Should An Upholsterer Pay Referal Fees?

Should an upholsterer pay a referral fee from a decorator or another business? When an upholsterer is first starting out, or low on work, he may desperate and be willing to accept almost any conditions, just to have work to pay the bills.

Look at it from the client's point of view. Is a paid referral really unbiased? If a decorator or other business is getting a kickback from a particular upholsterer, will the client get the best service?

When someone gives a referal, there is an implied recommendion of outstanding quality or service. The referal says, "I highly recommend this shop. This shop is a shop that you can trust." The client is referred to a good shop. The best interest of the client is a priority.

However, when a kickback is given, then the best interests of the clients are made secondary to the bias of the referring party. When a kickback is paid to a referring party, there is the tendency to
give referrals that benenfit the refering agent, rather than the client.

Kickbacks are unhealthy

Paying Kickback puts the upholsterer in an unhealthy relationship with the referring agent.

1. By the very nature of the transaction, the fee arrangement is often kept secret from the client. (How many workrooms would tell a client "I paid that decorator to send you to me"? and, does the decorator tell the client that he/she gets a kickback from the workshop?)
2. The kickback puts the refering agent in more of a superior-subserviant relationship with the craftsman.

Are Kickbacks Just Advertising?

Some might say that paying referral fees are just another form of advertising. One of the main differences is that clients know that the workshop is paying for advertising, so they compensate for any quality claims in the ad. However, when someone refers someone to a workroom, there is kind of an unspoken assumption that the referal is a testimont about the craftsperson being something extraodinary.

 In Conclusion

I don't pay referal fees. The quality of my workmanship is my referring agent. 

On the opposite side of the fence, I often get calls from clients about work that I don't do. I refer
those jobs to other craftsmen. I don't expect to be paid when I send
other shops work. I do what is best for the client

 
Instead of paying referal fees, Advertise!