Description
A guide to having the budget conversation with a client before a project starts, with scripts for asking the question and response frameworks for common answers including no budget, small budget, and uncertain budget.
What’s included
- CSV template file (opens in Google Sheets or Excel)
- Guidance on when and how to raise budget in early conversations
- Scripts for asking without it feeling awkward
- Response frameworks for common client answers
Who it’s for
Useful if you avoid the budget conversation until after you have written a proposal, or if you regularly submit proposals that come back as too expensive. Not useful if you are already comfortable raising budget early in conversations and your problem is something else in the sales process.
If it works
If you raise the budget question in the first or second conversation and frame it as wanting to make sure your proposal is realistic, most clients will tell you what you need to know. The response frameworks tell you what to do when the answer is difficult, which is most of the time.
Knowing the budget does not mean you will always be able to work within it. Sometimes the right answer after the budget conversation is that it is not the right project. That is useful information too, even if it does not feel like it.
Before you download
- This is a CSV file. Open it in Google Sheets or Excel. It will not work as a document or a PDF.
- After downloading, you will find the file in your account under My Downloads.
- You are getting a licence to use and adapt this for your own work. You cannot sell, redistribute, or share it with others.
