If you haven’t noticed, people like free stuff, alot. The larger hotel chains, like Marriott and Hilton, amoung others, understand this. They provide “points” for free stays through their agreements with the credit card companies, the airlines, and other hotel chains. It’s pretty hard to justify paying for a vacation rental in Hawaii, when you can stay nearby for nothing, even if you have to forgo the vaulted ceilings.
Business alliances are a powerful tool. The market share of these chains have grown considerably as a result. Since the benefits are obvious, then why haven’t these alliances been fostered amongst the larger realty chains? From a collaboration standpoint, and even with social networking, they’re still stuck back in the 1970s’ offering the same things now as they did back then. That needs to change.
Some might argue that the business model of a realty company is just too different from a hotel chain. That may be so, but, in this tough economy where innovation gets results, isn’t it worth a second look?
People get excited when they hear the word “free.” I know I do. Whether it’s buying gas, shopping for groceries, buying an airline ticket, or traveling out of town; the points earned bring me and millions of people like me back for more of the same services again and again.
Almost everyone has a credit card of some sort. Should that be the angle? A part of it should be. The closing costs on just one real estate transaction would take months or even years to match by shopping or filling up a car. Why can’t someone earn a free stay somewhere with their lender or card company if they just spent a bundle of money on closing costs alone? I don’t need to remind you where people tend to go with “free” as an incentive.
The realty companies and lenders need to explore what incentives like these could mean to their bottom line. Instead of competing amoungst themselves, they need to find that niche that can bring their businesses to the next level too.
