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FROM THE FOUNDER
W hile marketing may not be at the top of your priority list right now, AEC firms – even though they have come a long, long way marketing-wise over the 42 years I’ve worked in this industry – still have a number of marketing problems that could be easily solved. Marketing for AEC firms has come a long way in the last few decades, but we still have a number of problems that could be easily solved. Easily-solved marketing problems
Mark Zweig
What are some of those, you may ask? Here is what I see and hear: 1. Marketing people are still treated like second class citizens in some companies. This has been a long-term problem. Marketing people are viewed by some design professionals just as support people, instead of equally important team members when it comes to securing new work. That demotivates them, reduces the quality of their output, and leads to high turnover of the people in these jobs. This is not good and is easily resolved. Educate your people and set a good example yourself. 2. Companies are not doing nearly enough research on the clients they have potential to work with. You still see this regularly. The team
presenting for the work knows nothing about the organization they are presenting to. Who are the key people and what are their roles? What big events have affected the potential client recently? What are their plans for their organization? What do you know that can be employed to communicate to the client that you have done your homework? This is important stuff and is the difference between doing what you need to do to win or just going through the motions. 3. Basic information on firm websites is too difficult to find. It still amazes me when I cannot find a physical address or phone number on a company. Or a concise description of what they do. Or info on their key people. Or a real representation
See MARK ZWEIG , page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER JUNE 20, 2022, ISSUE 1446
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