farming out work?

[William E. Darst]

>Could anyone offer me some guidance in developing a mutually beneficial
>relationship with a rebuilder - - like how to be an effective liaison in
>selling these jobs; how much to be involved in the estimate process; how
>to assure that I'm not the "bad guy" in jobs taking longer than promised;
>even some personal recommendations wouldn't hurt (Southern California
>area).

Frankly, from the concern that you express about being in the middle down
the line if things get sticky between the customer and the rebuilder, I
would advise you to aquaint yourself with several qualified rebuilders,
pass the names of these people on to your customer when they ask who can do
the work for them, and let them make the decision.  In some rural areas of
the country this isn't a very practical approach but with the number of
people offering this sort of service in Southern California, you should be
able to come up with three or four names.  How a rebuilder treats your
tuning customer can have some bearing on whether or not you keep them on
your list of recommendations.

My .02 cents.

Bill Darst
Music Dept
UC Santa Barbara