One of the many techniques I would use to figure out the client’s budget was to play around with them. Most clients will not tell you a budget even though they have one.
What I would do is start high and say, that the project will be around million dollars and joke with them. They will immediately be stunned and then you can start throwing out lower numbers and say, so you do have a budget.
I would then explain to them, I really need to know a number that you need to stay around so I can know what services and solutions I can offer you.
Hope this helps but this got me their exact budget every time.
