Pet peeves - what's the budget? - Forum

Does this sound familiar?Me: What sort of budget did you have in mind for your garden design & build project?Prosp Client: I haven't really thought about a budget.Me: Well, you must have an idea of how much you'd like to spend.PC: Well yes, but I don't want to give you a figure. You go away and design the garden, and if we like it we'll do it.We've make a conscious effort to prise budget information from our prospective clients, but we rarely ever get given a figure, or even a range to work within. We've gone to great lengths on our website to spell out how what sort of money the client needs to think about, based on a percentage of their property value, but it seems to go in one ear and out the other!The latest prospective client told us straight: "I'm not going to give you a figure because if I tell you a number that's what I'll spend." So we quoted her £15k. She emailed back today "it's not within my budget!". What are we, psychic garden designers?I guess we're not alone in this. What do you do to get budget information out of your prospective clients?

I try and have an initial chat with the client on the phone first as you can roughly price it given enough info.
Ask their wish list and if it involves any design/landscaping then I ask if they have a budget and if so what is it.
Anyone who refuses to disclose is either fishing for cheap shabby fixes, time wasting or simply hasn't thought it through.
There is no way I'd entertain a visit unless I was sure it's worthwhile.

Keith Barker said:

Had one today. 55 mile round trip, walked around large garden listening to a shopping list of items - new deck, remove huge rockery, move some fencing, loads of mature shrubs removing, 2 new large patios, shed bases, pond removed, new fencing. 2-3 week landscaping project, plus design.

Asked the budget question. Answer: £5000.

We made our excuses and left...

Much more of this and I'll start charging for the initial consultation.

Replies

David Bloomer April 19, 2010 at 5:58pm

tis a favorite bugbear of mine as well

i have several clients who ask for pricing for work and don't really know what they want so i say i can give them options but need a clue as to what they had in mind for spending otherwise i don't know if we're even going to have a hope of acheiving anything worthwhile in the areas being discussed. They usually don't give me a clue i price the best i can in keeping with the property, have had many say no thats too much and turn me down instead of asking for cheaper alternatives for the area. Including one who went to another contractor for really cheap paving which looked aweful. To be fair i wouldn't have laid it for them it looked that bad but i guess it was cheap!!!!
chris nangle April 19, 2010 at 6:20pm

i always ask for the budget on all bespoke jobs ,i explain that it will help me give you the most for your money
Fenlandphil April 20, 2010 at 7:52am

I think this is something that gets touched on a fair bit. It may be worth as a starting point stating the value a well designed garden will have on the value of a property in percentage terms. Ask the clients how much the property is worth then start from there to help them determine a realistic budget. I believe someone else has suggested something on these lines on LJN, so I don't want to take credit for the suggestion.
Benedict Green April 20, 2010 at 8:56am

Always a difficult issue. I normally show clients my portfolio and if they show an interest in a particular design I would give a rough idea of what it cost to implement. I would then talk about any particular site issues they have that would effect costs and clearly state I would have to do a proper itemised quote for them. I can then normally tell by their reaction if they have a reasonable idea of what landscaping really costs and it also reassures them that other people are willing to spend that amount. From there I can usually get some idea of a budget from them.
Keith Barker April 21, 2010 at 9:16pm

Had one today. 55 mile round trip, walked around large garden listening to a shopping list of items - new deck, remove huge rockery, move some fencing, loads of mature shrubs removing, 2 new large patios, shed bases, pond removed, new fencing. 2-3 week landscaping project, plus design.

Asked the budget question. Answer: £5000.

We made our excuses and left...

Much more of this and I'll start charging for the initial consultation.
Richard@www.seasons-garden.co.uk April 21, 2010 at 9:51pm

I try and have an initial chat with the client on the phone first as you can roughly price it given enough info.
Ask their wish list and if it involves any design/landscaping then I ask if they have a budget and if so what is it.
Anyone who refuses to disclose is either fishing for cheap shabby fixes, time wasting or simply hasn't thought it through.
There is no way I'd entertain a visit unless I was sure it's worthwhile.

Keith Barker said:
Had one today. 55 mile round trip, walked around large garden listening to a shopping list of items - new deck, remove huge rockery, move some fencing, loads of mature shrubs removing, 2 new large patios, shed bases, pond removed, new fencing. 2-3 week landscaping project, plus design.

Asked the budget question. Answer: £5000.

We made our excuses and left...

Much more of this and I'll start charging for the initial consultation.
Keith Barker April 21, 2010 at 9:56pm

I think you're right. We do try to screen clients on the phone first, but mainly in order to weed out the landscaping only enquiries.

The trouble is some clients aren't even able to give an estimate of the size of their gardens beyond "big" or "small", and even then they get that wrong!
Lawncare-4u.co.uk April 22, 2010 at 12:58am

lol............................ i need a budget: gardens4u . not gardens4me !!

or im wasting my time.

design me a garden and ill give it to someone else so it loks like ive done some work and get it cheaper'

£100 min for a rough sketch if work over £1500 0r complicated/various.
planting plans £50 minimum to for 20m sq ?