How to qualify commission clients: budget, timing, fit and red flags

This guide is for makers who get more enquiries than they can turn into good commissions, or who spend too many evenings on quotes that go nowhere. It applies to any craft that works to order: furniture, jewellery, ceramics and glass, leather and textiles, instruments and metalwork.

Qualifying sounds like sales jargon. For a small workshop it means something simple: finding out early whether an enquiry can become a commission you can make well, on time, for a price that works, with a client who can say yes. The earlier you know, the less time you spend on drawings and quotes for the wrong jobs, and the more attention the right ones get.

We cover the four things to find out, the questions that reveal them, how to talk about budget, common red flags, ways to filter before you invest design time, and how to say no politely.

Key takeaways

• Find out four things early: budget, timing, fit with your work, and who decides.
• Corporate sales teams use checklists such as BANT (budget, authority, need, timeline). The idea transfers well to commissions if you use it as a checklist and not a script.
• Ask about budget directly and give ranges from your own past work to make it easy to answer.
• Charge for design beyond a first round, or credit a design fee to the order. It filters out people who are only collecting ideas.
• When the answers do not line up, say no quickly and kindly, and suggest an alternative.

What qualifying means for a maker

Sales teams have long used short checklists to decide which leads deserve time. The best known is BANT: budget, authority, need and timeline. Gong, a sales software company, describes it as originally developed by IBM, and also lists its weaknesses: it can feel seller-centred, and ruling someone out on budget too early can lose a client whose circumstances later change.

Both points matter for makers. People commissioning a ring or a table are buying something personal, often for the first time. They may not know what things cost or how long they take. Your job is partly to educate, and qualifying questions asked badly can feel like a gate. Asked well, they feel like care: you are making sure the piece will work for them.

Here is how the four letters translate:

BANT	For a commission	What you want to know
Budget	Budget	Is their range within what this kind of piece costs from you?
Authority	Who decides	Who else needs to agree, and will they be part of the conversation?
Need	Fit	Is this a piece you make well and want to make?
Timeline	Timing	Is their date possible given your current workload?

Discovery questions

Ask these in the first call or the second email. Not all of them, and not as a list. Pick what you do not already know.

The piece and why it matters

• What is it for, and where will it live or how will it be worn or played?
• Is it marking an occasion?
• Have you seen a piece of mine, or someone else's, that is close to what you want?

Timing

• When would you like it by? Is that date fixed, or a hope?
• What happens if it arrives later?

Budget

• Do you have a budget in mind? Similar pieces I have made have been between [X] and [Y].
• Is that budget for the piece alone, or does it need to cover delivery or fitting?

Decision

• Is anyone else involved in choosing? Would it help if they joined the next call?
• Are you speaking to other makers as well? (This is a normal question. Consumers are often advised to compare: Citizens Advice, for example, tells people to get written quotes from at least three traders for building work.)

Fit

• What drew you to my work?
• Are there materials, techniques or styles you definitely do not want?

Talking about budget

Budget is the question makers most often avoid and most often regret avoiding. Three habits help.

Give reference points first. "Most of the rings I make in this style are between X and Y" or "A dining table like the one on my site was about Z" gives the client something to react to. Reactions are honest even when stated budgets are not.

Explain why you ask. KIND Jewellery asks for a budget at the enquiry stage so it can suggest suitable materials. Saying that makes the question helpful, not pushy.

Offer a smaller version. If the budget is short, can a simpler design, a different timber, a smaller stone or fewer pieces in the set meet it? Offer that once. If the gap is still too large, say so.

For how to arrive at your ranges, see how to price custom furniture.

Who decides

Many commissions have more than one decision-maker:

• Couples and families. One person writes; two people decide. Invite the other person to the design call.
• Surprise gifts. Engagement rings are the classic case. The person paying is not the person wearing. Ask about size, style and metal preferences in a way that respects the surprise.
• Interior designers and architects. The designer specifies, the client pays, and sometimes a contractor installs. Find out who approves drawings and who pays the deposit.
• Businesses. A restaurant, a hotel or an office may need a purchase order or a second approval. Ask how they buy and how long it usually takes.

If you only ever speak to someone who cannot say yes, expect delays and late changes.

Fit

Not every enquiry you could make is one you should make. Ask yourself:

• Is it the kind of work you want to be known for, and could you show it?
• Do you have the skills and equipment, or would you be learning on the client's money?
• Does it need materials or subcontractors you cannot rely on?
• Will it take capacity from work that pays better or matters more to you?

A good fit is not only about style. A potter who throws fine porcelain may not be the right person for forty heavy restaurant plates, and saying so helps both sides.

Red flags

These are signals worth noticing. None of them is a rule on its own.

Signal	What it might mean	What to do
Asks for a firm price before any detail	Shopping on price alone	Give a range and ask two or three questions before quoting
Wants several full designs before paying anything	Collecting ideas for someone else to make	Offer one round of sketches, then a design fee
Date is very soon and fixed	Pressure that leads to mistakes	Say what is possible by then, or decline
"Money is no object" with no detail	Unclear expectations	Give real numbers early and see how they react
Sends a photo of another maker's piece and asks for a copy	Copying, possible rights issues	Offer your own design in that spirit, or decline
Will not say who else decides	Late changes, slow approvals	Ask once more, and plan for extra review time
Criticises previous makers at length	Possibly hard to satisfy	Listen, then be very clear in writing about scope

Filter before you invest time

The cheapest way to qualify is to build small steps into your process that a committed client will take and a casual one will not.

• A paid design stage. Sebastian Cox includes initial drawings and one revision free, and charges for further drawings at 10% of the project cost if the commission does not go ahead.
• A deposit before detailed design. The guitar maker Cumpiano states that a deposit of a third of the proposed price must be paid before further detailed discussion, which also puts the order into the build schedule.
• A short call before any drawing. Fifteen minutes on the phone shows you most of what this guide covers.

Choose one or two that suit your craft. Be open about them on your website so clients know what to expect before they write.

Saying no politely

A clear no early is better for everyone than a slow, reluctant yes. Keep it short, kind and useful.

When it is not your kind of work:

Thank you for thinking of me. This is outside the kind of work I do well, and I would rather you had a maker who specialises in it. You might try [another maker or a guild directory].

When the budget does not fit:

Thank you for being open about the budget. For a piece like this, my work starts at around [X], so I do not think I am the right fit this time. If a smaller version would suit you, I would be happy to suggest one.

When the date is not possible:

I would love to make this, but I could not finish it well by [date]. My next free start is [month]. If the date can move, let me know and I will hold the details.

Note every no in your enquiry log with the reason. Over a year, the pattern tells you whether your website, prices or lead times are attracting the wrong enquiries. See responding to commission enquiries for a simple log.

Sources

• BANT sales qualification, Gong: BANT definition, attribution to IBM, criticisms of the framework
• Bespoke engagement rings, KIND Jewellery: asking for budget to suggest suitable materials, timeline and design ideas at enquiry
• How to commission, Sebastian Cox: free initial drawings and one revision, charge for further drawings if the commission does not proceed
• Commissions, Cumpiano: deposit of a third before detailed discussion and to enter the build schedule
• Before you get building work done, Citizens Advice: advice to consumers to get written quotes from at least three traders