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AEC world can charge more for what they do because the risk on the part of the client for hiring them is reduced. 4. They drive demand for what they do beyond their ability to supply it. This is key. Always be somewhat understaffed so the salaried people work 44-46 hours a week on average and always outspend your peer companies on marketing by 50 percent to 100 percent and you have the basic formula for doing this. When demand exceeds supply, there’s no reason to get beaten down on your fee, and you don’t work for unappreciative clients or those who don’t pay their bills, either. You don’t need the work. 5. They have a very clear organization and leadership structure that is respected by all. Everyone has one and only one supervisor and they each know who that is. There are fewer meetings and committees. Decisions get made faster. Principals aren’t regularly crossing into territories that are not their domains. This minimizes conflict and keeps the attention on the clients versus internal stuff – and that helps get better fees. 6. They treat their business people as equals to their design and technical staff. Sure – you may be in the architecture, engineering, planning, land surveying, interior design, or environmental consulting business, and that is the core of what you get paid by clients to do, but that does not mean that finance, accounting, IT, marketing, business development, HR and other non-line functions are not equally important. The most successful firms understand this and don’t treat those people like second class citizens. As a group of companies we have gotten better about this over time, but poorer-performing firms still treat non-design
or non-technical people differently from the rest and it’s not the way to have a successful business. 7. There is someone in the company at a high level who can advance long-term initiatives that improve the business. These companies that can charge more and make more than their peers have someone in the company who is getting the big systems projects inside the firm done. Like implementation of a new accounting system, or a new CRM, or a new intranet that actually works. These initiatives have to be driven by someone who takes them all the way through to completion or the company will essentially be stuck. That means you can be more efficient and have more time to do a great job for your clients and get better fees. 8. They have high standards of excellence for all of their people. That means if you work there you are expected to look good, be available, be responsive, be an effective written and verbal communicator, and work well with other people. These are “musts” and not optional for those who are good designers or engineers but cannot master the requisite “soft skills.” It helps you get better fees when your people are clearly “better.” So I guess the important question is which one of these two buckets would your firm fall into? Are you consistently punching above your weight class and getting better fees than the “other guy (or gal)?” Do you sound like the companies I described above, or do you have some work to do to get there? It might be time to make some changes so you, too, can rise to the top! Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.
THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGUST 18, 2025, ISSUE 1598
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