It's a very familiar story. A client needs to promote a product or service and requests a proposal for a campaign. They provide lots of great information and input, except for one crucial detail . . . the budget. Asking your marketing partner to construct a campaign without budget parameters is like asking an architect to design a house without giving them a price range. Aggressiveness, market reach, timing, channels and more all greatly impact campaign cost. As a result, your marketing team has to guess, which is inefficient and usually less effective; both of which cost you money. Of course there are situations when you simply don't know what to budget, but that is when you should confer with your firm. Open, honest discussion about budgets will usually reveal an appropriate ballpark. Some people won't share their budgets in fear of being taken advantage of. Put bluntly, if you don't trust your firm enough to share budget information, you should find a new marketing partner. Talking budgets up front makes dollars and sense.