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Conference call: Chad Suprenant President and CEO of ISG (Hot Firm #58 for 2016) a 200-person architecture, engineering, and environmental planning firm based in Mankato, Minnesota.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent W ith the recent acquisition of Green Bay-based Raasch Associates, Inc. , ISG expanded its footprint to eight locations in three states, Minne- sota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Surprenant joined the firm, co-founded by his father Ken Surprenant, in 1993. He was named president in 2001. Here is his take on leading a top-flight firm. A CONVERSATION WITH SUPRENANT. The Zweig Letter: What’s your philosophy on fee/ billing and accounts receivable? How do you col- lect fees from a difficult client? CS: We are strong proponents of lump sum/fixed fee contracts. It promotes ingenuity, creativity, and
resourcefulness to be profitable. Prior to the reces- sion, we were more casual. We waited too long to invoice, discounted our fees, and collected our A/R whenever we were fortunate enough to get paid. Those are horrible business practices. Now, we do our best to bill all of our work monthly at mini- mum, and we start contacting clients when bills are at 45 days. We start by contacting the client with full-time A/R staff about unpaid invoices, and de- pending on the situation or if there is a problem, the project manager will get involved. If a client is a habitual poor payer, we either cease doing business with them or establish our fees accordingly. TZL: How do you go about winning work? CS: We approach our sales from a market perspec- tive. We try to chase clients, not projects. We look
Chad Suprenant, President and CEO, ISG
THE ZWEIG LETTER Febr
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