What are the first steps with a new Client?

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With a new client, I want to meet the client directly if possible. Many times there’s general contractors, architects, designers between me and the client. But I’d like to meet the person who’s going to actually be functioning in that space, be it the owner, or be it the facility manager, or be it someone in charge of a particular space and find out what their expectation is. I want to design for them a floor that’s going to work under the traffic load and maintenance procedures that they’re going to need. I want to know what the history of the floor is to the extent they know it. If they know how old it is, if they may know the salt content if it’s been tested before, what other finishes might be on it. Has it ever been used for instance as a car dealership or as a car repair place where it might have oil contamination? So as much information as I can get. And ultimately what do they want the floor to look like? And lastly what do they expect to pay for the floor? If they have a budget I’d like to know. And that sets me off to try to find a designed floor that will work for them inside their budget and look the way they want it to look. And if I can satisfy most of that criteria, get all of those components to equal, then we can install a very successful floor for this customer.