Good idea to ask potential clients their budget for webdesign services?

I have a website form that potential customers fill out if they are looking for webdesign services. I was wondering if I should add a question on there asking them what their budget is? I see this done on some sites, but most don't ask this for fear of making the potential client uncomfortable.

Does anyone know if it's a good idea to ask a potential client what their budget is BEFORE you do anything (proposal, estimates, etc).

Thanks for any tips!

 

I would not get into that initially. I typically ask my customers to ignore price in the beginning and dream up their perfect website. Then, when they see the price one of two things happens - they balk or they buy. If they balk, I start identifying the parts of the website that take the most time and effort to create and what that translates to in the price. That way they can eliminate those items to get the price down. Then you can upsell those features back to them later because you KNOW they want it.

 

I get pissed when they ask me my budget. I want them to give me a price for their work.

 

hmm its good idea but you have to be aware to be fair for all customers, which is not easy from customers overviews