Backstage at the 2013 A/E/C Industry Summit

Interview with:
Linda Lannen
Chief Information Officer & Senior Vice President, Kleinfelder

Presentation: “Diversity Matters:  Why and How You Should Achieve Diversity in Your A/E/C Firm”

What are some of the points that you’ll be touching on in your presentation regarding the importance of diversity in the A/E/C workplace?

Competition for Talent goes beyond the AEC industry.  Current predictions are that folks coming out of college today will have 6-8 CAREERS, not jobs.  This means they are not limited to AEC even though they may have that type of degree.  As an industry, this is an issue we need to take seriously before we lose the best and brightest minds to other more diverse and interesting industries.. Talent resides in many places; if we place industry experience as a ‘screening criteria’ or absolute then we are excluding talent with a proven track record of success in the competencies and abilities that we are truly need. Those that can manage change, demonstrate managerial courage, communicate and influence at multiple levels within an organization will often be worth more in the long term to the diversity of thought and experience our firms need.

Why is this a topic that the A/E/C industry, in particular, should take to heart?

Our clients in municipal, state and Federal organizations "look" more diverse than we do; how do we really know that we truly understand their perspectives in solving our country's infrastructure challenges?  Having a more diverse workforce not only gives us more credibility on this point, but it helps us develop better solutions for our clients and communities we serve.

What is your firm doing differently from other firms to ensure diversity in the workplace and what have the results been?

What is Kleinfelder doing differently? We are looking past the old conversation that it's an industry problem that we can't solve by ourselves. Expanding the conversation to broader circles, involving executives with observations, correcting behavior, and a move to collect and analyze data are all underway here at Kleinfelder which is a broad leap from our recent past with more progress expected.

Linda Lannen serves as Chief Information Officer & Sr. Vice President of Kleinfelder, a full-service civil engineering firm headquartered in San Diego and with locations across the US, Australia and Canada.  In this capacity she is responsible for all information technology initiatives and services for Kleinfelder’s nearly 2,000 employee-owners and 55 technology professionals.  Ms. Lannen is also the Executive Sponsor for Kleinfelder’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, including Diversity, Sustainability, Volunteerism and Disaster Relief initiatives.  

Click here for more information on the 2013 A/E/C Industry Summit

What Your Clients Think Of You, The Consultant

by: PSMJ's Public Works Project Management Consultant, Michael Ellegood, P.E.

Whenever I work with consultants, I am often asked how do our clients, particularly public agency clients, think of us in the private sector consultant world. Now, in fact, the attitudes vary depending on the agency and the consultant but generally speaking they usually fall within four groups:

• Naïve: “It came from the consultant, it must be right, no need to check it on this end”. This is usually from an inexperienced client who basically does not know how or what to check in a consultant’s submittal. Surprisingly, I have seen this in some large and otherwise competent agencies.

• Skeptic: “Consultants are merely vendors. They provide a necessary commodity but they are way too expensive, all over paid and have fancy overheads. They are just in it for the money and I don’t trust the b’tards.”
This comes most often from older clients who have had a bad previous experience with the consultant community. Sometimes, agency employees who have had salaries frozen for years will be jealous of the compensation of consultant employees. Many also do not understand how overhead is computed because public sector overhead is usually calculated much differently and, consequently, it is much lower.

• Competitor: “My guys can do it better but we are real busy so, I guess we are stuck with hiring a consultant.” I have seen this in many agencies, particularly those with a strong design capability. Caltrans, for example, is very proud of their past work and often keeps much work in house.

• Partner: “ The consultants we hire are an extension of staff, we all must work together for the common good”. This, of course, is ideal, it is often rare however, and consultants need to work to develop and maintain a “Trusted Advisor” status. Sometimes an agency and one or more consultants develop this relationship with the agency while other consultants working for the same agency never seem to get there. Sometimes agency engineers and consultant staff will form this relationship while the same agency’s accountants and procurement staffs remain in the skeptic category.

It is important but often difficult to remember that the world of the agency is much different and in many ways far more complex than the private sector arena. While the business model for the private sector can be summed up as: Find Work, Do Work, Get paid for the Work; the public sector business model defies definition. Basically it is “Follow the rules, even as they ever change; get ready for the auditors who are simply not motivated by you sense of urgency, avoid the press, they are not your friend; appease the politicians even as they push their favorite, but unneeded project; fight with other agencies especially the permitting people. Meanwhile and by the way, deliver the projects that you promised.

It is a complicated world that is not easy to understand until you have been in it for a while.

For more information on PSMJ's Public Works Project Management Bootcamp, click here.

Backstage at the 2013 A/E/C Industry Summit

Interview with:
Jay Kuhn
EVP, Strategy & Business Development, Process Plus and EEC

Presentation: “Thriving in today's Middle Market - How Informal Partnerships Impact our Success”

What are some of the points that you’ll be touching on in your presentation regarding the importance of partnerships in the A/E/C industry?

We all hear about the “death” of the mid-size engineering firm.  As we battle with the larger firms for full-service work and with the small firms on rate, we have to look at different ways to compete.  Partnering provides ways for us to get work that we would not get alone.  This allows us to leverage our resources.  While the logic for partnering makes sense, culturally it goes against many of the things that we teach our employees:  sell all the work you can, maximize the margin, make sure you own the relationship.  Partnering requires us to look at the relationship and understand our role within it.  The cultural part is the biggest obstacle to a successful partnership.

Why is this a topic that the A/E/C industry, in particular, should take to heart?

The employees that work for our prospects/clients are strapped for resources.  They are looking for good value, full service engineering.  Partnering allows us to provide the full-service that our clients are requesting. Since we are smaller than our large competitors, we should be able to offer it with greater service and more personalization.

What is your firm doing differently from other firms achieve partnerships and what have the results been?

We have account managers for our partners just like we do for our clients.  They are responsible for being the voice of the partner and making sure we are looking out for the good of the partnership.  We have done joint marketing, joint sales calls, and other activities to ensure that the partnership grows just like any other account.  Because of this attention we are getting exposure to opportunities that we would not have gotten before.  It has allowed us offer a regional presence that would have required much more investment if we would have done it on our own.

Since leaving the consulting industry and joining Process in 2011, Jay has been working on Process Plus's strategic initiatives and business development.  During his tenure, Process Plus has expanded their footprint, added new services to augment their current service offerings in Process Industries, and focused on systems to improve the alignment between Process Plus and their customers.  With greater alignment between Process Plus and their customers, Process Plus has grown 40% over the past 2 years and is positioned for even greater growth going forward.  

Click here for more information on the 2013 A/E/C Industry Summit

Mergers & Acquisitions with Brad Wilson

PSMJ’s senior M&A consultant, Brad Wilson, stops by our Newton office to give us his expert advice on mergers & acquisitions, ownership transition, valuation, commoditization, strategy, and recruiting. Hear what he has to say in this exclusive video!

Backstage at the 2013 A/E/C Industry Summit

Interview with:
Linda Lannen
Chief Information Officer & Senior Vice President
Kleinfelder

Presentation:
“Diversity Matters:  Why and How You Should Achieve Diversity in Your A/E/C Firm”

What are some of the points that you’ll be touching on in your presentation regarding the importance of diversity in the A/E/C workplace?
Competition for Talent goes beyond the AEC industry.  Current predictions are that folks coming out of college today will have 6-8 CAREERS, not jobs.  This means they are not limited to AEC even though they may have that type of degree.  As an industry, this is an issue we need to take seriously before we lose the best and brightest minds to other more diverse and interesting industries.. Talent resides in many places; if we place industry experience as a ‘screening criteria’ or absolute then we are excluding talent with a proven track record of success in the competencies and abilities that we are truly need. Those that can manage change, demonstrate managerial courage, communicate and influence at multiple levels within an organization will often be worth more in the long term to the diversity of thought and experience our firms need.

Why is this a topic that the A/E/C industry, in particular, should take to heart?

Our clients in municipal, state and Federal organizations "look" more diverse than we do; how do we really know that we truly understand their perspectives in solving our country's infrastructure challenges?  Having a more diverse workforce not only gives us more credibility on this point, but it helps us develop better solutions for our clients and communities we serve.

What is your firm doing differently from other firms to ensure diversity in the workplace and what have the results been?

What is Kleinfelder doing differently? We are looking past the old conversation that it's an industry problem that we can't solve by ourselves. Expanding the conversation to broader circles, involving executives with observations, correcting behavior, and a move to collect and analyze data are all underway here at Kleinfelder which is a broad leap from our recent past with more progress expected.

Linda Lannen serves as Chief Information Officer & Sr. Vice President of Kleinfelder, a full-service civil engineering firm headquartered in San Diego and with locations across the US, Australia and Canada.  In this capacity she is responsible for all information technology initiatives and services for Kleinfelder’s nearly 2,000 employee-owners and 55 technology professionals.  Ms. Lannen is also the Executive Sponsor for Kleinfelder’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, including Diversity, Sustainability, Volunteerism and Disaster Relief initiatives.   

Click here for more information on the 2013 A/E/C Industry Summit 

Marketing: Your Best Strategic Weapon

With Debra Andrews, Founder and President of Marketri, LLC
Marketri, LLC (Philadelphia, PA) is a full-service provider of customized, results-driven marketing solutions for small to mid-sized B2B companies in the A/E/C sector. Marketri’s president, Debra Andrews, sat with A/E Marketing Journal to discuss how to best market your firm in today’s changing, increasingly mobile environment.

1)    You state that the A/E/C industry has been relatively slow to embrace marketing as a strategic weapon.  Why do you think this is so?

From my experience in working with A/E/C firms, they tend to be very sales and business development driven and not focused on marketing.  I believe they feel that personal relationships and having the lowest bid drives new business, and that marketing doesn't play a role in either.  This may have been the case before the era of modern marketing, but now potential purchasers can read authentically helpful content from your competition.  They can view their experience online, check out their recommendations and endorsements on LinkedIn, view impressive photography on Pinterest and more.  What some firms don't realize is that their marketing savvy competitors have entered the "sales cycle" through effective marketing without having that personal relationship in place.

2)    Why is technical knowledge so necessary for effective communications in the A/E/C industry?

Within the B2B marketplace, in which A/E/C firms participate, sales of products and services are complex, meaning the price point and the consequences of bad purchases are higher.  The ability and willingness of A/E/C firms to share their technical knowledge through marketing communications is extremely important to gain the trust and confidence of a potential buyer.

3)    What are some of the most successful marketing campaigns you have run for A/E/C companies?

Marketri worked with a civil engineering firm to help it become the area's leading resource on sustainability ("GREEN").  Through inbound tactics (including blogging) and outbound programs, consisting of article placements, speaking opportunities and hosting a "Sustainability Summit," we were able to successfully brand the firm in this area.

Keep Reading

What Tips the Scale for AEC Buyers?

A Study from Hinge Marketing

All other things being equal, what do you think Architecture, Engineering, and Construction buyers consider the deciding factor in purchasing decisions? What is that crucial quality that tips the scales?

If you said “experience” or “customer service,” you’re not alone among AEC providers. But you’re also wrong.

My company, Hinge, recently conducted research on exactly this question and uncovered some surprising discrepancies between what sellers thought tipped the scales and what really contributes to AEC buying behavior. By examining AEC sellers alongside the buyers they serve, the study was able to isolate two very different views on the same story – including points where the perspectives aligned, and points where they dramatically diverged.

What sellers don’t see

Take customer service. It’s obviously important, but will it give you a leg up in the final selection? According to Hinge’s study, 38% of sellers called customer service the deciding factor – the most common answer among AEC sellers. But only 4% of their buyers agreed!

What about a firm’s experience? 33% of sellers believe it is the most important deciding factor, making it the second most-common answer from AEC providers. This time, 10% of buyers concurred.

If you have a strength like rock-solid customer service, that’s great. But it has to be something that your clients and prospects value in order for the quality to be a meaningful in closing new business. If a prospect doesn’t value the quality in question, then it isn’t a strength that will help your firm grow.

Now, we know AEC buyers want good customer service. We know experience matters. So what’s going on here?  What do buyers truly value, and what pushes an AEC firm over the top?

What really drives the choice

At Hinge, we learned that sellers tend to focus on factors that buyers come to value over time, qualities that are easier to claim than demonstrate. You can tell a buyer that your customer service is second to none, but everyone says that. So how do you make an impression on prospects?

The answer is reputation. In fact, 32% of buyers cite “a good reputation” as the deciding factor in a purchase – far and away the most common answer among buyers. Yet only 11% of sellers thought reputation was a winning factor for choosing a firm.

Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. If you’ve got a problem and you need someone to solve it, you want someone you’ve heard great things about from people you trust. Your problem-solver might have a reputation for solving your particular problem or for fantastic customer service; in any case, it’s their reputation that lends them credibility. Weighed against a stranger who claims that they’re great to work with and can solve your problems, you’re probably going to go with the well-recommended option every time.

Of course, this has huge implications for the way that vendors communicate with buyers. The challenge for AEC sellers isn’t to somehow persuade prospects that their customer service is stellar, or that they’re the most experienced firm on the block. Instead, AEC services have to build up a reputation for their best qualities – and particularly for solving the problems they solve best.

What’s more, the firms who understand how to leverage their reputations will have a massive leg up over the competition.

To read the full results of Hinge’s study, check out the research on How Buyers Buy AEC Services.

About the Author:

Sylvia Montgomery is a Senior Partner at Hinge, a marketing and branding firm that focuses on professional services. Sylvia is also a co-author of Online Marketing for Professional Services.   She can be reached at smontgomery@hingemarketing.com or 703-391-8870.