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FRCH employees during the company’s annual trip to Keeneland in Lexington, KY.
Conference call: Jim Tippmann CEO of FRCH, a Nelson Company (Hot Firm #41 for 2016), a global design firm based in Cincinnati.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
“E veryone has access to the company’s financial information,” Tippmann says. “I believe this knowledge empowers people to perform.” A CONVERSATION WITH JIM TIPPMANN. The Zweig Letter: They say failure is a great teacher. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve had to learn the hard way? Jim Tippmann: During the economic downturn, we launched a Brazilian operation because the do- mestic economy was soft. We found a partner, but it didn’t work out. It would be nice to know the chal- lenges in advance, but it doesn’t always work out that way. We broke even, so it wasn’t a total loss. It was a learning experience. Next time, I’d do a lot more research – a lot more – about the climate of the international marketplace, culture, and so on.
TZL: Zweig Group research shows there has been a shift in business development strategies. More and more, technical staff, not marketing staff, are responsible for BD. What’s the BD formula in your firm? JT: We get the most business through client reten- tion and through an awareness we’ve created in the marketplace through speaking engagements, email blasts, white papers, etc. Selling is the small- est piece of the puzzle once you’ve built your brand. You need to have a group of marketing profession- als who can create that buzz and then let the people who are working with the client close the deal. Ulti- mately, the ones who service the client are the ones who will sell the project. It’s a combined effort. TZL: Diversifying the portfolio is never a bad thing. What are the most recent steps you’ve tak- en to broaden your revenue streams?
Jim Tippmann, CEO, FRCH
THE ZWEIG LETTER Jun
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