Reception incentives for recommending partner hostels

A question from Omer Bogger:

What incentive you give receptionists to encourage them to recommend brother/alley hostels to the guests to book in their next destination? Or generally how do you get guests exposed to them?

Some of the suggestions included

Barbara Mleczny:

Send your receptionists travelling from time to time :)

Cathrin Eszbach:

We, the german hostelnetwork, send our staff every year to another Hostel for a Staffmeeting/Party. It doesn't need more to make them sending our guests to their FRIENDS in other Hostels within our network

Salem Orion:

Our favorite hostels and their logo is painted on a wall, the guest don't need to ask.

We have agreements with several hostels in other cities. If one receptionist calls the other hostel to make a booking, then the guest will receive a 10% discount. The hostel that will host the traveler gets a booking for someone who is likely to be a good guest, and the cost to the business is lower than any OTA commission. The receptionist who made the call gets to look like a hero with influence because they could pull strings to arrange a discount for the guest. This works best in off season when the team isn’t so busy and has more time to offer to call.

We also belong to a regional network of hostels. Even if the receptionist doesn’t know which hostel to recommend in any given city, the suggestion is printed right on the flyer. We don’t give the receptionist any incentive for recommending one hostel over another, but the simple act of having a partner hostel written down for them makes their job easier. And an easier job is usually the biggest incentive.

What kind of incentives do you (could you) offer to your receptionists to motivate them to recommend partner hostels in other cities?