Sam Brown

Keith 6 May 2010, 05:49 #2

This is one of the trickiest issues we face, Sam. Nobody wants to scare clients away, but at the same time it’s unreasonable to be expected to take time to prepare a thoughtful, considered response to a request for quotation when the prospective client has no budget for the work. People seem to think (doubtless because anyone can buy a copy of Dreamweaver or FrontPage or whatever MS is calling it this week) that web design is a cheap, commodity item. After years of responding to requests from people who will not state their budget in advance, then reply with “Crikey, I thought it would only cost about £200” when I provide an estimate, the first question I ask people is what budget they have set aside, or if they even have any notion of what it might cost or they would be willing to spend. I understand why many are reluctant to give a figure, because they believe that if they say they have £5000 available that we will automatically quote them £5000, but you have to find a way of assuring them that knowledge of their budget will not only allow you to judge whether you can do anything for them at all, but also how much, and how near you can come to their expectations for the site — and possibly to offer them some options.

Now, as for budget fields on the contact/RFP form itself… When I finally get around to a long overdue redesign and expansion of my own site (what’s that story about the cobbler’s children having no shoes?) it will include a short RFP form with a budget field that must be completed in order to submit the form. I at least want prospective clients to think about budget before dashing off an RFP. And this will be a free text entry field, rather than a drop-down list of options. I can see why a drop-down seems like a good idea, but I suspect many clients will simply select the lowest figure/range in the list!

Just as Elliot lists a minimum figure, I plan to state the price range into which most of the work I do falls, which should at least give clients an idea of whether I might be able to do anything for their hoped expenditure or not.

paul 6 May 2010, 06:53 #4

I agree that it’s necessary. It does require a kind of commitment on the part of the prospective client.
At first, I had a default range, then I set the dropdown to blank so that the visitor would have to consciously select a price range.

Brian 6 May 2010, 06:58 #6

Sam,
I’ve been listing a minimum figure, much like Elliot, for about 2 years now and I’ve really found it helps to weed out those clients that do no value the benefits of good design. I’ve also been approached by those asking for “$500” websites, only to help educate them on the true value of good design and development and told them its best to save and build up your budget then to get a slapped-together website; half of the time they come back a few months later with a more serious outlook on the benefits and goals.

Also, as a full-time freelancer for 2 years now, I feel that I do enough unclocked work and answering emails that state “Can you design my site for $500” just takes up more time, when you know you have never designed a site for under $5,000. Listing a figure helps to streamline your own client interaction process.

Alex Magill 6 May 2010, 07:09 #8

I’ve always asked for budget, but am considering switching to a range model (like sortfolio.com’s search ) as Daniel Marino suggested above.

That seems to me to have the benefits of establishing a lower limit and making it easier for clients to name range without the stressing and second guessing that naming a figure can bring.

Liam McKay 6 May 2010, 07:23 #10

I think it’s a good way to just get rid of time wasters. It’s definitely a good filter system, it’s not going to lose you any clients, as those people would have just got scared away at a later stage anyway. Better to get them out of the way as soon as possible anyway in my opinion.

Paul May 6 May 2010, 08:01 #12

It makes sense to only take on work where you can deliver a good outcome for the client (one which delivers tangible value) and where you make a profit. They get the benefits, you get paid – all are encouraged to move forward and solve more problems, deliver more benefits etc.

It’s always good when a client has a clear vision for the project, a measurable set of objectives, and a figure in mind they feel is worth paying to achieve those objectives. How much would we spend to increase our net-promoter score to X% and grow sales by 20% etc.

I don’t think there’s a disadvantage to stating a starting range for a project, giving indicative bands (small project = X days) and/or talking through your rate card in more detail in a face to face meeting. There’s also sometimes value in spending a tiny amount of time (a day, two days) clarifying the scope of the project – then agreeing a cost structure.

If it looks like a project is going to be achievable and profitable, there’s still the question of whether you and your team are excited about it – whether it’s going to be one you write a case study on, talk about – or whether it’s just one that keeps things ticking over.

Bottom line, be up front about what’s realistic and achievable, what you think that’ll cost – the people who have the money and see value in working with you will probably go for it.

Grant 6 May 2010, 08:09 #14

I see budget as a filter. The reality is that we all won’t take certain projects under a certain amount. I also don’t want to work with clients that don’t know what they can spend. It doesn’t mean the have to tell me up front, but I tend to be very frank about what a project will possibly cost once I know some basic parameters. If my quick guess scares them away, then I consider them “filtered”. We probably weren’t right for each other.

I don’t place this info on my website because it’s unique to each project, but if you’re someone who tends to do a lot of the same type of work and get a lot of referrals off your site, I wouldn’t be afraid to post budget info on the site. It saves everyone’s time from being wasted.

Erik Ford 6 May 2010, 09:01 #16

I think that it would be in your best interest to get an idea of the budget that a client may potentially have to work with beforehand and compare that with the list of services they require. Whether you list your prices or a range is to taste and, agreeing with Sam, I don’t know if there is a right or wrong approach here.

Scott 6 May 2010, 10:08 #18

I like the idea of making some sort of budget field mandatory. If and when I start taking on freelance work again I might go with a range slider and try to label it in a way that disassociates it from the final quote. Something like “How much do you think this project should cost?” I don’t know if that would help or hinder, but it might be worth A/B testing to see how it impacts conversion. You know, because I expect to have so many people beating a path to my door. ;-)

Brian N. Burridge 6 May 2010, 10:15 #20

I would say definitely do this if you want me to think that you charge a lot of money for your services and that I probably can’t afford you. For example, I hired someone for $1,500 to design a wordpress theme for me. If I had seen a budget field, I would have assumed you wouldn’t want such a low end job.

How can you be sure a client has any idea how much something is going to cost? I may have no idea at first, and then I talk with you, realize how awesome you are and that I really need you, and then you tell me it will cost me $2000 and I think, well that’s a lot, but hey he’s great, I’ve got to spend it.

Good salesmen know they can get a customer to pay more than what they planned when they came in, if they can earn their trust and convince them of the product. By adding the budget required field, you may be eliminating a chance to upsell someone who simply didn’t know what to expect yet, though they had the money.

But if you are so swamped with work that you don’t want to have to sell anyone, or if you only want to take $10k and up jobs, then this might save you a lot of work.

JohnONolan 6 May 2010, 15:21 #22

Excellent post Sam, that’s definitely something I’m going to start doing. This line resonated in particular!

“A simple solution is to respond with your rates and await the inevitable non-response.”

Always a classic :)

Paul May 7 May 2010, 07:59 #24

Oh, this is somewhat related – a talk I gave on winning web projects; pricing is a key component:

Paul May - Winning Bigger Web Projects

Elliot Jay Stocks 11 May 2010, 07:55 #26

Sorry, Sam — only just checked my feeds and now I’m late to the table!

I have to say that putting a minimum project fee on my contact page has helped tremendously. I only get around 10% of the time-waster emails that I used to, which has obviously made things a lot more manageable. The downside is that I’ve probably lost a couple of potentially decent projects that may not have been that time consuming, but it’s a small price to pay.

And of course it’s not just about getting rid of time-wasters: as you say, it’s “the most clearly identifiable sign of whether a potential client has truly and completely thought through what they want done.” It’s about getting your potential clients to associate a value with their request. Plus, it indicates to them that you — and therefore they — are working in a certain ‘space’, so to speak, and they can then decide whether they consider themselves to be in that same space. Changing that minimum amount over time will inevitably lead to a different class of clientele (assuming they’re coming to the website in the first place).

Oh, and it doesn’t always work: I still get people asking, “can’t you tell me?” I guess they’ll always be out there!

Fabian Marchinko 23 May 2010, 00:34 #28

I’ve often thought about adding a budget question, it’s a great way of weeding out the time wasters and window shoppers. Thanks for helping to make up my mind with this article.