By
Kate Allen, P.E., PSMJ’s Director of
A/E/C Industry Surveys
Each year PSMJ asks
the A/E industry to answer this question in our annual PSMJ Fees & Pricing Survey.
The answers may surprise you!
·
Mid-size
firms of 101 -200 people spend nearly 48% of their BD time on RFPs. This is nearly twice the amount of time
spent by smaller and larger firms.
·
A/E
firms report spending 11% of their time on Presentations. This is nearly twice the time spent by
firms in other practice areas, except Architecture with Interiors.
·
Mid-size
firms of 101-200 people spend the least amount of time on
Proposal Negotiations, possibly because they are spending their time on RFPs?
·
Architecture
with Interiors firms report spending the least amount of time on
Client Maintenance, 5%. Yet these firms
are on par with other firm types with nearly 80% repeat work.
Each firm’s client
type, market sector, and BD processes determine how to use the limited BD time
to the best of their advantage. Compare
your firm to the table of the top four below – maybe it’s time to challenge
your current strategy.
Allocation of Business
Development Effort
To me, client maintenance applies to existing clients. Where is time spent cultivating new relationships accounted for?
ReplyDeleteHi Robert,
ReplyDeleteThat’s correct…client maintenance applies to existing clients. Keep in mind that this data all applies to the relatively “downstream” business development efforts. In other words, this is after specific opportunities have been identified. The more “upstream” marketing effort of creating awareness and building demand to fuel these BD efforts can be time-consuming but very necessary. This is the speaking, writing, and other promotion that gets you in front of prospective clients.
Thanks!