Oculum Referral Scheme

2024

When does the scheme run until?

The Scheme is open to take part in throughout 2024.

How does the scheme work?

When you have a Client who has a requirement for video content, you refer them to us to produce it. We produce the content, liaising with You and The Client as appropriate, and invoice The Client directly.

Once the Work is complete and invoices paid, You then invoice us the referral Commission Fee. Each time you successfully refer Work to Us, a referral Commission Fee can be invoiced by You.

Commission Fees are 25% for the first £2500 value of referred work (less 3rd party costs), rising to 45% for any value above that (less 3rd party costs). Examples are shown here

Example referral Commission Fees

Why is Oculum running the Scheme?

Simple: To generate more business. We get more business, you get referral Commission Fees, The Client gets effective video and/or animation media. Win win win.

The Commission Fee itself is essentially a marketing spend to us – a cost of generating business. Rather than that spend going to Google or Meta, it’s going to You.

Over time, we hope to build a relationship with You, and refer the right kind of work to you. This Scheme encourages both You and Us to build that relationship so that even when the Scheme ends, work passes between us.

What about Referral Organisations?

We have been heavily involved with these over the years, but they present two “Elephant-in-the-room” problems.

  • Referrals are often passed to a member company simply because they’re the one in the room who bought a seat. Passing a referral to them scores kudos and points. This is by no means always best for the referred Client.
  • Referrals are passed in the hope of (eventual) reciprocal referrals through greater knowledge, trust, relationship and gratitude.

Hope is a poor substitute for money in the bank.

What counts as a Referral?

Any work where a Client or contact of Yours has a requirement for a service which we offer, which we agree to take on. Even if we have done work for that Client before, if you refer them to us with additional work, it counts.

It’s possible (although unlikely) that two or more separate organisations could refer the same Client for the same work, in which case, the first one to make the referral will get the referral Commission Fee.

What kind of Work can be referred?

“Work” can mean live filmed video, animated video, explainer / demonstration video, promo or advert media, research, scripting, storyboarding, video strategy development, or any combination of those.

There’s no hard limit on the budget or value of work although to be realistic, we’d be hard pressed to do a quality job for a budget of £250, and we just don’t have the manpower or kit to produce the next Avengers movie. A quick phone call or email to clarify is always the best answer.

You'll notice the referral Commission Fee rises considerably above a certain point to encourage what we think is often (but not always) a workable minimum value. That does NOT mean we will reject work below that level, it simply means that more often than not, at around that level, a Client will likely get exponentially better results. You get more Commission Fee and We make a bit more on it. Again, win win win.

What DOESN'T count as a referral?

Work where the Client approaches Us directly to carry out Work, Work which is directly for You, or Work which we reject.

It is to Your benefit that Clients “go through you”, regardless of whether they have had previous work done by Us.

The Client may already have a strong relationship with You and agree to go through You (ensuring You get the Commission Fee!). That’s fine! We’re delighted if this Scheme facilitates You building an even stronger relationship with your Clients.

Why would Oculum reject work?

In simple terms, it might not be what we know we’re good at, or just not worthwhile for us to undertake. For example, for work which, after paying a Commission Fee and production costs, we’d be making a loss.

There are certain kinds of work which Oculum is not looking for (things like Website development, Social Media management, PPC or Ad management, coding, live event filming), and certain types which we truly excel at. This is obviously the case for every Production Company.

A quick glance through our website or, more ideally, a phone call / discussion will very quickly clarify this.

Can we verify the value of the referral?

Absolutely. We’re happy to forward you copies of all invoices we present to the Client after the Work is completed, and happy for you to request copies from the Client themselves. It’s to Our benefit that you get a significant kickback from this Scheme, that way You’ll pass us more Work. It’s open, visible, honest and accountable.

It’s to nobody’s benefit if any wool is pulled over any eyes. Referrals would stop, we’d lose work, you’d lose commission fees and trust would be broken.

White Label

There may be circumstances in which you’d prefer to be seen to offer the kind of services we offer, but invisibly contract out that work to a third party provider. This removes the Client from direct contact with Us and we would invoice You directly.

We’re more than happy to work on this basis, with the White Label Commission Fee rates shown below, if you grant visibility of Your invoices to the Client.

-or-

You may alternatively decide to operate on Your existing “Markup” basis, the choice is yours.

Example referral Commission Fees

The small print (Terms & Conditions)

  1. “We, Our, Us” etc. refers to Oculum Ltd (Company No. 13303365).
  2. “You, Yours, The Referrer” etc. refers to the Referring Organisation who passes work not required directly by them.
  3. “The Client, Them, The Referee” etc. refers to the Client organisation, for whom Work will be done by Us.
  4. “Work” refers to any invoiceable work undertaken by us for the Client which may include elements such as video production, animation, scripting, production design or research.
  5. All work we undertake will be subject to our standard Terms Of Business.
  6. The Referral Scheme runs until midnight 31st December 2024. Work referred after this will not be subject to referral Commissions Fees
  7. We, at our sole discretion at any time may decide to terminate, alter or extend the scheme or operate a similar scheme in the future. We may decide to apply different commission rates to different sectors, times or regions. If We have been referred work by you under The Scheme, We will notify You in writing if we decide to end or vary The Scheme before the scheduled end date.
  8. Should we decide to vary or end the scheme, the Terms of The Scheme in place when we are notified of a referral will prevail until the referred Work is complete.
  9. At our sole discretion, we may choose to accept or reject work you refer to us. If we reject work, we will normally discuss with you why we have rejected it to better help you refer work in the future. It is to everyone’s benefit that the right kind of work is referred.
  10. Referral Commission Fee is based upon the invoiced amount (ex VAT and less 3rd Party Costs) for a “piece of work”. A “piece of work” may include several individual videos (and/or animations), providing they are to be invoiced as one job.
  11. 3rd Party Costs (including such elements as travel, accomodation, actor/presenter fees, voice-Over artist fees, props, venue hire fees etc.) will be deducted from the Invoice Value before Commission Fee is calculated.
  12. Referral Commission fees become payable upon full payment of the invoiced amount by the Client.
  13. In the highly unlikely case of a reduced or disputed payment amount, the total payment received will be the value upon which the referral Commission Fee is based.
  14. If the same Client approaches You on separate occasions for different pieces of work which you refer to Us, a referral Commission Fee will be payable for each referral.
  15. If a Client approaches Us directly to request Work, No Commission Fee will be payable.
  16. Referral Commission Fees are not payable for any Work required by your own organisation.
  17. We reserve the right to refuse payment of a Commission Fee for any reason, without any requirement to explain why. This is intended as a safety-net clause, as doing so would clearly be against the “spirit” and intention of the Scheme.