Contract Plumber?

[Munchie]

Hi everyone, can you give me some advice?
I run a bottled gas company in the South West with over 700 customers, each year im being asked more and more if i can recommend a good plumber, in the past i have said no as its hard to find a good reliable one but this year i possibly have one in mind.
The thing is i would like to extend my services to my customers by offering a yearly service through myself but contracting the work to the plumber if that makes sense?

What i want to know is how i would do this and what percentages i would hand over to the plumber etc? i would also like to consider installations, repairs and call outs etc as customers often ring about this too.

Regards
Munchie

 

[Blackcatgas]

Hi everyone, can you give me some advice?
I run a bottled gas company in the South West with over 700 customers, each year im being asked more and more if i can recommend a good plumber, in the past i have said no as its hard to find a good reliable one but this year i possibly have one in mind.
The thing is i would like to extend my services to my customers by offering a yearly service through myself but contracting the work to the plumber if that makes sense?

What i want to know is how i would do this and what percentages i would hand over to the plumber etc? i would also like to consider installations, repairs and call outs etc as customers often ring about this too.

Regards
Munchie

Hello Munchie, you have a reliable plumber in mind...... so why not ask him, between you Iam sure you could come to some arrangement that you are both happy with, I have a similiar arrangement with a local conservatory company/builder, 10% of labour his way, Ive not done alot for him this year though. Just dont be greedy which Iam sure your not and see any money as a "bonus" that you were not earning last year, even £10 a job is better than a kick up the arse.
However can you be arsed to arrange jobs and be on the end of the phone when things go wrong etc? it might just be worth reccomending your plumber and then taking a cut from all jobs converted.

 

[Munchie]

Hi Blackcatgas
Im just trying to find out first what other plumbers do in this situation before i go chatting to one and either offend him or get ripped off myself.
What im eventually aiming for is to have my own plumber using my van on a contract sort of thing (doing his own thing perhaps and my contract work). someting like Calor Gas do.
Im happy to deal with customers any time of day or night, i have built my business this way, most of my new customers are recomendations from others.

 

[kirkgas]

basically what you want to do is pass jobs to someone else to do while you make money from merely taking a phone call why dont you simply hand out business cards from your plumber, then one day you might need a favour from him which he will do, rather than becoming his pimp

 

[BluePlumber]

I wish someone would be my pimp, might make more money that way

 

[Munchie]

Thats a bit harsh!
im not looking to make loads of money from the contracted work, I sell gas and i have a good reputation for what i do, i just want to build on that and grow my business in to something that makes me stand out from the other local suppliers.

Dont British Gas do the same thing!

 

[Blackcatgas]

Thats a bit harsh!
im not looking to make loads of money from the contracted work, I sell gas and i have a good reputation for what i do, i just want to build on that and grow my business in to something that makes me stand out from the other local suppliers.

Dont British Gas do the same thing!

I cant fault you, good on you.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Thats a bit harsh!
im not looking to make loads of money from the contracted work, I sell gas and i have a good reputation for what i do, i just want to build on that and grow my business in to something that makes me stand out from the other local suppliers.

Dont British Gas do the same thing!

i cant fault you either mate,you have good business sense,thats what makes a good business man

 

[oldplumber]

sounds to me like you need to employ a plumber and pay a wage and then the rest is yours, that way you stay in control of the situation, working with someone using your van etc but not having them on your books would eventually bite you on the bum when things go wrong. If your customers trust you then you need to stay in control of the situation or you may start to lose customers if your contractor doesnt work out

 

[Munchie]

sounds to me like you need to employ a plumber and pay a wage and then the rest is yours, that way you stay in control of the situation, working with someone using your van etc but not having them on your books would eventually bite you on the bum when things go wrong. If your customers trust you then you need to stay in control of the situation or you may start to lose customers if your contractor doesnt work out

This would be an ideal situation, although next season i need a driver to help with the growing round so i will have to find his wage first.
contracting work out seemed like the obvious next step?
Is anyone on here employed by someone other than a plumber?