…reply.to.all… The personal and professional blog of Steven De Costa (edited by Barb)

We want to know your dirty little secrets…tell us your budget

When it comes to seeking out a Digital Agency to redevelop your website, devise your social media campaign or do any of the myriad of things you can do online there is this broadly accepted, largely unspoken, practice of not revealing your budget in tenders or requests for quote. It's a broadly accepted practice we would very much like to quash. Don't panic, we don't really want to know your dirty little secrets; we just want you to acknowledge that your budget isn't one of them.

Obviously there are arguments in favour of keeping your budget under wraps: maybe you are requesting a quote from an unknown agency you have never worked with; maybe you have very specific requirements defined and are just looking for the best price from a list of known and reliable sources, but we are finding that often these sorts of scenarios aren't present and the tight lipped client is actually just doing themselves and us a disservice. So we've put together a list of situations that we believe warrant the big reveal!

1. You want to produce something great with the money you have but you're unsure about the technical requirements of the project.

   The thing to remember here is, while you're unsure, we're not. We've got the technical side of things covered once we've got a brief. But if we're unsure about budget we're at risk of either holding back on the scope of what we offer or presenting something that blows your budget out of the water and with it our chances of winning the job. Revealing your budget gives us something real to work to in making sure all the technical stuff is covered, and you might actually be pleasantly surprised by how much bang you get for your buck.

2. You are working with an agency you know and trust

   You know how much it has cost you in the past to build x, y or z; you know we can deliver on budget and on time; you know we deliver projects with integrity and transparency; and you know how flexible we are. It's time to fess up about the coin.

3. You're looking to create an online marketing or social media campaign and aren't sure how to divide your budget between development and actual advertising placements.

   Online marketing and social media remain pretty grey areas for a lot of people in terms of costs. But Digital Agencies actually understand this realm and, more importantly, we know how to tailor it to you and your budget. For instance you can have a substantial development spend, with Social Apps for Facebook, or you can put most of your budget into ongoing monitoring and maintenance of your many social media accounts. Telling us your budget and your aims for online marketing or social media engagement means we can put together a complete package that draws in just the right elements from this somewhat bewildering expanse of online opportunity.

4. You want to save time.

   It's simple, if your budget is a mystery but the project sounds fabulous, chances are you're going to get a vast set of would-be budgets sent back to you. That's a lot of candidates to sift through and the variety of budgets presented might confuse you and even cause you to question your initial take on the cost of things. While revealing your budget will mean some agencies will choose not to respond, this can only save everyone time in the end. If a certain budget means a project is not a good fit for an agency, it's best that both parties learn that before time is wasted writing and reading proposals, attending briefings and conducting interviews.

Talking honestly and openly with a client re budget means that you can potentially work together to change the scope and certain project elements to fit that budget while still being able to work towards a quality outcome. Plus, talking money can save time and improve your relationship with a Digital Agency. It takes out a lot of the guess work and sets the pace for an honest and open future. It doesn't mean that a proposal is going to be entirely budget focussed and inflexible, it just means that all your cards are on the table and the best possible solution has a fighting chance because it's also starting out as the most realistic.