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Consulting with a middle-man.

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by kcandy214

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How would you handle a situation like this. I am a very small IT Consulting business and have been for about 5 years. Recently I have been contacted by one of my resellers for a project at one of her clients. The project is complete, payment is on the way and the client calls me to tell me that he has a machine that won't come up and needs technical support. My reaction is to go there, do the work and bill the client. HOWEVER, here is the twist. While talking to my reseller that introduced me to this "client of hers" she informs me that this is "her" client and all work that I do is to be billed to her. I have a problem with this arrangement and don't know if I am being unreasonable. This is the only job she has EVER turned me on to. I have turned her on to quite a bit of business in the past.. Please inform.

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by timwalsh

Ask yourself two questions before doing anything else.

Could the work to be done be considered part of, or a continuation of, the previous project? If the answer is yes, your reseller might have a valid argument. From your explanation, the answer sounds like no.

Will burning any bridges with this reseller affect your business to any degree? If it won't affect your business to any degree, I would blow her off.

Unless this client has already entered into an exlusive contract arrangement with your seller for technical support, the client is free to go hire anyone they want.

Unless you have a current exclusive subcontacting/consulting agreement with this reseller, you don't have to rely on her for any business.

My sense is that this client was happy with the work you provided on the previous project and wants to give you more work. Maybe you are more responsive than your reseller.

It sounds like the reseller caught wind that she is losing "HER client" to you, and still wants a cut of the action.

by lordinfidel

What does the customer want.

Does the customer care who they make payment to?

If the customer wants to cut out the middle man, then that is their choice. Don't make it for them.

I say this because my company is the backend for lot's of resellers. We interact with their end clients alot. And it would be easy for us to directly work with the client and cut out the middleman. But we don't.

In the end, it was she who got you the client. Let her manage the account. If she overbillsthem, that is her deal. The client can always come to you directly and say that they don't want to deal with her.

As long as she is not undercutting you and you are making the same amount. Bill her and let her pay you. Cash is Cash.

by kcandy214

The job was not related to the previous project. Also, this reseller has never before come up with any work so leaving her behind is not a problem. However, this client is looking for permanent tech support. I would like to enter into a support contract with them, without the reseller. Would any of you recommend a "referral fee" or something like that? and if so, how would you base the fee? I have never had to do that. I just think going thru her for ongoing tech support is too complicated. Especially with a support contract.
C.

by timwalsh

The point still remains that this reseller played absolutely no part in the client coming straight to you with new business.

I bet i know what the client's answer will be if you tell them "Sure, I'd love your business. But you have to go through this reseller because she originally referred you to me. That means the price of the work will go up so she can get her cut."

Your reseller got her cut during the original project. Since there are no exclusive agreements either between the clientand your reseller or between you and your reseller, there are under no obligation to either go through her for billing or provide her any referral fees. This would be akin to the following scenario:

You hire me as a consultant to design your network and and purchase computers. I recommmend Dell. After my project is complete, you later decide that because DEll sell good products, you want to buy more and decide to go straight to Dell for the purchase.

How far would I get if I then came back to you and said "No, you can't do that. I originally recommended Dell to you so you have to buy all your Dell computers through me." or "Since I originally recommended DEll to you, you have to pay me a referral fee for every Dell you purchase from now on." How fast would I get a boot out the door??

There are no legal obligations existing. Follow the direction your conscience takes you.

by madroxxx

Side steping the person who referred you is bad business. Think about this, you would have NO WORK from the client had the resseller not referred you. I once used a cabling company on a network install, after the cable they tried to bid against me on the rest of the network install. They got no more refferals from me and did not get the job anyway(my clients were loyal).

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