Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose is a Skittles fanatic, so when the Windy City-based candymaker found out, they hooked him up.
According to this article on CNBC.com, Wrigley, the company that makes the fruit-flavored candy, brought a custom Skittles vending machine to his house and promised to keep it stocked with Skittles for at least three years.
That's not even the coolest part: Rose gets the machine and the Skittles for free. The machine holds every variety of Skittles and it tempts him, in his own voice, whenever he walks by the machine.
As the article author mentions, this is a great lesson in public relations. But it's really a great lesson in client service. Doing something special for a client who says they love you will only make them love you more.
Maybe you're not bringing a vending machine to your client's office, but there are plenty of ways you can show a client you care about them. Handwritten thank-you notes, forwarding an article you find interesting, asking about their personal life, knowing things about them that even their co-workers don't know, are just some of the ways.
What are you doing today to show your clients you love them?
Ed
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
ABI Improves, But Still Shows Decline
The American Institute of Architects' Architecture Billings Index rose almost two full points in July, but still shows a decline in demand for design services.
The July ABI rating was 47.9, up from 46.0 in June. The ABI continues its up and down rollercoaster ride as it has gone from 48.4 in April to 45.8 in May to 46.0 in June and 47.9 in July. Yet, the score reflects a continued decline in demand for design services as any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings.
As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate 9- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. What the July ABI rating means, therefore, is that it's going to be at least spring 2011 before we even begin to see things get better in the AEC industry.
"Business conditions at design firms remain quite volatile," said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker. "While this recent uptick is encouraging, this state of the industry is likely to persist for a while as we continue to receive a mixed bag of feedback on the condition of the design market from improving to flat to being paralyzed by uncertainty."
As we said last month, until the ABI shows AT LEAST three consecutive months ABOVE 50, don't believe any projections that things will get better anytime soon. There's just no quantifiable data that anyone can point to with certainty that shows WHEN things will get better.
The new projects inquiry index dropped substantially from 57.7 to 53.1.
Regionally, the ABI breaks down as follows: Northeast (47.2, down from 47.7), South (47.9, up from 46.7), Midwest (46.7, up from 46.3), and West (45.2, up from 43.6). The South and West have improved for two consecutive months while the Northeast has dropped for two straight months.
By market sector, the ABI is as follows: commercial/industrial (50.4, down from 50.6), institutional (47.9, up from 45.0), multi-family residential (47.5, up from 46.5), and mixed practice (42.9, down from 44.7). Institutional is up for two straight months while commercial/industrial and mixed practice have dropped for two straight months.
Ed
The July ABI rating was 47.9, up from 46.0 in June. The ABI continues its up and down rollercoaster ride as it has gone from 48.4 in April to 45.8 in May to 46.0 in June and 47.9 in July. Yet, the score reflects a continued decline in demand for design services as any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings.
As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate 9- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. What the July ABI rating means, therefore, is that it's going to be at least spring 2011 before we even begin to see things get better in the AEC industry.
"Business conditions at design firms remain quite volatile," said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker. "While this recent uptick is encouraging, this state of the industry is likely to persist for a while as we continue to receive a mixed bag of feedback on the condition of the design market from improving to flat to being paralyzed by uncertainty."
As we said last month, until the ABI shows AT LEAST three consecutive months ABOVE 50, don't believe any projections that things will get better anytime soon. There's just no quantifiable data that anyone can point to with certainty that shows WHEN things will get better.
The new projects inquiry index dropped substantially from 57.7 to 53.1.
Regionally, the ABI breaks down as follows: Northeast (47.2, down from 47.7), South (47.9, up from 46.7), Midwest (46.7, up from 46.3), and West (45.2, up from 43.6). The South and West have improved for two consecutive months while the Northeast has dropped for two straight months.
By market sector, the ABI is as follows: commercial/industrial (50.4, down from 50.6), institutional (47.9, up from 45.0), multi-family residential (47.5, up from 46.5), and mixed practice (42.9, down from 44.7). Institutional is up for two straight months while commercial/industrial and mixed practice have dropped for two straight months.
Ed
Monday, August 2, 2010
No BlackBerry in Dubai?
Interesting news this morning that the United Arab Emirates will soon ban BlackBerry usage in the country.
The ban on BlackBerry e-mail, messaging and Web browsing services will extend to foreign visitors, too, which has potentially damaging repercussions on the AEC industry that has relied on the United Arab Emirates, and Dubai, in particular, for so much work in recent years.
After all, as any busy A/E firm leader will tell you, they call it a "CrackBerry" for a reason, and if you take one away from someone who uses it, it makes executives that much less productive than if they were able to read and respond to e-mails as they come in.
But you go where the business is, and if the price of doing business in Dubai is no BlackBerry then we may see a cadre of spouses sending their CrackBerry addicts to the wealthy Middle Eastern country.
Ed
The ban on BlackBerry e-mail, messaging and Web browsing services will extend to foreign visitors, too, which has potentially damaging repercussions on the AEC industry that has relied on the United Arab Emirates, and Dubai, in particular, for so much work in recent years.
After all, as any busy A/E firm leader will tell you, they call it a "CrackBerry" for a reason, and if you take one away from someone who uses it, it makes executives that much less productive than if they were able to read and respond to e-mails as they come in.
But you go where the business is, and if the price of doing business in Dubai is no BlackBerry then we may see a cadre of spouses sending their CrackBerry addicts to the wealthy Middle Eastern country.
Ed
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