What to say when a client says “I don’t know my budget….”

Budget is always the toughest subject for clients to discuss.  They will guard their budget tightly.  This goes back to trust.  If your client trusts you, they will feel better sharing this information with you.  What I’ll point out though is that you can’t wait to build that trust to discuss their budget.  So what’s a designer to do? 

Expectations.  I cannot stress this enough.  You have to set expectations or the client will end up disappointed, upset, or worse, start bad-mouthing you.  

You are the expert- you know what things cost.  This is your time to shine.  Often clients will tell you they don’t know their budget because they haven’t bought XYZ in so long.  Enter your experience!  You have purchased these things so you will be able to help them formulate their thoughts into dollar signs.  

I use an excel spreadsheet to walk them through the exact numbers. (This is available for you to use when you join MYDB) 

But what you have to do is reframe how they think about their budget.  Maybe they don’t know how much their budget is, but they do know how much is too much.  

For example, if they are remodeling a kitchen, which is a big one and one most people will only take once or twice in their life, but given your experience, you can start discussing numbers with them.  If you begin to discuss numbers say something like, ok so for all new cabinets you are looking at between $17,000 and $20,000 how do you feel about that? 

You’ll get an idea quickly by how they respond.  If you aren’t ready to narrow down parts of the project, you could say “we are seeing kitchen remodels of this size start around $60,000”.  You should be reading their body language as well as their verbal response.  By talking numbers like this at initial appointments, you set expectations, understand their thought process and get to the heart of the “that is TOO much” budget number. This is extremely valuable information moving forward.  

Ultimately, clients may not know what things cost, but they do know how much is too much and how much they are able to comfortably spend on the project.  Then as the designer, you decide if this is a project you are able to accomplish within their budget.   

Do you need personalized support while building your design business? That is exactly what you will receive as a member of MYDB (Manage Your Design Business), where you’ll learn to thrive as an interior designer.
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