Dealing with Budget Clients
Not every designer wants a budget clients. Because they demand too much for spending too little. Always give you headache and makes you feel tired and sick of doing your works. You will feel that you've earn nothing after done so many things for them. Is not that they're don't know how to appreciate. it's just that they think that they deserves same service as them whose pay even more for the same kind of jobs. In short words : They're sometimes very frustrating! That's why not every designer wants budget clients. But there are many times when I have to take budget clients. Like the time when the client is my close friends or relatives, or when the clients is the referrals from my close friends or relatives, or when I really desperate to get any jobs, or when I'm missed-judge the client at the first time, or when I'm in self denial that I might be wrong if I under-estimate my client and in the end I am wrong to over-estimate them, haha!
And this time is one of those times.
I got this client from a renovation forum that I used to read and leave some posts or comments on other's posts. And I think someone had posted some referral on me that makes this client contact me.
Some signs of budget clients might be one of the followings :
1. They do the renovation partially.
Because of their budget, they can only do renovation for their house part by part. For example: they want to do the living room&kithcen first, the. Secondly is the master bedroom and toilets, then last part is the common bedrooms and dining. They have planning the whole budgeting things in such a way that they can save a lot for so much stuffs but actually in the end they'll over-spent even more. Because things like electrical, lightings, flooring, ceiling, plastering&paintings is cheaper if we do it all in once rather than partially, specially for resale house. So when you're facing a budget client, ask them to do up these items first, because this is the items that will be cheaper in lumpsum rather than partially. Plus the wiring will looks more neat.
2. They always ask for more discounts.
Ask to cut the price here and there, comparing the quotation with other designer or main-con. In the end they cut down few items to fit in their budget then they will sign the contract. Sometimes design is not what they're looking for, but it doesn't mean that budget clients don't have taste tho'. Some of them demand good design, good workmanship, with very very very good pricing (acoording to them). And they will be upset if they find any hidden costs (even the one that they add themselves - read next point)
3. They add more (lots of) small items after signed the contract and say as if it is our fault to give them quotation with hidden costs. They will be upset and ask us to cut the costs even more or further more ask to just give it as a bonus. Blood sucker!!
There are many ways of dealing things with budget clients. The followings always works on me.
1. First thing we have to remember is that they always wants cheap things (doh! That's why we call them budget clients). So each time they ask for cheap price, try to re-dirrect them to quality&skill matters. Tell them that we're selling quality and hassle-free renovation. Tell them that once they decided to go to designer for renovation, never expecting contractor price, it's not fair for everybody. Contractor never do a proper coordination like what we do. Cotractor never give you special design, they just copy from their other projects and adjust to fit into your house. Contractor also seldom care about the client's requirements of detail, because mostly they only look for money and do the works anyhow as long as it fast or save cost on the materials they have to provide. Remember the phrase : "money don't lie" well that's true!
2. Budget client likes to put the blame on us whenever there's additional costs that cause by themselves or whenever the find out that the items they get is not the good quality ones. Don't let this make you feel guilty!! It's their own drama!!! Remember (again) : "Money don't lie"
3. As budget client likes to ask for discounts as well as comparing price with other parties, we have to be smart to mark up the pricing. Mark up pricing for items that is more absurding to compare, such as carpentary works, windows&doors and tiling works. Lighting, electrical, plastering&paintings is the least we can mark up, because there's no such thing as good-quality or med-qualitye or low-quality lectrician, they're all the same. Different thing with carpentary works where every design & workshop is different in material quality and workmanship. Once again, try to explain to them that once they go to designer, never expect contractor price specially on carpentry works, it's just not fair for everybody.
After few budget clients, I'm an expert in budget clients.
I'm an independent interior designer working closely with home owner to help them earn their dream home.
I'm not only planning for their space, but also planning with their budget, because I truly believe that everyone deserves dream home.
Planning for dream home for my clients has been my expertise for almost 6 years experiences in Singapore.
It's not an easy way for me to get to where I am now, but since this is what I always love to do, so I always make the most of it.
