The “B Word”

Posted by: Jessica Richmond, Director of Client Services Feb 22, 2010 0 Comments

In our industry, as in many service industries, the “B Word“—budget—is often considered a bad word, or a taboo subject. Clients don’t often bring it up right away, and agencies sometimes shy away from discussing it until they’re quite a ways down the sales path. There tends to be this inexplicable feeling that if we don’t say the B Word, then somehow, magically, the constraint will not exist. But that isn’t the case—after all, if understanding the client’s objectives is critical to the project’s success, then knowing that we can implement an effective campaign within their budget is equally important when getting a project started.

Budgets Are Critical to Success
I have found that our clients are just as busy as we are, if not more so. They don’t want to spend hours reading proposed solutions that will cost them 10 times their budget—nor is it in our best interest to spend the time and resources developing a project plan that is strategic and creative but simply not realistic given the client’s financial reality. They want a company that is strategic, creative, and that can deliver results, all within their budget, and we want to do whatever we can to be that company.

When creating great work, whether it be a website redesign or a full-scale online marketing campaign including PPC advertising, it’s important not to forget the triple constraint of time > scope > budget. These are real factors and real concerns for our clients and should not be disregarded. At Rock Creek, we place an emphasis on ensuring that our quality and work is top notch, and that it all fits within the client’s reality.

Strong Parameters Lead to Successful Projects
Many of our clients come to us after having worked with other agencies and, as such, we are often privy to their true thoughts and feelings on how agencies work. Two of the biggest complaints I hear from them, time and time again, is that their projects took much longer than expected, or that the project ran significantly over budget. In my mind, this is a sign of poor management on the creative agency’s part, often a result of the inability or unwillingness to establish strong parameters for time, scope, and budget during the business development phase. Saying “no” or “that’s out of the scope of the contract” to a client is never fun, but it can certainly be necessary in effectively managing the overall project and its finances.

Budget Is Not a Bad Word
My recommendation to future clients as well as other industry members is this: Don’t think of budget as a bad word. Budget is a reality in every industry, from creative agencies to wedding vendors, and sometimes it can present challenges. But at Rock Creek, we look at budgets as opportunities. A budget gives us parameters and guidelines that our creative and strategic teams can then understand and manage for great results. In fact, some of our most effective campaigns have been done under tight budget constraints.

Getting Budget Out of the Way Lets You Focus on Results
When I speak with clients for the first time, one of the items I make sure to address is to ask if there is an established budget range. Oftentimes, people call us with a need and without any idea as to how much creative work costs—and that’s certainly okay too. I have found it very effective and helpful for our clients to provide a ballpark budget range for projects similar to the ones they have described or one that may support their objectives. Gaining an understanding as to what the client is able to pay, even in a wide range, helps our team focus on the results.

Enjoy this post?

Subscribe to the feed

-->

Jessica Richmond

Director of Client Services

• Most Recent
• Topics

View all previous posts