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OPINION
A bout 10-15 years ago, business development relied heavily on cultivating local relationships, meeting face-to-face, sharing stories, and shaking hands in person. As a smaller AEC firm established in Montana with many of our offices in the state, this approach worked well for us for quite some time. How to strike a balance between being involved in important community work and pursuing opportunities in new geographic areas. Geographically agnostic vs. local focus
Chris Aageson
However, this approach didn’t necessarily support the growth and expansion into other geographic markets that we ultimately wanted to achieve, nor did it take into consideration the opportunities becoming more and more prevalent through online connections and relationship building. As our firm opened additional offices, expanding into multiple states and broadening our services, we realized we weren’t experiencing the cross- office collaboration we’d hoped for, which is necessary for growth and the ability to take on larger, multidisciplinary projects. So, in 2013, we made a big leap, switching from a location-based sales approach to becoming more geographically agnostic with a structure organized around our markets at the time – commercial,
education, government, healthcare, residential, and retail. Our markets (called vertical markets internally) became profit and loss centers, and design teams – as well as business development and marketing strategies – were built around those markets. For more than 10 years, this was our primary approach to selling our work. During this time, we evolved in other ways, too. Like many companies over the past decade, we came to realize that business development can happen just about anywhere and can be done by anyone who is knowledgeable and passionate about the work we do and the solutions we bring to our clients. Every person at our firm has a role to play – not only by helping our clients realize exceptional projects,
See CHRIS AAGESON, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER APRIL 14, 2025, ISSUE 1581
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