BuiltEnvironment

The Wrong Stuff - part 3

This is the 3rd in a series of items about some of the marketing actions A/E/P/CM/Environmental firms take that are most often a waste of staff time and other resources.

Chasing Strangers

How many times has one of your firm's principals elected to respond to an RFQ or RFP issued by a client nobody in the company had ever spoken with? perhaps a client nobody in the company had ever heard of?

I bet this sounds all too familiar to every marketer in every marketing department of every A, E, P, CM, Environmental or multi-service firm there is. We look at these choices about how to commit our staff time and other resources, and we shake our heads. We have to wonder if the person who made the choice is just "shooting at everything that moves" because he's desperate for to win a new project and thinks this is the way to get one.

One alternative is that your decision maker truly believes your unknown firm has a chance of winning the project even though the client probably has an incumbent and five or six other firms that have been visiting and courting him for a while.

A second alternative is that the decision maker wants to "put your name in front of a new potential client" and thinks this is a good way to do this. I know we've all heard this one befo0re.

But this can be dangerous! If a prospective client has issued an RFQ or RFP, submitting a document that is either non-responsive or a weak response is a waste of the client's time. And since , a selection process adds to the client's workload -- his other work doesn't just go away -- he has even less time to waste than usual. Branding your firm as a non-responsive time-waster is probably not the first impression you want to make.

A better approach is to wait until the selection is made, assemble an SOQ, visit the client and talk with him about what your firm really CAN do for them. Communicate that you didn't submit on his RFQ or RFP because you didn't want to waste his time with a non-responsive submittal (perhaps your major services are not what he was looking for at the time, but could truly bring him value on other projects). Such a truth can help you establish your credibility and integrity.

People give work to people they know, like and trust. They only give work to a stranger as a last resort. The concept of "best value" has made this easy even in the public sector, as the value of the relationship (previously a subjective input) can now get objective points in the ranking of responses.

So what's the answer? We've all said it before, so let's all say it together:

Pursue the client, not the project.

The Wrong Stuff!

This is the first in a series of items about some of the marketing actions A/E/P/CM/Environmental firms take that are most often a waste of staff time and other resources.

No "Go/No Go"?

Do your senior folks say "yes" to every solicitation they find in the newspaper or online, or to every potential project they hear about?

I hope all marketers know that, while every solicitation is an opportunity for some firm, NOT every solicitation is an opportunity for your firm. Do your senior folks get this? Do you?

A Rocky Mountain States engineering firm recently went through a "Go/No Go" process regarding an opportunity with their State Department of Transportation. The first few questions were answered as follows:

Do we have a current or recent relationship with this client? -- NO

Has the firm done this kind of work before? -- NO - not as a prime

Did we know about the RFP before its release? -- NO

To top this off, while refusing to visit or call to get the RFP, the office manager insisted that they could turn this DOT into a strategic client of that office.

In another instance, a department manager answered these questions:

Do we have a current or recent relationship with this client? -- NO

Did we know about the RFP before its release? -- NO

Is there adequate budget to build the project -- NO

Can we make money on this project? -- NO

If we can't make a profit, is there a strategic reason to pursue this? -- NO

But the department manager had an ethical dilemma with a "No Go" decision. He interpreted it as "choosing not to help someone." Therefore, no matter how many times he answered "NO" on the form, he said "yes" to every RFP he heard about.

The real purpose of a "Go/No Go" process is to assemble all the information you need to make a good decision, and to then help you say "No" when "No" is the appropriate answer.

In both cases presented above, the wrong person was making the "Go/No Go" decision. And in both cases, the bottom line is, "why should a firm take the time to develop processes if nobody has to implement them?"

The next BIG presentation tool?

A recent online message said "I'm tired of using PowerPoint... what's the next big presentation tool we can use in our industry?"  Here's what I think --

When you prepare an SOQ or a proposal, you demonstrate your technical qualifications to do the work, including the training and experience of your staff and the projects your firm has completed. When you get a letter saying you've made the short list and inviting you to make a presentation, the client is saying "we've decided you're qualified; now we have to figure out if we want to work with you."

Therefore, other than information specifically requested in the short-list letter, the presentation has little to do with technical competence, and everything to do with the "fit" of the personalities of your project team members with the client's relevant staff.

How does the client determine whether this "fit" is good? They put people together in a room and let them interact. They talk with each other. Someone asks questions and someone else answers. People watch each other's body language for the more than half of all communications that is non-verbal in nature. Over the course of the session, the client determines which of the short-listed teams will make for more of a fun experience than any of the others. That's who gets the job.

And PowerPoint pretty much gets in the way of this determination. It's hard for a client to assess who will be great to work with when everyone in the room is looking at the slides on the wall, presenters are speaking "at" the client's staff rather than "with" them, and there is very little real interaction until the Q&A section at the end.

How do I know that the most important thing to the client is the interaction, the relationship, the "fun" quotient? Well, in the last few years, I have seen a number of short-list letters specifically stating that a PowerPoint presentation will not be allowed. Many clients have actually said that the quality of the work experience is as important to them as the quality of the work product.

So much for differentiation based on technical capabilities!

In addition, clients want to hear from the project manager and technical staff, not the principal whom they will rarely see during the actual project. They want their staff to interact with the people who will actually do the work and be in project meetings on a day-to-day basis.

Therefore, the next BIG presentation tool will be HUMAN BEINGS!!

What does this mean for the typical planning and design firm? It means that they have to promote or hire project managers for their management and communication skills, and for their ability to "connect" with the clients.  Firms can no longer afford project managers who think they are simply the most senior designer on the team. As a land development client recently told 175 staff members of a California A/E firm, "if you're designing my project, you're not managing it!"

However, the next big presentation tool will not be just any human beings. It will be those who can stand up in front of a room -- calmly, comfortably -- make eye contact with the listeners, and speak clearly and confidently in a well-modulated voice. These people will not only be experienced speakers, but speakers who have had sufficient rehearsal of the current presentation that they are in control of both the material and the meeting.

For many years, firms have been saying that their employees are their biggest/best asset. This is now more true than ever.

Be Fair to the Little Guy

A client called last Thursday asking for help with a public agency request for qualifications, starting with a detailed review of the RFQ and a Go/No Go decision. The client had allowed 18 calendar days from RFQ release date to due date, and asked for the following information:

1.  A statement of interest for providing on-call, as-needed A/E services for minor construction, repair and renovation projects, including the prime firm's unique qualifications pertaining to task orders; a statement of availability and commitment of the prime, its principals and professionals to the project; a brief history of the prime firm and each subconsultant; a graphic representation of the team (org chart); and a completed SF254 (later amended to allow a completed SF330).

2.  Information on Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) status -- minority- and women-owned firms -- of the prime and other team member firms.

3.  Information on the prime firm, including name, address, years in business, type of operation, number of employees by skill group, and average revenues for the past 10 years; resumes of key project staff including experience with task ordeers, years with firm and city of residence; proposed assignments and lines of authority/communication for principals and key professional staff (another org chart); identification of members of the proposed team who worked on projects presented in the Experience section; firm financial statements for the past two years; documentation of financial stability; information on potential sale of or acquisitions by the company; details of past or pending litigation; information on any current or previous defaults on loans or financing agreements; and a 5-year claims history under professional malpractice insurance.

4.  The same information as item 3 (above) for each of the subconsultant firms, plus information on how members of other firms would be integrated into the team; resumes of key staff; a graphic description of assignments and lines of communication (more org charts); basis for selection of that firm for the team; prime's process for working with subconsultants and integrating them into the design process.

5.  Prime's past performance on projects for similar facilities within the last 5 years including project name, location, contract delivery method and description; initial and final construction and total task order costs; project size in gross square feet; type of construction; start and finish dates for design; notice to proceed and substantial completion dates for construction; description of the professional services provided; name of project manager and project architect; list of all project consultants. Past performance was to be evaluated based on accuracy and quality of cost estimates; design to and control of program scope within budget during schematic, design development and construction documents phases; effective management and tracking of schedules; provision of accurate, complete and coordinated plans and specifications; effective management of change orders and claims.

6.  Representative projects -- three projects involving similar scopes of services, regardless of facility or client type, including all of the information required in Item 5 above; three projects that won awards for design excellence with descriptive information; color images of all projects described in this section.

7.  An explanation of how the prime intends to make sure any project under this on-call contract will comply with the Facility Master Plan and incorporate the requirements of the client's design standards for the project.

8.  Best practices -- using specific examples from three projects described earlier -- related to quality assurance proceedures; the owner's specific system design and construction standards; the prime's service support philosophy; the types of records, reports, monitoring systems and information management systems the prime uses to manage projects; cost control methods for the design and construction phases; ensuring continuity of project objectives from design solutions, to construction documents, to the actual construction project; assurance of timely completion, including methods for schedule recovery if needed; a section based on a review of the draft agreement stating which services the prime considers a part of Basic Services and which would be considered Additional Services.

9.  Problem identification and resolution -- describe your understanding of the administrative, physical and aesthetic challenges and opportunities and your strategy for resolving these issues; what are the critical issues for task orders; using any three projects described earlier, discuss conflicts with owner, consultants, contractor or subcontractors, and described methods used to resolve the confloicts.

10.  References -- owner's name, representative and phone number; contractor's name, representative and phone number; length of business relationship and background information of project (year of project, summary of services performed, etc.).

Responses were limited to 100 pages plus SF254 or SF330 and HUB documents.

For the average small firm, which probably does not track all of this information, and which certainly does not have any fancy response preparation software, is this not just a bit excessive?

I had to recommend that this was not an appropriate pursuit, even though the client was perfectly suited to undertake and successfully complete the assignments envisioned under the contract. The submittal would require more time (his and mine) than he anticipated because he didn't track the required data in any purposeful, organized form. Every piece of data would have to be researched separately.

If he wanted to make this a strategic client, pursuing multiple projects for them each year, he could spread the development costs over multiple opportunities. However, the actual expense would all fall under the current pursuit, and he would have to come up with a big time commitment and a pay a big fee to develop this first submittal.

I understand that there are numerous systems out there today to track this information, many of which are not that expensive. The data can even be tracked using Word templates or Excel spreadsheets, softwares which everyone already has in their offices.

But many DBE, MBE, WBE, 8(a), DVBE and other small firms do the majority of their projects as a subconsultant and rarely think ahead to the time when they will submit as the prime and need this depth of information.

Wouldn't it be more fair if, when public agencies issue RFQs and RFPs for smaller programs and projects, where they anticipate that smaller firms will compete and win the work, they would cut these small firms some slack and only ask for information that is truly required for selection?

Mentoring - benefit #3

When most of us think of "mentoring," the benefits that come immediately to mind are those accruing to both the protege and the mentor.

We know that the protege learns very useful information, about the firm, about the industry, about processes and procedures, about him/herself and other things. And we know that the mentor gets to sharpen knowledge that has perhaps become dull over the years -- it is a proven fact that teaching is one of the best ways to learn (or relearn) something.

And certainly staff members -- of any age and at any level of experience -- who have their knowledge and skills sharpened are a good asset for any company. But there's another benefit that accrues to the company -- a benefit which might be more important than those derived second-hand from benefits to the protete and/or the mentor.

Mentoring is a great way for the company to preserve and revitalize "institutional knowledge."

When someone retires, passes away or takes a new position elsewhere, the company generally loses the knowledge that was stored in that person's head. It's a shame, but it's also a fact of business life. However, a mentor/protege program -- whether formal or informal -- can mitigate that loss. It doesn't matter whether the knowledege is factual or anecdotal; it is of vital -- often critical -- importance that the firm retain that knowledge.

If all of your senior technical staff take junior members under their wing -- talk to them about why processes and procedures are the way they are; tell them about what was tried and why it succeeded or failed; give them knowledge of what the client for each project likes and dislikes; teach them how the firm, the industry and the business world work; and guide their acquisition of new knowledge that would be relevant to their jobs and their imagined futures -- then much of that institutional knowledge will be passed on to the next generation of leaders before the senior members depart.

It may turn out that very few things are as important to the firm as this!

Professional photography

There's been a flurry of SMPS listserve postings about professional photography. The postings are full of terms and conditions that photographers like to have, and terms and conditions that their client firms would prefer to have, and a lot of emphasis toward the idea of hiring professional photographers.

I don't want to steal anyone's work, just as I don't want anyone to steal mine, but I can always find a talented young photographer who is eager to break in, and who will give me the rights I want for a fair price. They get business and exposure at a fair price, and referrals if their work is really top notch, and I get the work I need at a fair price with the right to use the work as I need forever and ever. Having paid the photographer to take the picture, I don't want to have to pay him or her again and again every time I want to use it.

Actually, I worked for a firm that had this kind of deal with a photographer 15 years ago. We paid a slightly higher day rate and he delivered electronic files on CD (already color-corrected, cropped and ready to use), catalogued and indexed, and we just had to copy the CDs and pass them out to our other offices that had marketing staff. We owned all rights and only paid him additional fees if we wanted actual prints, particularly large sized prints that we framed and gave to clients. Part of the deal was that he got every photographic assignment the firm had, regardless of where it was located. Both the firm and the photographer felt they had a good deal.

My problem with professional photographers is that, instead of treating the finished building as an example of the architect's art to be recorded for the client, the design firm's marketing or other purposes, they often tend to use the building merely as a prop to show off their own art. So we get purple sunsets that mask the fact that the facility is a wastewater treatment plant.  Or we get artistic stormy cloudscapes reflected in the building's mirrored exterior, and can't quite make out the actual outlines of the building because of the reflections. These pictures are very artistic, but they are about the photographic arts, and not about architecture.

What is most discouraging is that so many awards seem to be given, as the many posts pointed out, to the projects with the best photography. This means that great photographers win architectural awards while spectacular, ground-breaking designs with original concepts and visions can be overlooked because they don't have the kind of dramatic photography that obscures the actual winning design elements that were so award-worthy in the first place!

One other thing:  the postings hint - and with no subtlety - that ONLY professional photographers can get you that award-winning shot. NOT TRUE. While I wouldn't be surprised to find that the great shot came from a professional photographer, I wouldn't be surprised to find that it came from an amateur either. Many great photographers are hobbyists who just don't have the resources or desire to start their own business. I wouldn't automatically assume their work would always be second or third quality. I've seen too much great photography from people who did other things for a living to make that mistake.

In the long run, no matter how the person earns their paycheck, the work has to speak for itself and resonate with you.

Verbs and nouns

I have seen and heard much discussion lately about design awards in the A/E/C industry.  Marketing folks are budgeting for next year and trying to decide which awards to pursue in 2007 so they can include the costs of developing and submitting packages in their budgets.

Planning and budgeting are always worthy endeavors and, to be sure, advance data gathering is always a wise undertaking. And you certainly can't pursue a design award without completing all of those activities.

But don't you have to start with an understanding of what "design" truly is? And at this point I have to ask the question: Is "design" a verb or a noun?

The case for a noun -- In a lot of firms, people think that "design" is simply the final drawing of what something will look like when it is built; or that "design" is the set of construction plans and specifications that allows the contractor to build the structure -- like the set of instructions that comes with a erector set (anyone remember those?). In other words, design is what you deliver at the end of that phase of the project so you can move on to the construction phase. Design is the drawing you can look at and take a red pencil to, if needed.

The case for a verb -- In some firms, people understand that "design" is the process by which you achieve those final plans, specifications and renderings. This process begins with your first knowledge of the upcoming project and runs through all client and internal team meetings before the RFP appears; it moves on through all discussions with the client about what they need and why, what they want and why, what they intend to do in the space, who the actual users will be (and what they actually need and want), how the success of the project will be measured, budgets, schedules and a wide range of other issues that have to be identified and settled through an ongoing process of communication.

For me, "design" is what you do (verb), and drawings are the physical item you deliver (noun) after you and the client, together, have finished the "design" process. I say "you and the client, together," because the client has to be an important working member of the design team from start to finish in order for the project to succeed. It is about the way roles are assigned and how team members interact with each other; it is about how ideas are considered and evaluated, and how those found worth are incorporated into the process and the product.

Competition programs understand this. That's why they make you submit more than just a picture of the final building and floorplans. They make you discuss your process. They ask for letters from the client attesting to the success of the project from their perspective.

Design is not the place you get to at the end. It's the process by which you get there.

Back in business

I am once again an independent marketing consultant for the built environment (planning, architecture, engineering, environmental, surveying and construction management firms). The firm website (www.sibenconsult.com) should be fully reconstituted in the next few weeks and brochures will be ready to email in the next few days.

As before, this blog will be about whatever crosses my mind, or my radar screen, that is relevant to marketing and other aspects of firms operating in the built environment. If you have a question you'd like me to address here, feel free to send it to me or post it here as a comment. For now, I'll try to post at least twice a week.

If anyone wants information on the firm's background and services, please contact me at bernie@sibenconsult.com.

It's good to be back.

This blog's fate . . .

Hello, everyone.  I'm sorry there have been no postings for some time, but there's a reason.

I've just recently accepted a full-time position with an A/E/C/Environmental firm in California and will be moving from Dallas in the next four or five weeks.  So life is chaos as I finish projects for clients and try to make arrangements for the move.

I need to have a conversation with my new employer to determine their feelings about my continuing the blog, and that conversation can't happen until I get to the new job in the middle of August.

For now, I'm still reachable through my company website (www.sibenconsult.com).  Also, I'll be co-hosting an internet audioconference on blogging just before I make the move in mid-August. You can find more information about that at www.zweigwhite.com.

If I get to keep the blog, I'll announce it just like I announced the blog's start a few months ago.

Take care, stay cool and enjoy the summer.

Holiday greetings!

Best wishes to everyone for a safe and wonderful Independence Day holiday.

Stay sober, drive carefully, take care.  More next Tuesday.