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VOL / 10

ISSUE / 10

IN THIS ISSUE:

COMPETING WITH
THE GIANTS
Compete with the Big Boys... and Win!
A David and Goliath Story / 1-2

Eight Ways to Discover New Work / 2

How to Write a Terrible Federal Proposal:
Five Steps to Ensure Disaster / 3-4

How to Market Before and After

Selection / 4

Upcoming Events / 4
Book Review: Resonate: Present Visual

Stories That Will Transform Audiences / 5

A/E Pulse Poll of the Month / 6

Communications Corner: What Is The

Most Important Stuff? / 6

Urban Legends: Work Life Balance in the

A/E/C Industry / 7-8

How To Win Work Now / 7-8

What A/E/C Buyers Want, What Sellers

Think They Want, and How to Leverage

the Difference / 8-9

Did You Know? / 9

The Mom and Pop Hardware Store/ 10
Are You Using the Right Communication

Vehicle for Your Message? / 11

The Power of Partnerships / 12

AE
AE

MARKETING
JOURNAL

FEATURED ARTICLE:

Compete with the Big Boys and

Win! A David and Goliath Story
by Eric Snider, P.E.

Lets face it. Sometimes we Davids in the broad A/E/C community feel that we dont
get a fair shake when competing for work with Goliath Corporation and Goliaths
mega-sister firms. We have to recall that the big firms started small, and got large
through one or more of the three Es: ego, economics, and efficiency. And yet the
big boys come into project proposal and presentation opportunities thinking they can
dominate and win on their size. Well, there are some things we small- and mid-sized
firms can do to neutralize their supposed edge. But first lets cover a few of the main
points that the Goliaths of the world make as they market themselves:
Full service (also known as one-stop shopping, single point of responsibility);
World class technical expertise (including niche service lines) and robust
management systems. This is often housed under the term capability;
A sufficient number of personnel available to fully execute your project. This is
housed under the term capacity;

Large portfolio of relevant projects. For engineers and constructors, relevant

projects are those that are as close as possible to the pending project in size and
scope. For architects and interior designers, relevant projects are those with
similar artistic and design elements yet with individual and unique aspects as
well;

Office locations everywhere, including one near you.

So, what is there not to like about this combination? The answer may be,
nothing I like it! That happens when the relationship between the client and
service provider is strong, the provider knows the project well, and the client has
confidence in Goliath.
But we Davids can easily counter each of these supposed advantages espoused by
Goliath. Here are Yes, but responses to each of these:

Est. 1974

Publisher
Managing Editor
Graphic Designer
Published by
Headquarters
Tel
Fax
Email
Web

Frank A. Stasiowski, FAIA

Lauren K. Terry
Marc Boggs
PSMJ Resources, Inc.
Newton, MA
617-965-0055
617-965-5152
customerservice@psmj.com
www.psmj.com

You, David, will provide a single point of responsibility, just as the project
manager in Goliath does. In fact, small- and mid-sized firms are adept at
assembling quality teams as needed and assuring seamless work products by the
team but still with the PM as single point of contact and responsibility;

You, David, can provide world-class expertise. Often a team hand-assembled

provides superior service to that of a monolithic Goliath, where all the
disciplines have to come from within the ranks, eliminating the ability to
custom-design the team for the specific project;

Show the typical going-out-of-business curve for all departments (or even
individuals) with a prominent role in the project. Show the real availability of
your staff. Be able to show how other offices in your firm (or outside resources)
can respond if needed in a crisis;

u CONTINUED / PAGE 2

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ISSUE / 10

Eight Ways to Discover New Work

If your project team is failing to regularly seek add-on contract opportunities, you
could be short-circuiting your level of success. The development of new projects from
your existing workload should be a foundation of your firms marketing program.
Youll discover these opportunities as your team learns about the clients goals during
the course of a current project. Try these eight steps to make this discovery process a
routinenot randomact:
1. Set aside time for a clients needs assessment to examine whats new,
changing, or troublesome in the clients current operations.

Conduct this assessment at quarterly points during the projects duration, or

add it as an agenda item during weekly internal project team updates.
2. Track the nature and frequency of issues that crop up over the course
of the project.

Is a trend surfacing? Is one area of the clients operations in greater need of

proactive help?

Write for PSMJ

Do you have some new, innovative tips to
share with others about running an A/E firm?
Do you have interesting stories about:
Making profits;
Ownership transition;
Human resources; or
The future of A/E?
PSMJ is looking for great writers and stories
for Professional Services Management
Journal!
Writing for PSMJ is a remarkable opportunity
to enhance your authority, add to your
professional resume, bring name recognition
to your company, and see your name and
contact info in print in a prestigious and highly
regarded journal.
If youre interested in writing for us or have a
story idea for an upcoming issue, please write
to Lauren Terry, PSMJs Managing Editor, at
lterry@psmj.com.

3. Compare needs that are surfacing in each of the firms projects.

Look for similarities, differences, trends.

4. Brainstorm with the project team, and across project teams, to identify
strategies for working with recurring issues or ideas.

Consider how to educate both project team members and the client concerning
the issue or idea.
5. Compare ideas and strategies across project teams.

Determine any general movement in client services on which you should act.
Think about assembling a special technical team to work on the emerging issue.
6. Set the best ideas in motion.

Fully include your client in developing the ideas and action plans.
7. Compare results across project teams.

Determine which strategies appealed to clients and what rollout plan worked
best. Integrate the ideas into your service and product lines.
8. Continue the needs assessment process cycle.

Remember: From a marketing standpoint, your current clients are your best clients. l
PSMJ Resources is bringing together the A/E/C industrys top leaders and most
successful firms to give you a glimpse into the future of our industry.

A/E/C INDUSTRY SUMMIT

PUSHING T HE L I M I T S
DECEMBER 4-5, 2014 ORLANDO / FLORIDA

visit www.psmj.com for details

AE

MARKETING
JOURNAL

Compete with the Big Boys...

(continued from page 1)

Often it is better to choose one or

two key projects you have done
that align with the clients vision
and present detailed vignettes on
them rather than trying to wow the
client with sheer numbers. Once
again, know the client and the
project well;

Stress the importance of electronic

communications and work products.
Most clients in Atlanta do not care
that you have an office in Boston.
On the other hand, if you are lucky
enough to be physically located
close to the client and his project,
certainly use that to your advantage
(knowledge of permit requirements,
local geology, etc.).

So the secret to defusing the Goliaths

in your life is to play to your strengths.
Dont slam Goliath up front. Instead, just
show the client how his life will be easier
dealing with David instead. l
Eric Snider, P.E., is a Principal
with SynTerra Corporation. Eric
frequently writes and speaks
on marketing and business
development and facilitates
several PSMJ bootcamps and
workshops. He can be reached at
esnider@psmj.com.

O C TO B E R / 2 0 1 4

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ISSUE / 10

How to Write a Terrible Federal Proposal:

Five Steps to Ensure Disaster
by Dave Alexander

Writing a winning proposal in response

to a federal RFP is grueling. The proposal
manager has to juggle dozens of issues
and keep a constant eye to how the
proposal can be further improved.
Under the pressure of tight deadlines,
even experienced proposal managers can
forget to be vigilant in guarding against
downside risks, and can allow strategic
or tactical mistakes to occur. In our
experience, making any of the following
five errors will guarantee the failure of
your proposal.
1. Criticize the RFP.

Early in my career, I worked for a large

and successful consulting firm. My boss
assigned me to proofread a soon-to-be
submitted proposal. The first paragraph
sported a footnote. This struck me as odd,
because my instinct was that footnotes are
for term papers, not proposals.
The RFP is organized incorrectly, the
footnote asserted, and our proposal
would present material in a different,
and better, order. To underscore our
obviously superior knowledge of how to
structure a proposal, the footnote included
a helpful matrix. Clearly the panel would
see that our bold, new approach reflected
creativity on our partout of the box
thinking.
Out of the box, indeed. After reading the
footnote, each member of the evaluation
panel probably wrote us off as either
arrogant or nave. After we lost, my boss
was humbled. I blew it, he conceded.
We shouldnt have started the proposal
by kicking them.
How many times have we all seen an
RFP that was poorly organizedwith
duplicative, overlapping, or even
contradictory instructions? To be
successful, we have to find a way to
respond to the RFPs instructions without
complaints and in a way that does not
translate on paper into the equivalent of a
patronizing sigh.
2. Assume the RFP is fresh

and on target.

Many proposal writing teams fatally

assume that the RFP is fresh, up-to-date,
and will reflect the client organizations
current priorities and needs. Heres why
it generally wont:
1. A federal RFP usually is
drafted long before it is issued to
accommodate the governments long
internal approval process.
2. An RFP typically is written
piecemeal by many separate agency
staff members, and is stitched
together at the last minute. Cohesion
suffers accordingly.
3. Persons assigned to write an RFP
often take shortcuts for example, by
cutting and pasting material from an
old RFP.
Do not rely on the RFP for an accurate,
up-to-date depiction of the problems
to be solved. A savvy firm does its
homework, gains a strong sense of
the client organizations current,
most pressing issues, and reflects that
understanding throughout the proposal.
3. Assume your client references
will be stellar.

Proposal managers can be tempted to

skip the vetting of client references
due to time pressures. He or she may
list an Old Faithful group of client
references. Then the nightmare occurs:
it turns out that some of these references
are no longer enamored with the firm.
We tell our clients to vet their
referenceseach time, for each
proposal. If necessary, well do the
checking for them. Here are some of the
responses weve received. (Well refer
to this client as Acme.):
I would never do business with
Acme again. Their current project
with me has gone south.
Yeah, Acme does a workmanlike job.

Frankly, we typically pick Acme for our

less complex jobs, because we know
that they will give us a really low price.
But we cant vouch for their abilities on
a large, complex project.
Acme was great in the old days. But
their recent work has been subpar, and
we just fired the guy at our company
who was our liaison with them. He
wasnt being candid about how bad
things were getting.
4. Bragand use clichs while
youre at it.

Nobody likes a braggart. Dont waste

the evaluation panels time by making
vacuous statements such as:
Our firm is world-class.
We have a unique combination of
skills that cannot be matched by any
other competitor.
Our proposed lead technical person is
the best in her field.
If your proposal employs such clichs,
evaluation panel members will invariably
roll their eyes. Even worse, some
members of the panel might prefer to
do the work in-house. They may view
the RFP as necessary only because the
agency is understaffed, not because their
colleagues lack the required expertise.
Any bragging can be taken as a subtle dig
at the agencys own personnel.
So accentuate the positive, but do so
with cold, hard facts that document
your firms capabilities, strengths, and
experience. Include examples of tangible
results you have achieved for clients. If
there is any cheerleading to be done, let
it be displayed in excerpts from client
testimonials. But dont brag on your own
account.
5. Lie. Do not doom your proposal by
u CONTINUED / PAGE 4

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How to Market Before

and After Selection

by Eric Snider, P.E.

A state agency with which my firm does lots of work has begun using a (for them)
new contracting mechanism. And its use causes consultants, including yours truly, to
rethink the traditional business development model.
Here is the old contracting mechanism. In the past the agency would advertise
for full proposals for a three-year, indefinite delivery or blanket contract using a
broadly written scope. Agency selection committee personnel reviewed all proposals
submitted and, using an objective ranking system, a limited number (typically five or
six) of winners were chosen. The BD managers job in a successful consultancy was
fairly simple.
Market to the appropriate agency personnel before the RFP was released, submit a
dynamite proposal, and wait to be selected. Then show up in person at the agencys
office to keep the face time aspect alive. Obviously, there are more steps but this is
the essence.
Now here is the new model. The agency put out a Request for Qualifications for a
similar three-year contract. However, respondents were allowed only two pages
of quals per topic (there were nine subject topics in the scope.) One page covered
experience and the second covered staff quals. Simple and direct. What have you
done in this area and who did it? The difference is in the selection process. All 38
respondents were reviewed and almost all were deemed qualified in one or more
topic areas. For any task under the mechanism, the agency will enter discussions with
three of the firms qualified in the topic area and will select based on best value for the
agency.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Do you want to be a stronger firm
leader or owner? PSMJ can help.
Dont miss your opportunity to
attend these events:
PSMJs 2014 A/E SENIOR
E XECUTIVE WORKSHOP SERIES:
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS WORKSHOP
AUGUST 26-27, 2014 / LAS VEGAS, NV
SEPTEMBER 9-10, 2014 / BALTIMORE, MD

EMERGING LEADERS WORKSHOP

SEPTEMBER 25-26, 2014 / BOSTON, MA
OCTOBER 2-3, 2014 / DENVER, CO
OCTOBER 30-31, 2014 / SAN FRANCISCO, CA

OWNERSHIP & LEADERSHIP

TRANSITION WORKSHOP
OCTOBER 7-8, 2014 / NEWPORT BEACH, CA
OCTOBER 14-15, 2014 / CHICAGO, IL

BRANCH OFFICE OPTIMIZATION

STRATEGIES WORKSHOP
OCTOBER 14-15, 2014 / NEWPORT BEACH, CA

2015 A/E/C INDUSTRY

HR SUMMIT

APRIL 1-2, 2015 / BOSTON, MA

My question to the department manager at the agency was, How and how often do
you want to have us visiting or otherwise contacting you? With 38 firms you could
have one staff member occupied full-time with visiting consultants! Her answer?
We know your firm and its staff already some of the firms deemed qualified are
almost unknown to us. As one of those we know already, your name will bubble to
the top when we start asking for specific task proposals.

REGISTER NOW!
visit www.psmj.com or
call (617) 965-0055

The answer was pretty clear. Had we not done our homework early and spent lots of
time in the agency BEFORE the RFQ was released, we would be in the second tier.
But that investment of time is going to pay off for us.

How to Write a Terrible Federal

Proposal... (continued from page 3)

The same is true for you and everyone in our business. Select your client targets
well, know what they have coming up, and be sure they know you as well as you
know them. l
Eric Snider, P.E., is a Principal with SynTerra Corporation. Eric
frequently writes and speaks on marketing and business
development and facilitates several PSMJ bootcamps and
workshops. He can be reached at esnider@psmj.com.

telling outright lies about your firm, its

experience, or the credentials of your staff
members. You will not be able to keep
these fibs straight, and evaluation panel
members have an amazing propensity
for ferreting out inconsistencies. If by
some miracle you slip by and win the
competitiongood luck getting sleep
for the next 10 years. Its not nice to
lie to the federal government. Proposal
discrepancies can quickly lead into the
realm of civil or criminal investigations.
Do the right thing: tell the truth in your
proposals. l
Dave Alexander is principal at Lincoln Strategies.
You can reach him at dave.alexander@
lincolnstrategies.com.

AE

MARKETING
JOURNAL

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Book Review: Resonate: Present Visual Stories That

Will Transform Audiences
by Scott D. Butcher, FSMPS, CPSM

Touch iBook
version. Reading it
in this format on an
iPad allows you to
access interactive
features, photos,
videos, and behindthe-scenes facts and
storiescontent that
is not part of the
printed version.

I enjoy watching TED Talks online.

Some can be inspirational. Others
can be informative. And still others
can give me new ideas or skills that I
can use to become a better presenter.
A single presentation rarely does all
three. However, when I first saw Nancy
Duartes Ted Talk, The Secret Structure
of Great Talks, originally given at
TEDxEast, I was blown away. Its not
that she is a brilliant speakeralthough
shes quite competent; rather, it was the
content that she presented, the ideas
shared, that made it one of the most
memorable TED Talks that Ive ever
watched.
Fortunately, she has a book about her
topic. So while The Secret Structure
of Great Talks is the CliffsNotes,
Resonate: Present Visual Stories
that Will Transform Audiences is the
authoritative manual. Duarte is the CEO
of Duarte Design, and author of the
immensely popular presentation design
book Slide:ology: The Art and Science of
Creating Great Presentations.
You can purchase this book in several
formats, but to see a revolution in
publishing, I recommend the Multi-

The concept behind

the title is simply a
comment that people
often say after
hearing an excellent
presentation: Wow,
what she said really
resonated with
me. But what
does that mean?
Her definition,
pulled from physics, is: When an object
responds to an external stimulus that has
the same frequency as its own, thats
resonance. Thus, If you tune yourself
to the frequency of your audience, your
ideas will resonate deeply, and your
audience will demonstrate self-organizing
behavior.
Duarte sets up her book with several
premises. First, presentations have
become so common a business language
that they are now quite boringoften
with the bland leading the bland. Second,
it is the people that are interesting, not
the facts. So it is the stories that really
convey the meaning. And finally, the
presenter should not be the hero of the
storythe audience should be.
Just apply that to your most recent client
presentation or project interview. Was
your firm the heroor your prospective
client? In her world, it is the audience
that is Luke Skywalker, and the presenter
who is Yoda.

film to the mythology writings of

Joseph Campbell. We also learn about
Sparklines, or visual depictions of
presentations.
This book shines when it provides
case studies, including videos of
great presentations to demonstrate the
points. Some of historys best known
presentations are featured, including
Dr. Martin Luther Kings I Have a
Dream speech, President Ronald
Reagans Space Shuttle Challenger
catastrophe address, and Apple CEO
Steve Jobs iPhone unveiling. Business
presentations are included too, along
with a ton of great insight. So if you are
not King or Reagan or Jobs, thats okay.
This book is still for you.
I often hear or read about clients
lamenting that A/E/C firms come to
project interviews with such similar
presentations that its difficult to really
tell one apart from the other. Read this
book, and your presentations will be
forever-changedthus differentiating
your firm from the competition.
And you dont have to take my word
for it. Check out Nancy Duartes TED
Talk to get a feel for the content that
youll find in the book: http://www.ted.
com/talks/nancy_duarte_the_secret_
structure_of_great_talks. Incidentally,
if you download the Multi-Touch
version of the book, a copy of the
presentation is included. You can also
download a sample under the Books
section of her company website,
www.duarte.com. l
Scott D. Butcher, FSMPS,
CPSM is vice president of JDB
Engineering, Inc. (www.jdbe.com)
and president-elect of the SMPS
Foundation. He has more than
two decades of A/E/C marketing
experience and is a Fellow of the
Society for Marketing Professional
Services.

The author then goes on to outline what

makes a great story, also known as the
heros journey, using everything from

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COMMUNICATIONS CORNER

What Is The Most Important Stuff?

65%

the amount of people who are

visual learners, according to
WebDAM, meaning that your
marketing initiatives should
employ significant visual content.

3 Hours

the half-life of a piece of content

shared on Facebook and Twitter,
meaning that it is the amount
of time it takes content to reach
50% of the clicks itll ever receive,
according to Bit.ly.

A/E
PULSE POLL
OF THE
MONTH
What is the biggest
challenge you face
in your day-to-day
operations?
Time Management
Building Backlog
Motivating Employees
Finding Talent
Participate in our monthly
A/E Pulse Poll, and you will
automatically be entered to
win a Buy One, Get One
registration to our 2014
A/E/C Industry Summit!
The poll closes on September
25th, and the winner will be
selected on the 26th.

AE

MARKETING
JOURNAL

by Eric Snider, P.E.

Authors note: In this (semi) regular

feature, we will focus on effective
communication. PSMJ has developed a
bootcamp on technical and professional
writing in proposals and interview
presentations. The program is available
for delivery to your in-house audience
where and when you would like. Call
Kim Pazera at 617-965-0055 to discuss
scheduling this one-of-a-kind program
in your firm. The presentation can be
customized to meet your specific interests
and needs.
Most issues of AEMJ include a corner
piece that focuses on a single topic
word use, sentence construction,
punctuation, etc.
Id like to deviate in this issue and ask
you to help me solve a dilemma. Heres
the story. I was asked this past week to
design a four-hour seminar session on
technical writing. More accurately I
was asked to take a two-day program
that I have developed (and which forms
the basis for most of these monthly
columns) and compress it to four hours.
The audience is a group of project
managers who will be brought together
for a broader project management
training bootcamp.
Here is the dilemma. To cover the
subject in four hours, you can only
manage so many topics. What should
they be, and what parts of the technical
writing spectrum do you omit? Heres
the topical outline for the two-day
program:
The basicswords, sentences, good and
bad terms, tone
Ways to organize your writing
Outlining
Graphicsare worth a thousand words
Writing tips that good writers use
(read it aloud, like a newscaster, etc.)

Special engineering documents (letters,

memos, new media, reports, proposals,
presentations, specifications)
Barriers to good writing (wordiness,
choppy style, awkward sentences,
passive voice)
Tools to check your writing (Gunning,
Flesch-Kincaid, Microsoft)
Writing exercise
Help me out here, folks. In my world
all these topics integrate to produce
the wonder known as good technical
writing.
What among these topics would
you consider to be most important?
Which least important? What other
topics would you include?
Seriously, Id like to hear from AEMJ
readers. Let me know how you would
handle this topic in a four-hour
session. You can contact me with your
ideas at esnider@psmj.com. I hope to
hear from you!
Stay tuned for next months issue where
we will address other Communications
Corner issues. If you have a
communications issue in proposals or
presentations you would like us to address
in this column, contact Lauren Terry at
editor@psmj.com. Well be happy to
answer your inquiries. l
Eric Snider, P.E., is a Principal
with SynTerra Corporation. Eric
frequently writes and speaks
on marketing and business
development and facilitates
several PSMJ bootcamps and
workshops. He can be reached at
esnider@psmj.com.

Urban Legends:
Work Life Balance
in the A/E industry
by Mariel Attento and Talin Astourian

A/E industry jobs are often mentally

demanding and require many hours at
the grindstone. We are living in a 24/7
business environment. Spreading yourself
too thin leads to burnout and deprives you
of producing your best work. Consider
these strategies for developing a healthy
work-life balance and promoting personal
happiness.
Personal care: There are a few key
priorities to set when it comes to worklife balance. Most importantly, sleep.
Countless studies prove that sleep
deprivation leads to lower productivity,
so set good sleep boundaries and stick to
them. Exercise will do your body good and
provide you stress relief that you crave.
Last but not least, make good hygiene a
priority. Taking care of oneself will boost
confidence and garner self respect.
Email management: One culprit that
disrupts a healthy work-life balance is
email. The miracle of smart phones has
made it possible for your coworkers
to reach you effectively at 2am.
Implementing controls to manage your
email is critical to maintaining your
sanity. Some A/E professionals designate
a specific time each day to review emails,
or give themselves a break during the
day, away from technology. You might
also switch your phone to airplane mode,
disable work emails, or place your phone
somewhere out of reach when you leave
the office.
Conserve your energy: Despite what
you may think, you dont have to do it
all so dont let guilt weigh you down. Do
the best you can with what you have and
remind yourself that its good enough.
Take time to appreciate what you have and
recognize your accomplishments. Dont
forget to celebrate! Finally, avoid energy
zappers like negative people that drain you
or environments that deplete your energy.
Schedule downtime: Do you designate
time to yourself? Do you resent that your
u CONTINUED / PAGE 9

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How To Win Work Now

ISSUE / 10

by Eric Snider, P.E.

In this era of mega-firms (and mega-mergers), is it speaking about the emperors

clothes to ask why so much work goes to small- and mid-sized firms? I submit that
smaller firms are more agile, more responsive to client needs, more ready to listen to
the client, and, truth be known, just more accessible. And this assessment comes from
someone who has worked at firms of 5 to 15,000.
We have several new young engineers and scientists join my 45-person firm annually.
After they have settled in for several years and get their technical wings, we start
them in client relationship nurturing and development. Soon they almost invariably
ask, How do we compete and win against the big firms? The answer I give them is,
also invariably, a lesson in Marketing 101 slanted toward mega-firm competitors.
Here are the essentials:
People hire people. Seldom do firms or organizations hire firms. This truism holds
not only for the A/E/C community but for business in general. Now people populate
both big and small firms (duh!). So what can a small firm do? It can equip its people
with the technology, resources, training, mentoring, and clear expectation that the
people in the firm will really get to know the clients and prospects. Case in point: I
have a client who was visiting a city where I had spent some work time several years
ago. The client phoned me just before the dinner hour to ask for my recommendation
for a good restaurant. First of all, I had known the client well enough to open up and
discuss where I had been working, and how I enjoy a good meal. Second, the client
remembered! Third, the client was comfortable calling me after normal business
hours to ask. That is the level of person-to-person relationship you want to have with
your clients. Many times in the big firms the personal touch gets lost
dont let that happen to you!
Let your people be themselves. I have one of the best plant science staffers
anywhere, and he routinely shows up for work in ratty jeans and a three-day stubble
of beard. (And he does not look like Tom Cruise with a three-day old beard!) When
we have clients in the office or need to take his specialty to a client meeting, we
take Mel, warts and all. In fact, our clients notice if Mel ever shows up in anything
outside his normal attire. By contrast, the normal mega-firm mentality is that you
carry the corporate torch, so you all dress according to spec. We could devote an
entire article to the various specs for client meetings but that will be for another
time.
Never slam the competition, at least directly. Sometimes a client or prospect
will mention Company A and ask what you think of them, or they will relate an
unfortunate and unpleasant past experience with them. My advice to young folks is
to never slam the competition, even if the client does. Even the big boys. My advice?
Shake your head with a rueful smile and state that you are sorry that they had a bad
experience, because it can reflect badly on all consultants/contractors. Now along
with this if you work in a few advantages of dealing with your small- or mid-sized
firm, all the better!
If you know for sure that your competition includes mega-firms, take along a
veteran of one of those firms. We all have people in our firms who have come to
the refuge of a small or mid-sized firm from one of the Goliaths. Everyone has a
horror story to tell, and they are all different. That person can subtly work in to the
conversation reasons he or she left the Goliath world for Smallville.
Four points, but each can help you in your defense against the Goliaths of the world.
And besides, they are pretty good tips for a Marketing 101 session. l

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Urban Legends... (continued from page 7)

What A/E/C Buyers Want, What

Sellers Think They Want, and How
to Leverage the Difference

by Sylvia Montgomery

To compete with the giants, grasping how prospects think and act can make all
the difference. However, our recent research suggests that there might be some
perception gaps between what your buyers want and what you think theyre
looking for. Understanding these gaps and working to close them can help your
firm land more sales and beat out the competition.
In a survey of 522 A/E/C buyers and sellers, we asked what buyers are looking
for, what theyre trying to avoid, and what tips the scale in favor of a particular
firm during their selection process. After asking sellers the same questions, we
uncovered some startling inconsistencies.
How Buyers Approach the Selection Process

Having a clear understanding of how and why buyers are selecting your firm can
help you know where to focus your priorities. Here are the selection criteria that
buyers are using, as perceived by both buyers and sellers:

time and attention is solely focused on work?

Consider scheduling an appointment for yourself
in your Outlook calendar. Better yet, set up a
biweekly recurrence. Beware of skipping lunch
as this can be an indicator that things are getting
out of balance. Put a book, crossword puzzle, or
personal project in your car and make it a point to
get out of the office and away from your desk.
Pool resources: To maximize your time, car
pool, ask your coworker to watch your email
while youre on vacation, and consolidate
meetings that can be blended. Also, be effective
with your time. You can use drive time to return
calls, use flight time to catch up on a project that
requires your full attention, and when you have
a meeting, bring a list of discussion items so you
can use that time to address more than one project
or issue.
Time Management: Where does your time go?
Take an honest assessment. Before agreeing to
something, ask yourself, On a scale of 1 through
10, how badly do I want to do this? The closer it
is to one, the less likely you should do it. Set clear
boundaries and say no to things you dont want
to do. Next, cut out wasteful activities. Do you
spend an hour a day shopping online or browsing
gossip websites? A clear cut way to analyze
your time can be done by making a chart. Look
at where your time is spent on a daily/weekly/
monthly basis. Ask yourself what matters the
most to you. Is it spending time with children or
a spouse? Manage your schedule to include these
activities.
When youre mindful about where your time is
going, you can improve the quality of your life. l

While both buyers and sellers agree on the importance of reputation, sellers
grossly overestimate how much weight buyers put on cost in the selection
process. 58% of sellers ranked cost as a top selection criterion, in comparison
with just 33% of buyers.
The second most popular selection criterion, according to buyers, is a good fit
with a firm that shares their values. Sellers barely registered this response, with
only 5% of firms identifying it as important.
And when it comes to what buyers want to avoid, their top response is broken
promises. However, when sellers were asked the same question, the majority of
respondents focused on poor work quality as buyers biggest concern. In fact,
u CONTINUED / PAGE 9

AE

MARKETING
JOURNAL

Talin Astourian is a graduate of the Art Center College of

Design where she studied Advertising Design. Currently
serving as Vice President of Strategic Growth for Twining,
Inc., she specializes in revenue driven marketing, strategic
growth facilitation and customized marketing and branding
plan authorship and execution. She collaborates with
business owners to develop industry-specific branding
messages that holistically address the customers buying
experience and seamlessly connect the customer to a
companys vision and voice.
Mariel Attento is a Business Development Manager for
Twining, Inc. She earned a B.S. degree in Psychology from
Golden Gate University and went on to complete some
graduate coursework in Civil Engineering. After working
in Sales and Marketing for many years, Mariel ultimately
found her passion within the environmental engineering
industry when she began working in the field in 2007.
She is specialized in the areas of business development,
marketing and client service delivery for A/E/C firms and
currently responsible for Twinings growth in the Northern
California marketplace. In addition to her work, Mariel
is active in many sports, spends time with family, is an
enthusiastic San Francisco Giants fan, and resides in the
region with her dog Mini.

DID YOU KNOW?

Which typeface (a.k.a. font) does your
firm use in its proposals? A recent study
compared eight popular typefaces to
discover which one was the easiest to
read. What the study showed that point
size is as important as font selection,
and that bigger doesnt necessarily mean
better. As far as what people subjectively
preferred reading, Veranda, at point size
10, and Arial, at point size 12, were the
clear winners.

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What A/E/C Buyers Want...

(continued from page 8)

buyers top three concerns about A/E/C firmsbroken promises, being just like
everyone else, and having a conflict of interest, respectivelywere barely recognized
by sellers.

But the study also researched speed

of reading and legibility. Times New
Roman and Arial were read the fastest.
But Tahoma, at point size 10, and
Courier, at point size 12, were found to
be the most legible typefaces.
How your proposals look is as important
as what they say. There is a science,
literally, to typeface selection and
graphic design. Make sure youve
considered these things when creating
proposals and presentations. l
But when it comes down to the final selection of an A/E/C firm, what tips the
scale for buyers?

What trait do you look for in your

future firm leaders? Competence?
Charisma? Level-headedness? At
Google, where employees review their
managers twice a year through an
upward feedback survey, pile of data
shows that the most important character
trait of a leader is predictability.
When leaders are predictable and have
consistent behavior, their employees
know what to expect. And according to
Google, when employees can predict
their supervisors behavior, it gives
the employees a type of autonomy
making them feel freethat improves
their decision making, their ideas, and
their productivity. l

Thirty-two percent of buyers listed a good reputation as the top quality that tipped the
scale in favor of a particular firm, with a better value proposition coming in second.
However, sellers put significantly more stock in their customer service as a top
deciding factor and past performance.
What Your Firm Can Learn from the Gaps

The gaps revealed in our research highlight opportunities for improvement. Here are
three tips for putting what the gaps tell us into action:
1. Your buyers want to know you. Reputation and a good fit ranked highly among
buyers selection criteria, so dont be afraid to let buyers get to know your firm.
Produce content that solidifies your brand and expresses your values.
2. Dont make promises you cant keep. Buyers dont want to be misled. Set realistic
expectations, do what you say youre going to do, and dont make promises you cant
deliver on.
3. Cultivate advocates. While you never want to sacrifice customer service, it might
not have as strong of an influence as you once thought. Instead, work to cultivate
advocates who are willing to provide referrals and recommendations for your firm.
What buyers are looking for shouldnt be a mystery. Know what to prioritize and
leverage these insights to make your A/E/C firm more competitive and better position
yourself to win the business. l
Sylvia Montgomery is a Senior Partner at Hinge Marketing in Reston, VA, and the head of Hinges
A/E/C pratice. She can be reached at smontgomery@hingemarketing.com.

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The Mom and Pop Hardware Store

Lets imagine for a moment that you
are the proprietor of a third-generation
family-owned hardware store. Your
grandparents, then your parents, and now
you have worked long hours and you
have put your souls into that place. For
over 60 years, your little store has been
THE place to go for any kind of hardware
you can imagine. Neither you nor your
customers can imagine it being any other
way, until
One day, you pick up the morning
paper and read that Wal-Mart is coming
to town. Then, Home Depot, and then,
Lowes. What would you do? Quit? Sell
your store to them? You dont want to do
either of those things, of course. Youll
sweat and worry for a while, but then you
remember not all mom and pop hardware
stores are closing. Some are thriving.
Youll ask yourself, what is their secret?
So, youll knuckle down, work hard, and
sure enough, you will figure out the path
to continued success, too. Above all else,
you cant just take for granted that your
customers will keep walking in the door.
You are going to have to go out and fight
for your business.
Perhaps those of you who own or work
for a small, or even not-so-small, A/E/C
firm could identify with that story. While
the huge A/E/C firms you are beginning
to have to compete with today dont sell
junk products and servicesthey are
often very goodmany of the techniques
youd use to keep your hardware store
open can be used in leading your smaller
A/E/C firm to continued success.
Consider these six ideas:
1. Take a risk. Be something. Stand for
something.

Like the hardware store owner, the one

thing you cant do is to compete on the
big guys terms. Youll be toast if you try
to offer more products and services than
them at a lower price. Try carving out a
niche. Develop some particular kinds of
expertise, some things you are better at
than anyone else. Make yourself known
for that. Become the place clients can
come to for expert advice.

AE

MARKETING
JOURNAL

By Ken Tichacek

2. Think more strategically.

You know, of course, that you dont have

any inherent strategic advantage against
the big firms. The thing is, though, neither
do they against you. So, you can keep
yourself in a strong position if you think
strategically all the time. Keep doing
things to stay one step ahead of everyone
else. Here is another analogy for you to
consider: You probably recall the story
of the American Revolution, how the
British, with the worlds largest and best
trained army, would march into open
battlefields wearing bright red coats.
The American patriots stood no chance
against such an overwhelming foe, yet
we all know they won in the end. They
did it by picking their battles. They chose
where and when to fight. They made
every game a home game for them. You
can do the same thing.
3. Pick the right clients and hug them.

When the big, full-service firms come

to town, some clients will naturally lean
toward them and all the advantages they
offer. Other clients will be indifferent,
and some will naturally lean toward you
and the advantages a small firm like yours
offers. Identify and cater to those clients
who match up with your firm the best.
That concept is elegantly described by
Simon Sinek in his book Start With Why:
How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to
Take Action (You can also go to YouTube
to watch Sinek give a TedTalk on the
same topic.) Just like I wouldnt be
caught dead going into a Home Depot,
you have clients who want to remain
loyal to your firm. You just have to
reward that loyalty. Focus on those clients
like your life depends on it. (Because it
does.)
4. Know your clients better than you
know your own kids.

Thats a bit of an exaggeration, of course,

but not much of one. Focusing on your
best clients means you are constantly
trying to put yourself in their shoes.
Think like them, understand their vision
and their challenges. When a consultant
asked Andy Grove, the former Chairman,

COO, and CEO of Intel, how he could

get more business with the giant
chipmaker, Grove famously replied Go
out and learn how to make chips. Then
come back and show us how to make
ours better. Focus on giving clients
what they want from youExpertise,
empathy and understanding, authenticity,
and passion.
5. Dont sell. Listen instead, then tell a
story.

Most people in the professional

services industry think they have to be
salespeople to get work. Let the others
do that, while you simply go and listen
to your clients. Learn all you can about
what they are trying to achieve and the
obstacles they face. Then, and only then,
is it your turn to talk. Tell them a story
the story of how you are going to solve
their problems so they can live happily
ever after.
6. Work harder and smarter than the
big guys do.

You knew this already, of course, but it

remains an eternal truth. People in the
A/E/C industry generally know all about
working harderFocus on the smarter
part. For example, in super competitive
environments, clients tend to go with
the people they know the best, so get
off your sitter-downer and go visit those
clients.
So, the next time you find yourself
shopping in that little mom and pop
store across the street from Wal-Mart,
ask yourself why youre there. Your
answer to that question will tell you how
your little firm can thrive in the land of
the giants. l
Ken Tichacek, Assoc. AIA, is a
senior consultant and seminar
leader for PSMJ Resources, Inc.
He is also the founding principal
of Think Like Your Clients LLC and
is known as The Proposal Doctor
for the results he gets in helping
firms win new work. Reach Ken
at ktichacek@psmj.com.

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11

Are You Using the Right Communication

Vehicle for Your Message?
Our A/E/C clients tell us that better
communication would greatly help
every part of their practice: marketing,
business development, operations,
finance, IT, and HR. Most of our
clients ask us to cover best practices
for written and verbal communications
during our training programs because
technical professionals are not always
taught these skills in school. During the
training, we present and discuss where
and when to use high-tech/low-touch or
low-tech/high-touch communication.
Technology winsbut managing
high-tech, low-touch is the key. Social
media is a mainstream strategy in A/E/C
marketing that deserves its own column.
Aside from social media, the next most
used and possibly abused is email
communication. How do you manage
email in your organization? Is there a
policy for it?
Do you have a style guide for it? Some
firms do. It has become so abused that
some consultants make a living on
teaching the right way to use email. Our
delete buttons are almost worn out.
One marketing director of a major firm
told us she gets 400 emails a day. Her
worry is that one of those deletes was
important but she did not see that in the
five-second decision she made.
Management firms report that on
average, each employee spends about
one hour a day on emails. If you
extrapolate that, that is five hours week
or 13 % of their timeenough to wipe
out the profit of most firms!
Most people understand the cardinal
rules, but lets review them. Do not
jump to emails to communicate
everything (maybe there is a better
communication vehicle); do not copy
everyone when you really just need the
communication with one person (people
will begin to delete your emails without
opening them); keep it short and sweet
two or three linesyou have a better

chance of having the email read; and

most of all do not use email to confront
someone you do not want to talk with in
person. Eventually you will still have to
face that person and the associated issue.

years ago, unless its a credit card offer

you dont want. However, snail mail has
become one of the best communication
sources out there for getting opened and
read simply because is it more scarce.

Think about which type of

communication is best for the
message you are delivering.
While emails are quick
and easy, they may not be
opened and read. A brief
discussion with a colleague,
client, or prospect might be
an important element in
relationship-building.

Through good customized copy and

supportive graphics you can make a solid
brand impression and capitalize on the
pull side of your marketing program,
which makes your push or selling side
of your program less costly and more
productive.

Old school still wins, too. Before

emails, boomers will remember the highvolume of phone calls each dayour
voice mail boxes were frequently maxed
out while we put our phones on not
available so we could get work done.
Email has replaced phone calls overall,
but we still do take calls from known
callers selectivelyfor example, the
same marketing director cited above said
she only gets about 10 calls a day and
most of them she answers.
Most studies agree that the use of
electronic communication will continue
to rise, especially as the y and z
generations become the majority of the
work force.
Our tips for using low-tech, high-touch:
use the phone to call boomers who
appreciate this mediumthey still make
up the majority of firms top management
who control the financial decisions.
A bonus for a making a personal call?
You might find out other important
information over and above the reason
you made the call.

Consider when to use low-tech, hightouch and snail mail. Traditional mail
is especially effective, for example, when
announcing a special event or a significant
achievement, announcing new executive
hires, and save-the-date information
for an event. Also, remember to use
hand-written thank you notes, still the
number- one activity everyone in your
firm can and should be doing. Think of
the last time you received a handwritten
thank-you note. Didnt you appreciate
the thoughtfulness behind it? In addition
to being a nice gesture, it just might be a
differentiator for your firm.
The takeaway is this. Think about which
type of communication is best for the
message you are delivering. While
emails are quick and easy, they may not
be opened and read. A brief discussion
with a colleague, client, or prospect might
be an important element in relationshipbuilding. Traditional mail is an option
that can make a statement that reinforces
social media and other forms of electronic
communication. Differentiate yourself
from others through your communication,
regardless of the medium you use, and see
what happens. l

There is a place for low-tech, high

touch snail mail, too. You probably dont
get as much business mail as you did 10

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The Power of Partnerships

Strategic partners provide leverage for new work and act in a predictable manner.
Theres a lot of buzz these days about
being a partner, whether with your
clients, another firm, or even with a
different division within your own
company. Sometimes when terms
become so common in our vernacular,
like Win-Win, they lose their meaning.
Below I will try to put meaning back into
the phrase strategic partnership, in the
context of working with another firm.
A strategic partnership differs from a
teaming arrangement in a few key ways.
First, strategic partners are firms that you
work with over time, so you know what
to expect on projects and how problems
will be resolved. Second, both firms are
in it for the long haul because they see a
mutual benefit in the relationship.
What do these partners provide?
Generally their services will complement
yours, they will have a similar client
base, and they will have strengths where
your firm may be weak or looking to
grow. In addition, they will:
Fill niche service areasWhen you
analyze requirements for a project and
see gaps in your capabilities, it points
to the need to bring in a teammate.
Look to your partners to fill these gaps
when proposing on a new project or
contract. They offer not only the required
capability, but also the advantage of
having experience working with your
firm, adding credibility to the team and
removing doubt in the reviewers eye that
you will work well together.
Provide client insightsSometimes
you can turn to your strategic partners
as you begin to position for new work
with clients that dont know your firm
well. Our firms has one instance where
our partner has a long track record and

COMING NEXT MONTH:

Client Feedback

AE

MARKETING
JOURNAL

The real power of a strategic

partnership is that it makes
your firm more than you
can be when acting alone.
In short, the partnership
provides leverage.
existing relationships with an agency;
we bring specialized capabilities. They
are willing to share information and
sponsor us for introductions to discuss
upcoming work.
Bring opportunities to your company
Have you ever received a frantic call
or email from someone asking you to
join their team for an upcoming project?
Typically these requests are last minute,
after the RFP has been released and
everyone is scrambling to finalize their
team. Now, remember the last time a
partner asked you to join their team?
Likely the call came well in advance of
the RFP, and your firm is at or near the
top of their list for a joint pursuit.
The real power of a strategic partnership
is that it makes your firm more than you
can be when acting alone. In short, the
partnership provides leverage.
What is the expectation of a partner in
terms of how they act and interact with
your company? You know you have a
strategic partnership when both firms
are selfless, exhibiting the characteristics
listed below.
Take the relationship seriously
Strategic partners put their best people
on the job because the relationship is
important. You may have occasional
partnering meetings with a cross
section of staff, and identify areas of

by Wally Hise

mutual interest for future collaboration.

There also tends to be management
engagement, commitment, and follow
through.
Make introductions to others in their
firmIndividuals with a vested interest
in making the relationship work for both
firms will readily share information and
contacts beyond their area of expertise
whether that is a division, geography,
or service. Another partner of ours has
interests beyond my Federal purview, so
I facilitated introduction to our freight
railroad staff, and made connections
to our offices in the Northwest. In the
end, people dont benefit from these
relationships, the firms do.
Dont keep scoreThrow out the
old I helped you, now you help me
attitude and get with the program. You
wont be keeping score in any longterm relationship built on mutual trust
and benefit. But while the relationship
is not built on a one-for-one mentality,
reciprocity is key to making it work for
the long term.
We recently thought we had a strong
small business partner. Many meetings
between management, joint pursuits
and wins, and positive signals gave us
great optimism. Then one day we got
a phone call. It seems that there were
other large businesses courting the
firm. This brings me to my final point.
Partners communicateearly, often, and
honestly. While many of the attributes
are present, in this case we have a
teammate, not a strategic partner. l
Wally Hise is vice president
of federal marketing for HDR
Engineering, Inc. (Omaha, NE).
Contact him at
wally.hise@hdrinc.com.

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