The Power of Max Budget Projects

I had a very positive experience this morning with a new client who is negotiating a contract with one of the largest software vendors in the world. The contract would call for my client’s product to be integrated with the major player. It is clearly an important contract for my new client.

After receiving the contract draft, I contacted the client and let them know my standard billing practice. I let them know that everything is budgeted up front and gave him my maximum recommendations for a budget on the project. I told him they would pay the lesser amount between my hourly bill or the max budget, whichever was less. The client immediately breathed a sigh of relief and thanked me for raising and discussing the budget issue. She was genuinely relieved to talk about budgets and expectations, something that her prior counsel had never done. I told her that I found it very interesting that her response was similar to the response of most of my other clients on issues concerning budgets. Attorneys seem loathe to raise the issue with their clients. In contrast, clients genuinely appreciate early and often discussions concerning legal budgets. They love talking about what it is going to cost and they certainly appreciate putting a maximum on their spend. No client has ever objected if I have come back to them and said that the initial budget needed to be expanded to include a new or unexpected issue requiring attention.

If you are not talking about budgets with your clients from beginning to end you are missing a unique opportunity to distinguish yourself in the marketplace and increase client satisfaction exponentially. Try it, and you will be surprised.