TZL 1361 (web)

Landscape architect billing rates T R E N D L I N E S S e p t emb e r 2 8 , 2 0 2 0 , I s s u e 1 3 6 1 W W W . T H E Z W E I G L E T T E R . C O M

Embrace this period of rapid evolution and push yourself even further out of your comfort zone. Quantum evolution

Billing rates for more than 200 job titles within the AEC industry were presented in Zweig Group’s 2020 Fee & Billing Report of AEC Firms . The chart above shows the yearly trend of median billing rates for landscape architects and senior landscape architects . We’ve seen an annual increase in billing rates of about 7 percent between these two positions over the last five years. Participate in a survey and save 50 percent on the final or pre- publication price of any Zweig Group research publication. F I R M I N D E X BSA LifeStructures................................12 CT Consultants.....................................10 Dewberry................................................2 Eprica. ....................................................4 LERA Consulting Structural Engineers.....6 Sain Associates. .....................................4 Ware Malcomb........................................4 MO R E A R T I C L E S xz JOE MEADS: Training engineers to be sales leaders Page 3 xz Indispensable: Benjamin Cornelius Page 6 xz MARK ZWEIG: Forgotten fundamentals Page 9 xz DAVID MILLER: Don’t sell, be helpful Page 12

W e work in an amazing industry – the industry that plans, designs, and constructs the backbone of society – the designers of our way of life. The new generations are looking for purpose in their work, and we’ve got it in AEC. Big time. So why do we have such a significant recruiting and retention challenge? Part of it is because, let’s face it, we are slow to change. We like to study, analyze, and wait to see the results from other industries. The reality is that as an industry, we’ve been satisfied with the pace of our evolution while we’ve significantly lagged other industries in measures of workplace advancements like diversity, flexibility, and digitization. In biological terms, I would characterize this pace of evolution as “phyletic gradualism,” the idea that change generally occurs uniformly and by steady and gradual transformation. It’s comfortable evolution. There are also firms that find themselves in what is called “punctuated equilibrium” which proposes that once a species appears in the fossil record, the population will become stable, showing little evolutionary change for the rest of its history. It’s true that older, larger firms can plateau if they don’t keep pressing harder and harder. And let’s face it, that’s hard. As you grow your firm, the effort needed to sustain growth and to keep evolving becomes more difficult. You’ve got to increase your investments in critical business functions like marketing, HR, and IT. You’ve also got to grow your C-suite and have people dedicated to managing the business. Not everyone can work on projects forever! All that can be hard. But it’s the hard things that make great leaders and companies. All of our Jerry Allen Courage In Leadership award winners have one thing in common – doing the hard things needed to have extraordinary success. Whether it’s firing a business partner, a big investment, battling cancer, going without a paycheck in the recession – all of these things require courage and hard work. You know what else is hard? COVID. But it is this extremely hard time that is forcing some much needed change for us as individuals and as an industry. We are clearly now in that state called “quantum evolution” which happens when, on very rare occasions, evolution proceeds very rapidly to form entirely new families, orders, and classes of organisms. We were forced into it. It wasn’t our choice. It does, however provide a tremendous opportunity to close those previously referenced lags in workplace advancements like diversity, flexibility, and digitization. I challenge you, as a leader, to focus on the activities that will enable you to make greater progress on those and other advancements beyond what

Chad Clinehens

See CHAD CLINEHENS, page 2

T H E V O I C E O F R E A S O N F O R T H E A E C I N D U S T R Y

BUSINESS NEWS UVA’S BRANDON AVENUE/GREEN STREET UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT RECEIVES ENR MIDATLANTIC AWARD Dewberry , a professional services firm, announced that ENR MidAtlantic selected the University of Virginia’s Brandon Avenue/Green Street utility infrastructure project as the winner of the best project award in the Landscape/Urban Development category. As part of the project, the university redeveloped 14 acres adjacent to both the academic and health system grounds as a vibrant mixed- use district. The development included a new signature street design with a bioretention median that would treat the entire district’s stormwater needs. In addition, new central utility infrastructure was extended to serve six new buildings, including chilled water, storm sewer, sanitary sewer, domestic water, low temperature hot water, a medium temperature hot water to low temperature hot water conversion hub, electrical ductbank, and communication service.

The project was submitted to ENR MidAtlantic by Barton Malow Holdings LLC. “Having spent nearly four years working on this project, we are thrilled to see it through to completion and ultimately see it recognized by ENR MidAtlantic,” says Dewberry Project Manager Devin Keeler, PE, LEED AP. “UVA is a world-class educational institution and as it continues to attract students from across the globe, creating a new iconic district and improving the infrastructure systems were necessary tasks to accommodate the growth and expansion.” Dewberry is a leading, market-facing firm with a proven history of providing professional services to a wide variety of public- and private- sector clients. Established in 1956, Dewberry is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, with more than 50 locations and more than 2,000 professionals nationwide.

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CHAD CLINEHENS, from page 1

COVID is forcing. Embrace the quantum evolution and push yourself even further out of your comfort zone. There are a few areas where firms need to advance in order to grow better and stronger: ❚ ❚ Diversity. Get beyond the check the box mentality, and realize that authentically embracing diversity now goes a long way in solving the recruiting side of the recruiting/ retention challenge. Our ElevateHer Symposium which is part of the Elevate AEC Virtual Experience, kicks off on September 30th and includes an incredible lineup of keynote speakers and presentations from five cohorts. The cohorts will present theses on various strategies and tactics for successfully advancing diversity in your firm, all aimed at improving recruiting and retention. The event is free, so invite your entire leadership team. The takeaways will be incredibly valuable. ❚ ❚ Flexibility. Figure out a way to keep flexibility after COVID. This is essential for the retention side of the recruiting/retention change. In a previous article, I stated that award winning firms of the future will be made up of heroes at home, not just at work as our lives and profession are intertwined like never before. In a post-COVID world, this won’t (and shouldn’t) change. We needed more flexibility in this industry; let’s keep it. ❚ ❚ Digitization. We will call this “IT.” For many years, our data on the highest performing firms shows that IT investments were one of the top three drivers of growth. Without a doubt, the firms that had the smoothest transition and the strongest performance since COVID, were firms that had significantly better IT infrastructure than their peers. You should now be devising a way to get an even greater advantage in this area. To make great progress on these and the other things that will make your firm more competitive than ever, do hard things now. Don’t focus on how you can get back to the way things were, instead develop a completely new vision of the future where your firm can operate smartly and efficiently in any environment, including a longer-term COVID world. What will separate extraordinary firms from average firms is continuing this quantum leap – intentionally! CHAD CLINEHENS is Zweig Group’s president and CEO. Contact him at cclinehens@zweiggroup.com. THE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE The 2020 Elevate AEC Virtual Experience will be an eight-week event, providing attendees powerful thought leadership and networking opportunities through highly produced live interactions. This experience will kick off with the inaugural ElevateHer Symposium and will include daily doses of keynote speeches, learning sessions, virtual social mixing events, and awards celebrations. Learn more.

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THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1361

O P I N I O N

Grow your firm and bolster future success by training and mentoring technical staff to participate in your firm’s sales and marketing efforts. Training engineers to be sales leaders

A popular notion in the marketplace is that most engineers are introverts, and they would prefer to do design work all day on the computer rather than get out and network to get new business. While there is some truth to this idea, the challenge for many consulting engineering firms is to train and mentor technical staff to participate in sales and marketing, which is very important to a company’s future success.

Joe Meads

In my case, I found early in my career that I enjoyed business development, maybe even more than engineering. Twenty-three years ago, I was a professional engineer managing a wide range of different types of projects. During that time, I was given the option to change positions with our marketing director. She was not a professional engineer, but she liked managing projects, and I liked marketing best. Since that time, I’ve found my engineering experience has helped me tremendously as a business development leader in our company. One of the strategic issues that we saw at Sain Associates was that we needed to increase our bench strength for participation in business development activities rather than just rely on one or two people. During an annual strategic

planning event, we came up with the idea of starting a Team Sales Leader Program so that we could grow our firm and prepare for future transition within the company. Before identifying sales leaders for each discipline, our staff completed a personal business development evaluation. The evaluation provided information on general business development activities such as building relationships, social media, volunteering, and writing articles and blogs. Each staff person gave a strength/weakness inventory assessment on their self and business development activities that fit them. Some of the strengths reported in the assessments included organization, technical writing, small talk, client

See JOE MEADS, page 4

THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1361

BUSINESS NEWS WARE MALCOMB ANNOUNCES CONSTRUCTION IS COMPLETE ON THE ALLES GROUP CORPORATE OFFICE IN MEXICO Ware Malcomb , an award- winning international design firm, announced construction is complete on the new corporate office of AG Innova Partners SA de CV, known as The Alles Group, located at Equus Parque Corporativo, in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, México. Ware Malcomb provided interior architecture and design services for the tenant improvement project. The 480 square meter office space was designed for The Alles Group, a leading brokerage firm, and their partner EGA Project Management, a construction management firm. The design features an open office environment with a reception area, multiple collaboration areas, a hospitality station which can be integrated with other adjacent

spaces for teamwork, conference rooms of various sizes, private offices, phone booths, a print/copy station, and a break room. “The Alles Group wanted a space that could serve as a showroom for the firm’s industrial market expertise, while also creating a warm and collaborative environment for employees, clients and visitors,” said Andres Galvis, Ware Malcomb Regional Director, Latin America. “This new corporate office meets the current needs of both The Alles Group and EGA Project Management, in addition to giving them the flexibility to continue to grow in the future.” The general contractor for the project is Eprica . Established in 1972, Ware Malcomb is a

contemporary and expanding full service design firm providing professional architecture, planning, interior design, civil engineering, branding and building measurement services to corporate, commercial/residential developer and public/institutional clients throughout the world. With office locations throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, Ware Malcomb specializes in the design of commercial office, corporate, industrial, science andtechnology, healthcare, retail, auto, public/institutional facilities and renovation projects. Ware Malcomb is recognized as an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private company and a Hot Firm by Zweig Group.

JOE MEADS, from page 3

❚ ❚ Working with the business development team to organize marketing plans to help reach the team’s sales target ❚ ❚ External tasks, including: ❚ ❚ Attending networking and other business development events (with help from a mentor as needed) ❚ ❚ Maintaining contact with existing clients to cultivate relationships and develop additional work ❚ ❚ Sales leaders should: ❚ ❚ Have an interest in and aptitude for tracking performance metrics ❚ ❚ Be proactive in identifying opportunities and improving processes ❚ ❚ Have a strong desire for continual learning and an ability to adapt to new markets, solutions, and processes ❚ ❚ Look at trend lines and forecast six to eight months into the future ❚ ❚ Identify the best use of marketing resources ❚ ❚ Develop tracking sheet of significant investments and outcomes Another critical component of the process is that an owner was assigned as a mentor to two of our sales leaders. Assignments were made based on the gifts and attributes of each owner and team sales leader. The mentor meets regularly with the mentee to help them grow in their sales skills and to encourage them in their efforts. Incorporating the Team Sales Leader Program into our marketing strategy has been a radical change, but it will help me as I get closer to retirement and transition marketing duties to others. JOE MEADS, P.E. is a principal/owner at Sain Associates. Founded in 1972, Sain Associates is a full-service consulting engineering firm that specializes in civil engineering, transportation planning and engineering, surveying, construction engineering and inspection, and geographic information systems. Sain Associates is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, with additional branch offices in Pulaski, Tennessee and Huntsville, Alabama. He can be contacted via LinkedIn or at joemeads@ sain.com.

entertainment, social media, and serving in organizations, while weaknesses included being intimidated by large groups, networking, cold calls, and social events. After completion of the personal business development evaluation, Sain Associates hired a consultant to conduct a Harrison Assessment of each professional staff member. The Harrison Assessment is a job-specific personality and behavioral test. It analyzes the organization’s leadership capability, talent pipeline, likely talent retention rate, and provides actionable insights into company engagement, leadership development, and succession planning. We provided our job description to the testing consultant as a guide for characteristics necessary for a good fit with the team sales leader’s duties. The Harrison report gave scores on individuals in four categories – job success analysis, engagement and retention, paradox (behavioral patterns in response to stress), and emotional intelligence. After receiving the scores, our chief operating officer held individual meetings with our staff, and then the company owners selected sales leaders for each discipline. Under my direction, a team sales leader coordinates his or her team’s business development efforts, encourages his or her team to attain sales targets, and surpasses customer expectations. Our sales leaders help their team establish a business development pipeline that progresses toward meeting the financial objectives of the team and the company. Behind every sales leader is the interest to talk to individuals from different backgrounds and to develop meaningful relationships. Sales leaders are expected to do: ❚ ❚ Internal tasks, including: ❚ ❚ Coordinating and tracking team efforts in business development ❚ ❚ Helping the director of business development with identifying staff training needs and potential sources for training ❚ ❚ Holding team members accountable for accomplishing assigned business development activities

THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1361

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THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1361

P R O F I L E

Indispensable: Benjamin Cornelius Partner at LERA Consulting Structural Engineers (New York, NY), a firm that has created innovative, yet constructible and economical structural designs since 1923.

By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent

C ornelius has been with LERA since 1994. He leads the firm’s Investigations and Expert Witness Practice and is an experienced expert witness. He has conducted more than 30 forensic investigations in North America, Europe, and Asia in disputes totaling more than $700 million. “Trust is something you build over time,” Cornelius says. “We build trust by answering clients’ calls at any time, by taking steps to make sure they know their needs are at the top of our list of priorities, and by consistently delivering reliable and useful information on time.” A CONVERSATION WITH BENJAMIN CORNELIUS. The Zweig Letter: How has your role changed since you first started working with LERA? What’s been the most significant change for you as a LERA leader? Benjamin Cornelius: I joined the firm right after college and had the good fortune to work for structural engineers

at the top of our profession on projects around the world. From those individuals and experiences, I learned what great design is and how it can be achieved, as well as how to manage others in serving clients. Now I offer those learning experiences to new generations, while continuing my own growth with the benefit of the fresh perspective that new engineers offer. I have come to appreciate the great energy, creativity, and value that our younger generations of engineers bring to the profession, and I have enjoyed discovering how their different perspectives and enthusiasm for new tools can be focused to help our clients achieve and often surpass their goals. One of the greatest changes has been how much more transparent we have become with respect to how we operate the firm. That has been very important for us in retaining key people and inspiring them to grow into our next generation of leaders.

THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTE

TZL: How far into the future are you able to reliably predict your workload and cashflow? BC: From my perspective, global uncertainty has generally shortened the visible horizon on what comes next, but I have also grown more confident that clients appreciate our focus on high- quality service and will continue to seek us out and give us repeat assignments. “I try to lead by example, work hard alongside my team, show them respect and help them see opportunities to grow and bring unique value to our work.” TZL: What role does your family play in your career? Are work and family separate, or is there overlap? BC: They are the reason I do what I do and why I am able to do it. TZL: Trust is crucial. How do you earn the trust of your clients? BC: Trust is something you build over time. We build trust by answering clients’ calls at any time, by taking steps to make sure they know their needs are at the top of our list of priorities, and by consistently delivering reliable and useful information on time. TZL: Artificial intelligence and machine learning are potential disruptors across all industries. Is your firm exploring how to incorporate these technologies into providing improved services for clients? BC: Yes. Our work, both design and forensic, is about matching known patterns of behavior – be they behaviors of materials, assemblies, or humans – with conditions that are desired or exist at a project site. For example, a developer may try to maximize the amount of usable space he can build on a site with a height restriction and soil contamination. A computer program might synthesize those two criteria and find floor framing configurations that may have a higher unit cost, but are shallow and light enough to minimize the height per story and the degree to which we need to disturb the contaminated soil. The key is knowing with clarity and precision what is most valuable and then using computational tools to find it. In a forensic investigation,

we might write or use software to recognize certain failure patterns that suggest the origin of a collapse or to highlight anomalies in project records that help the investigator winnow the list of likely causes. We have a research and development group that is very adept at figuring out what we as designers and investigators value and at building custom software to seek it out. TZL: Where would you like to see LERA in five years? BC: I would like to see us continue to grow as a group of a dozen or so complimentary and collaborative studios, each practicing at the top of its sector; and I would like to see us continue to do meaningful, high- quality work and serve clients in ways that make us indispensable. In addition, I would like LERA to be better known for the breadth of our work. We have long been known for being at the forefront of tall building design, but our expertise is so much broader. We’re also acknowledged as one of the leading engineering firms in the world for projects that include great civic and public projects, cultural facilities, healthcare buildings and laboratories, and forensic investigations. “A firm like LERA thrives when we have people with a number of different perspectives and strengths, but similar values, working together to accomplish a clear mission.”

HEADQUARTERS: New York City NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 140 YEAR FOUNDED: 1923 OFFICE LOCATIONS: ❚ ❚ New York City ❚ ❚ Shanghai ❚ ❚ Mumbai ❚ ❚ Hong Kong SERVICES: ❚ ❚ Forensic engineering ❚ ❚ Peer review ❚ ❚ Design ❚ ❚ Adaptive reuse/renovation ❚ ❚ Historic preservation ❚ ❚ Special inspections ❚ ❚ Façade inspection safety program ❚ ❚ Expert witness and litigation ❚ ❚ Arts consultations ❚ ❚ BIM and computational design ❚ ❚ Technology consulting MARKET SECTORS: ❚ ❚ Mixed use – towers and office buildings ❚ ❚ Mixed use – residences and hotels ❚ ❚ Museums and cultural facilities ❚ ❚ Academic and healthcare facilities ❚ ❚ Renovations and retail spaces ❚ ❚ Convention centers and public facilities ❚ ❚ Transportation and sports facilities ❚ ❚ Special structures

TZL: What type of leader do you consider yourself to be?

BC: I try to lead by example, work hard alongside my team, show them respect and help them see opportunities to grow and bring unique value to our work. As an approach, it has its challenges, but I think it has contributed to the development of a motivated, high-performing team and excellent service to our clients. TZL: How are you balancing investment in the next generation – which is at an all-time high – with rewards for tenured staff? This has always been a challenge, but seems heightened as investments in development have increased. BC: I value the fresh approaches and energy that our younger staff bring to their work, and I value the hard-won

See INDISPENSABLE, page 8

EMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1361

ON THE MOVE WARE MALCOMB ANNOUNCES IN-HOUSE PRODUCTION STUDIO PROMOTIONS Ware Malcomb , an award-winning international design firm, announced a series of promotions in the firm’s Irvine, California, and Mexico City-based in-house Production Studio, a dedicated production team that specializes in contract documents and supports all of Ware Malcomb’s offices across North America. Claudia Torres, Ana Cervantes, and Sofia Chagolla have all been promoted to the position of studio manager, production. Ware Malcomb’s in-house Production Studio provides a unique and innovative approach to the production of contract documents as part of the firm’s overall project delivery system. The Production Studio provides high-quality construction drawings at an accelerated pace to service each of Ware Malcomb’s offices. This dedicated and highly-trained group of professionals enables the firm to consistently produce construction drawings that are complete and accurate in coordination with the project team. “I want to congratulate Claudia, Ana, and Sofia for their well-deserved promotions,” said Kenneth Wink, CEO of Ware Malcomb. “Ware Malcomb’s in-house Production Studio is a real competitive advantage across our markets, and these three talented and dedicated individuals are a big part of its success and growth. Under the leadership of Ilyes Nouizi, associate principal, Resource Services, the entire team at Ware Malcomb’s in-house

Production Studio has continually risen to the challenge of meeting the ever-expanding demands of the firm.” Torres joined Ware Malcomb in 2013 and was promoted to production manager in 2015. In this role, she was responsible for all production work for Interior Design projects for the West region. Last year, Torres was tasked with starting a new team dedicated to supporting Ware Malcomb’s corporate account projects. She holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California in Mexicali, B.C., Mexico. “Claudia has been instrumental in establishing and growing the production team and setting up many of the standards that they use today,” said Ilyes Nouizi, associate principal, Resource Services. “She sets the bar very high when it comes to dedication to her work and to Ware Malcomb.” Cervantes joined Ware Malcomb in 2015 and was promoted to production manager in 2018. Cervantes immediately established herself as a leader and has been essential to the growth of the production team specializing in Architecture projects for the West region. Cervantes holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California in Mexicali, B.C., Mexico. “From day one, Ana has been involved with every aspect of the day-to-day operations of the Production Studio,” said Nouizi. “Her hard work, dedication, and immediate impact on the

group have earned her multiple promotions, and we look forward to her continued success at the firm.” Chagolla joined Ware Malcomb in 2015 and was promoted to production manager in 2018. She immediately established herself as the lead for the production of all Interior Architecture projects in the group. Chagolla holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California in Mexicali, B.C., Mexico. “Sofia has done an amazing job managing and growing the team, which has the challenging task of supporting our international and East Coast offices with their diverse and specific needs,” said Nouizi. “Sofia has also been involved with every aspect of the day-to-day operations of the Production Studio, and we look forward to her continued contributions in the years ahead.” Established in 1972, Ware Malcomb is a contemporary and expanding full service design firm providing professional architecture, planning, interior design, civil engineering, branding and building measurement services to corporate, commercial/residential developer and public/institutional clients throughout the world. With office locations throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico, the firm specializes in the design of commercial office, corporate, industrial, science & technology, healthcare, retail, auto, public/institutional facilities and renovation projects. Ware Malcomb is recognized as a Hot Firm by Zweig Group.

INDISPENSABLE, from page 7

BC: The thing that I am most proud of, professionally, is the growing body of work that my team and I have done together and the growing list of strong client relationships that we have built in the course of that work. LERA has a culture in which we all take very seriously our commitment to excellent care of clients. On design projects, that means we bring ideas that create new opportunities and work to develop clear, reliable designs for elegant, constructible, and economical structures. On forensic projects, that means we draw from our extensive experience as designers to bring clarity to the issues that cause problems on construction projects and provide reliable opinions and advice. TZL: A firm’s longevity is valuable. What are you doing to encourage your staff to stick around? BC: We are taking steps to transfer ownership of a portion of the company to members of our senior staff. We think that personal investment in the firm by a larger group of our team members will help us retain key people and enable the firm to continue delivering the high-quality service for which LERA is known as the company grows. It is our expectation that investors will be motivated and empowered. And it is this kind of commitment that will be essential to continuing to deliver the high-quality service LERA is known for as the company grows.

experience and intuition of our veterans. A firm like LERA thrives when we have people with a number of different perspectives and strengths, but similar values, working together to accomplish a clear mission. I think it’s important to establish reward systems that recognize everything that we need to function at our best. “I have come to appreciate the great energy, creativity, and value that our younger generations of engineers bring to the profession.” TZL: They say failure is a great teacher. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve had to learn the hard way? BC: That struggle is a natural and necessary part of doing something important and well. If it seems easy, we probably haven’t gone far enough to think about how a design problem can or should be solved or, in the case of a forensic investigation, why something bad happened. TZL: With extensive experience in structural design and forensic investigations around the world, what do you consider one of your greatest professional achievements? Why?

THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1361

O P I N I O N

Forgotten fundamentals

“Sometimes I think it is good to reflect back on all the lessons I have learned over the years. Here are a few that stand out to me.”

I was being interviewed by a student the other day for another class he is in. He had to interview someone who had a business that was at least 15 years old. He asked me about Zweig Group and how I learned all I know about the A/E business. I told him I have spent 40 years working in one industry in a wide variety of roles and that I have interacted with literally thousands of companies over that time – and if you do that, you are bound to pick up a lot of information that not everyone else has.

Mark Zweig

2)Pricing will make you or break you. You can sell time, or you can sell the real value of what you do. The choice is yours. Of course, if you want to sell the value of what you do, you will have to do a lot more marketing and selling than you will if you just want to sell hours, because you will run into clients who are not willing to pay you for the value of your expertise. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. She is at the top of a large, international management consulting firm. They never sell time. They sell everything they do in huge fixed-fee contracts. Some of them are $5 million or more. Her mandate, by the way, is to sell at least $12 million a year in fee. They are very successful and at the top of their field because they value themselves and are not willing to give away what they do. They

Sometimes I think it is good to reflect back on all the lessons I have learned over that time. Here are a few that stand out to me as I write this: 1)This is a people business. You have to constantly upgrade your team. But more on that later. Here I want to talk about the collective morale. If your people feel good about what they are doing, and feel good about the company, you as the owner(s) can do well. If they don’t feel good, you won’t do so well. So do the things that help them feel good, and don’t do the things that make them feel bad. Pretty simple, eh? But way too many people forget this simple idea. They don’t worry about things they say or do that could be demotivating and harmful to morale, and act as if everyone is replaceable. As a result, they never achieve what could have been possible business-wise.

See MARK ZWEIG, page 10

THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1361

ON THE MOVE CT CONSULTANTS NAMES CHRISTINA LEGROS TO ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS CT Consultants is proud to announce the appointment of Christina LeGros, executive vice president at CT Consultants, to its board of directors. “Chris is a highly-experienced and well- respected professional within our organization and industry,” said Dave Wiles, president and CEO of CT Consultants. “During her tenure at CT Consultants, she has been an integral thought leader, who has positively shaped the future of the company. Her strategic business acumen and vision has helped lead the organization through numerous acquisitions and expansions of services, while maintaining

the highest caliber of employee and client relations.” LeGros has more than 20 years of combined service within CT Consultants, the majority of which has been spent working to ensure effective execution of organizational strategies and client services. In 2018, she was appointed executive vice president of CT Consultants. Her responsibilities include overseeing the implementation of the firm’s strategic business initiatives, as well leading the firm’s Market and Division Leaders. Prior to being named executive vice president, she held the roles of vice president of business development and manager of planning and funding services.

She holds an MBA from Case Western Reserve University, and a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University. Founded in 1922, CT Consultants is a privately- owned, regional firm headquartered in Mentor, Ohio that has relied on its Midwest values and exceptional commitment to its clients, and the communities served, to earn its well-known and trusted reputation. Today, more than 250 professionals in 12 offices located in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia make up the CT team. The CT team proudly delivers sophisticated, sustainable design solutions that enrich quality of life today and for generations to come.

MARK ZWEIG, from page 9

6)ABR (always be recruiting). Because this business is so dependent on the people you have, managing the composition of your team is one of the most important jobs you have. Act like it! Always be on the lookout for new people who could improve your capabilities. Hire for character and train for technical skills. Never say “never” when it comes to talking with someone about working there, even if you have no official openings to fill. They could be your next superstar. 7)Business planning is always better if you get the input of clients and lower level employees. It always gets me how companies will assemble their BOD or a group of principals to spend two days in a room developing a business plan but have done no work whatsoever to find out what their employees and clients think they should do to improve their business. That is crazy! The people who use your services and the ones who do the bulk of the heavy lifting required to deliver those services need to be heard. Their opinions on how to improve things may be more valuable than those of top management. A smart management team realizes that and includes their input for the planning process. It doesn’t mean they need to physically sit at the table but they should be consulted before that occurs. 8)Good people are rarely the least expensive. Why is it so hard for people in this business to understand this idea? Better people earn more – a lot more – than those who just do the least acceptable job. My experience with A/E firms is way too often the BEST people might make a little more than the others, but nowhere near where they should be if their real contribution to the business were recognized and understood. 9)Bureaucracy kills. One of the top morale killers in this business is bureaucracy. Everyone hates it yet so many A/E firms create it in their efforts to deal with a management issue. Stop having so many meetings. Stop unnecessary steps and forms for people to fill out time sheets, submit expense reports, do performance appraisals, open a new job number, make a business development call, or anything else they have to do that cannot be legitimately charged to a project. Get rid of everything you can that takes people out of production to do it, and focus on making every single internal process and procedure easier. There will be many rewards of doing so. How do you stack up on these fundamentals? If you need to work on them, get on it. Time is wasting! MARK ZWEIG is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.

have some people working for them who get paid $10,000 a day. Imagine what they need to charge their clients to make money on a daily cost rate of $10K! All I could think of as she told me about some of their projects and fees was that I knew a lot of A/E firm owners who could benefit from her thinking about how and what they sell, and how they get the prices they charge. 3)Match your overhead to your workload. There really are few excuses for a lack of profitability. If your firm is well- managed, you are always looking ahead at your backlog and what work you will have in the coming months. And if you have that information you will have to adjust your costs accordingly. Remain slightly understaffed at all times. Keep your overhead as low as possible. Spend money on what makes money and don’t spend it on things that don’t make money. Use some common sense. It just isn’t as difficult as some want to make it out to be. The problem with A/E firms is they aren’t looking ahead and they are often too slow to react to big changes in workload. 4)Increase marketing investment in tough times, don’t decrease it! If you have ever ridden a motorcycle at very high speeds on a race track like I have, you can learn a lot. If you don’t learn to do certain things – like counter-steering (literally turning the handlebars the opposite direction of how you want to turn so the bike leans over), you could easily have a terrible accident and possibly get killed. It is counter to one’s intuition to turn the opposite direction you want to go – right? Marketing expenditures are like that. When revenue drops, most companies think they need to cut back. But they need to do the opposite of that in their marketing and promotion efforts (and budget). And yes, that could mean spending money you don’t feel you have, but not spending it will kill the business and possibly put you in a death spiral of never-ending revenue declines and cost cutting. 5)We lose something by not getting everyone together. All this post-COVID working from home is great in a lot of ways. But it has its downside. People get more disconnected from the firm and the other people in it. This is dangerous for management. So make the extra effort it takes to keep individual morale high and the team rallied. Talk to people on the phone. Check in on them, not just to check to see that they are working but rather to check up on where their heads are and how they are feeling. And maybe even though you don’t have everyone inside an office you should still meet with people face-to-face outside at times.

THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1361

Symposium ElevateHer™ is about the future of the AEC industry and Zweig Group’s commitment to recruiting and retaining the best minds in the industry.

beginning SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

ElevateHer™ is a movement and a commitment to Zweig Group’s mission to Elevate the Industry. The Elevate AEC Virtual Experience will also include the ElevateHer™ Symposium which will begin on September 30th, and include the presentations of our 2020 ElevateHer™ Cohort’s research findings. This is one of the most excit- ing and requested events of 2020. With one cohort presentation each week, the ElevateHer™ Cohort presentations will be open to all and for anyone interested in learning more about how to solve the AEC industry’s top challenge: recruitment and retention. The ElevateHer Symposium is free for everyone to join! Register for the FREE Elevate AEC Virtual Experience to be registered for the ElevateHer Symposium. This virtual program is open to all and for anyone interested in learning more about how to solve the AEC industry’s top challenge: recruitment and retention. The ElevateHER symposium will gather together leaders in the AEC industry, Zweig Group’s ElevateHER 2020 Cohort members, and speakers on topics related to hiring, retaining valuable employees, and fostering a diverse and equitable workplace. Project teams from Zweig Group’s 2020 ElevateHer cohort who have been working in special 6-month long task force groups will present their project findings at this symposium, bringing brand new, tangible, solutions to the industry.

THANK YOU TO OUR ELEVATEHER SPONSORS

QUESTIONS? For group discounts or if you have any questions, contact Olivia Thomas at 479-713-0429, othomas@zweiggroup.com or visit zweiggroup.com. REGISTER NOW

Everything we do is in pursuit of elevating the AEC industry, bringing awareness of the incredible impact that engineers, architects, environmental professionals, survey- ors, planners, landscape architects and related professional service providers have on the world. Empowering organizations with the resources they need to perform better, grow and add jobs, pay better wages and to expand their impact on the community, Zweig Group exists to advance the profession.

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THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1361

O P I N I O N

Don’t sell, be helpful

There are countless ways to develop business without being a business developer, and you are most likely doing some of these things already.

W hat do you think of when someone says they are in “business development?” The most common response is “sales,” followed by “client lunch,” “golf outings,” and other fun descriptors like, “don’t do real work,” “slick talker,” and “LinkedIn for days.” Most people think about someone trying to sell them something, or that annoying automated sales call during dinner.

David Miller

When I think about business development, I try to go to the positive side. What motivates me to buy a particular product or service when I have options? Put simply, I want a good product at a fair price. No one wants to overpay, and they want to make wise decisions about quality and service. In other words, they want to buy from someone knowledgeable and trustworthy. So how can you convincingly convey that message? This is where most technical leaders and other AEC staff tend to cringe. You’ll hear, “I’m not a smooth-talker,” along with, “I don’t want to be a salesperson.” In the professional services industry, we are at a bit of a disadvantage. With products, the consumer sometimes gets a free trial, and nearly always a cheerful refund if they are unhappy with their purchase. We are unable to give our clients the experience of working with us unless they are already a client. Or are we?

I remember being new to an area and needed to find a car mechanic. I was sure I needed a new battery cable installed. It’s a simple project, and I didn’t want to pay too much. At the first place I visited I opened the hood and started walking toward the entrance when the manager came out and shook my hand. I showed him the cable and he said, “Give me just a minute.” He came back out with a spare terminal clamp and a wrench. Two minutes later, he was done. Then he told me there was no charge, and to just remember him if I ever need a mechanic. That did it; I was a loyal customer. That mechanic identified the problem efficiently and helped me out. The experience taught me an important lesson: Don’t sell, be helpful. We can

See DAVID MILLER page 13

THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1361

PRESENTATIONS AND INTERVIEWS. It’s true that more people fear public speaking than dying. But there are other ways to be involved during the preparation stage which taps into your experience. Also, it might be that your ideas about what happens during client visits and interviews is all wrong. If you are a technical person you should be there for your expertise – the things you know like the back of your hand. If you are asked to memorize some lines, they are doing it wrong. You should be speaking about your projects, your stories. Here are some things you can do for presentations and interviews: ❚ ❚ Go to the walk-through. Having a technical person at a walk- through pays off when it comes to understanding the project. Take notes, give your opinion to the team. ❚ ❚ Contribute to the interview planning. Have you worked on a similar project? Have some stories that address their hot button issues? Share your thoughts, use your expertise. ❚ ❚ Attend the interview. If it’s done right, you’ll enjoy it. Speak about what you know, just have a conversation. They’re your stories, right? ❚ ❚ Remember to write a thank you note to everyone you met. KEEPING YOUR CLIENTS. Yes, keeping your existing clients is part of business development too. Beyond doing great work, there are plenty of ways to stay in touch with your clients and continue to be helpful. No one does that better than Southwest Airlines. They send occasional updates and even send me something I can use: Drink tickets! I have to admit, even though I don’t come close to using them all, I look forward to getting them and giving them away. Think about that. They stay in touch, let me know what they are up to, and give me something I can use. Sure, those of us in the AEC industry don’t have drink tickets, but we can still stay in touch and give our clients something they can use. What do we have that they can use? Our knowledge and expertise. Here is what you can do: ❚ ❚ Make sure they are on your mailing list. If you’re doing it right, your newsletter or other updates will have some useful content. ❚ ❚ Connect on social media and follow them. This is the very least you can do. ❚ ❚ Be helpful. Remember, you are the trusted advisor. Don’t wait to be asked. ❚ ❚ Do you read professional journals? Send a link to an article or your blog. Keep bringing the expertise. ❚ ❚ Offer a post-occupancy walk-through after the building has been open a year. ❚ ❚ Invite them to the charity dinner or golf outing. There are countless ways to develop business without being a business developer, and you are most likely doing some of these things already. So, write that note, offer your card, get them on your mailing list. But most importantly, don’t sell, be helpful. DAVID MILLER is the national discovery market leader at BSA LifeStructures. He can be reached at dmiller@bsalifestructures.com.

DAVID MILLER, from page 12

all do that, no matter how busy we are. The rest of this article is about simple, easy ways you can be helpful before, during, and after a project. THE PREPOSITIONING PHASE. Prepositioning happens before there is a project go after, or even if you’re just meeting a new person in a social setting. I was at the State Capitol for an industry-specific event when I sat next to someone for lunch. After the obligatory business card exchange and small talk, he said, “I wish I’d met you a month ago because we just started a project.” So I told him that these are complex buildings, so if he got stuck to call me and I’d help him any way I could – no charge. I had forgotten all about it when the call came weeks later. He went into a few details and our team solved his problem in a few minutes over the phone. All we did was give a bit of help. The next time he needed some help it led to a commission. The lessons here are simple. Here is what you can do: ❚ ❚ Be helpful. Make an offer. ❚ ❚ Find the pain. Just ask what causes them headaches, or what causes their bottlenecks. ❚ ❚ Offer your card. Remember, you are an expert at what you do. If not, you likely work with those who are. You can always make an introduction. ❚ ❚ Write a follow-up note. Or send an email even if it’s just to say you enjoyed meeting them. ❚ ❚ Get them on your list. Does your company have a mailing list for a newsletter? Or maybe you can tell your business development and marketing leaders about your contact. SHOW-AND-TELL PHASE. Just about anyone can tell you that the best marketing is doing great work. What most people don’t tell you is that you still have to tell potential clients about your great work. The show-and-tell phase is all about highlighting the firm’s best work and expertise. Given that the average RFQ response receives only about three minutes of reading time, the show-and-tell phase requires your best photos and project-related stories. Your marketing team likely has a protocol for procuring photography, but what about the stories? The stories happen throughout the design process, as well as during documentation and construction. The only problem is you must capture these stories. So here is what you can do: ❚ ❚ Get them while they’re fresh. In other words, don’t wait until the project is complete to try to remember all the great stories. Make note of them when they happen, before they are forgotten. ❚ ❚ Note them all. How was a problem solved? What went well? Did someone come up with a clever idea or design? Did the team go above and beyond for the client? Something that might seem run of the mill to you could be fascinating to a potential client. Or if it seems a bit technical, make note – remember ideas are used for project descriptions, posts, articles, and blogs across a wide variety of media. ❚ ❚ Tell someone. You don’t have to be a great writer, or even have the time to write. Tell your marketing staff about it and they can write it up, or even produce some illustrative graphics.

THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 28, 2020, ISSUE 1361

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