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O P I N I O N
Win on value instead of price
W e’ve all been there, sitting in front of that client we know we don’t want to work with. But the fear takes over, the fear of not having enough work. So we don’t walk away. We succumb to the pressure and lower our fee. Believing in your value is the first step to success in winning on value. The next step is to walk away when clients don’t fit your new standards.
Or maybe it is our best client, and he is threatening to go to one of our competitors, telling us we are too expensive. What do we say? Do we just agree and go ahead and give him a break on his estimate – knowing we will lose money on the job? Situations like this are happening every day and slowly killing the AEC industry. The problem is, we really do start to believe we can’t get the kind of fees we need to be successful and profitable, but we still don’t know how to turn down work. It is just against our nature. As our employees navigate these difficult situations every day, small amounts of money are being given away. Rather than believe we are adding additional value to our clients’ projects, we assume we are not any better than all of the other firms out there and compete on fees. Even if we
do believe we are better, many of our staff do not have the tools to articulate why we are better and fail to have the right conversations with clients. While it might not be quick and easy to transform your firm culture and practices away from accepting unprofitable work, it can be done. The highest performing and most profitable firms are the ones that are proud of who they are, understand where they are different and better, and willing to walk away from clients who do not have a win-win approach. The following are six steps that can lead your firm closer to better and more profitable projects: 1)Understand your culture. First you must understand those cultural attributes that are directing your staff’s behavior. Most of this culture
June Jewell
See JUNE JEWELL, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER February 10, 2020, ISSUE 1331
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