buildingsource blog

Building Design + Construction magazine annually ranks the top 300 architecture, engineering and construction firms. You can see the rankings here. They also asked some of the industry's largest firms about innovative strategies implemented in the last year. Here are seven that your firm can use to encourage staff, build relationships with your clients and increase business:

1. Invest in employee training, for both hard skills and soft skills like communications and client service.
2. Generate weekly project profitability reports for all design team members. Your report can include budget data on the project multipliers and individual discipline budget status. One firm doubled its profit margin after developing these reports.
3. Create an annual client relationship plan, including marketing opportunities, improvements service and delivery, and face-to-face meetings.
4. One firm increased commissioning revenue by over 10% by focusing marketing efforts on thought-leadership practices, like lunch-and-learns and speaking opportunities. 
5. Refine your target markets by type, size, location, and how they fit into your company's five-year goals. Pursue the projects that best meet your criteria.
6. Train your staff to be your “Brand Ambassadors” encouraging them to contribute content for your social media sites, participate in community outreach projects, and attend professional networking events. 
7. Get your succession plan...

Tags: business planning, marketing

I'm heading to the Society for Marketing Professional Services Build Business Conference in Los Angeles this week. This is my first SMPS national event, and I'm expecting big things - lots of education, information and networking with fellow marketers and business developers in the AEC industry.

Of course, I'll be posting on social media, so follow me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and live on Periscope (@buildingsource), too. The hashtag to follow all the SMPS happenings and conversations is #smpsbb15, and you can see tweets from other attendees, sponsors, exhibitors and presenters simply by following my Twitter list for the conference here.

If you'll be there, too, I look forward to meeting up. Here's a tip for sharing on social media: pre-load Hootsuite with the Twitter handles for the keynote speakers and workshop presenters, and schedule intros for the events you'll be attending. No, it's not spontaneous, but you won't be scrambling to type a post when you enter the room.

To a prosperous, business building week!

Karen

Tags: business development, conferences, marketing, smps, social media

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