1204

Keown

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DM: We’ve had three acquisitions in five years and it’s im- portant to have a really good ownership model in place. You have to plan ahead and make sure that everyone on board is committed to the same mission and will support the strategy. You also have to have a long view and transition over time. We took 20 years to transition from the original founders. A lot of thought and no debt. “We’ve had three acquisitions in five years and it’s important to have a really good ownership model in place. You have to plan ahead and make sure that everyone on board is committed to the same mission and will support the strategy.” TZL: How do you go about winning work? DM: Pick your spots. You can’t be all things to all people. In- vest your time and money in building a reputation, building a brand, and building relationships. It’s all about market po- sitioning. While we’re lucky enough to have 90 percent re- peat business, if we didn’t know how to bring in new clients, we’d be losing 10 percent of business. TZL: What’s the greatest problem to overcome in the pro- posal process? DM: Having a good go/no-go process. You have to focus your resources and invest in the right areas. And, in order to bring on a new client, you have to help convince them that you know how to solve their problem. It has to be about them. You have to speak to them and them only. You don’t just want to offer a bunch of silver tray items. TZL: Once you’ve won a contract, what are the “marching orders” for your PMs? DM: I always tell people, it’s our reputation before our wal- let. Of course, we don’t want to lose money, but we want to deliver on what we said we would do. Live by the contract; never lose sight of it. TZL: How does marketing contribute to your success rate? Are you content with your marketing efforts, or do you think you should increase/decrease marketing? DM: Our marketing has really evolved. We have, too. We’ve shifted away from older channels and are focused on so- cial media, branding, and co-branding and getting employ- ees involved in the process, too. We also do a branding as- sessment every few years. It’s done by an outside party and based on that data, we develop a game plan. Again, invest in areas where you want to accelerate, pick your spots, double down, and make an impact. TZL: What has your firm done recently to upgrade its IT system?

DM: Our phone system is completely Skype-based now. It made our recent merger an easy transition since everyone could be connected right away. We also have cloud-based storage and recently upgraded to a private, in-house sys- tem, similar to LinkedIn. We used a company called Knowl- edge Architecture to help us with this. The system is called Compass. It’s important that employees feel connected to each other. It helps with engagement, too. TZL: What’s the best way to recruit and retain top talent in a tight labor market? DM: It’s a challenge for sure. There are three main ways we do it: ❚ ❚ Internships ❚ ❚ Employee referrals ❚ ❚ Four in-house recruiters – they are constantly recruiting and ahead of what we need. You have to keep a pipeline of talent and we work with ambassador programs and universities. Our recruitment and retention is closely tied to our market- ing and branding. People want to know who they are work- ing with and what we are all about. They want to know they are a culture they want to be a part of. They don’t just want to know about pay and benefits. TZL: What’s the key benefit you give to your employees? Flex schedule, incentive compensation, 401(k), etc.? DM: We offer a rich package. We provide 80 percent medical for families and 30 percent match for 401(k) plans. We’ve never missed a 401(k) payment, even during the recession. It’s important that our employees feel financially healthy. We don’t have things like sick days or a sick policy. We want people to take days when they need them. We trust them. Our values are built around trusting people. A unique ben- efit we offer is an adoption benefit. Not everyone can have kids so we provide time for people to take off and pursue adoption if it’s something they want to do. TZL: How do you raise capital? DM: We have a good relationship with TD Bank. We also have open lines of communication with private equity firms. See CONFERENCE CALL, page 8 “Our recruitment and retention is closely tied to our marketing and branding. People want to know who they are working with and what we are all about. They want to know they are a culture they want to be a part of. They don’t just want to know about pay and benefits.”

ne 12, 2017, ISSUE 1204

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