Editor Ernest Burden has written scores of articles for Architectural Record, IOMA's Principal's Report, A/E Rainmaker, PSMJ, and PM Tactics.
MARKETERS vs PROJECT MANAGERS: Who brings in the project? There is traditionally a push/pull that goes on between marketing and project management as to who is the lead in bringing in a project, marketers or project managers. The following comments are from veteran marketers talking about project managers, and seasoned project managers talking about marketers.
WHAT COUNTS MOST IN A PRESENTATION? Credibility is the Key Three firms were ranked and short-listed for a 380-bed institutional facility with a 20-million dollar budget. Each 15-minute presentation was followed by 30 minutes of Q + A.
CLIENTS SOUND OFF ABOUT PROPOSALS Your first line of defense against losing money for your firm is to develop and use a Go - No/Go process for proposals and presentations. Develop your checklist by revolving it around your client’s likes and dislikes, as evidenced by these answers to questions from both public and private clients.
CLIENTS TALK ABOUT ENGINEERING FIRMS We asked 5 clients how they use engineering firms, and what their procurement process involved. Here’s who they are, and what they said.
DON’T BE UPSTAGED BY YOUR VISUALS While presentation technology is advancing with lightning speed, some design professionals have simply added electronically-generated bulleted lists and animated text to display their arsenal of past projects, and highlight their qualifications, rather than addressing the client’s project.
TALK ABOUT THE PROJECT RIGHT AWAY The opening first few minutes of a presentation are the most critical to winning. With this in mind, you should evaluate how many PowerPoint images the client must endure before you start addressing the only things they care about; that is, the project issues and their concerns.
TEAM MEETING PRESENTATION The client’s “end game” isn’t choosing one firm over another at the presentation, but rather the completion and occupancy of their facility. Then why do firms present their qualifications for doing the project, instead of presenting their concept and methodology for achieving the client’s end game goals?
CLIENTS PET PEEVES REGARDING PRESENTATIONS When consultants prepare for an oral interview, they spend a great deal of time researching the project and how they will execute it for the client, and rightly so, for that’s a given. But oftentimes they overlook an equally important element, which is to determine the client’s likes and dislikes regarding the actual interview situation itself. Here’s a sample of some answers from clients.
DON’T LET REFERENCES CHECKMATE YOU – CHECK THEM FIRST Positive references from previous clients are one of a firm’s most valuable assets. They play a vital role in establishing immediate credibility with a prospective or new client. We often take them for granted, using old references, or worse, references that have not been surveyed for their current comments.
LET THE PM CONDUCT A TEAM MEETING PRESENTATION Nothing pleases a client review board more than having the presenting teams address their critical issues. But nothing prepared this community review board for the presentation they were about to see.
ARE CLIENTS BECOMING CONSULTANT-FRIENDLY? Those in the A/E industry long enough can remember when going after a project was tantamount to a guessing game. Guess what the client really wants. Guess who is competing against you. Guess what the evaluation criteria will be; and if you were a sub, even guessing who ended up with the job, until it was published much later on. All that has changed for the better, and the common thread is woven by the world-wide-web.
ARE GOVERNMENT CLIENTS BECOMING MORE CONSULTANT-FRIENDLY A panel of public-sector clients gave insights on new approaches to procurement.
CLIENTS TALK ABOUT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Are We listening? The messages are unanimous, clear, and should be second nature to most design firms by now. If they are, then why are clients still talking about them today, and why have the issues they raise remained the same for decades?Are we really listening to our clients?
PUBLIC CLIENTS SOUND OFF
Marketing and presenting to public clients gets very repetitive, and it even gets overwhelming at times. They all want to give every consultant their due, but every week they may receive 100 letters, 50 cold calls, and numerous e-mails. Here’s a potpourri of pet peeves and helpful comments to deal with this.
STUDYING UP FOR EDUCATIONAL WORK When clients bring on a professional services firm, it’s their obligation to the educational institution they serve to look for the best. They’re also looking to save money, so the selection process is highly competitive. Three clients from different sectors reveal their selection procedures.
BUILDING PROFITABLE CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS If the lifeblood of a firm depends on building profitable relationships with clients, then why aren’t more firms actively and constantly engaged in it? That’s the question posed to Ron Worth, Assoc. AIA, CPSM, CEO of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS).
GREATEST PRESENTATION CHALLENGES Presentations are always a challenge; concerns about your performance, uncertainty of the competition, and receptiveness of the selection committee to your approach to the project. What are the clients really looking for, how formidable is the competition, and have you prepared amply to meet the client’s end game?
Rx FOR SEEKING HEALTH CARE WORK One of the keys in seeking health care work is to understand the radical changes that have taken place in the health care environment, and the impact on the operations and facilities management issues that clients have to deal with. Clients give us their take on what firms need to do just to get into this market.
For permission to reprint all or any portion of any article please contact: Ernest Burden at AECadvisors@earthlink.net. 212-889-4672 Full attribution required. "Ernest Burden, www.aecadvisors.com."
