Ask any project manager: Knowing the availability of resources is critical to achieving the desired outcome.

Money is, of course, the resource, and while zero-base budgeting is a nice idea, unlimited budgets are practically non-existent in the real world.

So, when requesting proposals from marketing consultants, why don’t CMOs save everyone a lot of trouble and share the budget upfront?

Apparent reasons for not doing so are:

• Reason: If the budget is revealed, the consultant will find a way to spend all of it whether the project warrants it or not.
• Reality: There is never enough budget to do the job right anyway, so why not share it upfront and get more informed strategic thinking.

• Reason: Once the consultant knows the budget, he or she will carve out more profit.
• Reality: The CMO can always negotiate the consultant’s fee as a line item within the total budget.

• Reason: The CMO wishes to hold some of the budget back as contingency.
• Reality: Funds for contingencies can be set aside upfront.

Most importantly, the consultant will make much smarter strategic recommendations with full knowledge of the budget. The amount of funds directly affects the strategy and tactics. And the consultant won’t have to be sent back to the drawing board for overshooting the budget.

The ideal scenario: Trust exists between the CMO and the consultant, and they collaborate on the best strategy within the available budget.

Do you share the budget upfront?

P.S. Just found this excellent May 22 post, “Confronting The “B” Word,” from Nathan Ritchie on the same topic. Great line: “I can spec it to your budget or I can budget it to your specs. Which is more important to you?”