HOW TO BRING IN NEW ARCHITECTURAL SERVICE

3 KEYS TO EFFECTIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR NEWLY PROMOTED ARCHITECTS

The plight of successful architects is the inevitable transition away from the practice of architecture to the
business of architecture.
The 'dis-ease' that sets in when confronted with the new responsibility for bringing in revenue stems from a lack
of knowledge around what it takes to bring in business. For most, the only exposure to marketing and business
development came from updating resumes and writing project descriptions that wound up in proposals.
Occasionally presentations, and showing up for interviews. From this limited perspective, it appears that RFPs
are the key to generating revenue.
Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth.
In real estate, the mantra is, "Location. Location. Location." In architecture, it should be, "Relationship.
Relationship. Relationship." Positioning to secure work happens months--if not years--in advance of an RFP
being issued. Viewed accurately, an RFP and proposal are simply the formal, written next steps in an ongoing
client conversation.
Let's look at 3 key ways to influence your success rate at generating new business.
1. Create a Systematic Approach to Determine Which Relationships to Cultivate
2. Understand the Client's Psychology When Moving Through the Selection Cycle
3. Learn a Comfortable Posture That Eliminates "Selling" and Encourages "Helping"

Create a Systematic Approach to Determine Which Relationships to Cultivate

The number and complexity of client relationships your firm has established over time is mind-boggling if you
think about it. Youve got a deep list of individuals within client organizations with whom youre currently
engaged. Then there are the relationships that have gone dormant in the past 3-5 years. There are individuals
youve worked with at various client organizations whove changed jobs and are now embedded within new
companies that now become new potential clients. There are subconsultants and construction professionals,
noncompetitor colleagues, professional association members, not to mention friends and family members who
have relationships with your firm.
A list of all those folks mentioned above would be daunting to mine for business. Multiply that list by the
number of members in your firm and its just downright overwhelming.
The first step is to prioritize the relationships. I typically recommend beginning with the following 3 categories:
1. Current Clients
2. Dormant Clients
3. Prospective Clients who are aware of your firm
Let's look at each.

Nurturing meaningful relationships with this core group of contacts is the gold mine for your firms business
development. In a healthy, well-run architectural practice, clients who are happily engaged account for 70-80%
of the firms ongoing, repeat work. By skillfully growing deeper and broader relationships within current client
organizations is the fastest and easiest way to generate new business for 4 reasons:

1. The client knows you and has confidence in you.

2. The engagement process is already worked out so its easy to keep doing business with your firm.
3. Your staff is regularly in touch with the client, making it easy (with some training) for people to mine for new
work.
4. Because you are integrated into the clients organization, youre able to identify ways to be of help that the
client may not be thinking about.
There's good reason to begin your pursuits with current clients. First, your firm is engaged in the relationship, so
your staff is speaking with the client at multiple levels within their organization. That means that asking for
information doesn't have to come in the form of a cold call, or even a warm call. Second, you have a good
understanding of the organizational structure and can identify who the key decision makers are pretty easily.
That step in a prospective client organization can be hard to discern. Finally, your firm is "preapproved". All of
this makes it significantly easier to prospect for new work.
And that's the crux of the issue: carrying out the prospecting.
Over the years, there tend to be two reasons that firms miss the opportunity to proactively build business with
existing clients. The first is that they feel greedy, "Well, we're already working with them and we're not very far
into the project, so I can't go in asking for more work." That defense isn't wrong, it just tends to linger until the
project closeout is complete. There is a window of time when it just makes sense to start asking about continuing
the working relationship. The appropriate timing falls into the 75-90% complete phase of your work, whether it's
a planning project, or a project that will be built.
The second reason architects tend to miss the prospecting opportunity is that they're not quite sure how to do it.
It's delicate, isn't it? To ask for work. What does it sound like? "Well, when this project ends we'll have a group
of folks with nothing to do, do you have anything?" That's what it feels like. The reason it feels like that is
because the ask is self-centric. You're inquirey is based on what you need and want.
What happens if we shift our focus to a client-centric mindset? If we're looking at the client's business, where
they are moving strategically, what their business goals are, then prospecting can come very naturally in a
conversation where you're interested in learning about where they are headed, and you're listening to see if
there's any way you can be of help. Taking this approach feels good because it's genuine. If you truly care about
your client's success and you know you can continue to help support their goals, it's not selling, it's helping.
Clients you haven't worked with in the past 3-5 years fall into the Dormant Client category. Systematically going
through this group of clients is the next easiest prospecting to do. Once again, you're preapproved (unless it was
a problem project, then that client won't be on the list necessarily). You may have relationships with people who
are still working at the organization, or you may find the contact you had there has moved to a new organization,
opening the door to a new potential client.
Dormant client connections are actually kind of fun. It's a little like a reunion, a reaching-out-to-catch-up call.
I've had clients reconnect with dormant clients several times that have led to immediate work. Literally, the
client in two cases said the same thing, "I was just thinking about you."
What happens of your point of contact has left and you no longer have a relationship at the client organization?
That's actually not a bad situation. You find the person who filled the role, explain that you follow up with
clients periodically about projects you've completed to see how things are going, and that you'd like to meet the
new person to get to know him or her, and to learn about what's happening within the organization. It's not a
meeting about "let me tell you about us." It's a client-centric meeting to see if you can be of help in any way.
Once you've accomplished the research, due diligence, meetings and investigations with your current and
dormant clients, your focus can move outward to prospects. By phasing the business development strategy in this
way, you'll have practiced the process (of proactively meeting, greeting, listening and offering to help) with
people who aren't perfect strangers. You're warmed up.
The biggest shift I see with clients I coach comes when they give themselves permission to be choosy. Because
so many firms are waiters--they wait for an RFP, they wait to be invited--the notion of proactively, deliberately
selecting the desired client-to-be is often a foreign concept. And the idea of meeting with a prospective client just
to see if you'd even like to work with them seems even more outrageous. But it isn't. The "fit" is often the
intangible, unspoken reason a new firm is selected by a client. But here's the caveat: the "fit" isn't tested at the
presentation. It's tested well before a project pursuit is underway. And here's the permission: you're not only
allowed, but you're encourage to decide if the client you're prospecting is a good fit for you.
How can you tell if a prospective client is a good fit for your firm? That's a very worthwhile exercise to work
through. Clients I've worked with who take the time to define the ideal client traits and characteristics, as well as
the real deal breaker factors, consistently make better go/no-go decisions and are much more efficient in their
abilities to "qualify" a client-to-be as one to pursue, or one to sprint from.
Typically how a propsective client treats you when you are trying to initiate a relationship will tell you a lot
about how you'll be treated in an engagement. Look for openess on their part to explore the potential fit. Notice
the access you're given to key people within the client organization. Finally, list the traits that are important to
you. Find out from others who work with the client if the client pays on time, if they make price-based
selections, if they value design. Then take the time to identify the deal breakers. We won't work with clients who
(fill in the blank).
Selecting specific clients-to-be is a critical process that requires a very clear understanding of your firm's
position and what clients you can help who fall within that position. How to select a health care client, a higher
education institution, a religious organization to pursue is a deep subject for another newsletter. If your firm
moves through your current and dormant clients first, you'll have the time to research and select your prospects
proactively and deliberately in a way that will boost your ability to successfully bring new clients into the fold.

Understand the Client's Psychology When Moving Through the Selection Cycle
There are distinct phases a potential client moves through when considering hiring an architect. Each phase has
it's own unique profile of feelings and thoughts. Because most architects think selling architectural services
entails showing up with an SOQ, or leather-bound portfolio of 8x10 glossy images (and more recently iPads),
and walking a potential client through a parade of pictures that show other clients' projects. When we are
shortlisted, we show up at interviews ready to inspire selection committee members to give us their vote,
thinking that "whoop-dee-do-" and "razzle-dazzle-em" is the right tenor to strike. Unfortunately, both of these
examples only demonstrate that we aren't understanding what's going on in our clients' minds.

Learn a Comfortable Posture That Eliminates "Selling" and Encourages "Helping"

Understanding of psychology clients as they move through the "buying cycle" is critical to meeting them with
the right posture and attitude. It also helps architects to feel more comfortable because the shift in approach from
selling to helping is actually rewarding and meaningful.
There are 3 Phases that a client-to-be (CTB) moves through when considering hiring an architect:
1. Unaware
2. Aware
3. Intent
Knowledge about how to think from the client's "buying" perspective so you can nurture the relationship in the
right way at each phase.

When a client is in the Unaware phase of procuring architectural services, there are two ways in which the CTB
is unaware. First, they are unaware that they have a need for architectural services. This can occur when changes
to regualations impact a specific type of facility and professionals in the building design and construction
industry know about it, but it hasn't yet come to the attention of owners. Second, they are unaware of your firm.
It's possible they've heard of your firm, but they don't have a clear idea of your position: what you do, for whom
and to what benefit.

Psychology of the Unaware

A CTB in the unaware stage of the selection process is neutral. They are neither for or against you. And because
they don't know that they have a need, it's possible that your defining it for them will actually give you an
opening to the organization. Typically a CTB in our industry is 18-24 months away from actually selecting an
architect for a specific project.

How We Meet the Unaware Improperly

Based on years of cummulative experience, most architects believe that the approach to an unaware client is to
"Tell and Sell." They ask for a meeting, show up with a thick Statement of Qualifications, walk through the
package talking about projects for other (yes, but they're similar) clients. They ask very few questions and
conclude the meeting by saying thanks for your time, then go back to the marketing department and list the client
as "tracking." A colleague of mine calls this approach "we we-ing all over the client-to-be."

How We Should Meet the Unaware To Establish the Relationship

The best approach to an initial meeting with a CTB is to aim for an 80-20 conversation with you asking
questions 20 % of the time and the CTB sharing information and giving you a chance to get to know the
organization for 80% of the time. The right approach for an Unaware CTB is to be of help. It's not a very good
idea to take materials to the meeting because you really don't know what needs or interests the CTB may express
during the meeting. It's much better to establish your expertise by asking really intelligent business or technical
questions.
For example, a client of mine was on his way to a university that he really wanted to secure. The firm was
interested in positioning for Greek housing. So while he looked up the person he was going to meet on Facebook
and discovered her love of Rhododendrons , I suggested some questions. With the decline in high school
graduate numbers, what types of facilities was the university investing in to remain competitive? What did the
person think about the movement toward housing built by private developers? And so on. So my client opened
the meeting with a comment about her passion for Rhododendrons , and then eased into establishing his
expertise by asking some great, very pointed business questions. He left with an invitation to come back and
present to the entire building department on design of Greek housing. Nice. And what's more, he actually
enjoyed it.
So in Phase 1, the right approach is to be of help, not tell-and-sell. Nurturing the relationship continues by
sending pertinent information, perhaps articles about Greek housing, or sustainable design practices. Any follow-
up actions should take the form of being of help.
When a CTB enters the Aware phase of the buying cycle, it means they are aware they have a need for
architectural services and they are aware of your firm. If you've done your job right in nurturing the relationship
by being of help, the balance in the relationship should be moving toward give and take. You help the client and
the client helps you. You ask questions and the client answers and the client asks questions which you address.
This demonstrates a building of trust.

Psychology of the Aware: Interested

A CTB that has been properly cared for enters the Aware Phase of the buyer's cycle in an interested frame of
mind. They are no longer neutral about your firm, but see you as a helpful resource. The balance of the
relationship at this point is 50-50. You are both helping each other to better understand where there might be a fit
between the two organizaitons. Typically the Aware Phase is approximately 18 months to 12 months prior to a
project becoming real.

The Old School Style of Meeting the Aware: Going To Sleep

If we're mired in the old school way of thinking, when we know a client has a project and we've already
expressed an interest, we typically go to sleep. In other words, we feel we've made the introduction, they know
us and so we simply list them as "tracking" and move on to other new prospects to get through. It's worth noting
that it takes at least six contacts for someone to actually remember your name. If we haven't structured a means
for keeping in touch in a prolonged series of skillful communications, it's not likely that the CTB has gained any
real confidence in our abilities to help them with architectural projects in the future.

How We Should Meet the Aware To Establish the Relationship: When a client is in the Aware
phase of the selection process, they are interested and excited about the potential project. This is the time to
really help inspire the CTB to action. This is the time span when sharing exciting outcomes at other institutions
where you've been of help can really get a project onto the active list. I've had clients visit CTBs with insights
they gained on recently completed work that was directly translated into an RFP. I've also had clients offer to
help CTBs write, or review RFPs. This is a great way to position for work. The key is to inspire the CTB to
action.

Finally, we're at the place in the selection process when we know a CTB is ready to take action. The project
budget has been allocated. There has been discussion of when the RFP might be issued. Everything seems to be
on the move. This is typically between 9-12 months before the project is due to begin.

Inspire
Psychology of the Intent
This phase is one of the places that architects tend to make the biggest mistake in nurturing the relationship with
a CTB. Think about this. What was the last major purchase you made? Something that you thought about for a
long time before finally making the go decision? Now try to remember how you felt. Typically when an
important, major decision is made, people feel an immediate sense of relief, but that is almost always followed
by a sense of fear. This is where our industry tends to take the biggest sidestep in approach to clients. We
mistake their position as excited, when they are actually steeped in fear.
Fear is a reasonable response when you consider that the people making the selection decision will have to live
with that decision for a long time. They are going to spend a lot of money with people they hope they can trust,
whom they hope will give them the project that's in their heads without any major debacles. So there's the initial
fear of choosing a partner you actually want to spend your life energy with for the upcoming months, or even
years. But the fear is deeper than that. What if the project goes awry? The architect leaves the scene, but the team
that's left behind has to live with the building, live with potentially critical peers. The problem might just linger
on and on. That's a lot to fear.

How We Miss Connecting with Selection Committees Intending To Act

I've worked with so many firms over the years on presentations. As with initial CTB meetings, the tendancy is to
point to projects done for other clients and talk about how great they were. I once conducted a debrief with the
president of a large community college. He complained that architects leave it up to the selection committee to
figure out how the projects being presented relate to the project at hand. He really wanted the presenters to walk
through what they'd learned that they could apply to his situation. If we're too busy flashing big pretty pictures to
inspire, we are on the wrong track.

How We Should Meet the Intent To Secure Work?

The best energy to meet fear with is assurance. That's what the selection committee needs. Confidence that you'll
do the job well and won't let them down. I'm not saying that the presentation needs to be subdued by any means.
Energy and enthusiam are key components in conveying your sincere interest in working with the client. The
focus needs to be on how you'll manage the project, handle budget issues, address challenges that come up along
the way. Talking about your project experience from these perspectives can help a client feel confident that
you'll be able to work things out no matter what.
Perhaps the most helpful way to assure a selection committee that you're up to the job is being very clear about
your process. They don't want to hear you talk about SD, DD, CD and CA. They want to understand how you
will guide them through design. I encourage firms I work with the take time to look at how they operate from the
20,000-foot viewpoint. What are the steps they take to move a client toward their goals? What techniques do
they use? How do they communicate? What kinds of collaborative techniques have worked well in the past? If
you can document your process, and even better, name it, this will go a long way in assuring your clients that
you've done this before, but that each project and client is different. The outcome will be different, but the steps
you take and they way you guide clients is consistent and has proven successful outcomes. That's simply the best
way to present to selection committees to assure them that you're the right firm.