Nervous, Anxious & Hesitant Clients Often Get Stuck – Here’s what to do

We’ve all experienced a client who becomes unsure. Unsure about the design and budget. Unsure about the red tape. Unsure they can afford their dream. Nervous about finding good builders. Here’s what to do…

With a few small tweaks to the way we do things, it doesn’t have to be such an angst-ridden journey.

This article will help you guide client projects to fruition. It explores the high-risk moments (read client-losing!) we have throughout the design/construct journey and how to keep them on board.

Your First Client Meeting

Clients often start these meetings with a brief that can be a grab-bag of elements you need to compile into a workable brief.

They also often seek some budget guidance to determine if they can afford their dreams.

Every architect and designer will have their own approach to this conversation, but an informed response reduces surprises for you and the client further into your engagement.

Here are two steps to inform yourself and the client of early budget indicators:

Access ProCalc’s Construction Trend Update (free) to know the latest industry trends (updated every 30 days)
Develop a mud map of the project and cost the project in ProCalc (book a tutorial & free trial) to know the likely project budget.

Having this information in the back of your mind enables you to guide client expectations from the beginning, eliminating budget surprises down the track.

ProCalc’s free Construction Trend Update is based on monthly industry feedback from architects, designers, builders, HIA and ABS. These reports will give you a contemporary and informed understanding of market place pricing you can share with clients.

2. Know the Build Cost, Pre-Presentation

So, the client has chosen you because they love you and your past work – that’s a given. However, every concept comes with a different construction budget.

You can vary or eliminate designs your client can’t afford if you understand the construction costs of your pre-concept designs.

Simply run each sketch through ProCalc (book tutorial & free trial) to instantly generate this information.

3. Presentation of First Concepts

Presenting each concept to clients with an opinion of probable cost empowers the client to choose the option that best suits their needs – aesthetic, functional and budgetary.

Using ProCalc at this stage will keep clients’ expectations in check and empower them to give robust feedback without the usual second-guessing.

4. Develop the Preferred Concept

Your clients select a concept and, with collaboration, you further develop the design to create a more mature/developed concept.

Naturally, as the concept becomes more precise, costs change. Again, this is a good time to test your concept for budget and keep your client up to speed on likely build budget.

By now, your client has had several opportunities to influence design and budget because they’ve been fully informed. This gives them the confidence to progress to more detailed documentation.

5. Quantity Surveyor

Depending on your process, it’s now that a Quantity Surveyor can provide cost feedback about your design.

Traditionally, this stage can be the ‘make or break’ for many clients. However, if you’ve already provided an informed budget range, you dramatically reduce the risk of your clients going cold on the project for budget reasons.

6. Find the Ideal Builder

Sadly, many architects and designers ‘de-couple’ from the project at this stage.

This can be due to (a) client budget restraints, (b) hassle’s finding the right builder or (c) hesitation on the design practitioners’ part to oversee the build and more.

It involves a lot of work – promoting the project to builders, shortlisting them, assessing them, engaging their services and then dealing with any issues that arise throughout build.

Here’s a working method to match great builders and clients

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