referall fees

[Tom Servinsky]

It depends on how the conditions of the sale is completed. Are you
completely turning this customer over to your colleague and have them handle
all the necessities ( moving, actual work, follow tuning/checkup) or are you
subcontracting their services, still maintaining the customer through your
books?
For the record I am a big fan of utilizing the power of subcontracting.  It
is a wonderful tool to expand your business,  whether its funneling overflow
work to other techs with work you physically can't get to, or if its ( as
you stated) out of your realm of expertise.
I bring this up because commissions or referral situations are something to
take advantage of.  You have the contacts..now let them pay for themselves.
Develop a relationship with a local rebuilder and agree upon prices for
rebuilding. Have the rebuilder go into contract with you as a subcontractor
and you then contract with the customer.
  As far as the referral % rate, I don't think there is any % rate that is
written in stone, however 10-20% would be reasonable.  The bottom line is
you should make some $ on your contacts and most rebuilders want to stay
busy. If  making $200 on a job which you do don't have to lift a finger and
it works for both, you and the rebuilder..go for it.  However on larger jobs
($15,000 and up)  your take increases.
 But if you choose the subcontracting route, the financial picture changes
dramatically.
Now the rebuilder agrees upon a price and you  subcontract the job to him,
while the paperwork  goes  through your business.  The rebuilder is working
in partnership with you and acts as the shop person.  We play this role with
several technicians all the time. You, the contractor, then charge the
customer over and above that fee to whatever you see as a marketable price.
Your fee then could be considerably more and eventually contribute a larger
part of your income.
  This is one area where many tuners could be doing a lot more for
themselves (financially) and take advantage of all the customers they come
in contact with. No, not everyone has the desire or wants to become a
rebuilder. But that shouldn't stop you from including rebuilding as part of
your business...if you have a competent, reliable rebuilder willing to work
in conjunction with your business.
Tom Servinsky, RPT
Tom Servinsky,RPT
Tom Servinsky,RPT
----- Original Message -----
From: "pianolover 88" <pianolover88@hotmail.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2001 12:58 PM
Subject: referall fees


> Since I do not do complete restringing work, I will be referring my
customer
> to a tech who has a shop set up specifically for major repairs, rebuliding
&
> restringing. My question is, what would be a reasonable referral fee? I've
> already told my customer that the complete job would be in the $2,000
> neighborhood, so I was thinking 10% or $200 would be fair for my end. Am I
> close?
>
> Terry Peterson
> Precision Piano Service
> Torrance, CA
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
>