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CONFERENCE CALL, from page 7

Equal commitment can be observed at the local level of many municipal entities putting forth large bond proposi- tions. Specifically, we have noticed a renewed commitment in the Houston region to deal with flooding problems on a scale we have never seen before. With population growth in our service regions, we also expect residential, commer- cial, water, and municipal service demands to continue to increase. “Our open opportunity atmosphere encourages all to look for leads, develop relationships, and forge paths in serving clients and communities. Innovation has always been a component of entrepreneurship and is highly encouraged.” 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 when results could take months, or even years, to mate- rialize? Do you track any metrics to guide your market- ing plan? DL: We use a comprehensive and sophisticated CRM sys- tem to track our leads and opportunities. Our collected data enables us to gauge our effectiveness with every potential client as well as the success of project manager pairing. Our proposal team tracks short list and win rates to mea- sure against industry averages and to lead to greater success rates. The collected data plays a critical part in our commu- nication strategy and assists in determining which clients to watch and which segments to target. TZL: They say failure is a great teacher. What’s the big- gest lesson you’ve had to learn the hard way? DL: Our greatest lesson learned over the past few years is re- lated to growing our company, particularly by opening new office locations and adding service lines. In line with com- pany growth, and hiring talented people, we had to learn to continuously provide information and support to our new teammembers, so they can live the Aguirre & Fields’ unique way of doing things. 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? DL: We like to grow organically. This perspective allows us to best live our culture and character focus within each em- ployee. Culture is our true differentiator when it comes to finding and keeping talented employees and we want to keep it that way. We’re committed to an ongoing program of character development and training. Character moti- vates achievement by enhancing employee character qual- ities such as punctuality, diligence, initiative, orderliness, and thoroughness. The results are increased efficiency, a decrease in costs, and greater accomplishments. Our view on organic growth is based on encouraging and developing both external and internal relationships and values.

base to provide more holistic solutions for our communi- ties. 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? DL: We strive to provide balance to PM workloads through defined projections and staff assignments using our own proprietary tools. In line with our character mentality, our staff always works as a team and provides support in and across offices. This type of support is possible through con- sistent cross training and cross discipline teaming. Regular lunch-and-learns, cross staff mentoring, training, and technology create efficiency and effectiveness. For ex- ample, we are soon to start our own leadership training pro- gram to enhance communications and management skills of our PMs. Early in their career/development, we allow PMs to experience the full range of PM responsibilities to build understanding and competence across our services spectrum. We ensure staff and PMs know they are never an island and are always supported. Should a PM or staff feel over- whelmed, others will jump in without being asked and pro- vide – not just offer – assistance. We are a team across the board through every level, no questions asked. TZL: What is the role of entrepreneurship in your firm? DL: The company was founded on entrepreneurship and continues to empower employees to invent and innovate. Oscar Aguirre, our CEO, is a creator who, just a few weeks ago, jumped in his car for five hours for a drone photogram- metry flight on a bridge to continue developing our 3D de- sign and visualization services. We foster and support community champions and relat- ed efforts as this is the foundation for “local entrepreneur- ship.” Our open opportunity atmosphere encourages all to look for leads, develop relationships, and forge paths in serving clients and communities. Innovation has always been a component of entrepreneurship and is highly en- couraged. “Above all, we focus on finding and retaining professionals whose personal passions align with our collective purpose. We hire people with character, competence, and consistency who want to be part of a purpose-driven organization and operate as a collective team.” TZL: In the next couple of years, what AEC segments will heat up, and which ones will cool down? DL: The civil and transportation markets in Texas remain strong as the population continues to grow and the state legislature remains committed to funding infrastructure.

THE ZWEIG LETTER October 29, 2018, ISSUE 1270

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