It costs nothing extra...

It costs nothing extra to be polite.  I spoke with a series of 4 new potential clients yesterday.  The last one was looking for a slipcover for a recliner.  I explained the difference between fitted and loose slipcovers and said that we only make fitted slipcovers and that unfortunately we can't make one for a recliner.  At that she decided that her piece was not a recliner and asked me to confirm that if I drove to see her that there would be no charge.  At this point I will let you know that she lives 60 miles from me.  I've been at this spot once of twice before, so I asked her a bit more about the project and learned that they have never had custom work done, their existing piece is in poor condition, and they don't know what they want, but they do know that it is not a solid fabric.

From here I started probing her about what her budget was.  While they didn't have a firm budget their range would put them well below the cost of any slipcover unless we used remnants.  This is not to say that our slipcovers are expensive, as a matter of fact with our current sale and coupons we could have done the job for about $300-$400 (provided it wasn't actually a recliner).  With remnants the job could be as low as about $250 give or take.

The customer informed me that this was simply beyond their budget and...this is when the client asks me when I will be out.  I cannot drive 120 miles and take a day from another client on the off chance that a piece is not a recliner and that I have preselected the correct remnant.  So back to the main point...what should you say?

I politely informed her that is sounded like we weren't going to be able to meet her needs.  If she wanted to go to one of our stores and look at our remnants we easily had pieces that would be sufficiently large for the project, but that was the only way I could think of that we would be close to the price she would like.  At that point she let me know that she would talk it over with her husband and get back to me.  I wouldn't be surprised if I get a call back and she says that they have spoken and would really like me to come out.

If that ever happens to you I strongly suggest you consider going.  She has already been informed of the price and if she calls back that shows a great desire to have the work done.  She wold not be the first person to revise their budget.  But that door only remains open if you are polite, even when someone is likely not going to be a customer.