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STEPHEN LUCY, from page 5

“It provides the basic steps on how to approach the prob- lem,” says Aviram. “This is a good place to start [for the pri- vate sector].” The information in the technical note is vetted by experts, consolidated in one place, and is easy to purchase and di- gest. Though the technical note might intimidate those who are not in the industry, for those who are, the formulas are easy. “If you were a structural engineer, you would say, ‘Oh, I can do this,’” Aviram says. She referenced the Boston Marathon bombing of April 2013, when two pressure cooker devices exploded, kill- ing three and injuring more than 260. Detonated on a city street, far from a military installation, the Boston bombs highlighted the fact that a terrorist attack can take place anywhere and at anytime, and that blast standards can have great currency in the civilian world. “You don’t need much to come up with a design to save peo- ple,” Aviram says. Given that selling is the lifeblood of our firms, we cannot afford not to invest in training our staffs in how to best accomplish this all-important task. And who best to train your technical people in selling than your business development and marketing staff? Not only will your technical staff be better prepared, but your non-technical staff will gain a better understanding of the technical services offered by your firm. “Times have changed and our industry has grown to appreciate the value and absolute necessity of marketing and business development.” THE FUTURE: A HYBRID SELLING MODEL. The most successful busi- ness development is accomplished by someone who has the technical expertise to address the specific needs of your clients, combined with the market knowledge to position the firm, and the social skills to engage the client. People with these skills are few and far between, especially when you consider the old joke that an extroverted engineer is one who looks at your shoes instead of his during a conver- sation. To overcome this shortage, use seller-doer teams consisting of non-technical marketing and business development staff (the seller), to do the research, maintain the knowledge base, and make the cold calls combined with technical staff (the doer), who can convey the specific expertise to win over the clients. This also relieves the preparation burden from the technical professional so they can maintain utilization on billable work. This synergy of expertise is a win-win approach for everyone. STEPHEN LUCY is CEO of JQ with offices in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and Lubbock, Texas. Contact him at slucy@jqeng.com.

knowledge is the real differentiator of successful firms. FOCUS ON WHERE THE WORK IS AND WILL BE. Random business de- velopment, based on meeting people at conferences and networking events, may help to build relationships but will not accelerate growth. Your business development profes- sionals will need to not just focus on where the work is, but also on where the work will be. The effort must be much more strategic as the primary function of selling is to se- cure the future of the firm, not simply the present. You must be able to address these questions: What markets will be relevant a year from now or five years from now? How can you position your firm to be a leader and not a follower in the market? TECHNOLOGY IS A LIBERATOR. The good news about research is that it doesn’t take an army to dig up information in this digital age. What was once reserved for only the largest and most affluent firms is now easily accomplished by any firm willing to devote time to the process. Research is now just a click away. Just as important as external research is cataloging, maintaining, and updating internal knowledge. Otherwise, you are perpetually recreating your firm history and record of what makes your firm unique and most qualified. Utilizing a robust CRM platform which is geared toward the AEC industry is a wise decision and will pay long-term dividends on that investment of time and capital. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TRAINING FOR ALL STAFF. State statutes re- quire most of us to participate in continuing education as a condition for maintaining our licensure. We understand that absent this continuous learning experience, the tech- nical training we received in college will become dated and hinder our ability to provide quality service to our clients. However, what was missing from most of our collegiate experiences was training in how to market and sell.

ANTITERRORISM, from page 7

building envelopes, specifically exterior walls. Peer review- ers were Farid Alfawakhiri of the American Iron and Steel Institute, Kelvin Chan of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Ady Aviram of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (Hot Firm #82 for 2016). “In recent years, the DoD Unified Facilities Criteria program has developed documents to help walk a designer through the process; however, a considerable confusion still exists.” Aviram, a Ph.D. in structural engineering, says blast regu- lations are mandated for U.S. military structures. But the information highlighted in the technical note, she says, is also meant for private sector use. In particular, those who are interested in low-level protection, not battlefield-grade bunkers, should find the report illuminating.

THE ZWEIG LETTER August 22, 2016, ISSUE 1165

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