In service industries I think the same applies. We have the option of working with the person and adjusting our prices for them if it is a project we are extremely interested in working on, or we can simply do as product related industries do and use the stated budget to help direct them to how we can help them achieve what they NEED for an amount they can afford.

I’ve found that realistically most people expect to be questioned on their budget during their initial consultation. We as professionals are the ones who are fearful of doing the questioning. But, remember, that they’re just as fearful to question price, not knowing whether or not they can afford our services and if not, whether we will work with them. I always take the approach that I am the professional and I need to steer my client in the direction we need to go. By me bringing up the budget it allows us to work more smoothly together from the start and avoids either party having too large an expectation of the other or feeling overwhelmed throughout the process.

I’m a graphic designer, and my prior approach was to make sure I had established a strong sale of my abilities and what I could do for the potential client before I would bring up money. I think this is fine if you are only risking a 5 minute phone conversation. However when it comes to meeting someone for coffee to discuss a project, I won’t step out the door anymore without first establishing that me and the potential client are on the same page when it comes to budget.

I am wondering what your/or others thoughts are on including a “What is your approximate budget?” field in a project questionnaire contact form.

If a customer (who otherwise seemed serious, and had a good project in mind) doesn’t have a budget, I try to help them to make one. For instance, if you’re upgrading a web-shop, ask them how much a customer is worth to them, and then work out how much it’s worth spending to get an extra one. You should be able to say things like ‘if we spend $5 to get a new customer, we’ll get $25 back over the next 6 months’. You want 1000 new customers, you might say ‘let’s spend $5000 on changes and additions designed to attract new customers’.

It’s at that point that a designer/developer can answer the question ‘what’s the best way to spend $X to achieve Y?’ – which is a much more useful question than ‘how little can we possibly spend?’.

Jorge

Jorge
.-= Jorge´s last blog ..Summer Camp Savings =-.

If I have a very specific brief and go out to several companies for a proposal, I would not state what the budget was before receiving the proposals. If I receive proposals that I think are going to deliver what I want and they are within my budget then no problem. If I get proposals and the ones within my budget are not convincing, but some proposals that exceed my budget are persuasive that they have understood the brief then I would contact these people and at that point state what my budget was and enter discussions about possible amendments to the brief to bring the job within my budget.

If you have a company that you have done quite a lot of business with then there is probably a bit less concern about revealing budget up front.

I guess some people just get embarrassed talking about money.

I agree that not everyone would like to discuss their budget with everyone and some will just say, No thanks. It all depends upon individuals, some may negotiate nicely and others will simply leave it because they will feel that the price is too high even to negotiate.

I usually ask what their costs are and how flexible the are. To each their own.
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