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08/27/2008: "The Problem With Quote Request Forms and Asking For the Budget."

Most copywriters put a place in their quote request form in which they ask the person to provide his or her budget for the copywriting part of the project. This is a very legitimate question and very helpful in preparing a quote for the type of service the person can truly afford.

At least that's what the question is for. Unfortunately, people who fill out the form are seldom truthful. They think that whatever they put down is exactly what you'll change.

For example, let's say you have the following in your form:

$1000 - $2000
2500 - $4000
$4000 - $6000
$6000 - $10,000
$10,000 - $15,000
Whatever it takes

Now, that gives a common range. An honest person who can spend up to $10,000 would conceivably tick the $6000 to $10,000 box. And he'd be smart to do so.

You no doubt have several options available and you could offer him a plan --- or perhaps two plans --- that will fit in that budget. It saves you time. It saves him time. It's the right way to do business.

But, in the real world, here is what people do. They tick off the smallest amount you have in your list. In this case, they'll tick off the $1000 - $2000. If they don't even have that, they'll tick off "Whatever it takes." They don't understand that's for people who really can afford to pay whatever it takes and not for people with nickels in their pocket.

It's the rare person who honestly answers this question. Only the most sophisticated people know how important it is and that it's a very ordinary question in the advertising business. Unfortunately, few of us deal with sophisticated business people who are accustomed to dealing with those of us in advertising. I prefer to think that than they're less than honest.

It doesn't mean they're bad people. They're just not being honest in that brief moment. They "think" it's to their advantage to be dishonest in this question. We know they're wrong.

So what can you do? You can set a minimum fee. Put on your site that you don't accept any project for less than $3000 or $4000 or whatever.

Or, you can do something like this when you ask the question:

$1000 - $2000 (critiques & consultation)
2500 - $4000 (small projects, short copy)
$4000 - $6000
$6000 - $10,000
$10,000 - $15,000
Whatever it takes (over $15,000)

When you do that, you'll lay out the rules of the game. You'll also get less requests for quotes. But it's been my experience that the quality of the requests is far more important than the number of requests. After all, it takes quite a while to prepare a quote. Your time is too valuable to spend on tire kickers and price checkers.

You can also simply not ask for this information. Of course, the trouble with this is that you'll get the penny ante tire kickers who will take up your time.

But those are pretty much your choices.

The fact remains, people want to get the very best copywriting available. They simply don't want to pay what it's worth.

I put a little test ad in Google last week. I offered to do "cheap copywriting" on one of my sites. I put up a landing page. I made a long list of what I would "NOT" do in return for the fee they were "NOT" going to have to pay. It only took one or two lines to say what I WOULD do. But, it was honest. No one took me up on it.

Why? Because they no doubt didn't want to give up anything. They wanted everything. They just didn't want to have to pay much for it.

People think like this: "Don't get me wrong, Mr. Copywriter. I like you. But you're not a special person. I'm a special person."

So, we have to deal with these special people in terms they can understand. Determine if you want lots of requests for quotes or just the ones worth your time. In some cases, it's best to get their names. Get them to raise their hands and show an interest. You may have something special to offer them. Maybe just a nice newsletter. Maybe you're building a list. Most of us don't use the quote form for lists, however. So, if you do, let them know.

Otherwise, make your fee schedule or at least your fee range very clear.

Make it easy on yourself. You're the one in charge of your business. Don't let other people dictate terms to you.