1115

A LOOK AHEAD

READER RESPONSE In response to Mark Zweig’s column in TZL issue 1113 on July 27, reader Chris Hillmann, president and CEO of Hillmann Consulting (Union, NJ), contributed three lessons he’s learned: ❚ ❚ Serve a charitable cause (or multiple causes) together as a company. We do it every year, but this year we are doing it 30 times (actually more like 40) to celebrate our 30th anniversary. You can imagine how much this has built camaraderie within our team and with some of the client teams we volunteer with … not to mention how good it feels. Imagine waking up to emailed photos of children an employee you sponsored is serving at an orphanage in Haiti or the thanks we received from a couple who lost their home in Hurricane Sandy as we put the finishing touches on their new home for Habitat for Humanity. ❚ ❚ You’ve said it before, there is no substitute for personal contact with your clients. So, get out of the office often, even just in the evening to attend cocktail networking events or, better yet, evening charity functions, if you are too busy 9-5. ❚ ❚ Our first attorney 30 years ago taught me the value of respecting the corporation. Pour money back in, and it rewards you with a healthy balance sheet, which our banking and insurance clients find very appealing. I asked our business banker back in the throes of recession in 2009 why we were still a good risk. He told me stories of owners with multiple vacation homes or big boats who were at the doorstep of bankruptcy because of lavish personal spending at the expense of retained earnings. The bankers simply love the respect we give the business. Don’t kill the golden goose! WHAT DO YOU THINK? Send us your responses to columns and/or articles, and we might publish them in THE ZWEIG LETTER.

Zweig Group is finalizing preparations for its 2015 Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference, September 3-4 in Boston. In fact, we’re so excited about the conference, that we’re devoting entire issues of THE ZWEIG LETTER to highlighting the event and award recipients. Next week’s TZL will focus on the 2015 Marketing Excellence awards. Remember, attendees should register for the conference by August 21 . We look forward to seeing you there! 2015

Attendees of the 2015 Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference are eligible for 15 continuing education credits! You don’t have to be an award winner to come to the Hot Firm & A/E Industry Awards Conference! The event is a great place to network and learn, and all A/E/P and environmental professionals are welcome!

#HOTFIRM2015 COUNTDOWN

#HOTFIRM2015 ATTENDANCE

More than 145 firms * have registered for the Hot Firm & A/E Industry Awards Conference, but there’s still room for you! Register today at zweiggroup.com/conference .

DAYS

*As of end of business on July 31.

EDITOR’S NOTE Longtime readers will likely notice that this week’s TZL looks a little different. That’s because this special edition celebrates – and has been taken over by – all things BEST FIRMS TO WORK FOR ! THE ZWEIG LETTER will return to its normal appearance on August 24.

MARK ZWEIG , from page 1

3)Profitable companies have management that takes action. They don’t just wring their hands or delegate the problem to a committee that cannot even meet because they have too much project work. They act. And they act quickly. They know that you cannot rationalize for why you aren’t making money and instead have to match costs to workload. They know that you cannot afford a losing month because you have to make up for it next month and that losing months kill morale and motivation. They just plain DO what they need to do every month to make a profit, even if that means doing hard stuff that they don’t like to do. 4)Profitable companies have owners and managers who have a healthy self- esteem. They don’t go into a new client relationship expecting to get beaten down on fee or to have AR collection problems. They don’t think they should just work for anyone who will give them a job. They know they are good – heck, they know they are BETTER than good – and WILL be paid accordingly. Because they have high self- esteem they don’t want to waste their time. So, all of these good things happen and the virtuous cycle repeats itself. I know this probably sounds terrible to some of you, but I can meet a CEO of a company in this industry and form an opinion within just a few minutes about whether or not that person is likely to be running a profitable business. I’m not always right, but I am right a lot more than I’m wrong about it. The defining characteristics above are only part of the story; the rest of it is not so clear. I’m not so sure charisma is such a bad thing, in spite of Jim Collins’ work in Good to Great . But, that’s the subject of another article!

38West Trenton Blvd., Suite 101 Fayetteville, AR 72701 Mark Zweig | Publisher mzweig@zweiggroup.com Andrea Bennett | Managing Editor abennett@zweiggroup.com Christina Zweig | Contributing Editor christinaz@zweiggroup.com Liisa Andreassen | Correspondent lsullivan@zweiggroup.com Richard Massey | Correspondent rmassey@zweiggroup.com

Tel: 800-466-6275 Fax: 508-653-6522 E-mail: info@zweiggroup.com Online: www.thezweigletter.com Twitter: twitter.com/zweigletter Blog: blog.zweiggroup.com Published continuously since 1992 by Zweig Group, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. ISSN 1068-1310. Issued weekly (48 issues/yr.). $475 for one-year subscription, $775 for two-year subscription. Article reprints: For high-quality reprints, including Eprints and NXTprints, please contact The YGS Group at 717-399-1900, ext. 139, or e-mail TheZweigLetter@TheYGSGroup.com . © Copyright 2015, Zweig Group. All rights reserved.

MARK ZWEIG is founder and CEO of Zweig Group. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.

BEST FIRMS ARE ALSO PROFITABLE FIRMS Research shows direct correlation between workplace morale and financial results. In 2010, Forbes ’ “100 Best Companies to Work For” earned 3.5 percent more than average returns.

THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGUST 10, 2015, ISSUE 1115

Made with FlippingBook Annual report