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CHAD CLINEHENS, from page 5

to continue seeking exclusivity over what intellectual prop- erty it’s developed. “If you get an issued patent, you can eliminate much of the competition by controlling the patent,” Kack says. “We seek to establish a first mover position for advanced sensor ap- plications within the UAS industry.” As a 6,500-person global firm, Cardno is well aware of the global potential of its workflow process. There are aban- doned uranium mines across the world. But in a global con- text, several considerations come into play. Can an issued patent be protected? Does the country have a real problem with abandoned uranium mines? And are there resources for projects? “There are countries that have the resources and commit- ment to complete remediation and others that are not there yet,” Kack says. “Initially our focus will be on the countries that have active programs and resources to conduct proj- ects.” Research shows that perceived quality of your firm’s services can drive financial performance, one way or the other. The next time you talk about branding and someone in your firm rolls their eyes, break out the definition of brand equity and give them the mathematical perspective on this and tie it into project management. That should get their attention. Become the firm that walks the walk when it comes to quality. Trust me, it will differentiate you from your competitors, many of which talk about it, but provide average service. CHAD CLINEHENS is Zweig Group’s executive vice president. Contact him at cclinehens@zweiggroup.com. get back to work. Feedback without action is a waste of re- sources. View client feedback as a two-way street. Consider having your PMs send out regular reports to clients outlining the work completed so far, any needed resources, and what is next. It is a tremendous communication builder, and con- sidering communication problems are the number one cause of quality problems, this practice should improve real quality and thus the perceived quality. z Make quality Job One. This does not mean that everything else comes second. It means that everything else supports a true commitment to quality control. That means that during a tight market like the one we are in now, we are hiring people to keep the workload at reasonable levels and the quality high. If you are trying to hire and are having trouble, then ask yourself why. Do you need to outsource your recruiting? Do you need to improve your pay and benefits? Do you need to consider an acquisition? A serious commitment to making quality Job One means that someone in the firm is making this their mission and they are addressing any problems that get in the way. To conclude, stop talking about how great your quality is and actually measure it. And then, no matter how good it is, make improvements to close the gap even further. If quality is good, look at threats down the road. Are your people working so hard that you are going to lose them, thus threatening quality? Put a high-level person in your firm in charge of monitoring quality, a most important feature of your business.

financial performance. Perceived quality is often a major strategic thrust of a business and is often heavily promoted by A/E firms. Perceived quality in professional service firms can drive other aspects of how a brand is perceived. Most A/E firms promote quality and talk about innovation when neither matches up with the perception of their clients. “Stop talking about how great your quality is and actually measure it.” That is why we use the term “perceived quality” as opposed to just quality. Quality is subjective. When we talk in terms of perceived quality, it forces us to look through the lens of our clients and face reality. For firm leaders, this is about bringing marketing, sales, and project management into alignment, and closing the gap of our beliefs versus reality. Unfortunately, these groups are separated from each other in many A/E firms. Here are a few things to consider implementing to improve perceived quality in your firm: z Connect marketing and sales with project management. Marketing staff needs to be more plugged into projects and clients. And likewise, project management needs to be more plugged into marketing, messaging, and branding. The first opportunity to fumble here is not following through on perceived promises made during proposals and interviews. Develop a list of all of the things you said you would do in the business development process and give that list to the project manager before they write up the scope and fee estimate. This assures that all of those services have a cost associated with them, and offers the client the opportunity to pay for them or not. Additionally, invite your marketing and BD staff to meet- ings where projects and upcoming work are discussed. z Implement a continuous client feedback system. The goal here is to get real feedback that you can use to improve your services and close the gap on what is believed to be the quality of your service versus the reality. Firms are not do- ing a good job of getting feedback, and even when they do, too many are not using the info. Part of the reason for this is that firms like to check the client feedback box and then

CARDNO INC., from page 7

consumer of uranium, but is expected to be overtaken by China at some point in the near future. The competitive market in drone technology is undergoing explosive growth. Business Insider says drones will consoli- date around agriculture, energy, utilities, mining, construc- tion, real estate, media, and film. Business Insider also says that on the commercial/civilian side, the drone market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 19 percent be- tween 2015 and 2020. Cardno not only uses drones, but has a significant presence in the drone industry. The firm has FAA 333 exemptions allowing it to legally fly more than 1,150 different drone platforms nationwide from ground level to an altitude of 400 feet in unrestricted airspace. Cardno maintains a fleet of drones and sensors, and has a professional team of pilots. Its workflow process for uraniummines is but the latest ser- vice in its comprehensive drone package. And the firm plans

THE ZWEIG LETTER June 13, 2016, ISSUE 1156

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