Serviced apartments · Referral marketing
Be the building the HR desk, the broker and the hospital desk name when asked.
Referral marketing for serviced apartments is getting named when someone asks around: an HR executive asking a colleague, a broker asked by a tenant, a hospital desk asked by a family. GullySales sets up the source record, the introduction sheet and the thank-you, so that each referral is traced and the source is not forgotten.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
What referral marketing means
Referral marketing is asking an existing customer to recommend you to someone they know, usually with a reward for both sides. It differs from a loyalty scheme because it brings in a new customer rather than a repeat purchase. GullySales builds the ask and the reward into a point where a customer is already satisfied.
Last updated 6 Oct 2026.
For serviced apartments
Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.
“The recommendation happens at a desk, not online”
A relocation agent, a broker or a hospital help desk is asked where to stay and names the place that gave them no trouble. They will not look you up. They recall a name.
“One bad stay ends a referral source”
The agent who sent a family and heard a complaint stops sending. Referrers judge you on how their person was treated, so a first stay is a test of the whole relationship.
“A commission can break the guest's trust”
A hospital desk or a doctor's staff taking money to name a stay creates a conflict that the family and the hospital's own rules may object to. Agree in writing what is allowed, and take advice.
What we do
What we deliver for serviced apartments.
Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.
A list of referral sources you already have
Relocation agents, brokers, hospital help desks, builders' sales offices and HR contacts you know, with who knows whom.
Result: You see who already knows your name.
A one-page introduction sheet
Unit types, distance, invoice terms and one number to call, small enough to hand across a desk.
Result: A source has something to pass on.
A source line on every booking
A line on the registration form asking who recommended you, with the named person or agent written in.
Result: Referrals are counted by name.
A thank-you that follows the rules
A note and a call after a referred stay, within what the source's own workplace rules allow.
Result: A referrer is thanked without being put in a spot.
A front-desk brief for referred guests
A short note for the desk on who sent the guest, so that the first hour of the stay matches what the referrer said.
Result: The person who recommended you is not embarrassed.
Referral source report
Bookings, extensions and repeat stays by source, set against the baseline.
Result: You see which source fills apartments, not which one sends the most calls.
How the result is measured
- Referrals received
- Referral conversion rate
- Cost per referred customer
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
How referrals work in this trade
A serviced apartment is recommended by relocation agents, hospital desks, brokers, HR contacts and the guest who just left.
- Relocation and travel agents
- Give an agent a rate sheet by unit type, the commission terms in writing and one named contact. Record the agent's code on every booking, and check their confirmations against your register.
- Hospital help desks and medical facilitators
- Visit and leave a sheet with the distance, the kitchen and caregiver access. Offer no money or gifts to hospital staff. Ask what the hospital permits, and let the desk stay neutral.
- Brokers and builders' sales offices
- A broker whose client's flat is not ready, or a builder waiting to hand over, needs a place for weeks. Give them the sheet and a person to call, and say how to reach you when the date moves.
- HR and admin contacts who changed companies
- An admin executive who moved carries your name to the new employer. Keep her number on the record and tell her when a building opens or your terms change.
- The guest at move-out
- Ask whether a colleague, a relative or a friend is coming to the city, and hand over a card with the booking number. One specific ask beats a general plea for reviews.
- What never to do
- Never let an agent quote a unit or a rate to a client before you confirm the unit is free. An agent who promised a flat to a family of four faces an angry family, and your building takes the blame.
Who it is for
This is written for these serviced apartments.
- Purpose-built serviced apartment buildings with a reception
- Furnished flats run by an operator inside a gated community
- Apartments near tech parks for project teams and new joiners
- Medical-stay apartments near hospitals
- Villa-style serviced residences for families and expats
- Single-owner flats let out through a management company
- Studio and one-bedroom blocks for consultants and transferred staff
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- You want a guaranteed Google ranking or a guaranteed number of leads. Nobody honest can promise either.
- You need enquiries by next week and have nobody to answer them.
- You want posts and reach reported, not enquiries and orders.
How it works
From your first message to the first report.
No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.
First
Your brief
You tell us what you need in a few short steps: your business, what you want, where enquiries come from and how they are handled.
After the brief
A conversation and a written scope
We read it, then talk with whoever handles your enquiries. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come in writing, and nothing starts before you have read them.
Before work starts
Baseline recorded
Enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.
After the baseline
The first fix goes live
The fix we agreed to start with is put in place and measured against the baseline, whether that is reply time, a follow-up sequence, the page buyers land on or the handover between marketing and sales.
As agreed
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.
At renewal
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.
How the referral marketing work runs
- 1
Understand your margin and customer relationship
We agree what reward is genuinely sustainable and appropriate for your business and customer type.
- 2
Audit existing informal referrals
We check how much word of mouth already happens, to size expectations for the formal programme realistically.
- 3
Design the offer and mechanism
A specific reward and an easy sharing method are built and tested.
- 4
Implement and promote
The programme is surfaced at the right moments in your customer journey.
- 5
Measure and adjust
We track referrals and conversions, adjusting the reward or promotion if uptake is low.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Should we pay a commission to agents who send guests?
How do we track who sent whom?
Can we ask a hospital's staff to refer us?
How often should we ask past guests for a referral?
Do we need to be on Booking.com and Airbnb, or can referrals fill us?
Can we run serviced apartments inside a gated community?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
From the blog
Further reading for serviced apartments.
5 min read · 6 Oct 2026What buyers check before they book a stay or a catererGuests, tenants and event families judge hotels, homestays, PGs, serviced apartments and caterers on the same four checks. Here is what each check looks like and how to pass it.
5 min read · 6 Oct 2026How serviced apartments quote a one-month stayA one-month stay enquiry is won by a written total that says what is included, what the deposit covers and what happens if the guest leaves early. This is how to write it.
More for serviced apartments
Everything else we would do for you.
Closest to this: customers after the sale
Also for serviced apartments
Or start from the overview: sales and marketing for serviced apartments.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.