At The Last Hurdle we are often contacted by businesses who would like us, in exchange for varying commissions or a kickback, to recommend them to our clients. It generally works like this: We get an email or phone call from a vendor who say they have this great new, innovative product. They tell us how much we could earn every time we get our clients to take it on board.

Tempting: The more we sell of their product the more profit we make.

There’s one slight problem with that approach.

No Kickbacks

We pride ourselves on providing an independent and bespoke service – it’s the reason we have so many satisfied customers. That means, of course, we don’t accept payments to endorse any particular product, service or brand, however good (or bad) it might be.

Our clients pay us a retainer fee to act in their best interests, so simultaneously acting for a third party who want to sell their product is, for us, both unethical and potentially highly damaging for our standing in the industry. It’s a concept of fairness and probity that is written into our franchise agreements and runs right through the ethical way we like to do business.

If you think you can up the kickbacks and get us to bend, then you are going to be sadly disappointed.

We work closely with our clients to produce the best business development plan that is suited to their needs, their goals and their budget. If we were to begin recommending products and services purely on the basis of personal financial remuneration, then we would quickly lose the respect and business of our most valued asset: Our customers. Of course we do recommend suppliers and use a number of them on behalf of our clients, but these are based solely upon, quality, great service, value for money and ROI.

We are here to work for our clients. Our recommendations are solely for the benefit of our clients, decisions taken as if the business was our own. We are not interested in the short-term benefits of earning commission for promoting other people’s products. The greatest asset we have is the respect of our clients and losing that is not something The Last Hurdle will ever wish to compromise on.

Our clients want a spark to ignite their business, they want a hardworking, honest partner who is willing to toil on their behalf. It’s why we have clients that have been with us for a long time and recommend us to their associates and friends. It’s why we continue to attract new business from those who have heard what a good job we do. Our clients are highly intelligent, ambitious individuals who expect to get a good return on their investment with us.

It is, put simply, what we do.

So if you are a company who is thinking of contacting us about your great product or service and how much we can make from recommending it to our clients, our advice is pretty simple: Don’t.

The Last Hurdle doesn’t compromise on quality and our clients certainly won’t.

However, if you have a great product, service, idea, innovation or process and would like to chat to us to see if it would be beneficial for us or our clients, then welcome. Be prepared to back this up – Let’s talk!