BuiltEnvironment

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!

Who's Afraid of Marketing?

In my many years of life, one thing I have learned with certainty is that nothing is common sense until the first time someone tells it to you.

In the last year I have given my "Who's Afraid of Marketing?" workshop to 10 audiences of varying size. Some have been internal (within my employer's company) groups; others have been professional organization groups. All of the groups were mostly technical people.

While all teachers learn from their students, I have been amazed and disappointed to learn the following:

• Everybody had a business card, frequently giving it to people they met and introducing themselves. Nobody knew that giving away business cards and introducing themselves was marketing.
• Many attendees had never heard of an "elevator speech" and those who had were unsure of its components. Some had given one without realizing it. Nobody knew that the "elevator speech" was a marketing tool.
• Most were sort of "iffy" about the need to return calls to clients within a reasonable period of time (hopefully, less than half a day). Nobody knew that returning these calls could be a marketing task.
• Most had, at some point, remarked to a client, "We're almost through with this project; what's next?" Nobody knew that asking this question was a marketing task.
• Everyone said they had done good work on a project. Nobody had made the connection that doing good work could position your firm for the next project, and was therefore a marketing tool.

It seems very strange to me that someone would teach a "newby" to present a business card and introduce himself but not explain the reason for the action, or its value. Or that someone would teach that same "newby" any of the other four items listed above with no explanation of its marketing nature and value.

Perhaps marketing departments have a much greater role to play than simply writing SOQs and proposals. Perhaps marketing departments really exist to teach the technical folks "what it's all about" if they want to have new projects when they finish what's on their desks today.

Checking your work

On Thursday, March 1, 2007, I will be presenting "A Review by Any Color" at the ZweigWhite 2007 A/E Marketing Now Summit in Las Vegas.

When it comes to proposal reviews, there are Gold Teams (kick-off meetings), Blue Teams (writing/editorial staff), Purple and Pink Teams (mid-way reviews), Green Teams (cost proposal reviews) and Red Teams (final package review). Each team has a legitimate place in the development of large, complex A/E firm proposals, with some playing more important roles than others. But who should be on which team? When does each team operate? And how does each team contribute to the proposal review process?

This session will give you an understanding of the importance of proposal reviews in A/E firms. You’ll learn how review processes improve your proposals, resulting in better hit rates, more revenue, and increased profitability.

In this session, you'll learn about:

• Why every proposal needs a thorough review process 
• What role each team plays in the review process
• Who should be on each review team
• When each team should have its say
• What to do with each team’s input

The Summit will be held March 1-2, 2007 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, and includes a number of sessions covering different aspects of marketing within and for the "built environment" community. Information about the complete event is available at the ZweigWhite website, www.zweigwhite.com.

Who's Afraid of Marketing?

On February 9, 2007, I will be presenting my "Who's Afraid of Marketing?" session for the Sacramento chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services. This will be a half-day interactive workshop.

Too often, technical folks have such a fear of marketing that they choose to remain on a senior technical track simply to avoid marketing activities.  However, whether you choose that technical track or move onto and then up the management ladder, you usually have to be able to market successfully if you want to become a firm principal.

The purpose of this session is to help reduce anxieties related to marketing by:

• Talking about things PMs already do every day that are marketing activities;
• Explaining some “myths” of marketing to see behind the “magic” to the reality;
• Explaining why “cold calls” shouldn’t happen, and providing ways to “warm up” marketing calls; and
• Developing the idea of pursuing clients rather than projects, and explaining the contribution that technical folks can make to this effort.

If time allows, attendees can discuss marketing activities they have tried, successful or not, and share lessons learned.

The session will be held at the Holiday Inn - Capitol Plaza. The fee is $100 for members and $125 for non-members. You can RSVP to mmarcotte@markthomas.com or check out the chapter's website, www.smps-sac.org.

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.

Getting the new business ready to go

Wow! There sure are a lot of things to do to get a business up and running:

-- Legally form an LLC -- check

-- Licenses and permits -- check

-- Federal Employer ID number -- check

-- Corporate banking -- check

-- Write and design brochures and business cards, and send files to printer -- check

-- Research and develop first mailing list of potential clients (200+) -- check

-- Draft letter and produce individual letters for potential clients -- check

-- Make sure the family and friends knows what you're doing (one of them could have a lead for you) -- check

-- Make sure your professional colleagues know what you're doing (same reason) -- check

-- Stuff letters, business cards and brochures in envelops -- check

-- Put postage on envelopes and mail -- check

Breathe!

OK, now that The Siben Consult, LLC (TSC) is officially in business and doing things to actually generate new business, it's time to tell you that my website is back up (www.sibenconsult.com) and the blog is operational.

If any of you from architecture, engineering, planning, environmental, surveying or construction management firms want to know more about my company and how it can help your company set and achieve goals, please take a look at the website or contact me at 559.901.9596.

I hope to be working with a lot of you in 2007.

Happy New Year!

Marketing is about tomorrow!

In putting together brochures for the newly-recreated The Siben Consult, LLC (TSC), I was struck by the idea that while projects in an A/E/C/Environmental firm are about today, marketing and business development are really about tomorrow.

In fact, all marketing and business development activities are focused on making sure we have work tomorrow. Whether we're talking about positioning, maintaining and growing our client relationships, attending trade shows, or developing qualifications packages, advertising, newsletters, technical and cost proposals, short-list presentations or any other vehicles to communicate our image or capabilities, all of these efforts are undertaken to secure assignments to work on tomorrow.

Therefore, all strategic activities are truly part of marketing and all marketing activities are really strategic. This makes a good case for having the initiation and development of strategic planning activities reside in the marketing department, as well as the leadership of the efforts outlined in those strategic plans. How else do you develop, monitor and refine a marketing plan that succeeds as a roadmap for achieving the goals set out in the firm's strategic plan?

Perhaps marketing directors should actually aspire to be named "Chief Strategic Officer," a title which would be a more accurate description of their role.

Return of The Siben Consult, LLC

Just a quick posting to let everyone know that The Siben Consult, LLC (TSC) has been re-formed in Visalia, California, and is now open for business.

The services are very similar to those TSC provided in Texas a few years ago, but with a stronger emphasis on the strategic and organizational/management side of things.

Please check out the firm's website (www.sibenconsult.com) or drop me an email at bernie@sibenconsult.com

Best wishes to all for a wonderful - and safe - Holiday season, and a healthy and prosperous New Year!