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Permalink Reply by John on April 3, 2012 at 19:55

I think it would be better to have a questionaire ready for the initial

telephone conversation, and then cherry pick those that you feel are

suitable. In my experience, clients have very little idea when it comes to

calculating the cost of the project. 

  And many will feel that they will be charged £5000 for work that

should only cost say £3000 or £4000.  

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Pro DesignerPermalink Reply by John Cavill on April 3, 2012 at 19:58

Good point! I keep being asked to design within a £1 to 3K budget and its too limiting! 

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Permalink Reply by Richard Boyd on April 3, 2012 at 20:01

What do you classify as small John? How detailed are you specking projects?

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Pro DesignerPermalink Reply by John Cavill on April 3, 2012 at 20:06

Hi Richard, small for me is between £1 and £4K the plans are about medium in detail but after the plan price from the budget, there really isnt enough to do anything that I want to, I wanted to weed out (pardon the pun) the smaller ones!

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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Gardens4u.co.uk on April 5, 2012 at 3:53

if you have the work -great !

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Permalink Reply by Colin Hunt on April 5, 2012 at 6:38

From little acorns etc................. if the customers know and pay your charges and you ensure they cover your time plus a bit, I dont see the problem.  Maybe you've just lost 'the buzz' from smaller jobs, which is another matter.

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Permalink Reply by Nic Johnson on April 5, 2012 at 10:11

Would it not be better to suggest that you design the garden as it best suits their needs, although the budget might be blown!!! Then suggest to them if they have the design/plan the garden can then be built in stages as they can afford which spreads the cost over a few years maybe. Always add that a well designed and built garden always adds value to the property and makes it certainly more saleable.

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