Addressing the necessary process of business development and the strategies firms use to partner with the right clients.
Letter from the editor
By Sara R. Boyer, AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Have you ever felt like an interview was like a blind date? Think about it. In a worst-case scenario, you’ve never met each other before…it’s kind of awkward at first…you are hoping for a second date…actually, you’re hoping to engage in a contractual long-term relationship via the B101!
Perhaps your firm is one of the lucky few who can rely on brand development to gain new clients. They know who you are before you walk in the room. Charisma and reputation have resulted in clients begging to work with you. Good for you.
The rest of us, on the other hand, are diligently farming potential clients and servicing our current clients for repeat business and referrals. It is an endless part of the process to sustain business. Business development requires finesse, persistence, and patience. Business development is quintessentially relationship building.
This quarter three firms openly share their trusted methods and best advice for developing business. I am grateful for their forthrightness. Also, I am excited about the diversity of the authors. The Latina-owned, multidisciplinary, east-coast, boutique studio Moya Design Partners, offers insight on their one-stop shop services through the interview with CEO and Founder Paola Moya. The Portland-based, husband and wife led studio Guggenheim Architecture + Design Studio discuss how their core values influence their business development strategy. The global firm Perkins and Will shares their approach to business development; make sure you do not miss the market breakthrough example.
Providing the bridge between business development and the Owner-Architect agreement, the infallible resource of the AIA Trust outlines potential risks and provides cautionary advice of proposal and contract terms in the article Preparing Proposals Without Losing Perspective.
I hope the AIA Practice Management Knowledge Community enjoys this quarter's edition of Practice Management Digest focusing on business development, and please consider the environment before you print.
Features
Moya Design Partners
By Paola Moya
"Having a flexible mentality in business has allowed us to work on diverse commissions that we never thought we would work on. We have been able to partner with larger firms where we work under them or vice versa, and we have been able to support our partners with projects that need mixed-used architecture, interiors and branding. "
Guggenheim Architecture + Design Studio
By Jeff Guggenheim, AIA, and Jenny Guggenheim
"We’ve found that creating a strong client-architect relationship is a process that begins well before the client signs the dotted line of your AIA contract. Attracting and vetting clients with values and expectations that align with your own is incredibly important."
Perkins and Will
By Chris Waight, AIA
"By maintaining good relations with existing clients, and with individuals working for those clients, we can not only keep existing clients but gain new ones when the individuals take new positions with other companies"
Preparing proposals without losing perspective
By Kevin J. Collins, RPLU, Associate AIA
Preparing proposals is an essential task of design firms and doing it well requires important marketing skills. Caution, however, must be exercised to avoid setting up unrealistic and possibly uninsurable expectations.
Further reading and resources
A More Productive and Fun Approach to Business Development – an on-demand AIAU course, 1 AIA LU
What clients want: Future business development by Karen Courtney, April 6, 2016
Business Development for Architects by Fred Bernstein, January 08, 2007
Contribute to the Digest
The future issues of the Practice Management Digest are currently planned to cover topics such as firm management, talent management, and architectural writing. If you have topics related to practice management that you’d like explored or articles you would like us to consider, please contact pmkc@aia.org.