BuiltEnvironment

Increasing ROI and reducing risk with a strong "Go/No Go" process

A/E/C firms face a broad variety of risks in their day-to-day business operations. Some of these risks involve manpower and/or financial resources wasted or opportunities missed through poor project pursuit decisions.

When firms pursue projects for which they are not strongly qualified, they commit manhours and other resources to pursuits they will most probably lose, jeopardize winnable opportunities by withholding needed resources, and risk burn-out of valuable, experienced marketing staff.

Ultimately, there are many bad reasons to say “yes,” just as there are good reasons to say “no.” In order for a firm to succeed, they must have a process that gets them through the minefield of the "Go/No Go" decision without being controlled by the most senior person’s ego, the loudest voice at the table, or the highest ranking title in the room.

My best understanding is that the “Go/No Go” evaluation is a way to help decision-makers say “no” when “no” is the correct answer, and to ensure that no opportunity is missed through a lack of proper consideration. A “Go/No Go” process that yields a "no go" decision will probably be a losing effort; a process that yields a “Go” decision is much more likely to be successful.

But how do we know? how do we decide?

Here are some points to consider:

• If the RFQ/RFP asks for a huge amount of information and only gives you 7-10 days to assemble that information, the project is probably "wired" for another firm.
• If the RFQ/RFP asks for a huge amount of information (maybe even asking for the same information more than once) and has page limitations, the project is probably "wired" for another firm.
• If the RFQ/RFP asks for a very specific set of firm and individual registrations, licenses and certifications, the project is probably "wired" for some other firm.
• If a client asks you to submit an SOQ or proposal and the RFQ/RFP doesn't seem to call for your firm's specific qualifications, perhaps the client has pre-selected a firm but needs two others to submit in order to legitimize their selection process.
• If your firm doesn't have a credential specifically enumerated in the RFQ/RFP, great pictures of great projects will not be sufficient to cover up this lack.
• If your firm doesn't have a viable project manager, the right staff with the right experience, or the right kinds of projects in your portfolio, this pursuit is probably a waste of resources, unless you have been marketing the owner seriously (multiple visits over a period of at least six months).

In preparing the "Go/No Go" evaluation, you must be brutally honest, and you must accept the final result of the evaluation. If the result is "No go," and you decide to submit anyway, you will not only waste the time you spend preparing a submittal, but you will have wasted the time you spent doing the evaluation in the first place!

One of the most important ways to maximize Return on Investment (ROI) for your marketing efforts is to make sure those efforts have the strongest possible chance of bearing fruit before you commit and expend firm resources. A strong "Go/No Go" process goes a long way toward maximizing ROI.

"Go/No Go" - the hardest decision of all

As many of you are aware, the need for a strong "Go/No Go" decision-making process in A/E/C, environmental and related firms is one of my "soapbox" rants! I believe that every A/E/C, environmental and related firm needs to have a way to take the ego OUT of the "Go/No Go" decision so that pursuits are chosen based on their merit and "winnability" rather than the title of the person who brings the RFQ/RFP in the door.

I believe that pursuits are often undertaken for the wrong reason(s), and that many pursuits should never have been undertaken at all. Therefore, if your firm wants to stop throwing away finite resources (i.e. time and money) on pursuits it can't win, and if you want to increase the return on investment for your marketing dollars, you have to develop and implement a good "Go/No Go" process.

Further, you have to make sure that the process is followed by everyone from the Chairman, President, CEO and COO on down to every department and division manager, office manager, and technical champion (prospective project manager) who might want to pursue an RFQ/RFP.

Over the years, I have written a lot about the "Go/No Go" process and why it is so necessary to the success of an A/E/C, environmental or related firm. In fact, over the past few years, I have written eight articles and three blog posts on the subject.

I have recently assembled all of these writings into a "book" on the subject, "Go/No Go" - the hardest decision of all. If anyone would like to receive a free copy of the book, please send me a request at [email protected] and I will be happy to email it to you in .pdf format.

Again, there is no charge for the book, other than your complete contact information.

Building a relationship or just sharing information: the power of a personal visit

I often say that the best way to develop and strengthen a relationship with a client is to meet with them in person -- at their office, in a restaurant, at a professional meeting, at a conference -- anyplace where you can have a face-to-face visit. What I actually say is:

You have to put your butt-print in your client's guest chair!

Email is a wonderful invention. Nothing else lets you distribute information so quickly to a group of people than email. Other communications platforms -- websites, FTP capabilities, Twitter, Facebook and others -- all lack the immediate contact of an email.

If you put something on your firm's website or a project website, your client has to be told the item is there, and he/she won't see it until they stop what they're doing and look.

If you put something into your client's FTP system, you still have to email them that the information has been posted, and there is still no guarantee that they will look right away.

Facebook is not the appropriate place for a technical document, even to let the client know you have posted information elsewhere. Not everyone has set up to receive emails about every posting on their page. That means they have to two Facebook and then elsewhere to get the information.

Twitter is the same. Pretty much all you can do in 140 characters is direct your client to a landing page to see the information. Again, this assumes they are watching every feed, every day, all day long, and will see you message and click through immediately.

But when you compose an email and attach files, the information reaches the recipient(s) within just a few seconds of clicking the "send" box. Still, they might not open it right away.

So the email may go unopened and the information will remain unread for a time.

I have learned that one of the reasons a client opens my email and attachments is the relationship we have built over time, and building strong relationships takes personal -- meaning "in person" or on the phone -- interaction.

First, consider the factor of time. Let's assume that resolving an issue involves questions that need to be answered, with each answer possibly resulting in a new line of questioning. Given the way many people look at emails (start of the day, lunch, end of the day, less frequently when they are on a deadline), this "conversation can take all day. But in person, or on the phone, the issue might be resolved in 5 minutes!

On the phone, via email or other platforms, it is too easy for someone to tell you what they think you want to hear just to end the conversation, and it is easy for someone to say something that is not true. You don't have the clues of body language and facial expression to help you.

But in person, you bring all your listening and interpretive skills to bear, and can tell whether the answer is true or not, complete or not, and when you have to probe for more information.

Finally, a visit to your client's office tells you a lot about what is important to that person. For example, if there is a picture of the client and a teen ager in a football uniform holding a trophy, you now have a subject for conversation, something that helps you make a friend of that client. You can send a congratulatory note when their child's team wins a game or a championship, which helps strengthen the relationship.

On the other hand, if the pictures on the wall are the client with the mayor or governor, you can watch for political news in which your client might have an interest, and send a link or scan of an article when you find one.

But how would you find out about those things if you never visited the client in his/her own office ("put your butt-print in the client's guest chair")?

Over the years, in addition to office visits, I have met my clients at a number of professional events and other locations, including:

• American Water Works Association - Texas Section Conference
• American Institute of Architects - Ventura County and Austin chapter meetings
• Society of American Military Engineers meetings
• SMPS meetings - sessions of 10+ chapters, multiple national and regional conferences
• SDA National Conference
• Conferences sponsored by ZweigWhite, Cosential and Deltek

Meetings like these are much more likely to show my contact (generally, a marketer or a project manager) that we have a common interest. If I am the speaker, as is often the case, the impact of a face-to-face meeting can be even greater because it presents me as an expert and provides an opportunity to establish or strengthen a client perception of my expertise and ability to help them.

In the almost 10 years of The Siben Consult, LLC, I have managed to meet each of my clients in person at least once; often, the venue was a professional meeting or conference. But my strongest relationships are with those clients I see occasionally and speak with often on the phone.

Even with my picture embedded in my email format, a picture is only worth 1,000 words, and that's not enough to establish, cement and grow a solid relationship. My willingness to drive across town or across the state to visit a client in his/her office is also a measure of the esteem in which I hold them and a recognition of their importance to my success.

Part 2 of businessofarchitecture interview

Last week, I posted a notice about being interviewed by Enoch Sears of the professional web site, www.businessofarchitecture.com. For those of you who might not be familiar with this site, it provides assistance to small architectural firms covering a broad range of endeavor including organization, operations, finances and marketing. The interview covered A/E-related marketing issues, focusing specifically on developing a Statement of Qualifications.

Both parts of the interview are presented in podcast form and can be accessed online.

The first part of the interview went live last week (see 05 November 2013 entry for a link to Part 1 of the interview, which is a bit over 30 minutes in length). The second part went live today.

The link to Part 2 (which runs a bit under 30 minutes) is shown below:

http://www.businessofarchitecture.com/online-marketing-for-architects/how-to-get-public-sector-clients-as-an-architect/

 

I hope any of you who listen to either part (or both) will find value and, perhaps, a reason to contact me to provide assistance to your firm.

Bernie Siben, CPSM, interviewed on businessofarchitecture.com

About two weeks ago, I was interviewed by Enoch Sears of the businessofarchitecture.com website. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the site, it provides assistance to small architectural firms covering a broad range of activities including organization, operations, finances and marketing. My interview was about A/E-related marketing - specifically, on the crafting of a great Statement of Quaifications.

The interview is being posted in two parts. The link to Part 1 is below.

Warning: The interview is a bit over 30 minutes in length.

Write a statement of qualifications on businessofarchitecture.com