Finders Fee legitimae or not when introducing other agency to end client?

[Contractor1]

Hi - does anybody know if...

As a contractor would it be acceptable / legitimate to arrange a deal with another agency (not the one you work through) for introducing them to the end client and then take a % cut of every contractor they then go on to place if they are successful and get a foot in the door?
The contractor is obviously not employed by the company so doubt there would be any legal or ethical issues but I am curious to know for sure.

Also has anyone else managed to conjure up such opportunities with no issues...?

Thanks.

[DodgyAgent]

Hi - does anybody know if...

As a contractor would it be acceptable / legitimate to arrange a deal with another agency (not the one you work through) for introducing them to the end client and then take a % cut of every contractor they then go on to place if they are successful and get a foot in the door?
The contractor is obviously not employed by the company so doubt there would be any legal or ethical issues but I am curious to know for sure.

Also has anyone else managed to conjure up such opportunities with no issues...?

Thanks.

I have Done it many times

[Contractor1]

thanks

no legal issues with this practice then...?

guess it would be different if you were a direct employee of the end client?

[northernladuk]

No ethical issues? Introducing a different agency to the client so the agency that put you in gets pushed out and thats not an ethical issue?

Is this just an idea or are you on the verge of doing so. My immediate thought would be how can you do this? It is normally very difficult to get on a PSL and then to do a deal with a company to do so would be even harder. Authorisation to pay would be a nightmare on this situation. Introducing another agent is't really worthy of a finders fee either, they are 10 a penny. Just pick up the phone and you have one.

There is then the fact that I wouldn't be surprised if your agent bins you straight off for one reason or another..

The other line that crosses my mind when this crops up is just not to bother. Keep away from putting contractors forward let alone agents incase they f'ip and it comes back on you.

There is also the conflicts of interest problem, you start doing this when you are a contractor and it could quite easily appear you are using your position to cut yourself a wedge and that may not go down too well either. Didn't soemone else get binned for conflict of interest on here recently for getting involved in contractor politics?

All said and done I have only worked with large clients and this idea would strike me as a dead duck from the outset.

Unless you are in a position where it is a dead cert or the deal is almost done I would think very long and very hard before even touching this one personally.

Maybe someone that dipped their wicket can tell you otherwise....

[DodgyAgent]

No ethical issues? Introducing a different agency to the client so the agency that put you in gets pushed out and thats not an ethical issue?

Is this just an idea or are you on the verge of doing so. My immediate thought would be how can you do this? It is normally very difficult to get on a PSL and then to do a deal with a company to do so would be even harder. Authorisation to pay would be a nightmare on this situation. Introducing another agent is't really worthy of a finders fee either, they are 10 a penny. Just pick up the phone and you have one.

There is then the fact that I wouldn't be surprised if your agent bins you straight off for one reason or another..

The other line that crosses my mind when this crops up is just not to bother. Keep away from putting contractors forward let alone agents incase they f'ip and it comes back on you.

There is also the conflicts of interest problem, you start doing this when you are a contractor and it could quite easily appear you are using your position to cut yourself a wedge and that may not go down too well either. Didn't soemone else get binned for conflict of interest on here recently for getting involved in contractor politics?

All said and done I have only worked with large clients and this idea would strike me as a dead duck from the outset.

Unless you are in a position where it is a dead cert or the deal is almost done I would think very long and very hard before even touching this one personally.

Maybe someone that dipped their wicket can tell you otherwise....

There is nothing wrong for a contractor to establish himself with a client to such a point that he then starts supplying contractors himself. Nor is there anything wrong in a contractor giving leads to another agency in return for commission. The contractor has no duty of obligation to develop more business opportunities for his agency with the client. It is up to the agent to engage with people of influence (such as his own contractors) in order to make it mutually beneficial for leads to be generated.

Consultants from organisations such as Accenture and IBM often spend more time trying to squeeze other consultants in than they spend working.

PSL are what they say they are "prefferred", they are easily broken because the needs of the business will always transcend the "needs" of procurement, HR etc.

[BolshieBastard]

No ethical issues? Introducing a different agency to the client so the agency that put you in gets pushed out and thats not an ethical issue?

Is this just an idea or are you on the verge of doing so. My immediate thought would be how can you do this? It is normally very difficult to get on a PSL and then to do a deal with a company to do so would be even harder. Authorisation to pay would be a nightmare on this situation. Introducing another agent is't really worthy of a finders fee either, they are 10 a penny. Just pick up the phone and you have one.

There is then the fact that I wouldn't be surprised if your agent bins you straight off for one reason or another..

The other line that crosses my mind when this crops up is just not to bother. Keep away from putting contractors forward let alone agents incase they f'ip and it comes back on you.

There is also the conflicts of interest problem, you start doing this when you are a contractor and it could quite easily appear you are using your position to cut yourself a wedge and that may not go down too well either. Didn't soemone else get binned for conflict of interest on here recently for getting involved in contractor politics?

All said and done I have only worked with large clients and this idea would strike me as a dead duck from the outset.

Unless you are in a position where it is a dead cert or the deal is almost done I would think very long and very hard before even touching this one personally.

Maybe someone that dipped their wicket can tell you otherwise....

WHS

Totally unethical imo.

[northernladuk]

There is nothing wrong for a contractor to establish himself with a client to such a point that he then starts supplying contractors himself. Nor is there anything wrong in a contractor giving leads to another agency in return for commission. The contractor has no duty of obligation to develop more business opportunities for his agency with the client. It is up to the agent to engage with people of influence (such as his own contractors) in order to make it mutually beneficial for leads to be generated.

Consultants from organisations such as Accenture and IBM often spend more time trying to squeeze other consultants in than they spend working.

PSL are what they say they are "prefferred", they are easily broken because the needs of the business will always transcend the "needs" of procurement, HR etc.

Ok and what is your take on your guy screwing you over at the gig you got him?

because the needs of the business will always transcend the "needs" of procurement, HR etc.

There is so much wrong with this I don't know where to start. I don't think you could have be more wrong IMO.

When someone needs to ask questions like...

thanks

no legal issues with this practice then...?

guess it would be different if you were a direct employee of the end client?

I am kinda doubting the business accumen required to start up a relationship supplying contractors as well sorry.....

[DodgyAgent]

Ok and what is your take on your guy screwing you over at the gig you got him?



There is so much wrong with this I don't know where to start. I don't think you could have be more wrong IMO.

When someone needs to ask questions like...



I am kinda doubting the business accumen required to start up a relationship supplying contractors as well sorry.....

I agree with what you are saying, but there is a grey area here somewhere between pursuing an entirely opportunistic and secretive agenda, to getting full approval of the client.

Many an agency has been set up by a contractor bringing in his own people onto a project.

If it happens to me that a contractor is using the contract I placed him on to exploit by placing his own people then of course I would not be happy. It has happened once and the contractor concerned was subsequently banned from the Winchester club.

[Sockpuppet]

I have many Clients.

Client A has just been sold a benchmark done by Client B who I also work for. While I won't do the benchark I did negotiate a few £k if I sold Client A something from Client B.

Now as I didn't approve or sign off any expenditure I'm in the clear. I just suggested Client B is good at this (as they are).

Nowt wrong with that I find.

[XLMonkey]

Hi - does anybody know if...

As a contractor would it be acceptable / legitimate to arrange a deal with another agency (not the one you work through) for introducing them to the end client and then take a % cut of every contractor they then go on to place if they are successful and get a foot in the door?
The contractor is obviously not employed by the company so doubt there would be any legal or ethical issues but I am curious to know for sure.

Also has anyone else managed to conjure up such opportunities with no issues...?

Thanks.

Done something similar on occasion. There are two issues that I think matter here: transparency and risk. Provided that you adopt an ethical approach on each of them, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't do it.

On transparency: the client will have a legitimate interest in why you are promoting one agency over another. (for example, if the employee of an agency calls them and propositions them for business, then they know that they are getting paid to do it). I have found that, provided you are transparent with the client (i.e. "I like this agency, I've worked with them before, and I will get a commission payment from them if you like them too"), then they are OK with it. Whether they like the agency is another matter, of course.....

On risk: the key question for me is, what risk are you taking on if you make a recommendation? Do you guarantee that the candidates will be good? or that the agency will deliver on their promises? What happens if it all goes wrong? My experience is that the money follows the risk. If you are genuinely making promises that you stand by, then the client (and the agent) will accept that you have a right to some of the reward. On the other hand, if you are expecting a large % of the revenue but don't take any responsibility for whether the customer is happy, then you will be seen to be ripping them off.

For these two reasons, I adopt the following policy:
- I'll recommend an agent if the client asks me. I won't warrant their work, and I won't take a cut. (though I do expect the agent to work a bit harder for me when I'm looking for a contract)
- I'll recommend another contractor if the client asks me. I won't warrant their work or take a cut, unless they are subcontracting to my company. If they are subcontracting, then I take a percentage that reflects the costs and risks of doing it. This usually happens when I am contracting directly, rather than through an agency.