Some years ago, when A/E firms first began talking about "branding," before they even began to understand that a firm's logo was not its brand, an A/E firm asked me to think about "branding" them.
So I thought for a while, and when I made my report to the owner, this is what I said:
Your firm provides engineering, environmental, surveying, construction management and other services to public and private sector clients. You can't brand the firm for its engineering services because that might make others think engineering is all you do. You can't brand the firm based on all its services because there are many firms in the industry with a similar or even broader service offering. The best way to brand the firm in a way that differentiates you from the rest of the A/E marketplace would be on the quality of your services.
So you have to be able to say, with a straight face and a clear conscience, "XYZ, Inc. — we get it right the first time!"
The owner laughed and said, "That's not gonna happen anytime soon!"
That was our last discussion about branding.
The fact is, quality is not an item, nor is it an activity that happens at various milestones during project execution. In fact, as Aristotle is reported to have said:
Quality is not an act; it is a habit.
Most contracts for A/E service stipulate client reviews at 35%, 65%, and 98% completion, with detailed project team leadership reviews just before delivery of reports and plans to the client.
But quality is more about attitude than process. You can have a design process that builds in the ability to realize the highest quality of study, design, construction, etc. But your staff have the choice to follow that process rigorously or haphazardly, or somewhere in between. Further, you have to allow enough time in the schedule for all project staff to achieve quality in every idea in the plan and every line of the drawings. The important thing is to have a firm culture and attitude that values quality rather than speed.
Many of your staff members have no idea what it costs to do something a second time. They don't see the connection between getting it right the first time and their own paychecks and bonuses. After all, they get paid for the hours it takes to do something over. But they don't realize that the client often does not pay for those hours; the money comes out of profits. Lower profits could mean smaller bonuses at year's end and/or smaller salary increases in the future.
Even worse, when your staff have to spend time redoing something they got wrong, there is generally no time added to the schedule, so everything from that point on has to get done in less time, which can lead to cutting corners (never a good thing on a design project) and more mistakes.
Better to build a culture and attitude where people take time to understand that is needed, where they are given sufficient time to study and think and get it right the first time, and where all project staff are empowered to stop the process if they see something that is—or seems—wrong, so that it can be looked at carefully and corrected if necessary.
After all, if you were complaining about the schedule and fee from the start, you definitely don't have the time or the budget to do things twice!