Just curious, is there some sort of professional standard for giving a referral fee to someone that brings a project to your firm? If so, does it vary based upon budget?
on that note, at what point is it suggested that i present a potential project to my boss? how developed should the project be? i get the feeling that i will in some way lose more and more of the suggested 3-10% referral fee as i let my boss in on the project. is this true?
I recognize this may be an unwelcome post, but over the years I've seen too many instances where junior staff adopt a grossly over-inflated view of the value of a referral to the firm.
The value of a referral is tied directly to the ability of the firm to actually close the transaction at a scope of service and fee level that will result in a successful project for the firm. If you can't make that happen on your own, then a finder's fee alone (maybe 1-2%) is warranted, at best.
If you take the long view, your ability to bring a consistent flow of new and profitable work to the firm is the surest path to partnership. An excessive short-term focus on capturing a finders fee suggests that you don't trust your firm to treat you fairly and recognize your contribution. If the trust level is that low, then I question why you want to bring the project to the firm in the first place.
Aug 16, 09 9:20 pm ·
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Referral Fees
Hello.
Just curious, is there some sort of professional standard for giving a referral fee to someone that brings a project to your firm? If so, does it vary based upon budget?
Any rules of thumb would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
varies - 3-10% of the fee.
depends - is it an employee? if so, i'd let them run the project and they get a percentage of the profit it makes.
if it's an outside lead, buy them a nice dinner and send them a great bottle of wine the next day unless you had some prior agreement.
10% of the fee is the entire profit - why take the project if you're giving up that much?
on that note, at what point is it suggested that i present a potential project to my boss? how developed should the project be? i get the feeling that i will in some way lose more and more of the suggested 3-10% referral fee as i let my boss in on the project. is this true?
I recognize this may be an unwelcome post, but over the years I've seen too many instances where junior staff adopt a grossly over-inflated view of the value of a referral to the firm.
The value of a referral is tied directly to the ability of the firm to actually close the transaction at a scope of service and fee level that will result in a successful project for the firm. If you can't make that happen on your own, then a finder's fee alone (maybe 1-2%) is warranted, at best.
If you take the long view, your ability to bring a consistent flow of new and profitable work to the firm is the surest path to partnership. An excessive short-term focus on capturing a finders fee suggests that you don't trust your firm to treat you fairly and recognize your contribution. If the trust level is that low, then I question why you want to bring the project to the firm in the first place.
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