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CONFERENCE CALL, from page 7

when results could take months, or even years, to mate- rialize? Do you track any metrics to guide your market- ing plan? KK: It’s challenging to come up with hard metrics. We’ve settled on a couple. Proposal spend effectiveness is a mea- sure of the costs put into proposals as a percentage of total sales won (2.5 percent). We also track total BD effectiveness as total marketing and BD spend as a percentage of total sales won (5.5 percent). We have numerous metrics around hit rates based on numbers and dollar value, but one spe- cific area that we’ve focused on is content. In an age of dif- ferentiation through thought leadership, we’re challenging all employees to be more involved in generating marketing content – so we track the backlog of content pieces that our marketing department has in the queue for development, the number of pieces published, and the number of media channels published in. We also see the number of “shares” and reposts of our content as important indicators of mar- keting effectiveness. TZL: They say failure is a great teacher. What’s the big- gest lesson you’ve had to learn the hard way? KK: I’ve created a leadership presentation for emerging community leaders around many lessons learned through mistakes made over the course of my career. One that sticks out in my mind has to do with leading a transformational change effort in a public service setting. I thought I had a team of supporters with me, but when put on the spot, I was wrong. You need to be sure that you have a strong com- mitted team that supports the vision for change with shared values and motivations. One person alone can’t make sig- nificant change happen. TZL: While M&A is always an option, there’s something to be said about organic growth. What are your thoughts on why and how to grow a firm? KK: A past executive coach of mine, Bob Rogers, described growth as a means of maintaining or enhancing a business’s degrees of freedom – growth allows for the continued in- flow of resources that enable strategic options to be execut- ed as markets evolve or change. I have come to learn over my career and through several M&As that to extract mean- ingful value out of a deal, the acquirer should be confident that they’ll be able to organically grow what it has acquired after the ink dries. If the post-acquisition plan isn’t clear and easily understood and compelling enough for staff of the acquiring and acquired firms to get passionate about continuing with organic growth, it’s likely to result in poor outcomes and loss of talent. TZL: Do you use historical performance data or metrics to establish project billable hours and how does the type of contract play into determining the project budget? KK: We use both historical performance data and certain rules of thumb in developing fee proposals that are com- petitive and meet our profit objectives. The type of contract does play a part in determining a project’s budget, but it can vary based on the project type and client. TZL: What’s your prediction for 2018? KK: A year of growth (double digit) and higher profitability for LDG and for the industry.

and guidance on succession planning and ownership transi- tion planning at routine intervals, at least annually, to as- sure that shareholder interests are adequately addressed through ownership and leadership transition events. TZL: Diversifying the portfolio is never a bad thing. What are the most recent steps you’ve taken to broaden your revenue streams? KK: We’re currently investing time and resources into en- tering the federal, civil, and building market. We’ve also invested significantly in CNG fueling and other alterna- tive energy/renewal fueling technology capabilities such as RNG, H2, and EV charging. TZL: The list of responsibilities for project managers is seemingly endless. How do you keep your PMs from burning out? And if they crash, how do you get them back out on the road, so to speak? KK: Our leadership team is more focused on being better listeners and trying to eliminate hassles, obstacles, and noise that distract our PMs and staff from an outward fo- cus on clients and projects. We’ve assessed whether our processes are working, and more importantly, whether they add value in selling work or delivering client value on proj- ects. In many cases, we’re simplifying and/or eliminating some processes altogether. We encourage all leaders to be on the watch for burnout, to understand their managers’ coping mechanisms for stress and to encourage them to ap- ply those mechanisms when they’re approaching burn-out. I’ve also asked leaders to be good examples themselves in disconnecting from the business when they take time off and to delegate responsibilities, so that their team feels comfortable doing the same. TZL: What is the role of entrepreneurship in your firm? KK: Historically, LDG has been a very entrepreneurial firm, growing from six people in 1986 to nearly 300 today. How- ever, as we made a big geographic push and opened four new offices in four new states about five years ago, we be- came quite inwardly focused, and lost our external focus on emerging market opportunities. We recognized that about 18 months ago and have made major changes to simplify our business approach, remove barriers, and bring in new talent to help rekindle that spirit. TZL: In the next couple of years, what A/E segments will heat up, and which ones will cool down? KK: With the economy continuing to do very well in the U.S. through an unprecedented period of expansion, I believe that federal investments in core infrastructure programs will continue to improve. We’ll also see more opportunities in alternative energy and renewable fuels. I’d say those that will cool down will most likely be tied to uncertainty associ- ated with rising interest rates and those sensitive to inter- national trade and tariffs that are currently being imposed here and abroad. Potential for technology disruptions also add complexity to predictions and future forecasting. TZL: Measuring the effectiveness of marketing is diffi- cult to do using hard metrics for ROI. How do you evalu- ate the success/failure of your firm’s marketing efforts

THE ZWEIG LETTER September 24, 2018, ISSUE 1265

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