Discuss “Design Budget” with Clients? ” YES! he says

Phil Norman doesn’t buy my view that asking clients for their design “budget” wastes their time — and yours.

You may recall my recent post in which I stated that “budget questions limit their thinking — and your income.”

But Phil, who runs Norman Design Group in Torrance, CA., has a dissenting view:

i find budgets a valuable tool and use them with great success.  why speak of a 300k kitchen , waste time my time and their time and find out they had 200k to invest?

if you are an architect – do you design a 4 million dollar house when they have 2 million?

Fred- i like your posts but this one is off.  i agree with upselling options but this advice is bad, especially for young designers entering a world that already considers designers as “spending all the money”

we only have so much time so i try to get to the bottom line fast and provide solution and also provide solutions out of their budget but tell them prior so they are educated.

why try to sell a limited edition maserati when they wanted a porsche?  one word for that ……

Phil Norman ASID
Norman Design Group

What do YOU think about asking clients about their design budget?

Good idea? Bad idea? Please send your thoughts to me at Fred@FredBerns.com.