One of the common themes I’ve found over the years, especially when dealing with potential or new clients, is disconnect between a client’s pricing expectations versus reality. Often a client has been running their business technology needs at a certain level, and is either moving up to the next tier, or is retiring a previous consultant that simply couldn’t maintain their network any longer. This has possibly been the hardest obstacle for me to overcome, but something I’ve become more comfortable with of late.

Whenever a client asks for a specific functionality be added to their network, you need to always keep in the back of your mind that they already put a proposed number in their mind, and it is almost always low, often by a lot. This simple fact is part of the reason I worked so hard to develop my project proposals as much as possible. A lot of places I’ve dealt with consider a proposal to be a couple pages from Quickbooks or an Excel spreadsheet. This simply doesn’t cover all the things a client needs to know to make them feel comfortable.

That is part of why I’ve developed what I feel is an extremely comprehensive procedure for generating a proposal for a new project for a client, with the workflow moving as follows:

• Initial Interview with Client – Generate list of client needs, and their specifications for the project.
• Generate Initial Proposal – Generate our initial proposal with planned scope, budgetary guidelines and timeframe for project. This is possibly one of the most important steps, because it engages the client with a guideline and prevents you from sinking numerous hours into a project that never gets started.
• Provide Official Proposal – If the Initial Proposal is signed off on, this is the one that includes full pricing, part SKUs, timelines, assigned technicians, and all appropriate details for the execution of the project. This is also the part that gets the deposit as well.
• Project Generation – Project is created, resources assigned, parts ordered and pre-staged.
• Project Execution – Project begins, and is fulfilled as per the Proposal.
• Project Follow-up – All my projects include a follow-up for tweaking, and training, and documentation and basic verification that everything operates to the customer’s specification, and that there have been no unforeseen problems.
• Receive Payment – The best part. Receiving payment for the balance of the project.

One of the keys to the projects that we perform is that they are all executed on a flat-fee basis. Flat fee projects are beneficial to all involved, because it forces the provider to plan and execute the project properly, the customer to detail their needs, and allows for both sides to budget appropriately. This is why I never experiment on a customer, and will only provide proven solutions, because I know how long they take to implement and ensure proper operation.

Really, this is only one of many ways to manage your customer’s expectations, but it brings home a very strong point. Plan, present, and name your price. The only thing worse than the customer saying “no” would be for you to underbid the project just to get the work and end up coming in over your original budget because you couldn’t possibly reach the numbers you proposed initially. It is far easier to manage a customer’s expectations if you give them a solid plan with solid numbers up front, than try and correct your oversight afterward.