When we book a discovery call with a prospective client, the inevitable question arises before we are able to send a proposal over for them to review, "What investment do you have allocated for this project?"

Very often we hear that they want to see what we come back with in our quote and do not have a number or even a range in mind.

I've found this is always the wrong foot to start on for both parties involved.

Here are a few things to consider regarding sharing your budget before hopping on a discovery call.

1. Save yourself time - when you share the number or budget range you have in mind for the project, then you automatically weed out production partners that are out of your range and therefore you aren't reviewing proposals that are not a fit for the scope of your project.

2. Gain Insight - after sharing the investment you're willing to make with a potential vendor you are able to see how they can adapt creatively and strategically to meet your goals. This in turn creates an opportunity for you to evaluate the value and insights they can provide to your project before it even kicks off and a dollar is spent.  They will be in a position to suggest how to shrink or expand the project budget while still reaching your goals.

3. Trust - transparency at this stage before a collaboration sets the stage for a working relationship where parties know they are working toward a shared goal.

Here are a few approaches to the discussion we ma  try on our end to help this process along:

1. Let you know that without a ballpark budget we won't be able to deliver an effective proposal. If there are variables like the amount of physical production days and the amount and formats of the deliverables associated with the project still up in the air, it's hard to ground the proposal without a realistic idea of what resources will be available.

2. Once we have discussed the project parameters with you, we’ll let you know what we believe the budget range will be and ask you if that sounds reasonable.  If even the low side of the budget we quote you is out of your range we may not be the right fit for the project. We’ll do our best to point you in the direction of a vendor suited to meet your specific needs.

3. If for some reason we still aren't able to get a range on the call, we’ll provide multiple tiers of budgets in our proposal. We always aim to be flexible, while also communicating what you stand to lose and gain in the production process with each tier of investment.