concierges a way to sign up for your referral program. Most of your concierge relationships will come from good, old-fashioned networking, but concierges talk. Don’t miss out on the chance to bring new concierges into your program by making them jump through hoops!
Written By | Nissa Campbell
