This is one of the touchy topics, i.e. should you ask the lead what budget do they have? Here we provide you a few reasons why you need to know the client’s budget before preparing a proposal.
1. Strategies cost money – Had there been a single silver bullet to your success you would not have searched for us. Strategies involve understanding the psychology of your potential clients and making your product/service valuable to them. The ultimate aim is to cross the chasm (as made popular by Malcolm Gladwell in his book) and trust us, it is not easy. There is plan A, plan B, and so on. Each strategy has well-defined KPI’s and steps to achieve them.
2. Resources cost money – Average age at our company is 28.5 years, hence anyone working here is not a fresh resource just trying to understand and corporate world. These are people who know what they are doing and why they are doing it. Together we have worked for more than 100 clients including International clients. We hire the best and pay competitive salaries to ensure we have the best talent in the company
3. Execution is everything – Strategy is nothing, but a sheet of paper until someone goes ahead and executes it. As we have heard it far too often than execution is everything. Continuous A/B testing, data-driven decision-making using sophisticated tools and techniques and the ability to experiment are something that only experts should do.
4. Advertising is not free – There are multiple brands possibly doing the same as you do and all want to make noise. It is a hyper-competitive space with no guarantees and a high price. Advertising is expensive and you should be patient enough to see the results (again stressing very heavily on the “No guarantee” part)
5. How much are you willing to burn in the long run – Just passing over the baton to us would not turn you from rags to riches. We do not hold a magic wand. We need time to understand everything. Ideally, the first month should be experimental in nature where we try to get a sense of the market and test the waters – One foot at a time!
6. We like a long-term committed relationship – You are as successful as your clients. It is not a one-time gig we are looking at, we are looking at a long-term relationship with our clients, and therefore we try to concentrate on your long-term success (hence we stress very heavily on the branding aspect, where we suggest a ratio of 70:30 or 60:40 for branding: advertising, which is contrary to most practitioners)
7. Talking about money is tough, hence we start with is – Let’s face it, all of us find talking about money difficult and the earlier we have this conversation, the better it is as building a solid foundation of a prosperous relationship.
It is very important to know your client’s budget in advance. It helps you build client-agency relationships.
If you found this information relevant please do get in touch with us. Also, if you are seeking a proposal or a quote without us getting an understanding of your business then we are probably not the best company for you to work with. We like people who respect their own business.