tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84409906968078069802024-03-05T23:47:02.319-08:00AE-ResourceThe internet resource for A/E firm leaders and business developersMel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.comBlogger404125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-27998686962300551142022-02-11T16:46:00.012-08:002022-10-27T16:52:12.456-07:00When the Client Needs a Strategy, Do You Instead Offer a Recipe?<p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM6bLKHooNHgahjNDYo6WBtoX6SZxCT_pQLdxvbonZ1Y0zg4949j9o_gENU20KmhkgQ7AkgZDFJu9N0e7VUJ7c7q3fzZ-Zz8mP2acolc19ubEj-4wlfyob1oUZ12EPZBVsAJDjrJ9E9BouFNqnkDgz_KnvBoyJylLnCjrBgreJD2YS5B6X573DSTJj/s1080/1644540371864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM6bLKHooNHgahjNDYo6WBtoX6SZxCT_pQLdxvbonZ1Y0zg4949j9o_gENU20KmhkgQ7AkgZDFJu9N0e7VUJ7c7q3fzZ-Zz8mP2acolc19ubEj-4wlfyob1oUZ12EPZBVsAJDjrJ9E9BouFNqnkDgz_KnvBoyJylLnCjrBgreJD2YS5B6X573DSTJj/s320/1644540371864.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>My youngest daughter Shaye is a master cakemaker. This is a side gig
for her, as she works<br /> full-time in the emergency room while
moonlighting as a nursing student. But she is able to command anywhere
from $50 to $100 for each of her beautiful, delicious cakes.
<p></p><div class="reader-article-content reader-article-content--content-blocks reader-article-content--longform-theme" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
If you ask her how she makes such awesome cakes, she'll describe a
number of strategies she's learned through experience: Pick the right
quality ingredients, avoid overmixing the batter, closely monitor
temperature and humidity, level the cake before stacking, provide
structural support as needed, mix the buttercream to the right texture,
etc.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
If you were to ask the average person how they made a noteworthy
cake, however, they would most likely share the recipe—basically a list
of ingredients and tasks. Shaye describes <em>how</em> while most talk about <em>what</em>. It's a critical difference, and it's why she's so good at it. That difference applies to the A/E business as well.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
I've worked with a variety of technical professionals in both
proposal and project planning, and have noticed a strong tendency to
jump right into defining the scope of work (i.e., the recipe). When I
push them to first identify client outcomes and build out a strategy for
delivering these, I'm often greeted with looks of bewilderment or
annoyance.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Simply defining the scope, schedule, and budget might be sufficient
for smaller, uncomplicated projects that are pretty routine. But I'm not
invited to help with that kind of proposal or project. We're talking
about larger, complex ventures that are high priorities for the
associated clients. These efforts certainly warrant the extra attention
to understanding the business context and developing the appropriate
project strategy.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
If you're looking for ways to differentiate your firm, this is a good starting point: <em>Strategy before scope</em>.
Recipes (and SOWs) clearly have value, but market leaders distinguish
themselves through sound strategy that enables customer success. Strong
project strategy also leads to a better scope of work.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
In previous articles in this space, I've argued that A/E professionals are gradually <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/consulting-engineers-losing-role-mel-lester/">losing their consulting function</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/order-taker-trusted-adviser-which-you-mel-lester/">yielding to the role of order takers</a>
as clients increasingly prescribe how the work is to be done. Our
proclivity for reducing project planning to merely defining scope,
schedule, and budget contributes to this shift. To counter this trend,
we need to reclaim our advisory role by focusing on client outcomes.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
A planning framework that I've found helpful in this regard is what I
call the Golden Path. It's inspired by Simon Sinek's "Golden Circle"
that he popularized through his <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi6zcvQpvb1AhXognIEHR_uCjgQyCl6BAgDEAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ted.com%2Ftalks%2Fsimon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action%3Flanguage%3Den&usg=AOvVaw2LpbqZeViHrkFvj3NdReVA">well-known Ted Talk</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Start-with-Why-Simon-Sinek-audiobook/dp/B074VF6ZLM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3V6IZEIV2MWRL&keywords=start+with+why&qid=1644536258&sprefix=start+with+why%2Caps%2C517&sr=8-1">best-selling book</a> <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Start-with-Why-Simon-Sinek-audiobook/dp/B074VF6ZLM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3V6IZEIV2MWRL&keywords=start+with+why&qid=1644536258&sprefix=start+with+why%2Caps%2C517&sr=8-1">Start With Why</a></em>.
The central theme I drew from his message is that any great endeavor
usually starts with a clear understanding and appreciation of why it
really matters. Most business leaders start with what needs to be done;
the most successful are inspired by the why.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
The Golden Path is my attempt to help steer A/E professionals away
from starting with the what (SOW), and instead begin by clarifying the
why (outcomes/benefits) and the how (strategy):
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><div class="reader-image-block reader-image-block--full-width">
<figure class="reader-image-block__figure">
<div class="ivm-image-view-model ">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" class="ivm-view-attr__img--centered reader-image-block__img lazy-image ember-view" height="203" id="ember1341" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E12AQGn38uaYEIqrA/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1644537299011?e=1672272000&v=beta&t=uLkXX3deg-7e_XThsFAIDQuGUuw6dIfCAYT2wVKNPUM" width="593" /></span></div><div class="ivm-view-attr__img-wrapper ivm-view-attr__img-wrapper--use-img-tag display-flex
">
</div></div></figure></div><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">The most important measure of project success is whether it delivers
the client outcomes that are desired. Common measures of success such
as technical quality, timely delivery, on-budget performance, and good
service are all secondary to achieving the needed results. If you agree
with that statement, then I would think the logic of the Golden Path
would be evident. Yet what I see all too often is only a cursory
consideration of the why and the how— if at all—before focusing on the
what. That's a recipe (pardon the pun) for commoditization.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Sure, you could argue that clients aren't complaining about our
shortage of strategic thinking on their behalf. Just as I don't complain
when I can find what I need at Lowe's or Home Depot at a reasonable
price. My "recipe" is typically a list of items I think I need for a
some home project. But on those occasions when I encounter a sales
associate who can give me helpful advice on my project and guide me to
tools or materials better suited for it than what I had picked out, the
value of that shopping trip is greatly enhanced.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
So it is the A/E industry. Just because clients can, in many cases,
tell us specifically what they want us to do doesn't mean we should
shrink from our historic role as consultants and strategists. We should
be constantly seeking and sharing better ways for clients to reach their
goals. Frankly, we should be in a stronger position than clients to
identify the best approach. We have the benefit of a breadth of
experience as problem solvers and designers.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
That is...unless we've settled for just providing the technical
services our clients request. By the way, lest you think I'm being hard
on our industry, this seems to be a common problem across all
project-oriented businesses. Search the literature and you'll find many
articles addressing the tendency of project professionals to focus on
"outputs" (project deliverables) rather than customer outcomes (what the
project ultimately needs to achieve). The Project Management Institute,
for example, has <a href="https://www.projectmanagement.com/blog/blogPostingView.cfm?blogPostingID=21172&thisPageURL=/blog-post/21172/Outputs-versus-Outcomes-#_=_">published several takes</a> on this topic.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Strategy before scope. The best firms I've worked with naturally
gravitate in this direction. They start with a clear vision of project
goals before delineating the work to be performed. They prioritize
client success, not just technical excellence. That's because they
realize that excellence in our business is ultimately proven by the
results we deliver to clients. When they need a strategy for success,
let's not assume that all we need to give them is a recipe.
</span></p>
</div>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-79887782140214409012022-01-27T16:40:00.001-08:002022-10-27T16:45:54.483-07:00How Effective Delegation Fuels Better Business Performance (and More)<p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfX4oE67eqwY1941OIvHQxY7B_AFwY72YJoGXyWG3_4_8_dyVd0-RvLLBcgxQVWnkFuCUC2KVlNtAOAHfExIQOXfipYL5CIEPzinlZzsK8T6zXeVWH63LkIaiiSRDTIjh1OT9TOCjvfrEeNSoMto42W-cgsR2pEg6tYFUFLkJcIcCqlfySZBEdx8bf/s1079/1642802219066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1079" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfX4oE67eqwY1941OIvHQxY7B_AFwY72YJoGXyWG3_4_8_dyVd0-RvLLBcgxQVWnkFuCUC2KVlNtAOAHfExIQOXfipYL5CIEPzinlZzsK8T6zXeVWH63LkIaiiSRDTIjh1OT9TOCjvfrEeNSoMto42W-cgsR2pEg6tYFUFLkJcIcCqlfySZBEdx8bf/s320/1642802219066.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">In the architecture and engineering profession, we've always worked
in teams. That doesn't <br />mean we've mastered it. As a consultant over the
last 28 years, I've spent a good deal of my time helping firms overcome
teamwork problems. Inadequate planning, poor communication, coordination
issues, quality breakdowns, budget overruns, missed deadlines, conflict
among team members—these are just a few of the complications I've dealt
with. I assume you have too.
</span><p></p><div class="reader-article-content reader-article-content--content-blocks reader-article-content--longform-theme" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Most of these problems have been associated at least in part with
failures to properly delegate. That's looking on the negative side. My
focus in this article, however, is to consider the many benefits of
mastering delegation. The topic seems particularly relevant now, as
firms struggle to manage heavy workloads with employees strained to
their limits, and the ability to hire additional staff getting
increasingly difficult. Delegating well can help!
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><h3 class="reader-text-block__heading2"><span style="font-family: arial;">
The Goal of Delegation
</span></h3><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
At its most basic level, delegating is entrusting a task or
responsibility to another person. Every firm engages in this every day.
But delegating effectively goes much deeper than simply passing the
baton. As this <a href="https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1722&context=aicpa_guides">delegation guidebook</a> published by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants puts it:
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
</p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">(Delegation) is the tool that allows firms and individuals
to concentrate their energies on those areas in which they have a
competitive advantage, and to delegate or outsource everything else. In
this sense, delegating is essential to focusing efforts on <em>core competencies</em>.
The assets of a firm, its partners, staff, and technology can then be
allocated to their highest, best, and most cost-effective use.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
In other words, the ideal for delegation would be to distribute
tasks in such manner that team members are enabled to provide the
maximum value they each can bring to their work. That's arguably an
impractical goal—especially among junior staff—but one still worth
pursuing in concept. As <a href="https://thriveglobal.com/stories/how-to-effectively-delegate-and-why-is-important/">one author stated</a>, delegation seeks to position team members to reach their full potential as project contributors.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Another ambitious goal is to delegate tasks down to the lowest level they can be capably performed. This relates to the <em><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/get-staffing-mix-right-improve-profitability-retention-mel-lester/">principle of leverage</a></em>,
which is widely understood among other professional service sectors but
is little recognized in ours. Positive leverage means that your ratio
of senior to midlevel to junior staff fits the needs of the work you
perform, and presumes that you distribute work tasks accordingly.
Getting leverage right is a proven strategy for increasing growth,
profitability, and productivity in businesses like ours.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><h3 class="reader-text-block__heading2"><span style="font-family: arial;">
The Benefits of Effective Delegation
</span></h3><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Daunting as the two goals identified above might be in practice,
progress toward them can still be expected to produce meaningful
benefits. Acknowledging those benefits can inspire greater diligence in
learning to master delegation skills. The benefits include:
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
</p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Frees up time for higher-payoff activities</em>. This is
particularly important for leaders, who can easily find themselves so
immersed in project work that there's little time to lead or to focus on
critically important-but-not-urgent tasks. As the guidebook quoted
above asserts, delegating helps you create space to focus on those tasks
where you bring the greatest value to the firm and its clients.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Produces greater team efficiency and productivity</em>.
Successful delegation is about fitting tasks to the right people such
that greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness can be collectively
achieved. This is realized in part through using less expensive
personnel (often with higher multipliers) to perform much of the work,
and also through balancing the workload to enable greater staff
utilization.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Facilitates staff development</em>. People best
develop new skills and knowledge by putting these into action. Thus
when work isn't appropriately delegated, it stifles their professional
development. Besides the impact on employee career growth, this limits
the firm's capacity to take on more work or handle the work it already
has. </span></li></ul></div><div class="reader-article-content reader-article-content--content-blocks reader-article-content--longform-theme" dir="ltr"><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Promotes employee engagement and retention</em>. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/time-fast-track-development-our-younger-professionals-mel-lester/">Providing opportunities to learn and grow professionally</a>
are among the most valuable benefits your firm can give employees,
especially junior staff. One of the top reasons younger professionals
change jobs is the desire for better career growth potential. That
almost always comes through delegated tasks and responsibilities. Fail
to delegate well and your top junior performers are the ones most likely
to leave.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><h3 class="reader-text-block__heading2"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Why Delegating Can Be So Hard
</span></h3><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Despite the benefits, many managers find it difficult to delegate
effectively. That certainly was the case for me when I first stepped
into a management role. Some of the things I did best (e.g., writing and
document design) no longer made sense for someone now expected to lead
others in performing those tasks. Yet my perfectionist tendencies made
it hard to let go.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
If you are a manager, you've probably experienced some of the same struggles. Reasons why delegating is so challenging include:
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
</p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Loss of control</em>. This concern isn't just for the
control freaks. Any manager who takes pride in his work is
understandably going to be anxious about entrusting a portion of it to
someone less experienced or relatively untested. Can that person meet
your high standards? Does she know what she needs to know to do the
work? It's likely going to take time to get there.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Upfront investment of time and patience required</em>.
When delegating to others, especially junior staff, some initial
training and guidance is typically necessary. And then some patience
until they gain more skill and experience. When you're busy, although
you might have an acute need to delegate more, you might feel like you
don't have the time to bring someone else up to speed for the work.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Not as good as you would have done it</em>.
While this is usually true, the question is does it need to be? Senior
professionals will of course be more experienced, knowledgeable, and
skilled than junior staff. But clients aren't expecting the work to be
performed only by the firm's best people, and they won't pay that. The
standard for quality work isn't perfection (i.e., the way you do it);
it's "good enough" to meet client expectations, the industry standard of
care, and applicable requirements.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Limited staff options to delegate tasks to</em>.
Effective delegation and proper staffing mix go hand in hand. Many A/E
firms are top-heavy, with a higher ratio of senior-to-junior staff than
is optimal for the work being performed. But even when firms have a
decent leverage structure on paper, they often haven't done a good job
developing the needed capabilities among more junior staff members. This
gets back to the second point above: It takes an upfront investment to
build the capacity necessary for successful delegation.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Some simply hoard the work</em>.
Any of the challenges listed above may cause some managers to be stingy
in sharing work with others. Some don't trust colleagues to do it. Some
feel they don't have the time to hand it off properly. Some are control
freaks. Some don't want to give up billable hours. Whatever the reason,
these reluctant delegators need to be encouraged to act in the interest
of others (clients, coworkers, the firm) and not just themselves.
Perhaps the benefits of delegation have never been fully understood.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><h3 class="reader-text-block__heading2"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Tips for Effective Delegation
</span></h3><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Delegation is one of those team leader responsibilities that perhaps
you have never carefully considered. You likely haven't been trained or
even instructed in how to do it well. You probably learned what you
know about it simply from experience and casual observation. Your
"teachers" may well have not been that good at it themselves. Yet given
the important benefits of delegating effectively, it's worth taking a
closer look. Here are some tips:
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Prioritize tasks to determine what to delegate and what to perform yourself.</strong> The goal, as outlined earlier, is to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/does-your-firm-lack-strategic-capacity-mel-lester/">elevate those high-payoff activities</a>
where you have the greatest impact, creating more time for these by
delegating tasks that can be capably handled by others. Beware of the
pull of busyness, where you find yourself working madly to get the work
done without considering whether those tasks would be better assigned to
others. Take the time to order your priorities; it's worth it!
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Provide important context for delegated tasks. </strong>Most
of us have probably experienced being assigned tasks without knowing
how our part fit into the bigger picture. This is unfortunately all too
common. Understanding how one's work contributes to the overall success
of the project produces multiple benefits—better quality, greater
efficiency, accelerated learning, more engaged workers, to name a few.
Don't just explain the task; describe the overall project and the
importance of the delegated task in meeting the desired outcomes.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Encourage empowerment.</strong> The ones you're delegating
to should recognize where they are empowered to make decisions and take
initiative, and be encouraged to do so. That's how they grow their
ability to take on greater responsibilities in the future. Resist the
temptation to make all the decisions, especially with regard to personal
preferences or noncritical matters. This stifles learning and
professional growth, and impairs collaboration among team members.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Trust but verify. </strong>While empowerment is desirable,
you don't want to set people up for failure by giving them more than
they can handle. Or by not checking progress periodically. Gradually
increase authority and responsibility as they demonstrate the requisite
capability. Yet regardless of the team's individual or collective
capabilities, you want to stay involved with them. Check in regularly to
see how they're doing, keep them updated, provide feedback, and offer
encouragement.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Balance teaching with self-initiated learning.</strong> As a project manager or team leader, you delegate not only to distribute the workload but to grow the team. That means you <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/raise-performance-real-time-coaching-mel-lester/">must be a coach</a>
and a teacher. This involves more than simply imparting information.
You also want to facilitate learning, encouraging team members to take
the initiative to teach themselves. Why? Because passive learning isn't
nearly as effective in developing their thinking skills as having them
figure things out themselves.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Of course, the work has to be done on time, so learning must fit
within the flow of project demands. But when you need to teach, be sure
to ask questions that force team members to think for themselves. That
helps build the capacity that will make delegation all the more fruitful
over time.
</span></p>
</div>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-73132286093810960682021-12-28T16:33:00.005-08:002022-10-27T16:39:25.926-07:00How to Write a Winning Proposal Executive Summary<p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_38rzAKYAVo2Z8XGs4rhItFlYRmpJ5lEcAlxqDVfJOxifqfDgRuMyLTnR7nyY3RIp3CwEHIqAB-oa1X3NiZoZpOPwehmBNla4UJTvDbjmgA605S-kynO_Ix3hHT1Gubncpn5fmze3TVKQvDvOhJqbZskWHpTpyh9XVeFpY8i8fu3Xdippyrpktm2/s1080/1640721361820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz_38rzAKYAVo2Z8XGs4rhItFlYRmpJ5lEcAlxqDVfJOxifqfDgRuMyLTnR7nyY3RIp3CwEHIqAB-oa1X3NiZoZpOPwehmBNla4UJTvDbjmgA605S-kynO_Ix3hHT1Gubncpn5fmze3TVKQvDvOhJqbZskWHpTpyh9XVeFpY8i8fu3Xdippyrpktm2/s320/1640721361820.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">There's little room for questioning the value a well-written
proposal executive summary. Yet <br />most A/E firms don't include one in
their proposals. Why? Because the RFP didn't ask for it. Okay, so
there's one reason to question it—but it's <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-include-executive-summary-even-when-rfp-doesnt-ask-mel-lester/">hardly a good one</a>.
Whether the client asks for an executive summary or not, in my
experience it's well demonstrated that including a strong one can make
the difference between winning and losing.
</span><p></p><div class="reader-article-content reader-article-content--content-blocks reader-article-content--longform-theme" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
How does an executive summary wield so much influence? Because if
well done it distills your value proposition down to its essence—a
brief, compelling description of how your firm is going to deliver the
outcomes the client needs. I described the content and importance of the
proposal value proposition <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/make-your-value-proposition-qualifications-proposal-focus-mel-lester/">in my last article</a>
in this space. The main takeaway: Your value proposition should drive
your proposal. And your executive summary should open your proposal by
highlighting it.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
A common mistake is thinking of an executive summary as a summary of
the whole proposal. That might work if your proposal prominently
featured your value proposition. But most proposals give far more
emphasis to the firm's qualifications and the tasks to be performed than
to the overarching project strategy that will enable client success.
Yes, RFPs contribute to this misdirection, but don't be fooled into
thinking you can consistently win on the basis of qualifications and
scopes of work.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
The well-written executive summary properly frames the winning
narrative at the proposal's start—"This is how we will enable your
success through this project (or contract)." How do you capture that
message in your executive summary? Consider this basic outline:
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Identify the problem or opportunity.</strong> Getting this
right requires going beyond the mere technical dimensions of the need.
The client doesn't just need improvements to Main Street; they need to
enhance their core commercial district by improving traffic flow,
safety, and visual appeal. It's not an engineering project; it's a
community revitalization project. To properly frame the problem or
opportunity, you need to see it from the client's perspective.
Diagnosing the problem at three levels—<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-steps-creating-added-value-your-clients-mel-lester/">strategic, technical, people</a>—will help you gain that alignment.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Define the desired outcomes. </strong>Ultimately, you're not selling your solution or services, you're selling the outcomes the client wants. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/deliver-client-business-outcomes-just-technical-solutions-mel-lester/">Focusing on outcomes</a>
is one of the best ways to differentiate your proposal. But for this to
work you need to know what the client really wants. Don't hypothesize;
summarize what the client previously told you—in person during the sales
process, not through the RFP, which is rarely an adequate source of
this insight. What if you don't know because you didn't engage the
client before the RFP? That should be an automatic "no go."
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Build your executive summary around</strong></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong> 3-5 critical success factors. </strong>What
absolutely has to happen to deliver the client's desired outcomes?
Answering that question is my preferred approach to writing proposal
executive summaries. And I've found that this outline generally works
better with technical professionals than the more nuanced,
sales-oriented ones I've found online. The best CSFs to feature are
usually key challenges or concerns that the client has voiced about the
project or program.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Highlight your strategy for addressing each of the CSFs. </strong>Like
the steps above, this one will contribute not only to a more compelling
executive summary, but to a better overall proposal. A strong technical
proposal features your strategy rather than your scope of work. The
executive summary is a great place to introduce key elements of your
project strategy. For example, if one featured CSF is to meet a
demanding schedule to avoid regulatory penalty, briefly describe what
steps you will take to ensure that the schedule is met and the
associated benefits are realized.
</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p class="reader-text-block__paragraph"><span style="font-family: arial;">
Done well, your executive summary can practically make the case on
its own for the client selecting your firm. Indeed, it might be the only
part of your proposal read by some members of the selection
committee—especially executive decision makers. They may skim the body
of your proposal, looking for specific details. But an effective
executive summary is likely to get their attention and could well
predetermine the outcome. I've had this confirmed by many clients over
the years. Don't miss this opportunity to start off your proposal the
right way!
</span></p>
</div>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-32813915431297831632021-11-10T13:51:00.013-08:002021-11-18T14:00:29.277-08:00Make Your Value Proposition, Not Qualifications, Your Proposal Focus<p></p><div class="reader-article-content
reader-article-content--rounded-images" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdLfn1nKTWBq4inovILZnfnVonkzvD3H_u9mlk9V84KD-zt0FGMg9fKiBIqQztzNO3AdJF7Niqx2niU-v8M6WoJLQCNWob2hC8AGbg6U6ritUEp_iDJTTu_bbr7tInbuzmWNBJQCGXrEs/s1080/1636575044400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdLfn1nKTWBq4inovILZnfnVonkzvD3H_u9mlk9V84KD-zt0FGMg9fKiBIqQztzNO3AdJF7Niqx2niU-v8M6WoJLQCNWob2hC8AGbg6U6ritUEp_iDJTTu_bbr7tInbuzmWNBJQCGXrEs/s320/1636575044400.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The first of six
success strategies I teach in my proposal workshop is "Never trust the
RFP." I started offering this advice years ago because I was concerned
how many relied on the limited information in the RFP for shaping their
proposal strategy rather than gathering the needed insights directly
from the client in advance of the solicitation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">More recently, my
chief concern about RFPs has shifted to their tendency to mislead most
proposal writers into believing that the firm's qualifications are the
primary basis upon which clients make their selection. This perception
is rooted in qualifications-based selection protocols, which specify
that qualifications rather than price are to drive the decision. But in
reality, trying to win consistently based mainly on qualifications is a
fool's errand.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That doesn't keep many of us from continuing to try
that approach. After all, the RFP told us so! Why would we dare not
trust the RFP? Because my 35 years of talking to clients about how they
review our proposals and make their selections has given me a more
nuanced view of what they're really looking for than what is
specifically spelled out in their solicitations. As former client Gary
Coover puts it in his book <em>Secrets of the Selection Committee</em>, "It's all about us [the client], not about you [the firm]."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Like
all buyers, clients choose us based on their self interest. Whichever
firm they perceive is best able to meet their needs is the one they will
select. So how you will deliver success should be the focus of your
proposal. Your qualifications are only the evidence that you're able to
fulfill what you have promised.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">How Before Who</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It's common
for A/E firm proposals to be saturated with self promotion, even in the
sections that are supposed to be devoted to addressing the client's
interests. Consider this excerpt from the technical approach section of
one of the world's largest A/E firms. Specifically, this is the
introduction to a subsection on "Project Management":</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Staffing
a project with a strong management team is critical for project
success. Our Project Manager (John Smith) will lead and oversee the
project teams for both the BCRTA Station and Amtrak Platform
workstreams. (John) is a licensed architect and senior project manager
with recent experience leading teams for FTA-funded multimodal bus and
rail transit projects involving complex stakeholder groups. He led the
(ACME) team for the (Maximus Transit Center) that won multiple design
awards, achieved LEED Gold certification, and is loved by the community.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The
remainder of the Project Management write-up further expounds on John's
qualifications, as well as those of his deputy project managers.
Missing from this subsection? Any mention of how the project will be
managed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This is similar to my experiences providing support on
proposals for indefinite delivery-type contracts. I consistently advise
proposal teams to write a strong description of how they manage and
staff contracts with multiple, often concurrent, projects at multiple
locations. But what I usually get is a focus on <em>who</em> will be managing the work, <em>not how</em>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This
is missing the boat, especially with federal agencies that are often
particularly interested in your project-related work processes. Makes
sense. If you can't describe how you do it, why should the client be
impressed with who you've chosen to do the work? There's an old adage of
selling that applies here: Don't tell the buyer how qualified you are,
demonstrate it!</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Crafting Your Value Proposition</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It's
understandable why A/E proposals rarely articulate a clear value
proposition. RFPs don't ask for one. We don't talk about it much in our
profession. Common definitions of it can be a bit difficult to grasp in
practical terms. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A value proposition is a promise to deliver
specific value to the customer. So what does that mean in application?
Various elaborations of the generic definition have been offered. For
example, it should be relevant, it should resonate with the buyer, it
should differentiate your firm, it should be provable, it should be
quantifiable. Not helpful?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The best way I've found to communicate the concept of a value proposition to A/E audiences is with this simple graphic:</span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGJhF9lU1YVuw/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1634921041703?e=1642636800&v=beta&t=wrD5cW25D_Z2bcH6_kDr3mmXnWs3GoYzQ1y0FxM8mtc" data-media-urn="" height="102" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGJhF9lU1YVuw/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1634921041703?e=1642636800&v=beta&t=wrD5cW25D_Z2bcH6_kDr3mmXnWs3GoYzQ1y0FxM8mtc" width="640" /></span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Solution
is a term we're well acquainted with in this industry. But
unfortunately our notion of value tends to stop there. Outcomes are the
results that are enabled by our solution. Benefits are the client value
derived from the delivered outcomes. Clients may say they hire us for
our solutions, but what they are really buying are the associated
outcomes and benefits. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The following illustrates the use of this
value proposition framework on an actual proposal (although the results
are abbreviated for this example):</span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGyihVdeszzIA/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1634935216781?e=1642636800&v=beta&t=3Ieltt4S3DZJkE5mQiyOhndYiVmHAm6pOixnzwGSedc" data-media-urn="" height="350" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGyihVdeszzIA/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1634935216781?e=1642636800&v=beta&t=3Ieltt4S3DZJkE5mQiyOhndYiVmHAm6pOixnzwGSedc" width="640" /></span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The
main advantage of articulating your value proposition in this matter is
that it describes the results that define the terms of project success.
Clients ultimately hire you to deliver outcomes and benefits, not
services or solutions. But this conclusion is remarkably uncommon in our
industry, particularly on the engineering and scientific side of the
business. Want evidence? Read your project descriptions to see how
seldom they describe the results you delivered.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">By the way, the
best value propositions are developed jointly with the client prior to
the RFP. You shouldn't find yourself in the position of having to guess
what success looks like for the client. In the example above, we worked
closely with the client on the value proposition. So there was little
uncertainty about what the winning strategy looked like.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Where to Put Your Value Proposition in Your Proposal</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">If
your value proposition is to be the focus of your proposal, you can't
just refer to it once or twice. Since it's rarely mentioned in RFPs,
this is one of the first hurdles A/E firms face in including their value
proposition. They're reluctant to go beyond what the RFP expressly
requested. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This is a problem primarily for firms that haven't
already uncovered the terms of success. In the example above, there was
no mention of a value proposition in the RFP. Consequently, we were the
only firm to include one, and we knew exactly what they wanted. It's
hard to lose a proposal under those circumstances!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Here are my recommendations about where to make reference to your value proposition:</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Executive Summary</em>—This
captures the essence of your proposal, so obviously you should at least
briefly summarize what constitutes success for the project.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Project Understanding</em>—This
section should outline project goals (outcomes and benefits). Usually, I
will also describe challenges to achieving those goals and how we will
overcome them.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Project Approach</em>—This obviously is where
you describe the actions involved in delivering your value proposition.
Don't just provide a task list, but actively connect your actions to
achieving the outcomes the client wants.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Qualifications and Experience</em>—Despite
my claim that we tend to overate qualifications, don't assume that I'm
suggesting that you neglect preparing a strong presentation of your
capabilities and experience. One of the best ways to enhance your
qualifications is to link them specifically with elements of your value
proposition.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Weaving your value proposition into various
parts of your proposal is a proven winning strategy. But I still have
trouble persuading many of my colleagues to follow this advice. The
qualifications-centered approach to proposals is so entrenched that most
seem to be stuck there, even if they agree with my ideas in concept.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Here's
a clue: If your value proposition essentially amounts to "hire us,"
then you need to go back to the drawing board. It's rare that hiring a
specific firm is critical to client success. Yet that's the common
assertion. Does that work sometimes? Of course, because it happens so
frequently that clients probably ignore it. But there's no evidence that
identifying your firm as "uniquely qualified" helps you win the job. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">On
the contrary, I find it dishonest and insincere. Why not focus on what
matters to the client? In January, I wrote an article in this space
entitled "The Problem With Qualifications-Based Selection." One client—a
project manager with a state DOT—responded with this comment: </span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">"I
completely agree, we are always looking for a team that took the time
to identify the risks, think outside the box, and communicate the value
they can bring to the solution. This is not always the team with the
most years experience!"</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That's hardly an isolated
perspective; I've been hearing similar comments from clients for many
years. Can you clearly communicate the value associated with your
solution? It's not merely a marketing tactic; it's also central to your
ability to develop high-value, outcomes-driven solutions that clients
want.</span></p></div>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-49502143731829612192021-09-29T13:41:00.005-07:002021-11-18T13:50:58.651-08:00Building Your Firm's Strategic Capacity When You're at Your Limits<div class="reader-article-content
reader-article-content--rounded-images" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXNR1551St5JPxpH5FPPhoSc3SrRoJ82XJH2I0xOnavdF1VvoZAaK83OI73us-iypkt0scMAUuIoNwtJdxSTCT_Ob1Ezf0-Of3884TbdveKG4KbJ9fafUKv44X6zbHQ_WGXKBhuG53USw/s2048/ING_33594_216450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXNR1551St5JPxpH5FPPhoSc3SrRoJ82XJH2I0xOnavdF1VvoZAaK83OI73us-iypkt0scMAUuIoNwtJdxSTCT_Ob1Ezf0-Of3884TbdveKG4KbJ9fafUKv44X6zbHQ_WGXKBhuG53USw/s320/ING_33594_216450.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Imagine a man drowning
in a lake when a passerby wades out part way and calls to the man, "I
can teach you how to swim!" That scenario is perhaps not far from how
overworked A/E professionals must feel when firm leaders implore them to
commit time and attention to the latest strategic venture—be it
expansion into a new market, changes in the way projects are managed, or
adoption of an expansive client focus initiative—for the sake of the
firm's future success.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I know. My job is to promote and support
such strategic ventures. These days it's a tough sell as most A/E firms
are stretched to the limits with burgeoning workloads, staffing
shortages, and stressed-out employees. I was working with a group on a
key sales pursuit recently when one individual confessed, "I really
don't have time to do this." Then another piped in, "Even if we won the
job, I don't know how we could possibly get the work done!"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The
frustration is understandable. People are incredibly busy. It's hard to
devote time to future outcomes when today's deadlines and crises are
bearing down on them, and there's no relief in sight. Yet no responsible
firm can ignore taking steps today that will pay off down the road. You
have to continue to plan, to sell, to improve, to grow—or suffer the
consequences later. What every firm needs, regardless of how busy they
might be, is <em>strategic capacity</em>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I define strategic
capacity as the time and resources necessary to properly invest in the
firm's sustainable success. This would include such functions as
fulfilling the responsibilities of leadership, working towards strategic
objectives, training and mentoring staff, developing new business,
building client relationships, and making operational improvements.
These are all critically important activities that often yield to the
urgent pressures of project work.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">How much investment is needed in
these activities can be debated. But once they have been relegated to
the realm of relying on leftover time to do such important tasks, it's
appropriate to conclude that your firm's strategic capacity warrants
attention. So what are some steps to increase strategic capacity?</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Stewarding the Time</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What's
your firm's most valuable asset? Is it your staff, your clients, your
expertise? Ultimately, it has to be your time—you can't do anything
without expending it and there's not enough of it for everything you'd
like to do. Remarkably, given the importance of how individual and
collective time is used, few firms have a coherent strategy for
optimizing its yield. So here are a few tips to consider:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Appropriately value your "investment time." </strong>Many
A/E firms have such an obsessive focus on utilization, that employees
begin to view nonbillable hours as something to be minimized.
Consequently, these hours tend to become devalued, resulting in them
being loosely managed at best. Consultant David Maister suggests
reimagining nonbillable hours as "investment time" wherein you're
shaping the firm's future, while complementing the income-producing
hours devoted to serving clients. Proper proportions of both are
essential to sustained success. It's difficult to grow your strategic
capacity in a firm culture were seemingly only billable time is valued.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGHiaxlmOnCYQ/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1632959763806?e=1642636800&v=beta&t=pAKI-yKOO4ckrkAiCwJaZ5anxdTnYs5bc-K7M7kAYBM" data-media-urn="" height="230" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGHiaxlmOnCYQ/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1632959763806?e=1642636800&v=beta&t=pAKI-yKOO4ckrkAiCwJaZ5anxdTnYs5bc-K7M7kAYBM" width="640" /></span></div><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width"></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Manage nonbillable activities like projects. </strong>Having
properly valued your nonbillable time, the next step is to maximize the
return on those hours. The simplest advice is to treat those activities
like project work. Define and assign tasks, develop budgets and
schedules, monitor progress, review work products, and take corrective
actions when necessary to keep things on track. It's important to budget
people's time for these activities, and then monitor their
"utilization" of those hours. Managing nonbillable functions as project
work means giving them the same level of discipline and accountability.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Pursue collective time management strategies. </strong>Over
the years, I've asked hundreds of A/E professionals if they had a
system for managing their time. Only a small minority indicated that
they did. That's problematic, especially when faced with heavy
workloads. The problem is multiplied when these individuals are working
in groups where there's no structure for collectively optimizing time
usage. In team settings, time management becomes a shared
responsibility.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A good place to start is addressing meetings. Many
professionals spend much of their day in meetings that are either of
questionable value or are disorganized and inefficient. <a href="http://www.ae-resource.com/2011/09/how-to-have-more-productive-meetings.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">This post</a>
provides some guidance on how to have more productive meetings. For
those in the office, I recommend tracking interruptions and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/time-management-together-team-approach-maximizing-your-mel-lester/?trk=pulse-det-nav_art" target="_blank">taking steps to reduce unnecessary ones</a>.
But don't go too far in eliminating those informal, non-work-related
conversations that help build staff camaraderie. Another suggestion:
Explore work process changes that can improve overall efficiency.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Balancing the Load</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Even
in the busiest of firms, there are usually opportunities to improve how
the workload is distributed among staff. Of particular concern to
strategic capacity is making sure that senior leaders, seller-doers, and
others involved in strategic efforts have space in their schedules to
adequately perform those tasks.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Apply leverage in making staff assignments. </strong>The term <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/get-staffing-mix-right-improve-profitability-retention-mel-lester/" target="_blank"><em>leverage</em></a>
is commonly known in many sectors of professional services, but is
little used in our industry. It refers to the ratio of senior to
mid-level to junior staff in proportion to the requirements of the work
the firm does. In general, you want to delegate work tasks down the
lowest staff level at which they can be competently performed. Positive
leverage is usually associated with higher profits because the work
involves lower costs to complete and labor multipliers for lower-level
staff are typically higher. What you don't want to see in most cases is
managers running high utilization rates while those under them are being
underutilized on project work. Besides better financial performance and
enhanced staff development, positive leverage helps preserve strategic
capacity.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Urge leaders to invest time in developing and enabling those they lead. </strong>Saying
that leadership requires spending time on it is stating the obvious,
but how often do you see firm leaders who spend too little time
fulfilling that role? When they are too busy with project work, business
development, and administrative tasks to engage their team to any
meaningful level, the team (and the firm) suffers. I have long advocated
the Time Investment Principle as a critical leadership commitment,
meaning that leaders multiply their impact by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leader-how-you-investing-your-time-helping-others-succeed-mel-lester/" target="_blank">investing appropriate time enabling others</a> to be more productive. That's strategic capacity in action.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Getting Staffing Right</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Saying
that leaders must lead and senior professionals must maintain some
strategic capacity is all well and good, but many are finding this
exceedingly difficult because of inadequate staffing. They have no
choice but to step in and perform tasks that ideally should be done by
more junior staff. The pervasive talent shortage is not likely to abate
anytime soon, so your firm would do well to determine how you're going
to deal with it. A few suggestions:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Determine what your staffing mix should be. </strong>Most
firms recruit and hire as the need arises, without any meaningful
long-term plan. At the same time, it's common for firms to have a less
than ideal staffing mix should they even try to achieve favorable
leverage. The norm in our industry is to be a bit top-heavy, as depicted
below. </span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-middle"><span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGEVIGGWAn-5g/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1632947590004?e=1642636800&v=beta&t=d85hyvUcoeu--OQzTV-l86TvW0poHckfJguP-3MxLhw" data-media-urn="" height="264" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGEVIGGWAn-5g/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1632947590004?e=1642636800&v=beta&t=d85hyvUcoeu--OQzTV-l86TvW0poHckfJguP-3MxLhw" width="400" /></span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hiring
only on an as-needed basis often perpetuates the problem of having a
poor staffing mix. The better choice is to have a long-term (say
three-year) <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/get-staffing-mix-right-improve-profitability-retention-mel-lester/" target="_blank">staffing plan that projects the ideal mix</a>
in light of the types and volume of work you expect to be performing.
You'll want to factor in any planned changes in markets or services
during that period, of course.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Explore alternative staffing options in response to the talent shortage. </strong>The
consensus of experts is that the shortage of engineers and other
technical professionals will continue for the foreseeable future. So
what is your firm doing about it? Simply stepping up the recruiting
effort won't likely suffice. Other technical industries are looking at
staffing alternatives and technology-driven automation. What steps might
our industry take? Let me suggest four alternative staffing strategies,
the first three of which I have a good deal of experience with:</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Dividing the project management role into two roles</em>.
The limited availability of PMs is commonly a bottleneck in staffing
projects, plus PMs often have strategic non-project roles within the
firm as well. By dividing the PM role, you can substantially increase
their availability for both project and internal investment work. This
works because 60-70% of project management is typically administration
and coordination that can be performed by a more junior professional. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-should-consider-splitting-pm-role-mel-lester/" target="_blank">I've used this approach</a> with great success with both my last employer and some of my clients.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Training administrative staff to do more project work</em>. They can be part of the solution in relieving the PM of project administrative duties. But don't stop there. They can also be <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/could-more-admin-support-improve-profitability-mel-lester/" target="_blank">trained to conduct technical project tasks</a>.
When the risk assessment group under my watch as operations manager
became overloaded with work, I met with them to identify ways to address
the problem. Part of the solution, we concluded, was to train admin
staff to conduct risk calculations. This unloaded substantial hours for
senior members of the risk group, and enabled us to charge out admin
staff at a much higher billing rate. I also delegated several aspects of
my job as operations manager to admin staff, which they performed
capably, enabling me to focus on more important matters.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Supplementing your staff with independent affiliates</em>.
Most A/E firms at least occasionally hire subconsultants to build their
capabilities or provide bench strength. My recommendation focuses on
free agent professionals (sole proprietors) who can serve as an
extension of your staff when needed, usually more seamlessly than
working with other firms. I advocate <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/build-your-firms-capabilities-independent-affiliates-mel-lester/" target="_blank">building a cadre of what I call independent affiliates</a>,
getting them under contract, collaborating on sales pursuits, and
bringing them in on projects as appropriate. Besides expanding your
firm's resume, using independent affiliates can help free some of your
senior professionals' time for strategic work.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Developing a paraprofessional level within the firm</em>. The law profession did this years ago, t<a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/paralegals/profession-information/information_for_lawyers_how_paralegals_can_improve_your_practice/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">o great success</a>.
Why hasn't our industry given it serious consideration? Perhaps the
time is right to do so when technical professionals are in such short
supply. AIA chief economist Kermit Baker <a href="https://www.architectmagazine.com/practice/add-a-layer-the-case-for-paraprofessionals_o" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">floated the idea years ago</a>,
but I've not seen evidence the proposal gained much traction. Many
firms have default paraprofessionals in their ranks—non-degreed but
talented technical practitioners—but very few seem to be intentionally
pursuing such individuals. Perhaps your firm can be the exception,
helping you create the optimum staffing mix that carves out more
strategic capacity without compromising the bottom line.</span></li></ul></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-22842159419238016532021-08-24T13:32:00.001-07:002021-11-18T13:41:03.292-08:00Are Consulting Engineers Losing Their Consulting Role?<p></p><div class="reader-article-content
reader-article-content--rounded-images" dir="ltr"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiKeIg1TheGUbQPQQShtsbHb9nfZmPKtQfEX9Q35yusd5XxVqGUS3sG3Q1wfTQvg6jNoX6DtrCD0zw0EOb6qTY2TMAPjExkgB8b_3mjxMHC4osVKfMD1oz3jMvz3mwL7zzXoYHI6uvWI/s2048/02e84285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiKeIg1TheGUbQPQQShtsbHb9nfZmPKtQfEX9Q35yusd5XxVqGUS3sG3Q1wfTQvg6jNoX6DtrCD0zw0EOb6qTY2TMAPjExkgB8b_3mjxMHC4osVKfMD1oz3jMvz3mwL7zzXoYHI6uvWI/s320/02e84285.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I've been around the
consulting engineering business for almost 50 years, so I've seen my<br />
share of changes. Some have been readily apparent to all, like the
advent of computer-aided design or the burgeoning talent shortage of
late. Others have come more subtly, often occurring so slowly that we
hardly notice. But the impact of these "stealth" changes often is
greater than we might imagine.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That's how I would characterize a
trend I've been noticing for many years—the slow decline of the
consulting function that originally earned us our professional
designation. If I'm right, it's a troubling shift. I've talked with many
of my generation who share my concern. Those industry veterans who
don't, I suspect, are too busy actively consulting their clients to
notice the transition taking place among their colleagues. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What
is most disconcerting to me is the large proportion of younger engineers
who are not adequately developing their consulting chops because they
see so little of it modeled for them. What's the evidence of this change
and the impact it's having on our profession? Let me suggest the
following:</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Over my time in this business, clients have become
more knowledgeable and sophisticated, thus less dependent on our expert
insights (since many of them are experts in their own right).</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Requests
for proposals and work orders have become more prescriptive, often
leaving little room for us to apply our own creative problem solving and
design solutions.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">One reason for this is that clients are
relying on us less during the developmental stages of projects, instead
doing their own research, problem definition, and evaluation of options.
Hinge Marketing estimates that <a href="https://hingemarketing.com/library/article/inside-the-buyers-brain-second-edition-executive-summary" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">70% of the buying journey is now conducted online,</a> often before clients are engaging seller-doers.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Concurrently,
many engineers seem reluctant (or too busy) to engage clients during
these critical early stages when projects are taking shape—even with
their own existing clients!</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Accordingly, we increasingly are finding ourselves in the role of "<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/order-taker-trusted-adviser-which-you-mel-lester/" target="_blank">order takers" rather than trusted advisors</a>. Consider the contrasts between these roles as highlighted below:</span></li></ul><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGJbnAH3bI3uQ/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1628795868163?e=1642636800&v=beta&t=E8EA_GroKwXCn0jBmiU3NQPRKLaowaYDS6CNbHefrKE" data-media-urn="" height="296" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGJbnAH3bI3uQ/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1628795868163?e=1642636800&v=beta&t=E8EA_GroKwXCn0jBmiU3NQPRKLaowaYDS6CNbHefrKE" width="640" /></span></div><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">As
our clients have become increasingly focused on the business outcomes
arising from our technical solutions, much of our profession hasn't made
the connection. Consider how seldom our project strategies are driven
by the client's ultimate desired results.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Even when clients make
the importance of business outcomes crystal clear, many in our ranks
struggle to frame their project activities and decision making in that
context. Our predominant analytical mindset is frequently a barrier to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/deliver-client-business-outcomes-just-technical-solutions-mel-lester/" target="_blank">thinking more strategically</a> about what our projects need to accomplish and how to get there.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;">If
you've read my previous posts in this space, you'll no doubt recognize
some familiar themes in my diagnosis of the problem. By and large,
clients hire consultants of all stripes to help them achieve business
outcomes. For a variety of reasons, I fear our profession is slowly
moving further from that goal. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It's well documented that
delivering outcomes is the ultimate purpose of designing solutions, from
the customer's perspective. That connection is at the core of serving
as a consultant. The more our younger engineers see their job as simply
performing technical scopes of work and designing technical solutions,
the less clients will be coming to us for trusted advice.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Recovering the Role of Consultant</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So
what steps can you take to reclaim (or preserve) your role as a
consultant? It's a complicated undertaking, but the following steps can
help you make significant gains:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Venture outside your lane.</strong> I find it disheartening how often I encounter project managers (and even some principals!) who are <a href="https://thesalesblog.com/2019/10/17/helpful-ideas-on-how-not-to-fear-your-clients/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">reluctant to talk with their clients</a>
about issues outside the scope of their current projects. This seems to
be rooted in part with the common concern that any inquiry about other
aspects of the client's business might be interpreted as fishing for the
next sales opportunity. We want to avoid any appearance of being
salesy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But what does genuine interest in helping the client
succeed look like? Simply executing the contracted scope of work? I
don't think so. That would be like the doctor who only treats the
stomach upset that motivated your visit, while neglecting to take your
vitals or to examine the worrisome-looking lesion on your forehead. If
you stop advising clients because it's not in the express scope of work,
don't be surprised if they stop asking your advice.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Develop a consulting mindset. </strong>Expert
consulting isn't merely a matter of sharing what you know, but sharing
how you think. Engineers are taught how to formulate the right answer,
but don't always see the value of sharing the thought process behind it.
Yet the evidence is clear that consultants are valued for their
thinking, not just their answers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What does the consulting mindset
entail? It starts with a deep curiosity that leads to a habit of
continuous learning. You're always interested in finding new and better
ways to do things. You're willing to challenge conventional wisdom. You
work hard to compile a solid empirical basis for your opinions, yet are
open to rethinking your position when new evidence arises.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To complement your strong analytical skills, you recognize the need to regularly "<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/focus-clients-zoom-out-mel-lester/?trk=related_artice_To%20Focus%20on%20Clients%2C%20Zoom%20Out_article-card_title" target="_blank">zoom out" to view the bigger picture</a>,
to appropriately frame the problems you're trying to solve in a broader
context than the limits of your expertise. You are driven to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-behind-your-projects-matters-mel-lester/" target="_blank">understand the why behind the projects</a>
you work on, to determine not simply what needs to be done but what
ultimately needs to be accomplished. Consultants are necessarily results
oriented—their success defined not by how well they perform, but by the
outcomes they help achieve.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Don't be afraid to share your opinion. </strong>Some
engineers mistake client focus as giving clients what they want. That's
the order-taker mindset. Consultants are more concerned with giving
clients what they need. Obviously, this <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-technical-professionals-arent-persuasive-mel-lester/" target="_blank">involves some persuasion</a>.
But you don't get there without being willing to push back at times and
argue for a better way. It's hard for clients to learn to trust your
point of view if you shrink back from it whenever the client is thinking
otherwise.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sometimes this means offering unsolicited advice or
taking a stand before you have all the facts together. I know many
engineers are hesitant to do that. But waiting to be asked or to gather
more information can result in a missed opportunity to get a potentially
great idea on the table while the timing is right. Good consultants are
always ready to share their opinions when they can be helpful, even if
they need to develop them further. They're an opinion, not a final
answer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Get serious about your communication skills. </strong>The
importance of strong communication skills is vastly undervalued in our
profession. Yet your success as a consultant depends on your ability to
listen for understanding, clearly communicate your ideas, and persuade
others to take action. As our business increasingly moves into the
digital realm, which is both a boon and a bane to communication, these
skills take on even greater significance.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The first step to better communication is to <a href="http://www.ae-resource.com/2011/04/weak-writing-is-thinking-problem.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">organize your thoughts in advance</a>. Jot down some notes, prepare an agenda, develop an outline. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/power-writing-technical-professionals-mel-lester/?published=t" target="_blank">Define your purpose</a> and then identify the key points you need to communicate effectively to accomplish it. Focus on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-best-piece-communication-advice-mel-lester/" target="_blank">how your message will be received</a>, not just how you will deliver it. When writing, ditch the overwrought technicalese that plagues our profession, and <a href="http://www.ae-resource.com/2019/10/is-conversational-style-in-proposals.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">write in a conversational tone</a>. Boost your persuasive abilities by connecting at an emotional level, not merely appealing to the intellect.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course, good communication isn't all about sending messages. <a href="http://www.ae-resource.com/2010/01/how-to-really-listen.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Listening is a vital consulting skill</a>.
The starting point to helping clients is always understanding their
needs and aspirations. Learn to ask great questions to uncover these
critical insights, then listen intently—not just for information, but
also for identification with what the client is thinking and feeling.
Your advice will find a more receptive audience when you first take the
time to listen.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Know your clients' business. </strong>The
best consulting engineers don't just offer advice on technical topics;
they are able to connect their technical solutions to the client's
desired business outcomes. That ability, of course, requires that you <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-clients-see-you-industry-insider-mel-lester/?articleId=6315656056097828864" target="_blank">understand the client's business</a>. You should be able to articulate specifically how your solutions help the client be successful.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Knowledge
of your clients' business inherently attracts more interest in your
advice. Let's say you have expertise in stormwater management. No
surprise that a land developer would hire you to develop a stormwater
management plan as required by regulation. But that client would be much
more likely to seek your advice on stormwater management strategies if
you were knowledgeable about their business and how stormwater issues
can impact their return on investment. Client knowledge adds value to
your expertise.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Engage clients early in the project development process. </strong>This
might seem like sales advice, but the focus here is on your role as
consultant. Some of the best opportunities to establish your consulting
role is before you've been contracted to do the work. As noted earlier,
clients are increasingly going online for insights in the early project
definition stages, rather than talking to real-life engineers. Part of
that trend is simply a matter of convenience, but I also suspect that
fewer engineers than in the past are actively seeking out those
preliminary discussions with clients.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Bucking this trend begins
with your existing clients, going back to my first tip. You should be
aware of problems your clients face that you can help them with, and get
involved early in shaping those solutions. This is when you can offer
some of your most valuable advice—before the client has discovered an
answer to their need. Yes, you <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/does-free-advice-devalue-your-services-mel-lester/" target="_blank">might not be getting paid</a>
for it yet. But you've greatly enhanced your chances of getting hired
to complete the work, and reinforced your value as a trusted advisor.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Agree
or disagree with my premise? I love to hear your take on it, and any
other ideas you might have for recovering our consulting role.</span></p></div>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-63735410972797599942021-07-08T13:13:00.001-07:002021-07-19T13:16:54.164-07:00As a Leader, How Are You Investing Your Time Helping Others Succeed?<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgDFaAjp9uU1gX9xYqQmUfhOcg3BAaFEsZvG2bnGyr8Qy4l4Kn3GSopaYpNA-ml3jRfCLHFD98TPX-w1Vt_ybqne1pp_mpFISbQP7uddpnCOfz4hOg2b1tjgPsbbe07b1NZG6Zfw9eRg/s2048/ING_32193_145026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgDFaAjp9uU1gX9xYqQmUfhOcg3BAaFEsZvG2bnGyr8Qy4l4Kn3GSopaYpNA-ml3jRfCLHFD98TPX-w1Vt_ybqne1pp_mpFISbQP7uddpnCOfz4hOg2b1tjgPsbbe07b1NZG6Zfw9eRg/s320/ING_32193_145026.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">How do you define the
success of a leader? Individual accomplishments are certainly <br />important,
but shouldn't team performance be the primary measure? Indeed, leaders
have a special opportunity to multiply their impact through the efforts
of those they lead. Yet many unfortunately focus far more attention on
their own efforts than those of the people under their charge.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Often,
this misplaced emphasis is actively, if inadvertently, promoted by the
firms that employ these leaders. For example, I've worked with several
A/E firms that expect senior leaders to maintain high personal
chargeability rates. These leaders are often commended for their heavy
project involvement even as their business unit, office, or department
languishes from their inattention.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I once was participating in a
monthly managers call for a midsized engineering firm when the president
began criticizing one of the branch managers for his low personal
chargeability. "Wait a minute," I interrupted, "John's office has the
highest utilization in the company, eight points over their budgeted
goal. What difference does his utilization make?" After a prolonged
pause, the president admitted he was focusing on the wrong thing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Knowing John's tendencies as a leader, I suspected his office was outperforming the others in large part <em>because of his lower utilization</em>,<em> </em>or
more specifically, how he spent time helping his people succeed. His
example illustrates one of my most valued pieces of leadership
advice—what I call the Time Investment Principle.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The essence of
the Time Investment Principle is that leaders multiply their impact on
the organization by investing time helping others be more productive and
effective (see the diagram below). As a leader, if you spend your time
simply "doing the work," your impact is measured only by your individual
contribution. If, on the other hand, you divert time from doing the
work to helping others do their part more effectively, your impact is
multiplied.</span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQFdpMogwxQfwg/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1625691296433?e=1632355200&v=beta&t=kaewaptD-ad68bzpBlf6UFgKZZHrWC8SvSCRpSQYoo4" data-media-urn="" height="295" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQFdpMogwxQfwg/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1625691296433?e=1632355200&v=beta&t=kaewaptD-ad68bzpBlf6UFgKZZHrWC8SvSCRpSQYoo4" width="640" /></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So how could you better apply the Time Investment Principle as a leader? Here are a few suggestions:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Appropriately distribute work assignments between yourself and your team.</strong>
I know senior leaders who busy themselves largely with routine project
work that could be delegated to junior staff. Clearly, they would be
better served to unload much of that work so they could devote more time
to being an effective leader—including boosting their team's capability
to perform the work. What if the project work you do is highly
specialized and not easily delegated? Well, perhaps you don't have the
time available to serve as a real leader (there is a certain time
commitment required!). Or maybe your firm needs to hire someone who can
share part of that workload.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Dedicate a specific portion of your time to invest in your team. </strong>Your
role as an engaged leader helping others succeed is too important to
consign to leftover time. As with project work, you should determine how
much time is needed to effectively lead your team and then budget and
schedule it. Treat it you would project time. If there's a conflict,
don't just drop it, reschedule it! And beware of overloading your
calendar with tasks that are less important than your leadership
responsibilities or that could be performed by others.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Start your day by helping others prepare for theirs. </strong>When
I was serving in various regional and corporate leadership roles, my
office was a snare. Go in there and I found myself easily entrapped by
the lure of my task list, paperwork, emails, voicemails, inbox, and
incessant interruptions. Sound familiar? What I learned was that one of
the best ways to assure I spent time investing in others was to do so at
the start of each day—before I stepped into my office. I would compile a
list of people to talk to the day before, then the following morning
spend a little time helping them get ready to make the most of their
day.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Commit to coaching and mentoring others. </strong>Some
people need a little guidance, others need more hands-on instruction
and encouragement. Those of us who are sports fans recognize the
benefits of good coaching, but rarely consider such an approach as
leaders in our respective firms. But coaching holds tremendous potential
for improving performance both on the field and in the office. Whereas
coaching is more real-time, on-the-job with a performance focus,
mentoring fills the need for more offline, career-oriented counseling.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Measure your success through the growth of others. </strong>An
important leadership function is helping others grow and improve. This
not only enables you to get the organizational results you need in the
short term, but to build capability for sustained success. As a leader,
your performance metrics should be largely centered on what your team
accomplishes. The usual lagging financial metrics are useful, but I'd
recommend adding some leading indicators such as specific behaviors,
measurable improvements, and intermediate milestones. Of course, use
these to celebrate success with your team.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">My description of the
Time Investment Principle may seem, well, a little too time intensive
for some. But that's not usually the case. You should allocate your time
for others in proportion to the dynamics of your particular leadership
role. That includes determining what time investments in which people
would likely yield the greatest benefits to the team's performance, and
how much time you can reasonably devote (after optimizing the
distribution of work assignments).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The main point is that leaders
at all levels need to be wise in how they allocate their time, being
careful to reserve adequate time to invest in enabling their team to
succeed. Like any investment, you have to give up some now (in this
case, your time) to reap a substantial return down the road (that is,
increased future capability and productivity). But in my experience, you
don't have to wait long for some ROI to be realized. Usually, the
benefits start becoming evident within only a few weeks. It's worth the
investment!</span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-39414491101216815552021-07-05T12:59:00.006-07:002021-07-19T13:03:40.916-07:00How to Close the Knowing-Doing Gap<div>
<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLqvXANm-lZmsjmPE4tyW2nNQm9MKqhqEMVR5ZiJkVv2DF9TCYHA8Wa6IuSiZN1ZtcuOYtl3HsJBd95o7GPCg1GCtpXL4ABD8EsdKrdTPXtAyT21WJDn3Z2RzbgUrcJ3Jt4fBfmlcc_EQ/s1826/1625511162163_ISS_23502_00229.eps_1826_1192.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="1826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLqvXANm-lZmsjmPE4tyW2nNQm9MKqhqEMVR5ZiJkVv2DF9TCYHA8Wa6IuSiZN1ZtcuOYtl3HsJBd95o7GPCg1GCtpXL4ABD8EsdKrdTPXtAyT21WJDn3Z2RzbgUrcJ3Jt4fBfmlcc_EQ/s320/1625511162163_ISS_23502_00229.eps_1826_1192.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I have a client
with a common problem: The firm has implemented a sophisticated quality
management system but many people aren't following it. Sound familiar?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Substitute
any number of corporate activities and directives—from making sales
calls to implementing strategy to filling out time sheets—and in all
likelihood your firm has experienced the same problem. Employees aren't
doing the things they're expected to do. They know what to do, they're
capable of doing it, they're even motivated to do it in some cases. But
it's still not happening.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Stanford professors Jeff Pfeffer and Bob
Sutton call this predicament "the knowing-doing gap" in their popular
book by the same title. They conclude—and I would concur—that the
biggest difference between companies is not what they know, but how well
they're able to put what they know into action. Best practice insights
are a commodity these days, but implementation acumen is a rarity.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm a strong advocate for the use of <a href="http://www.ae-resource.com/2010/09/postive-reinforcement-works-100-of-time.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">positive reinforcement</a>
and other strategies from behavioral science in managing performance.
Let's apply that wisdom now to the challenge of getting things done.
Most firms take a familiar path in trying to solve problems like my
client has. They step up the pressure, tweak the process, reassign
responsibilities, do more training, modify goals.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">These steps are all <em>antecedents</em>,
things that come before and set the stage for action (or behavior).
Antecedents are important, but they're not effective in sustaining
behaviors over time. Unfortunately, most managers rely almost
exclusively on antecedents in trying to change behavior. There's a
better way. Let me outline some key steps in closing the knowing-doing
gap in your firm:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Define the specific desired results. </strong>Sometimes
firms launch initiatives without clear objectives. For example, if you
implement a new quality process, what do you hope to accomplish? Improve
quality? That in itself is not a very helpful goal (by the way, most
quality programs fail to significantly improve quality). How much
improvement do you expect? In what specific areas? How will you measure
it?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I don't think I need to review here the qualities of <a href="http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/smart-goals.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">SMART goals</a>.
You're undoubtedly familiar with the concept. Yet I'm surprised how
many firms I've witnessed investing substantial time and money in
various strategic efforts that lack explicit performance goals. That
makes it much harder to change behaviors. Which do you think works
better: Ask an employee to work harder or tell her specifically what
more needs to be done? Review your goals and see if they meet the SMART
criteria.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Seek to understand why. </strong>If people
aren't doing what they should, start by exploring the reasons for this.
Certain antecedents may be a factor, but you need to consider the
consequences of behaviors as well. While positive reinforcement is a
powerful motivator, it's important to recognize that it can work both
for you and against you. If workers aren't doing what is desired, that
contrary behavior is undoubtedly being reinforced in some way.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For
example, failing to do a quality review saves time, is easier, may give
one the sense of fitting in with their fellow noncompliant colleagues,
or could even earn a compliment for finishing the work on schedule.
These individuals may not be aware that these consequences are
influencing their actions, but you can uncover likely sources of
influence through some inductive reasoning and asking good questions.
Once you have a better understanding of why people do what they do,
you're able to take more effective steps to support behavior change.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Address antecedent shortcomings, but don't stop there.</strong>
We're all accustomed to the usual fixes—new or revised programs,
policies, procedures, action plans, tools, reorganizations, trainings,
etc. These can all be part of the solution, but usually are insufficient
in closing the knowing-doing gap. Sometimes the "fixes" even exacerbate
the problem of inaction.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The important question is always: <em>How do these steps help people do what needs to be done?</em>
Be persistent in pursuing the answer to that question. Most
"structural" solutions to organizational problems are incomplete. New
processes, of course, can only be effective when followed. Technology
investments require a corresponding change in how people do their work.
Training rarely is effective unless reinforced over time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Changing behaviors is almost always part of the solution. And it's usually the hardest part. So let's talk about that next...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Identify specific behaviors needed to achieve your desired results. </strong>This requires a step called <em>pinpointing</em>,
determining those few behaviors that are most critical to achieving
your desired results. Don't get overly ambitious. This is the problem
with most corporate initiatives—like implementing a quality management
system—where firms try to tackle too much behavior change at one time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A
better approach is to phase in change, guided by staged objectives.
Don't attempt full compliance to your quality procedures at first, for
example. Instead, pick perhaps 3-5 pinpointed behaviors that will have
the biggest impact on quality (or whatever your goal is). Once those
behaviors become commonplace, then add a few more and so on.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Use effective metrics. </strong>There
are two types of measurement associated with pinpointing solutions: (1)
leading indicators that typically measure behavior and (2) trailing
indicators that measure results. Obviously, the later is far more common
in business. But measuring behavior enables you to better evaluate your
progress and to target course corrections where needed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">How do
you measure behavior? There are two primary ways—counting and judging.
Counting, of course, is more objective and should be preferred where
possible. Having identified pinpointed behaviors, such as completing a
discipline-specific technical reviews for all multidisciplinary
projects, you can then count how often that occurs when it is called
for.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For behaviors that don't lend themselves to counting, you
should consider judging. Because it is subjective, this kind of
measurement should come from more than one person. For example, you
could have project managers anonymously grade how well department heads
support them in getting buy-in from technical staff for the firm's new
quality process. The composite grades could then be tracked over time to
look for improvement.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Metrics work best when oriented towards
providing positive reinforcement. Unfortunately, many firms use metrics
for negative reinforcement. Whenever you have the choice, choose to
measure desired behaviors versus problem ones, then favor rewards over
punishments. Rewards, by the way, need not be material; compliments and
recognition go a long way.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Provide regular feedback and reinforcement. </strong>Imagine
your favorite college football coach giving instructions to his team on
how to conduct the prescribed practice drills. Yet in this case, he
sends them off to practice on their own while he goes to his office.
"You can come to my office if you have questions," he tells them, "But
I'll wait to give you feedback until after the game on Saturday."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Obviously
he wouldn't last long in the coaching profession, because that approach
clearly would not succeed in getting top performance from the team. But
did you notice the familiar ring to that illustration? It's how most
business managers direct their teams. "Here's what you need to do. Let
me know if questions come up. I'll give you feedback only after you've
finished (if at all)."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">If you're going to provide effective
feedback and reinforcement, you need to periodically observe the
pinpointed behaviors. The more frequently, the better. Too busy for
that? Maybe you should reassess how you allocate your time if you serve
the role of manager. The manager's first priority, in my opinion, is
helping the team succeed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What's the difference between feedback
and reinforcement? Feedback is sharing information that enables one to
adjust their performance. Measurement can be an effective tool for
providing feedback. Reinforcement involves creating or leveraging
consequences that cause behavior (in this case, the desired behaviors)
to increase. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Any solution that involves changing behaviors should
include these steps. To review, these are the key questions you should
address in closing the knowing-doing gap:</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">What are the desired results?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">What's motivating people either to comply or not?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">What are the few vital behaviors needed to produce those results?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">How will we measure progress toward both the pinpointed results and behaviors?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">How will we provide performance feedback?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">How will we reinforce the pinpointed behaviors?</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;">If
you'd like to learn more about this approach to closing the
knowing-doing gap and inspiring better performance, check out related
articles by Aubrey Daniels and his associates <a href="https://www.aubreydaniels.com/media-center/articles" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">at this website</a>. I also found his book <a data-artdeco-is-focused="true" href="https://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Out-Best-People-Reinforcement/dp/1259644901/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1YZXRLHJRO82F&dchild=1&keywords=bringing+out+the+best+in+people&qid=1625510810&sprefix=bringing+out+the+best+%2Caps%2C221&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em>Bringing Out the Best in People</em></a> extremely valuable. </span></p></div><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-32199887932779515092021-05-24T12:42:00.003-07:002021-07-19T12:58:45.558-07:00My Best Piece of Communication Advice<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCz7FSk5dBuR0LiVYf6CAbbfQ8On6EMutR7VfuaUyX1IrlR27cWbUyS7moWL5CdLBte3Y2pmzwhC8t1z6oW-nDi8LJxk8wMB_-13cZnutWioTEJxoAlMOFcCsLDO6a5xNDmkkNmMyD-A/s1920/football-1579827_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCz7FSk5dBuR0LiVYf6CAbbfQ8On6EMutR7VfuaUyX1IrlR27cWbUyS7moWL5CdLBte3Y2pmzwhC8t1z6oW-nDi8LJxk8wMB_-13cZnutWioTEJxoAlMOFcCsLDO6a5xNDmkkNmMyD-A/s320/football-1579827_1920.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Communication is
arguably the most important skill in your professional and personal
life. Various studies confirm that conclusion. Communication connects
people, enabling us to work together, build relationships, and
understand each other. Thus it's a shame we don't make it more of a
priority in the A/E profession.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We readily acknowledge that most
technical professionals lack strong communication skills, but invest
little in trying to remedy the problem. Communication breakdowns can be
costly, resulting in lost business, unhappy clients, misunderstandings,
mistakes, budget and schedule overruns, poor quality work, coworker
conflicts, and staff turnover—to name a few. Why do we accept these
shortcomings as normative?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We can do better, and real improvement
is not necessarily that difficult to achieve. In fact, my best piece of
communication advice is relatively simple.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Communication Is a Partnership</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I
liken it to a completed forward pass in football. The quarterback must
accurately deliver the ball and the receiver must catch it. Both parties
have to do their part. An on-target pass that is dropped by the
receiver produces the same result as a pass thrown well out of the
receiver's reach. Quarterback is considered the most important role on
the team, but his passes have to be caught for him to have success.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So
it is in communication. When we describe someone as a "good
communicator," we're almost always talking about the one who delivers
the message. Often we're referring to their eloquence, their tone, their
choice of words, the content of their message. But no matter how well
we might judge the delivery of the message, it must be received as
intended for it to accomplish its purpose. Communication is a
partnership.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">We Usually Focus on the Wrong Thing</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">There is a
tendency to think that if our message contains the right information,
we've done our part as "communicators." But the most important part of
good communication is not the message sent. <em>It is the message received.</em></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I
once traveled to Dallas to do some safety training for one of my
clients. But when I arrived there with the corporate safety director, no
one in that office knew we were coming. There were no scheduled
training sessions, no in-field safety observations arranged. The safety
director was quite perturbed. "I sent the branch manager an email with
all the information they needed!" he said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">"But did you receive
any confirmation that he received your email?" I asked. No, he hadn't.
The safety director was accurate in saying the email contained all the
necessary information. But recipient never saw it (turns out the subject
line was misleading, the latest in an extended conversation that
eventually changed topic). It doesn't matter how well you composed your
email when no one reads it!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">My example is perhaps a bit extreme,
but the problem is very common in our workplaces: People assuming they
"communicated" simply because they sent a message. Perhaps their message
was read or heard, but it wasn't understood by their audience as
intended. Same problem. Ultimately, your audience determines the success
of your communications.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">What Matters Most in Communication</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Thus I offer the best advice I can think of when it comes to communication:</span></p><blockquote><i><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Focus first on how your message will be received, not on how it is sent.</span></span></b></i></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This
simple advice can help you avoid a lot of communication breakdowns.
Thought you made a strong case to the client for your proposed solution?
Unfortunately, it was buried in a lot of nonessential text that the
client was only skimming through. Thought you explained to staff why the
PTO policy had to be changed? Unfortunately, you failed to consider the
context of two previous policy changes that left them feeling their
opinions didn't matter.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To return to the earlier illustration of a forward pass, the imperative is to <em>make your messages more catchable.</em>
Perhaps it hits the receiver's hands, but is delivered too hard. Or it
hits the receiver between the numbers, but defenders block his view. Or
is thrown too far in front of him considering his speed is compromised
by poor field conditions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">You must design and deliver your
messages with your audience in mind. Here are some helpful tips for
making your messages more catchable:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Know your audience. </strong>All
communication passes through filters constructed of such things as
emotions, experiences, personality, values, expertise, interests, and
vocabulary. Construct your message for your audience, not for yourself.
And address the issues that matter most to them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Don't say more than is necessary. </strong>Get
to the point! To use an old journalistic standard: Don't bury the lede
(meaning don't obscure your main points by immersing them in unnecessary
details). We do this on a regular basis, apparently presuming that more
detail strengthens our messages. But in fact, more information given
typically results in less information received.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Make written messages skimmable. </strong>Obviously,
this is particularly important for longer documents such as reports or
proposals. People aren't reading word for word; they're skimming—more
than ever before. If you're not making your documents (or longer emails)
skimmable, you've lost message control.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Don't address sensitive or controversial topics in emails. </strong>These
are better delivered live, so you can adjust your message to the
feedback you're receiving. Better still, spend time listening to your
audience before trying to get your message across. Show that you care
about their concerns.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Minimize jargon. </strong>The
technical terms we like to use tend to exclude those who don't have a
similar background. Jargon doesn't make you look as smart as being able
to describe these terms in everyday language that's inclusive of your
whole audience.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>If it's important, repeat it repeatedly. </strong>You
can obviously overdo this, but the most successful leaders and
professionals have learned that overcommunicating is smart practice in
an overcommunicated world. Use multiple communication channels in
increase the likelihood that your message will be received.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Confirm that your message is received as you intended it. </strong>You
cannot conclude that your message was communicated successfully until
you have evidence that it was received as planned. This confirmation
isn't as simple as "Did you get my message?" but should include feedback
that indicates they understood it and responded to it as you wanted
them to.</span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-12625204177113079492021-04-19T12:32:00.003-07:002021-07-19T12:36:57.708-07:00Selling and the Service Continuum<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0Vf1hFSuJy5AHrYMvbADV9WkrEzeM62cKQMT22-IVVlVuCtQcO2sWpLUU9cXzmqIJQOwLs5N8HCIWNh32WvYC-yEBMM2jmsZXBmSez4kmxiHyiHfFOucttHnzH4zXvaK-1o5tdirP-4/s2048/ING_19064_10817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0Vf1hFSuJy5AHrYMvbADV9WkrEzeM62cKQMT22-IVVlVuCtQcO2sWpLUU9cXzmqIJQOwLs5N8HCIWNh32WvYC-yEBMM2jmsZXBmSez4kmxiHyiHfFOucttHnzH4zXvaK-1o5tdirP-4/s320/ING_19064_10817.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The fundamental purpose
of your business is to serve. You serve your clients and their constituents, and ultimately society at large. It's not pure altruism
since you are well compensated for your service, but it's a high calling
nonetheless. Every member of your firm should understand that he or she
is in the business of serving others.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It's ironic, then, that you
begin building relationships with prospective clients through a
practice that's widely considered to be inherently selfish—selling. You
may argue that self interest is not your intent, but your actions speak
louder. When you spend most of the time in a sales call talking about
yourself and your firm, that's rightfully perceived as self serving.
Same when your marketing activities scream, "Look at us! Aren't we
something." And when your proposals devote more space to touting your
qualifications than <a href="http://www.blog-bizedge.biz/2013/10/defining-your-proposal-storyline.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">telling the story</a> of how you will help the client succeed, that hardly captures the spirit of service.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Do
I sound a bit extreme? You would be correct to point out that my
examples are common practice, something clients probably expect and
therefore aren't likely to view as improper in any way. But my point
isn't about impropriety; it's about ineffectiveness. Selling may be the
norm, but most people hate being sold. If you're looking for an edge in
the competition for new business, let me suggest you return to your core
purpose...serving instead of selling.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">People buy because they
have needs, so helping them meet those needs would seem to be the most
natural response. But sellers have needs too, and unfortunately those
needs typically drive the sales process. The good news is that meeting
client needs is the best way to meet your own. Serve clients well and
you'll make more sales and keep more clients after the sale.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This
basic philosophy is captured in the following diagram depicting what I
call the Service Continuum. Rather than divide your interactions with
clients into two phases—(1) selling before contract award and (2) doing
the work afterwards—the Service Continuum suggests that there's only one
fundamental activity. That's identifying and satisfying client needs,
the essence of service. The primary difference between before and after
contract is that you're getting compensated after the sale. So you have
to scale your serving accordingly in the pre-contract stage. </span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-middle"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQEptwtJ3nMvJA/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1618841748646?e=1632355200&v=beta&t=JdtF7Q5K40KgpNj3ObbGmK5eBjmC1gxv_k79OG4AU-w" data-media-urn="" height="184" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQEptwtJ3nMvJA/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1618841748646?e=1632355200&v=beta&t=JdtF7Q5K40KgpNj3ObbGmK5eBjmC1gxv_k79OG4AU-w" width="400" /></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What
are we talking about in the uncompensated phase? Basic consultation:
Helping clients characterize needs, identify potential solutions, and
define the project strategy (which you hope to implement under
contract). The key to making the Service Continuum really work for you
is getting involved early when you can have the greatest influence over
shaping the project. But serving prospective clients is the better
approach at any stage in the process, compared to traditional selling.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Let
me respond to a common concern about this approach: "You're suggesting
giving our consulting expertise away for nothing, which helps devalue
our services." My experience has been quite the opposite. When you <em>demonstrate</em>
your expertise rather than just talk about it, it's perceived value
grows in the client's mind (assuming you're good at what you do!). Your
help likely prompts a sense of <a href="http://psychology.about.com/od/socialinfluence/f/rule-of-reciprocity.htm" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">reciprocity</a>,
increasing the odds that the client will select you. If you've been
truly helpful, it becomes less likely that the client will want to
switch to someone else who's been less helpful (or not helpful at all).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The
value of the Service Continuum has been well demonstrated, both in our
industry and in others. So why is it not routinely employed? Because
it's more work. It can be hard to get some clients to receive your offer
to help. Doing a good job at it requires an investment of time. Many
have no doubt have been burned by prospective clients who took advantage
of their help but then hired someone else.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But the more your
competitors resign themselves to traditional selling because of these
perceived drawbacks, the better for you. That makes it easier to
distinguish your firm from the rest by serving during the sales process.
If the Service Continuum isn't your current approach, let me encourage
you to give it a try. If you believe you are already serving sales
prospects, consider how you might serve them even better. One thing I've
learned is that serving ultimately serves you back.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So let me leave you with this reminder: <em>Serve, don't sell. Show, don't tell. </em>Try it, you'll do well.</span></p></div><p> </p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-42868404679005407792021-03-31T12:25:00.012-07:002021-07-19T12:40:25.266-07:00Deliver Client Business Outcomes, Not Just Technical Solutions<div class="separator"></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0egZ3fzXOvEvKlri4KDVqAo-Zu5sG8fy59rA4hkzelvJ8BT0ivonX4h5NNYp6DfHKzJyqcJJ6ep4evOTazbK9TGDDaUtNNH6-eN9k58C88K64fg_hUKpW69INBUcBH5nl1NsYr5P5xiM/s961/Value.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="961" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0egZ3fzXOvEvKlri4KDVqAo-Zu5sG8fy59rA4hkzelvJ8BT0ivonX4h5NNYp6DfHKzJyqcJJ6ep4evOTazbK9TGDDaUtNNH6-eN9k58C88K64fg_hUKpW69INBUcBH5nl1NsYr5P5xiM/s320/Value.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">What constitutes a successful A/E project? Is it a sound technical
solution? On-time, on-budget delivery? Quality work products? A
satisfied client? Certainly, all of these things are important to
project success. But they are a means to an end, not an end in
themselves.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Ultimately, a successful project is one that delivers specific outcomes that enable client success.</b> As I noted in <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-steps-creating-added-value-your-clients-mel-lester/" target="_blank">my previous article</a>
in this space, A/E professionals too often view project outcomes
through the lens of their completed scope of work, not the client's
realization of value or return on investment—which may occur months or
even years after the A/E project scope is finished.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So a
successful project is not a completed set of high-quality construction
documents, for example. It is a constructed facility that fully meets
expectations, enabling the achievement of client business outcomes. I'm
using the term <i>business</i> in the generic sense here, meaning the
client's overall mission or purpose. There are few clients that exist
primarily to conduct A/E projects; rather these projects are a means to
fulfill their primary purpose.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It is that primary purpose to which
we must focus our efforts as A/E professionals if we want our work to
be as highly valued as it deserves. In the end, clients hire us to
deliver outcomes, not solutions. Of course, that may be nowhere apparent
in the requested scope of work. It is up to us to make the
connection—both externally and internally—between our work and the
client's ultimate business outcomes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This starts with better
aligning our perspective with that of our clients. Consider the diagram
below: From the typical A/E professional's perspective, we're prone to
seeing the project as a technical problem requiring people with specific
technical expertise to produce the right technical solution. And
clients are inclined to see our role much the same—as technical
practitioners skilled at technical solutions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Unfortunately,
that's not how most clients view the project overall. They are more
concerned about the business impacts associated with the technical
problem, and they want a solution that facilitates the attainment of
needed business outcomes. The dilemma is finding a solution provider
that can address both the technical and business elements of the project
in integrated fashion.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGyxraaZiskpg/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1617059430065?e=1632355200&v=beta&t=mtf0TGzoo8q4zhJAApjTxJjHXnpRopB2SOyZ9UBO25w" data-media-urn="" height="262" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGyxraaZiskpg/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1617059430065?e=1632355200&v=beta&t=mtf0TGzoo8q4zhJAApjTxJjHXnpRopB2SOyZ9UBO25w" width="640" /></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That's your firm's opportunity to stand
out from the crowd. Learn to diagnose client problems from a broader
perspective—addressing not only the technical issues, but business and
people concerns as well. Build a diverse team that can bring together
not only different skill sets, but different mindsets (see below).
Create an integrated solution that considers strategic and people
outcomes, enabling the fuller realization of the client's return on
investment.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Strategic Thinking and Client Outcomes</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This
all makes perfect sense (to me, at least!). There is abundant evidence
that business-to-business customers of all stripes prioritize buying
outcomes rather than solutions, even though formally they may be
procuring the latter. The scope of work for delivering business
outcomes—at least initially—may not look significantly different from
what you are providing today. But the results will be different—better
diagnosis, better collaboration, better solutions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So how do you
get there? In my experience, it's not as simple as agreeing on the goal
and developing a plan. Business solutions require a different way of
thinking than technical solutions. It's the difference between <i>strategic thinking</i> and <i>analytical (or tactical) thinking</i>.
Our industry is predominated by the latter, because we need strong
analytical skills to excel in providing technical solutions. But we do
our clients and ourselves a disservice if we're not focused on what
those solutions ultimately achieve.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>To connect our solutions to business outcomes requires strategic thinking.</b>
And this doesn't come naturally for many technical professionals. What
is strategic thinking? One definition is "a multifaceted approach to <i>thinking backwards from a desired outcome</i>
and determining the best course of action to achieve that end result."
It's big picture, goal-driven, integrative, and business-oriented.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But strategic thinking isn't all about looking to the horizon. It combines both the visionary attributes noted above <i>and</i> the analytical strengths of our technically-minded majority, as illustrated below (adapted from TidalShift):</span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQFYrk6EomyHjQ/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1617064980746?e=1632355200&v=beta&t=tL8vcWarh1wr4C17ljEXZ78XMw3-bQ_xBDT7TXq7XdI" data-media-urn="" height="306" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQFYrk6EomyHjQ/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1617064980746?e=1632355200&v=beta&t=tL8vcWarh1wr4C17ljEXZ78XMw3-bQ_xBDT7TXq7XdI" width="640" /></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In
this model, there are two stages of strategic thinking: (1) divergent
(or creative) thinking and (2) convergent (or critical) thinking. The
first stage is where many technical professionals struggle—the
expansive, big picture thinking that explores different perspectives and
possibilities before converging on a preferred strategy. Yet our
convergent thinking abilities are critically needed to transform vision
into results, <i>if</i> we push ourselves to keep the business outcomes always in view.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">How Do You Position Your Firm to Deliver Business Outcomes?</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Most
of the RFPs and work orders we receive from clients would seem to
refute my core premise that they really want outcomes rather than
solutions. These are typically limited to our usual scope of services.
This is where the pushback understandably comes from most technical
professionals. Indeed, A/E firms can be quite successful simply by doing
a competent job of providing technical services and solutions. Why
should you shift your focus to client business outcomes?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, in a
competitive environment, you should always be looking for an edge. I
think this is a potential big one—aligning your business with what
matters most to clients. The fact is that we already make substantial
contributions to our clients' success; we just don't tend to take or
receive credit for them. So what can your firm do to be recognized as an
important business value creator?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Reassess your core business purpose. </b><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-b2b-b4b-company-find-out-magendar-rajasekaran/?trk=pulse_spock-articles" target="_blank">Are you a B2B or B4B company</a>?
The linked article references a new trend spreading across the business
landscape. Enlightened companies are transitioning from a B2B business
model (providing products and services to other businesses) to a B4B
model (focused on helping clients succeed). It's not just a subtle shift
in terms, but a substantial change in focus. What about your firm?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Learn what matters most for your clients. </b>What
defines their success? How do they measure it? What are their business
goals? What are their core values? Don't just settle for scope,
schedule, and budget. Understand specifically what business outcomes the
client seeks to accomplish through the project you're working on. Let
these guide your project strategy. Make these outcomes explicit in your
external and internal conversations and correspondence regarding the
project.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Build your corporate competencies relative to delivering client business outcomes.</b>
Most A/E firms don't naturally gravitate toward an outcomes-driven
approach to their work. Changing this will require significant effort.
You will need to modify how you market, sell, and deliver your services.
You'll need a revised project planning process. You'll likely want to
reconsider how you staff projects, bundle services, select
subcontractors, manage client relations. Eventually, you may decide you
need to add new services or forge new alliances.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Promote more cross-disciplinary collaboration. </b>The
quickest way to strengthen the divergent thinking that helps you better
align your projects with client outcomes is to diversify the team, at
least in the planning stages. Give special attention to including those
who are more big picture-oriented, who know the client best, who
understand the client's business, who are more empathetic (sensitive to
the human side of the work), who are results driven. You may even want
to invite some who have no technical background at all.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Broaden your engagement with the client. </b>If
your interactions with the client are limited only to the project scope
of work, you'll obviously find it difficult to add value elsewhere.
Unfortunately, many technical professionals are prone to "stay in their
lane," rarely engaging the client about non-project issues (that's the
convergent mindset referenced earlier). It can help to introduce other
individuals in the firm (perhaps in a project principal or client
service manager role) who are more conversant in other matters of
importance with the client. Sharing relevant content is another way to
broaden client engagement.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Measure project success according to client outcomes.</b>
It matters little that you offered a solid technical solution, finished
on schedule, and stayed within budget if the resulting implementation
fell short of achieving what the client needed. Consider, for example,
the environmental firm that saved the client $50,000 on laboratory
analytical expenses only to cost them $200,000 in lost revenue because
the cost savings required extending the schedule.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This is the kind
of result that happens all too often when technical professionals focus
on their scope of work rather than the client's business outcomes. Is
your firm providing services "2" the client or actively working "4"
their success? The difference can ultimately impact both the client's
and your firm's success over the long term.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-31117620787211013842021-02-24T16:55:00.007-08:002021-03-04T17:13:53.617-08:005 Steps to Creating Added Value for Your Clients<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYxrnsWf9hNaQqjB1XoFGzHPJoLxcshyoL6GN_qFrj_aSMvBlEfud0GFL7HntN1QJXhkzkn_x4tTciiva8IVV6esdqfd3JPgs_XnBd_bba6YXdGdzXlt1dHxjMzs8uEXaMkqVMTIHl-o/s2048/ING_19061_104531.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1434" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisYxrnsWf9hNaQqjB1XoFGzHPJoLxcshyoL6GN_qFrj_aSMvBlEfud0GFL7HntN1QJXhkzkn_x4tTciiva8IVV6esdqfd3JPgs_XnBd_bba6YXdGdzXlt1dHxjMzs8uEXaMkqVMTIHl-o/s320/ING_19061_104531.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Value creation is one
of the prominent themes in the business literature. That makes perfect
sense. The more value businesses deliver to their customers, the more
value is returned in the form of revenue growth, higher profits, strong
backlog, customer loyalty, etc. Indeed, the success of any business
depends upon its ability to create value for its customers.</span><p></p><div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Oddly, however, this issue is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-dont-ae-firms-talk-value-creation-mel-lester/" target="_blank">rarely discussed in the A/E industry</a>.
I've been party to countless strategic planning workshops, business
development meetings, proposal strategy sessions, and project planning
meetings over the course of my 45 years in this business and could
probably count on my fingers the number of times value creation was
discussed at all.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The evidence is clear: Value drives competitive
advantage. As A/E firms grapple with the challenge of differentiating
themselves from their competitors and fighting the trend of
commoditization, why haven't they given more attention to how to grow
client value? I don't have an easy answer. But I suspect it starts with
how our industry thinks about our work.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We focus more on technical
solutions than business solutions (although our solutions do ultimately
deliver business results). We describe our work more in terms of the
services we provide and the tasks we perform than the outcomes our
efforts achieve. There's a disconnect between what we tend to emphasize
and the true value of what we provide to clients. Thus our work is
arguably undervalued by clients when compared to that of other
professional service providers (for example, we have a lower profit and
labor multiplier).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So what are some meaningful steps your firm
could take toward creating greater value for your clients? Let me
suggest the following to get you started:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Step 1. Cultivate your strategic thinking. </b>As
with any significant transition, becoming a better value creator will
for most in our profession involve a change in thinking. As noted above,
this will require thinking differently about our work, specifically in
linking our technical solutions to client business results. This is a
challenge for many in our profession, especially those with engineering
or scientific backgrounds, because of their natural bent toward
analytical thinking.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Now let me be clear, the analytical mindset
is critical to success in our business. But it is also limiting. Most
A/E firms that are serious about value creation would benefit from
having more strategic thinking on their project teams. Consider the
different tendencies and points of emphasis among analytical and
strategic thinkers as highlighted in the table below:</span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-middle"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQHPKTLosb4F6Q/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1614006761430?e=1620259200&v=beta&t=fNEWmuHhAWeI45sZnffOpfNYCKOkWz--BZcz7_m5MMQ" data-media-urn="" height="225" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQHPKTLosb4F6Q/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1614006761430?e=1620259200&v=beta&t=fNEWmuHhAWeI45sZnffOpfNYCKOkWz--BZcz7_m5MMQ" width="407" /></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The big difference is the tendency to zoom in to focus on details versus <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/focus-clients-zoom-out-mel-lester/?trk=related_artice_To%20Focus%20on%20Clients%2C%20Zoom%20Out_article-card_title" target="_blank">zooming out to see the bigger picture</a>.
Within that larger frame are the nontechnical, business-oriented issues
to which A/E professionals often give too little attention—yet where
added value is usually found. How do you cultivate your strategic
thinking? A few tips:</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Set time aside for strategic thinking</i>.
Making the switch between analytical, detail-oriented thinking and
big-picture, strategically-oriented thinking requires some scheduled
time and intentionality.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Seek out different perspectives</i>. You can talk to others who tend to have different ideas from your own, or you can go online and look for the same thing.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Get all your facts and data together</i>.
I've observed that while we tend to do the deep dive into technical
data related to a project, we often come up short in information about
the more strategic aspects of the project.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Explore both the technical and nontechnical issues</i>.
It's critically important to give adequate attention to the
nontechnical components of the project, which to the client are
typically more important. I'll offer a framework for exploring these
issues below.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Confront your biases and blind spots</i>. We all have them, and they can cloud our ability to see the possibilities for creating greater project value.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>The quickest way to boost your firm's strategic thinking</i> <i>is </i><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/create-client-value-through-better-collaboration-mel-lester/" target="_blank"><i>active collaboration</i></a><i> between analytical and strategic thinkers.</i>
Invite to your project planning and strategy development process
individuals whose main contributions will not be technical, but
strategic and big picture.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Step 2. Align Your Perspective with the Client's. </b>One
essential tenet of value creation is that value is defined by the
recipient, not the provider. Thus asking the client the right questions
and listening carefully for insight is crucial. But there's more to
seeing things as the client sees them than merely asking good questions.
You want to try to look through a similar frame of reference.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">One simple technique I've used for years to move in this direction is to diagnose <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/uncovering-clients-real-needs-mel-lester/" target="_blank">client needs at three levels</a>—strategic,
technical, and people. That's not to imply that clients see their needs
at those three levels, but they do tend to see them more broadly than
most technical professionals do. Whereas we might be inclined to see a
technical problem in need of a technical solution, the client is more
likely to see a technical problem that has business impacts and requires
a solution that delivers business results.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Analyzing needs at
three levels helps us better understand the strategic and people impacts
and develop solutions that better address the broader scope of those
impacts. This approach, in my experience, has repeatedly proven
effective in creating added value.</span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQFLXaDw7YrRDA/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1614043012957?e=1620259200&v=beta&t=kuh2AvqrMvVNKHfhY4iO_957498uthm5IPsBq5sP6Bc" data-media-urn="" height="285" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQFLXaDw7YrRDA/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1614043012957?e=1620259200&v=beta&t=kuh2AvqrMvVNKHfhY4iO_957498uthm5IPsBq5sP6Bc" width="640" /></span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Step 3. Let Outcomes Drive Your Project Strategy. </b>As
Peter Drucker wisely noted years ago, customers don't really buy
products or services; they buy what those products or services <i>do</i> for them. Likewise, studies by <a href="https://thunderbird.asu.edu/knowledge-network/new-research-finds-its-outcomes-not-solutions-sell" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Arizona State University</a> and the <a href="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/selling-solutions-isnt-enough/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">MIT Sloan School of Management</a>
both came to essentially the same conclusion—buyers buy outcomes, not
solutions. Is it any different for buyers of our services? I don't think
so.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Yet how often do client outcomes truly drive your project
strategy development? Isn't that what the project is all about? If you
make outcomes the centerpiece of your project, you'll be among the
minority who step into the "value zone." Successful projects aren't
defined primarily by a competent technical scope completed on time and
on budget, but on the delivery of desired outcomes.</span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-right"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGj2fOpgekuZw/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1614044207972?e=1620259200&v=beta&t=SH1hHeXPxBubNCEH2W_2P53ejZJYq4WIlXyil9iX9rs" data-media-urn="" height="231" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGj2fOpgekuZw/article-inline_image-shrink_1000_1488/0/1614044207972?e=1620259200&v=beta&t=SH1hHeXPxBubNCEH2W_2P53ejZJYq4WIlXyil9iX9rs" width="504" /></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To
facilitate this approach, I recommend two key questions to frame your
project strategy: (1) What does success look like? (Outcomes) and (2)
How will we deliver that? (Strategy). Be sure to address those questions
in that order. I also suggest breaking down client outcomes at the same
levels as client needs—strategic, technical, people. Inclined to think
this is merely an academic exercise? I've seen this process shape many
successful projects, as well as win several large contracts based upon a
more broad-based project strategy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Step 4. Prioritize the Client Experience (CX). </b>Several
years ago, a survey of over 500 A/E firm clients posed this question:
"If you consider that we provide you value in two ways and that together
they equal 100 percent, how would you [the client] divide the value you
receive between our technical skills (what we do) and our
client-service skills (how we do it)?"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The answer? Clients said it
was 50/50. In other words, they value the experience you deliver just
as much as the expertise you deliver. Does your firm work just as hard
on delighting clients as you do on turning out proficient technical
scopes of work? Most firms don't. This provides you with an excellent <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/linking-the-customer-experience-to-value" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">opportunity to add differential value</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For most firms, this means being more <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/branded-experience-delivery-process-mel-lester/" target="_blank">intentional and structured</a>
with regards to the client experience. The norm in our business seems
to be "good people doing the right thing for the client." We rely on
individual client-skills competency rather than shared standards and
practices. The results are predictably inconsistent, as this competency
varies widely among the typical firm's project and client managers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A significant step towards greater structure is to "<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/benchmarking-client-service-expectations-mel-lester/" target="_blank">benchmark expectations</a>."
This involves mutually identifying at the start of a project what will
constitute a great working relationship between your firm and the
client. I've developed a tool called the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw-RyElf4LHUWS1iM1JVYnpEQkU/view?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Client Service Planner</a>,
which has been used by many firms. It guides a conversation that
explores various aspects of the working relationship—things that are
often assumed rather than confirmed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In my experience
troubleshooting problems between clients and consultants, I've found
that the most common cause for the breakdown is a failure to understand
what the client really expected regarding how the two parties would work
together. Beware of making assumptions about this, which often happens.
Instead, benchmark shared expectations.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Step 5. Stay Engaged Until the ROI Is Realized. </b>When
is value consummated? When the client realizes a return on their
investment. That happens when the desired outcomes are achieved. Here's
the interesting thing: The real value of a project is usually not
created when the typical A/E scope of work is completed. At that point,
the client has perhaps a concept drawing, design documents, or a report.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-connecting-your-work-clients-roi-mel-lester/" target="_blank">ROI doesn't occur until later</a>, when something is constructed and put into operation, or a recommendation is successfully implemented.</span></p><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-full-width"><img alt="No alt text provided for this image" data-li-src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGqB5gDj9hVuA/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1614184607777?e=1620259200&v=beta&t=kqJWhPlYc3ASvWkYYh4zqJTHutXJEkD49-Fa_1dzWrs" data-media-urn="" height="285" src="https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D12AQGqB5gDj9hVuA/article-inline_image-shrink_1500_2232/0/1614184607777?e=1620259200&v=beta&t=kqJWhPlYc3ASvWkYYh4zqJTHutXJEkD49-Fa_1dzWrs" width="595" /></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This
creates an interesting challenge for the A/E firm committed to value
creation. What should you do about the gap that often exists between
your work and the client's ROI? <i>Stay engaged</i>, whether under
contract or not. It's well worth the typically small amount of time
required to maintain a meaningful role in the project. It could
determine the client's perception of the value you provided.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I've
seen too many situations where a firm wasn't involved during the
construction phase, for example, and things went sideways, often without
the firm's knowledge. Sometimes the design firm was at fault. Other
times it was a matter of the firm not being there to defend itself.
Sometimes it was simply a misunderstanding that could have been resolved
if the firm had been invited to the discussion. The point is that
checking out between the conclusion of your scope of work and the
client's ROI puts the ultimate value you create at greater risk.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Instead, you might pursue continued involvement as follows:</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Keep abreast of project progress</i>. Follow the course of the project through to ultimate completion and track how well things are proceeding at any given stage.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Check in with the client at critical junctures</i>.
Contact the client at points when difficulties or uncertainties are
most likely to occur, and certainly when you become aware of a problem.
Demonstrate your continuing interest and concern for the client's
success.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Offer your help as appropriate</i>. When the
opportunity arises to answer questions or help resolve a problem—and you
can do so without incurring significant costs or liability without a
contract—communicate your willingness to help. Even better, persuade the
client to contract with you for low-cost support services beyond your
initial scope of work.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Confirm the client is satisfied with the end result</i>.
How the client views your contribution to the project is defined in
large part by how well the completed project meets expected outcomes.
Don't settle for a client debriefing only when your work is done; follow
up again at the end of the project.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;">No one creates
additional value for clients by simply doing what they were asked to do.
You have to go beyond what was expected. The steps described above can
help you substantially exceed client expectations without requiring a
lot of additional effort. It's more about a mindset change—a focus on
success outcomes rather than technical solutions. I'm convinced that
greater emphasis on value creation is a ripe opportunity for ambitious
A/E firms to differentiate themselves from their competitors and to
attract more loyal clients.</span></p></div>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-80754569061415682082021-01-29T17:27:00.001-08:002021-02-11T17:30:40.420-08:00The Problem with Qualifications-Based Selection<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvx5NrKA-aoADZYuFcQ3CuwynJKSNsyKFsxP8oQJcIT5EdIiaUgpM7l6rZZbZkq6Dwee4uW-gVhlfR5EM0t4Rr9f_nj9HtOFINsC7_Z_u2Y15I_O3FhOFA4Jporqb7Ry8WmdT9FZ4y_Y/s1500/Selection+Process.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="1500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihvx5NrKA-aoADZYuFcQ3CuwynJKSNsyKFsxP8oQJcIT5EdIiaUgpM7l6rZZbZkq6Dwee4uW-gVhlfR5EM0t4Rr9f_nj9HtOFINsC7_Z_u2Y15I_O3FhOFA4Jporqb7Ry8WmdT9FZ4y_Y/s320/Selection+Process.png" width="320" /></a></div>The A/E profession has fought long and hard for qualifications-based
selection. It was formally<br /> established by Congress in 1972 with passage
of the Brooks Act, which required federal agencies to procure A/E
services based on qualifications rather than price. Forty-six states
have since passed their own version of this law, while QBS practices
have also filtered down to numerous local governments, institutions, and
even private sector organizations.<p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">QBS is a remarkable
achievement for our industry. I know of no other professional services
sector that has such government protection from the inherent forces of
the marketplace (i.e., the commoditization of undifferentiated
providers). Perhaps that's part of my reservation about it. Whatever you
think of the merits of QBS, I think it wise to recognize its
shortcomings and adjust your competitive strategy accordingly. What
follows are some of the issues I see with it:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>QBS shifts the focus from the buyer to the seller. </strong>Perhaps the most popular sales advice is to <em>focus on the customer</em>.
Yet QBS-guided RFPs consistently suggest that the focus be on your
firm. They ask you to provide an overview of your firm, describe your
relevant qualifications, highlight the project team's experience, offer a
breakdown of your staffing mix, etc. Oddly, these RFPs often ignore or
downplay the most client-centered qualifications, such as: How well you
understand the client's needs, how you will deliver the business
outcomes the client desires, or how you will craft a strong working
relationship.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Regardless of what the RFP says, I'm convinced that
clients ultimately act according to their own self interest. All buyers
do. "It's all about us, not you" is Secret #1 in former client Gary
Coover's book <em>Secrets of the Selection Committee</em>. But that
reality is not reflected in most RFPs. This is not to suggest that
clients intentionally circumvent their own selection process to get the
result they want. But the human factor is unavoidable, no matter how
objective the client tries to make the process.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>It's difficult to objectively differentiate between firms on qualifications alone. </strong>For
any given solicitation, the likelihood is that there are several
competitors that are fully qualified to perform the work. Is the firm
with the stronger resume necessarily the best choice? Often not. There
can be a number of factors not addressed in the RFP—such as greater
familiarity with the project, an existing relationship with the client,
proximity to the site, or the client's preference for working with a
smaller or larger firm—that favor a firm with lesser credentials. Even
when the RFP lists evaluation criteria and assigns points to each, the
actual process of determining those point totals is inherently
subjective, especially among firms that are all fully capable of doing
the work.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Unfortunately, most firms follow the RFP's lead and
assume they must win the job primarily based on their qualifications.
Rather than focusing on providing a strong value proposition that
resonates with the client, they devote far more space to hyping
themselves. If they could view their self-indulgence through the eyes of
the client, they would recognize how little difference there usually is
between their qualifications and those of their competitors. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Qualifications are the proof, not the product. </strong>Clients
aren't selecting your firm because of what you've done for others, but
what they believe you will do for them. Ultimately, they're deciding
which firm offers the best value proposition. Huh, what? When did you
ever see an RFP that asked for your value proposition? Yet every buying
decision is predicated on the perceived value received. And that value
is embedded in the delivered outcomes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Your qualifications are
merely the evidence that you can deliver those outcomes. But QBS rarely
frames the procurement process in those terms. And too many firms miss
the point, passively responding to the RFP's emphasis on qualifications
without ever considering what the client is really buying. Of course,
this presents a golden opportunity for those of us who take the
initiative to go beyond the RFP and offer the client a compelling value
proposition.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>QBS isn't the solution for our commoditization problem.</strong>
A few years ago, ACEC surveyed engineering firm leaders about the
growing commoditization of our industry. Respondents indicated that they
believed it was a substantial threat to their business. When asked what
they thought was the best strategy for combating commoditization, they
responded—by more than 2-to-1 over any other option—that our firms
needed to educate lawmakers and clients to enforce <em>and expand</em> QBS rules.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Missing
from the list of recommended anti-commoditization strategies? Stop
acting like a commodity! Commoditization is a market-driven consequence
of failing to differentiate. Ironically, QBS procurements often seduce
firms into trying to construct competitive advantage out of what is
typically a nondifferentiator—their attempt to demonstrate superior
qualifications. QBS helps protect us from the consequence of lack of
differentiation, but does nothing about (and often exacerbates) the root
cause.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Despite my criticisms of qualifications-based selection, I
must admit that I've benefited greatly from it as a business
development and proposal professional for many years. That's because I
typically run counter to the direction that most of my competitors take.
While they're faithfully responding to the letter of the RFP, I'm
responding to <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/responding-what-rfp-doesnt-say-mel-lester/" target="_blank">what the RFP doesn't say</a>
(while still complying with it, of course). While they're focused on
showcasing their strengths and qualifications, I'm featuring our value
proposition—solution + outcomes + benefits—offering our qualifications
as proof we can deliver. While they're writing about their past
successes, I'm <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-construct-your-proposal-storyline-mel-lester/" target="_blank">writing the story</a> of the client's future success.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">And
I want to encourage you to do the same. That's the primary reason for
this article, not to critique but to inspire. QBS is only an impediment
when you try to make it your competitive advantage. Focus on the
client's interests instead and watch your win rate soar.</span></p><p> </p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-7225710451364223232020-12-18T17:23:00.001-08:002021-02-11T17:26:59.067-08:00Looking for Differentiation? 5 Steps to Transforming You Sales Efforts<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiY-W2bvCJcDJQ_cOvXBrKIVfLt0JsYye8OG1m5GiqAFnss5PXAu77r2zot0Vg9e1zqneeyzJjG7mdHdkx7Lq499AROuosVV9px-IQW7jDSlpWUS4SZ7s7_nG4Kom6q0C3-xU69G8yCYc/s2048/ISS_16933_05211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiY-W2bvCJcDJQ_cOvXBrKIVfLt0JsYye8OG1m5GiqAFnss5PXAu77r2zot0Vg9e1zqneeyzJjG7mdHdkx7Lq499AROuosVV9px-IQW7jDSlpWUS4SZ7s7_nG4Kom6q0C3-xU69G8yCYc/s320/ISS_16933_05211.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">There's a lot of me-tooism evident in how most A/E and environmental
firms do business <br />development. Everyone is selling the same things in
much the same ways. The lack of differentiation seems lost on many
seller-doers who act as if all they need to do is demonstrate that
they're qualified to be awarded the job.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">On the contrary,
qualified firms are in abundant supply. Making the sale still comes down
to finding a way to stand out from the crowd. So ask yourself: What
makes us different? Ultimately, the buyer has to answer that question.
If you struggle to come up with an answer (and most firms do when I pose
the question regarding a specific sales opportunity), then how can you
expect to be selected?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Let me suggest five steps—shifts in both
mindset and method—that will position you for greater sales success by
setting you apart from most of your competitors:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Stop selling and serve buyers instead.</strong>
This summarizes the core philosophy that underpins everything that
follows. The reason most technical professionals are uncomfortable
stepping into a sales role is their perception of salespeople in
general. They see sellers as primarily driven by self-interest. Despite
this negative perception, technical professionals routinely slide into
the traditional sales persona when engaging buyers. That's all they
know.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The serve-don't-sell mindset discards the taint of
conventional selling by focusing on the interests of buyers. This should
be a natural extension of what we supposedly do best—helping clients
using our specialized knowledge and experience. Consultant Charles Green
calls this the equivalent of "<a href="https://trustedadvisor.com/public/files/pdf/Trusted%20Advisors_eBook%201_7-06-2015_Trust%20Based%20Selling.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">samples selling</a>."
Rather than tell buyers how qualified you are to help them, show them a
sample of your work by advising them on their current problem or
aspiration.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Bring value to every sales conversation.</strong>
My success as a business development professional was transformed years
ago when I committed to never again waste a buyer's time. That forced
me to focus on the buying process rather than the sales process. What
did the buyer need from me? How could I best help? What would it take to
make every "buying" conversation a good investment of their time?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I became obsessed with <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cold-calling-offering-value-mel-lester/" target="_blank">delivering my "entree"</a>—information
or advice helpful in addressing a client need or aspiration—in every
meeting or phone call. I suggest you do the same. It's not easy! But it
will separate you from most of your competitors who tend to look at the
sales process through the lens of their needs rather than the buyer's.
Come up with a customized entree as the basis for every meeting. <em>Tip: </em>When you are conversing or meeting with a buyer, mutually establish the entree for your next interaction.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Go beyond solutions and focus on outcomes. </strong>What
is the client really buying? Is it your services or proposed solution?
No, they're buying the desired outcomes that your services or solution
will ultimately deliver. They're <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-connecting-your-work-clients-roi-mel-lester/" target="_blank">buying results</a>.
Unfortunately, most A/E firms lean heavily toward selling their
qualifications—most likely influenced by qualifications-based selection
practices. This is short-sighted. You're not selling what you've done
for others; you're selling <em>what you will do</em> for the buyer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">During
the "buying" process, avoid quickly defaulting to defining a scope of
work (an all-too-common phenomenon in our business)—even if the buyer
nudges you in that direction. That's the sure path to becoming a
commodity! Instead, start by determining what success looks like for the
client. What are the outcomes that define that success? Then outline
the strategy for achieving those outcomes. Scope should always follow
strategy in delineating your value proposition.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Address both technical and nontechnical issues in an integrated approach. </strong>The
average A/E practitioner is prone to seeing a technical problem in need
of a technical solution. But the client is more likely to see a
technical problem that creates business impacts, requiring a technical
solution that yields business results. People are also a substantial
part of the equation, not the least of which is how the problem affects
those in the client's organization.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So a substantial part of what
you're selling is business results and human benefits. Is that evident
in your technical approach? To help us see client issues more broadly—as
clients see them—I advocate breaking down the analysis of client needs
and outcomes at three levels: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/uncovering-clients-real-needs-mel-lester/" target="_blank">strategic, technical, and people</a>.
Your proposed project approach should meld these elements together into
a high-value integrated solution. In my experience, this framework has
been crucial to winning several premier sales opportunities.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Supplement the sales process by sharing valuable content. </strong>Perhaps
the most important business development trend you should be following
is how much of the buying process has moved online. Marketing guru Lee
Frederickson of Hinge estimates that about <a href="https://hingemarketing.com/blog/story/business-development-team-structure" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">70% of buying behavior</a>
for clients procuring professional services happens in the digital
realm. That means that clients are gathering information and insights
online that they once relied on sellers to provide.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This shift in
buying behavior clearly elevates the importance of effective
marketing—online content marketing in particular. As consultants
Danielle Berg and Liz Alton describe it in a <a href="https://www.aprio.com/whatsnext/professional-services-social-selling-future-new-business/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">recent article</a>:
"Today’s buying process begins with Google. If you don't show up in a
search and offer engaging content, your services will go unnoticed." It
has always been advantageous to engage the buyer early in the process;
now that is increasingly taking place online.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">While this is an important discussion with regards to your firm's <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/really-busy-nows-time-get-marketing-working-you-mel-lester/" target="_blank">overall business development strategy</a>,
this article is focused on selling. So what does this mean for
seller-doers? Sharing helpful content should be part of your approach.
It can be a meaningful differentiator. There are only so many
conversations you can have with a buyer. In between, you can continue to
provide valuable information and advice through content.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ideally,
you'd have a storehouse of your firm's own content to draw from.
Unfortunately, most A/E firms are content poor. But you can <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-should-hoarding-content-mel-lester/" target="_blank">help close the gap</a>
by searching online for relevant content (articles, reports, ebooks,
webinars, videos) to share with buyers. Although I've produced a good
deal of my own content (over 300 articles, for example), most of what I
share with existing and prospective clients comes from other sources. If
it's helpful, I still get credit for sharing it. And this has helped me
close sales opportunities many times.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">I remember reading years
ago that the best opportunity to differentiate your firm is not in your
firm's credentials but how you approach the sales process. My own sales
experiences have repeatedly validated that conclusion. Hopefully, the
suggestions above will help you discover this competitive advantage in
your sales efforts.</span><p> </p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-44451695538923005202020-11-27T17:10:00.018-08:002021-02-11T17:21:48.719-08:00Don't Ignore the Consequences of Your Client's Problems<p> </p><div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSfWmQ5zYLzKaPVWgh2pbpd_FBZGrgokLmYvlPEreeq3MiHvuEDSayTCrs1zig5GlRMy8uQ27l3pANbkOOHzmgHK7FMpBH8qn-q5Bk-cYBuPKAHJyoBY6O8iiT6oVXcB6xI2X041ojAaM/s2048/ISS_17053_01431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSfWmQ5zYLzKaPVWgh2pbpd_FBZGrgokLmYvlPEreeq3MiHvuEDSayTCrs1zig5GlRMy8uQ27l3pANbkOOHzmgHK7FMpBH8qn-q5Bk-cYBuPKAHJyoBY6O8iiT6oVXcB6xI2X041ojAaM/s320/ISS_17053_01431.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When selling your firm's services, keep this principle in mind: <em>The depth of the problem <br />defines the value of the solution.</em>
In other words, the more painful, costly, complex, or debilitating the
problem, the more the client is willing to pay for the solution your
firm offers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Years ago, I was introduced to the idea that the
value of a service is substantially influenced by whether the client or
the service provider is driving the value proposition. When the client
clearly understands the problem and can prescribe the needed solution,
your service is less valuable. But when the problem is complex and the
right solution is more difficult for the client to determine, the value
of your firm's insights increases.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So one of the keys to
differentiating your services and increasing your profits is doing an
effective job helping clients accurately diagnose their problems—<em>and the associated impacts</em>.
Unfortunately, A/E firms often work in the opposite direction, taking a
multifaceted challenge (from the client's perspective) and reducing it
to little more than a technical problem. This means we become perceived
less as problem solvers and more as specialized service providers. Which
do you think is more valuable?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">One way to increase the value of
your solution is to connect it to solving not only the technical
problem, but the consequences it produces. Imagine a scenario where the
largest employer in a small town shuts down its wastewater pretreatment
system, leading to periodic violations of the town's wastewater
treatment plant permit limits. As an engineer, you can quickly diagnose
the technical problem. But the real problem is much more complex:</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">This meatpacking plant stopped using its pretreatment system because of excessive costs and operational problems.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Given
the plant's substantial contribution to the local economy, the Town has
limited political capital for pushing it fix the problem. Plus there is
already tension between the two parties over other issues.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">The
State DEQ is holding up approval of an amendment to the Town's NPDES
permit allowing for land disposal of sludge pending resolution of the
pretreatment problem.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">With the delay, the farm owners who had
agreed to accept the land disposal are getting antsy because of growing
concerns by neighbors about the practice.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">The mayor, who is up
for reelection, has strong ties to the meatpacking plant, but also is
facing pressure from citizens who use the river for recreation
downstream of the treatment plant.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I could go on with the
complications associated with this scenario, but you get the idea. There
are many consequences arising from the pretreatment system changes, and
most of them aren't technical in nature. Which engineering firm will be
able to connect the dots and offer a comprehensive, value-added
solution?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">One did. They devised a solution that involved
modifications to both the pretreatment system and the Town's treatment
facility, at a cost that both parties could swallow. They negotiated
with DEQ to gain approval for this novel approach. And...they led a
couple of meetings with concerned local residents to explain the
solution and, as a bonus, allay fears about the plan for land disposal.
And...you probably guessed it, the mayor was prominently involved in
these discussions, helping him win reelection. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This sequence all
started when the engineering firm helped the client better understand
the far-reaching consequences of the technical problem, how they were
connected, and how a solution could be developed that addressed most if
not all of them. For this, the Town was willing to pay them
significantly more than the competing firms that focused only on the
technical issues.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In the classic sales book, <em>SPIN Selling</em>,
author Neil Rackham describes how the best sellers in his extensive
research went beyond simply characterizing the buyer's problem to
helping the buyer understand the implications of the problem. This more
accurately defines the true value proposition—one shaped by the seller,
by the way—and enlarges the need for and the value of the solution. You
might illustrate the initial value proposition this way:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWXZEwjtUI-IZpytvmznUfVLHrcSOygdsZfTm-OHmOHU2jPTJT6jsknsf6ifReKTbSwUArvE0J6bkNoarCAyYW4lqggqT2EBdrCjUvSARTUx712zcaBZ-JWEQptEW0OVrBjBYIHqMTXo/s860/Initial+Value+Proposition.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="860" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWXZEwjtUI-IZpytvmznUfVLHrcSOygdsZfTm-OHmOHU2jPTJT6jsknsf6ifReKTbSwUArvE0J6bkNoarCAyYW4lqggqT2EBdrCjUvSARTUx712zcaBZ-JWEQptEW0OVrBjBYIHqMTXo/w400-h181/Initial+Value+Proposition.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-middle"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-middle"><span style="font-family: arial;">This
is often how the client perceives the situation, or at least defines it
relative to procuring services from a firm like yours. But once you've
helped the client develop a deeper understanding of the problem and its
various consequences and risks, you are in a better position to redefine
a broader, more valuable solution than the client initially envisioned.
Or perhaps the client has already connected the dots, but your firm
might be the only one that addresses the bigger picture, as might be
depicted below:</span></div><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-middle"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KCufn1BkkxyvFzw_KZEHdNPdyvJHJ8R67xlLz-uQuGZ_vTPpcT7J4Q2bTyhIJDmFAYkTPBuy_XuwNi1NGPg_5WTqiqazhZGDScxtIAcAxArSECfO-JbC6jJvjhHAj08S7en7Ua0dsZI/s861/Expanded+Value+Proposition.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="861" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KCufn1BkkxyvFzw_KZEHdNPdyvJHJ8R67xlLz-uQuGZ_vTPpcT7J4Q2bTyhIJDmFAYkTPBuy_XuwNi1NGPg_5WTqiqazhZGDScxtIAcAxArSECfO-JbC6jJvjhHAj08S7en7Ua0dsZI/w400-h241/Expanded+Value+Proposition.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="slate-resizable-image-embed slate-image-embed__resize-middle"><span style="font-family: arial;">The
"enhanced solution" isn't necessarily more costly. It may simply
acknowledge dimensions of the problem that your competitors ignore and
connect your solution to more expansive outcomes. For example, your
proposed wastewater treatment plant improvements can also result in a
better relationship with the regulatory agency, less hassle for plant
operators, use of safer chemicals, restored recreational use of the
river, and greater cooperation with the town's top employer.</span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Over
the long run, uncovering and addressing the consequences of client
problems will add value—both tangible and intangible—to what you do and
help you position your firm as a "trusted advisor" rather than simply an
"expert for hire." </span></p><p><br /><br /></p></div>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-20357788458085394072020-10-26T10:25:00.004-07:002020-10-27T10:30:13.900-07:00Helping Clients Do More for Less<div class="ember-view" id="ember4118"><div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxSzOwOppUeH1IXMAbpKGXGKOEEatJ-oOyTa0cgTNtlvkkLpc1yEfK4QfLReBvXKmvgmErKeo9yZum035cdubFJM0Zc8rVQ1oZN_W95NjxFKn0XGgg5iQXHYcZwtJPbVmCAxmTmD5C-g/s1078/0.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1078" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxSzOwOppUeH1IXMAbpKGXGKOEEatJ-oOyTa0cgTNtlvkkLpc1yEfK4QfLReBvXKmvgmErKeo9yZum035cdubFJM0Zc8rVQ1oZN_W95NjxFKn0XGgg5iQXHYcZwtJPbVmCAxmTmD5C-g/s320/0.png" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Leaner
times are coming for the A/E industry. Depending on what markets your
firm serves, the business impact of the pandemic may range from tepid to
terrible in 2021. If state and local governments constitute a
substantial part of your client base, the impact may be particularly
severe. Their combined budget shortfalls next year are projected to be
between $250 billion to $400 billion, and that on top of massive losses
this year. The commercial sector has also been hard hit, among others.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What's
the best way to respond to a downturn in business? Get closer to
clients. That was the lesson from the Great Recession. I looked at
several studies from that time, spanning multiple industries (including
our own), to determine what strategies best correlated with growth in a
stagnant economy. There was a clear winner—recentering the business
around customers to better serve their needs. And those needs became
more fluid and unpredictable in those uncertain times, requiring greater
focus and attention from service providers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Are you ready to
reconfigure how you serve clients to meet their changing needs? It might
not be that easy. As clients' budgets have decreased, their needs have
changed as well. They are preparing to get more from less, to stretch
limited resources as far as they can to address their pressing needs. Is
your firm prepared to help them in that quest? A few suggestions:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Stay engaged with your clients even when they don't have active projects. </strong>These
times may test your commitment to client relationships. Will you
continue to nurture those relationships even if there's no short-term
financial payback? Some A/E firms apparently won't, as many stopped
calling on cash-short clients during the previous downturn. This
presents you with a good opportunity to solidify your relationships (and
steal a few from your competitors). The fundamental role hasn't
changed: You're there to help your clients, even if that involves some
measure of free advice or discounted help.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">H<strong>elp your clients characterize and prioritize their needs for the foreseeable future. </strong>Many
of them, of course, already have a pretty good handle on this. They
likely have a facilities or capital improvement plan; some have gone a
step further with asset management planning. But those plans probably
didn't account for a substantial shift in revenue and funding. You might
be able to provide valuable guidance in rethinking facility or
infrastructure needs and how best to address those in the evolving
financial climate.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Provide operational assessments and consulting. </strong>Many
clients will have to make do with current facilities that were planned
for replacement or upgrades. That may require some creative thinking
with regards to possible operational changes or low-cost modifications.
As an outsider with relevant expertise, your firm may be better
positioned than the client to objectively assess these situations and
offer makeshift solutions. The fact is that all organizations can
benefit from retooling their operations to eliminate waste and
inefficiency, and tight budgets can provide just the needed jolt to make
that happen.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Explore strategic alliances to better serve your clients' changing needs. </strong>This
is always good advice, of course. But the downturn creates new
opportunities to package complementary services and products to help
clients. For best results, you may need to step outside the box of
convention. Examine your clients' emerging and unmet needs, even if
they're not directly related to your current services. Consider what
kinds of expertise is needed to meet those needs, then explore how you
might merge that with what your firm can do.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Provide more affordable off-the-shelf solutions.</strong>
I was talking with the administrator of a rural county who questioned
the need for custom designs for facilities like a fire station, small
branch library, or vehicle maintenance shop. He wondered why he couldn't
choose a basic design from a selection of prototypes, similar to how
people use house plan books. I remember pitching the same idea to an
architectural firm that had designed fire stations for small towns in
their state, but was already seeing that market decline. As you might
expect, they didn't respond favorably to the suggestion.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But don't
the difficult times call for more economical alternatives? And
shouldn't we use our specialized expertise to help provide them? The
problem, of course, is rethinking the solutions we routinely provide to
offer alternatives that don't compensate us as well. But as this
administrator observed, sticking with old business models may well mean
these projects don't happen at all for the next few years.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The
coming year might bring difficulty for both our clients and our firms.
But it can also bring opportunity to think afresh about how we uncover
and satisfy client needs. It might be a time to make some strategic
investments that could pay off well in the future. It starts by going
deeper with clients, to better understand their evolving needs and
repositioning how we respond to them. </span></p></div>
</div><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-53358584985271328472020-09-30T08:35:00.026-07:002020-10-27T10:23:06.221-07:00How to Edit a Proposal for Impact<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrQp4OhKayisI43JpaRyxJ2jaGKVBXYWgQzOnNDdj9-a1tRPS9JliC5bUGOTN3LFvoGp1zmO1cHusx3XyMLsP3IVKgrhCrhM9R3Ww_88PUa0HbvsclJUNHEC9jSWVbcdJFe4sclWwoV_M/s2048/02a158ga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrQp4OhKayisI43JpaRyxJ2jaGKVBXYWgQzOnNDdj9-a1tRPS9JliC5bUGOTN3LFvoGp1zmO1cHusx3XyMLsP3IVKgrhCrhM9R3Ww_88PUa0HbvsclJUNHEC9jSWVbcdJFe4sclWwoV_M/s320/02a158ga.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Among my many
responsibilities as the corporate proposal manager for a national
<br />environmental firm, my role as editor was particularly important yet
probably underappreciated. Like any proposal professional, I depended on
others to generate the most crucial content—notably that related to our
strategy for making the client's project a success. I worked with some
of the smartest experts in our business, but they often didn't look all
that smart in writing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Weak writing is prevalent in our industry.
Technical professionals don't typically get much training in writing
skills, which is unfortunate considering how much writing they do. For
environmental professionals, their most common work product is a written
report. They generate countless emails communicating with clients,
coworkers, and other project stakeholders. And they usually have to
write a proposal to get the next contract. Many of them need an editor
to convert their writing into something more readable and impactful.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As a proposal manager, I typically performed what is called <i>deep editing</i>.
This involves going beyond the usual cosmetic editing that focuses on
catching typos, misspellings, punctuation errors, and bad grammar. Deep
editing strikes at the very heart of the communication process,
addressing content, structure, style, and presentation. In proposals, it
seeks to transform an original draft that is dry and stilted into a
compelling narrative that demands the client's attention.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Most
proposal professionals aren't given the latitude I had to essentially
reorganize and rewrite the drafts provided by our technical experts.
That freedom was the result of a 75% win rate for our firm's largest and
most critical proposal efforts (representing over $300 million in new
fees). I earned my colleagues' trust, although some of them still
described the process of seeing their drafts totally reconstructed as
"painful." But they were willing to endure it in hopes of securing
another key win.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What follows is the editing workflow that I
typically used. If no one person on your proposal team has been
empowered to do the deep editing described, then the team can
collectively apply the basic process. In either case, this is a proven
technique for taking your proposals to the next level. This work flow isn't intended to suggest a fixed sequence of activities, but
generally I would work through the four "filters" (or steps) in the
order indicated above. Here's a breakdown of the four filters:</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Filter #1. Access</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Access
is the door into your proposal's content. Ignore this step (as most do)
and the subsequent steps may be for naught. The key here is to present
your most critical messages in a manner that they can be readily found
and understood. The vast majority of proposals I review have no apparent
central theme or key messages that convey the core of the proposal's
content. They simply passively respond to RFP instructions to provide
this or that information. Boring!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>The starting point for defining Access is what I call the Two-Minute Drill. </b>This
exercise imagines that you had to orally present your entire proposal
in just two minutes. What would you say? Usually this exercise yields a
central theme or differentiator and 3-5 key messages that support it.
These provide the superstructure upon which the rest of the proposal
will be constructed. Before you get to this step, your firm should have
identified as part of the sales process which key messages will resonate
with the client.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Don't assume that your proposal will be read word for word. </b>Most
reviewers skim and skip around, looking for the particular information
they're most interested in. Unfortunately, most proposals are written as
if the authors intended for them to be read in their entirety. They
don't make it easy for key information to be readily found.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>The Access step is primarily about making the proposal skimmable so that key messages are easy to find. </b>If
you don't make your proposal skimmable—and almost no one does—then
you've lost message control. You're expecting reviewers to read your
proposal to find those key messages. Not a good idea! I offered some
tips for writers on creating skimmable content in <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/creating-skimmable-proposal-content-mel-lester/" target="_blank">this previous post</a>. As an editor, the first things I generally do are:</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Skim, don't read, during this first editing step</i>.
Assume the role of the typical client reviewer who won't be reading
word for word either. You want to first assess the effectiveness of your
proposal draft from the skimmer's perspective.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Look for key points and highlight them in the form of bold inline headings </i>(as
used in this post). Organize the text accordingly without worrying at
this point about sentence structure, grammar, etc. By doing this, you've
already begun to make the proposal more skimmable.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Consider creating simplifying graphics early in the process</i>.
Ideally, this happens before the writing begins, because the exercise
of developing such graphics can help writers clarify their ideas. But
you might find that the process of organizing content for skimmability
inspires you to add other graphics during this stage of the editing
process.</span></li></ul><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Filter #2. Clarity</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Once you have organized
the original draft to facilitate skimmability, the next step is to make
the content more understandable. Usually clarity has already been
improved by identifying key points, highlighting them, and initially
reorganizing content accordingly. But now you dive into paragraphs,
sentences, and words.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Shorten paragraphs and sentences. </b>Technical
professionals have a propensity for writing long sentences in long
blocks of text. So the first thing I typically do at this stage is to
break down paragraphs and sentences into shorter units. General rules of
thumb to keep in mind are (1) 15-20 words per sentence and (2) 3-5
sentences per paragraph (and less than 100 words). More importantly, you
want to limit paragraphs to one main idea and sentences to one main
point.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Correct unclear or awkward sentences. </b>There
are usually plenty of these in the proposals and other documents I
edit. You probably observe the same in your firm. Obviously, you want to
fix grammar and punctuation errors. But more importantly, you want
sentences that clearly communicate the message. Short and simple is
usually better. A good test: <i>Read what you've edited out loud.</i> If it sounds clear spoken, it generally works in print.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Minimize the use of jargon and initialisms. </b>You
should edit proposals for a general audience because there's usually at
least someone on the selection committee who doesn't have a technical
background—or who has expertise in a different field. Jargon can exclude
key decision makers. If you need to use such terminology, be sure to
define it. Another form of jargon is the excessive use of initialisms, a
common problem in our industry. I recently reviewed a proposal that had
this sentence: "The team will review the CQA Plan prepared by the DBT
and understand deployment and testing of the GCL, GM, and GC." C'mon,
really?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Occasionally check your edits against readability statistics.</b>
Microsoft Word offers a couple popular ones: Flesch Reading Ease
(50-70% is recommended) and Flesch-Kincade Grade Level (8-10 is
recommended). It's a good idea to pay attention to the prevalence of
passive sentences as well. Technical professionals tend to use these
much too often. The advice for business writing is to have no more than
20% of your sentences in passive voice. If you want to do a more
thorough assessment of your writing or editing, consider using <a href="https://www.readabilityformulas.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">ReadabilityFormulas.com</a>.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Filter #3. Tone</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The
tone you use in your writing affects how the reader will respond to
your message. That's because tone goes beyond the mere transfer of
information; it introduces emotional context to your writing, which is
critically important when you're trying to persuade someone. The
technical style of writing commonly found in our proposals—with it's
impersonal, dispassionate tone—is a poor choice for a document meant to
sway decision makers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Edit to achieve a business style of writing. </b>This
is more personal and less formal than the technical style of writing
that permeates our profession. If you're unfamiliar with what this kind
of editing entails, spend some time reading popular business periodicals
and books, noting the difference in tone. It's more conversational,
less stodgy, with ample use of personal pronouns. If someone suggests
this style is less "professional" (as several have told me over the
years), ask them if <i>Harvard Business Review</i> lacks professionalism.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Encourage your technical colleagues to write as they would say it. </b>I
touched on this valuable tip earlier. This is generally the quickest
way to improve one's writing, especially in our business. Besides
producing clearer writing, write-it-as-you-would-say-it helps technical
professionals overcome the tendency to revert to "technicalese" in their
proposal and business writing. And, of course, that means less deep
editing for you or your team.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Use first and second person. </b>This
is the easiest way to make the narrative more personal. Several studies
dating back to the 1960s have come to the same conclusion—<i>you</i>
is the most persuasive word in the English language. So you clearly want
to use it in your proposal. It facilitates the sense of connection
between you and the reader. "We will work with you to develop the right
solution" is considerably more effective than "ACME will work with the
City to develop the right solution."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Trim the hype. </b>While
you don't want your proposal to read like a technical report, you don't
want it to come across as too salesy either. It's an odd but not
uncommon contradiction that the same engineer who considers it
unprofessional to include the word <i>you</i> in a proposal has no
qualms with piling up the superlatives regarding the firm's
qualifications. So you find lines such as "industry-leading design" and
"unparalleled client service" in even the driest proposal. Hype doesn't
boost your qualifications; it only makes you look insincere. As editor,
make the case for the substance of your qualifications <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-marketing-full-empty-claims-mel-lester-1e/" target="_blank">without the embellishment</a>.</span></p><h3><span style="font-family: arial;">Filter #4. Impact</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Impact
relates to how successful your proposal is in fulfilling its purpose,
that is, to convince the client that your firm is the best choice. I
list this step last because it is the final and most crucial test.
Obviously, you shouldn't be developing proposal strategy at this late
stage, nor deciding what client outcomes constitute success. If you
haven't done that work early, you're almost certainly in a weak position
to finish well.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But as editor, I have often found myself needing
to bring those themes to the forefront. We too often "bury the lede," a
journalistic term describing the practice of including too much detail
at the cost of not clearly communicating the main message. Yes, the
previous editing steps described above should have whittled away the
superfluous verbiage and highlighted key messages. But the Impact step
provides one last refinement of the narrative.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>This final editing step works at two levels—skim and read.</b>
Do a skim level review again to confirm that the proposal's primary
messaging is clear and readily accessible. Tweak as necessary. Sometimes
I will add another simple graphic or table where I feel a key point
needs further emphasis. The read level review takes a final look at
tone, flow, and readability—as well as watching for any missed errors or
omissions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Write or edit the executive summary. </b>There's a strong case for <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-include-executive-summary-even-when-rfp-doesnt-ask-mel-lester/" target="_blank">including an executive summary in every proposal</a>,
even if the RFP doesn't request one. Done right, the executive summary
can be the most important section of your proposal, tilting the
selection process in your favor. Unfortunately, most executive summaries
I see are pretty tepid, hardly a game changer. A typical format that I
use is to identify critical success factors and briefly describe how
your firm will deliver each one. Make sure you keep the focus on the
client, not your firm!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This editing workflow, as described above, omits a number of important details such as designing the document's layout, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-construct-your-proposal-storyline-mel-lester/" target="_blank">crafting your proposal story</a>,
and ensuring compliance with the RFP. But I've tried to feature aspects
of the editing process that are often overlooked. Perhaps I've also
changed your perspective on what is typically viewed as a rather mundane
quality control activity. On the contrary, deep editing is a crucial
part of the creation process. Master the process and watch your proposal
success take off!</span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-86397664941897347132020-08-07T08:35:00.000-07:002020-10-27T10:23:45.599-07:00Getting the Fundamentals Right for an Effective Content Marketing Program<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz0H_5XmwNwk_LAXGO0-voF-JUheyERPkOMwiI4N4rLakkaBe8MusUqHWmQXaUyoRR35A_WKiTIIX5cXOi-WLUZEIwyOdVX6GvD7BeOdLIvxo2ruwi8W6QRuhYsV3vmDkq6IivUlNs7-4/s1094/Content+Marketing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1094" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz0H_5XmwNwk_LAXGO0-voF-JUheyERPkOMwiI4N4rLakkaBe8MusUqHWmQXaUyoRR35A_WKiTIIX5cXOi-WLUZEIwyOdVX6GvD7BeOdLIvxo2ruwi8W6QRuhYsV3vmDkq6IivUlNs7-4/s320/Content+Marketing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Facing the economic and
business impacts of the pandemic, many A/E firms are giving renewed
attention to their marketing efforts. It's about time. As I've noted in
this space previously, I believe the power of marketing is grossly
underestimated in our industry. Done right, marketing can generate a
substantial portion of your sales leads, not to mention the less
discernible but crucial benefits of raising your visibility in the
marketplace and reinforcing your brand.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For marketing to have this
kind of impact, you need to move away from the traditional
self-promotion. Client-focused content marketing, or inbound marketing,
has become the dominate strategy for professional services. But most A/E
firms have been slow to embrace it. Many believe that publishing
information about their firm and their projects constitutes content of
interest to clients. Others can't seem to find a way to get busy
professionals engaged enough in marketing to make it work.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Most
failed efforts to make content marketing proficient, in my experience,
can be traced at least in large part to poor fundamentals. In other
words, these firms never build a solid foundation upon which to
construct an effective content marketing effort. Below are elements of
that foundation that I think are particularly critical to marketing
success:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>First, understand what content marketing is. </strong>This
starts with a correct definition of marketing. There are still many in
our industry—usually old guys like me—who fail to make a distinction
between marketing and selling. You can't get marketing right if you
can't define it! So here's a simple definition: Marketing informs and
attracts prospects to your firm. Selling, by contrast, is working
directly with those prospects to convert them to clients.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What's
the best way to attract prospects through your marketing? Inform and
educate them. That's the essence of content marketing. You're providing
content, through various channels, that helps clients and prospects
better handle the challenges they face and capitalize on the
opportunities they have for success. The value of that content should
stand alone. That is, it's helpful whether the client hires your firm or
not.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Focus on serving your audience, not selling them. </strong>Your
motives matter for several reasons. For one, it promotes trust. People
are generally skeptical of marketing and selling because these
activities are usually motivated by self-interest. If your focus is on
serving your audience, you'll develop better content. This focus will
also help you avoid the tendency to default back into self-promotion. Or
to choose topics simply because they interest you, rather than being
guided by what your audience values. Or being satisfied to merely
address a popular topic without working harder to develop a fresh
perspective on it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Mix content curation with content creation. </strong>Content
curation is collecting and sharing third-party content. Most A/E firms
I've observed largely ignore this and focus their energy on content
creation. I think that's a mistake. Why? Because most firms can't
generate enough of their own content to fuel a robust marketing effort.
Which means the content they create, particularly in writing, has less
impact.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Let me explain from my own experience: I've produced a lot
of my own content—through both writing and speaking—over the years. And
the majority of my new clients have come through that effort. But most
of the content I share is from other sources. That content has enabled
me to build a much larger, more engaged audience. Thus my content has
greater impact because it's reaching more people who have found value in
following my posts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I recommend that firms focus first on
building their system for regularly collecting and sharing third-party
content before tackling the challenge of achieving a reliable supply of
their own content. That increases the likelihood of developing a
successful and sustainable content marketing program. <a href="https://devrix.com/tutorial/expert-tips-content-curation-strategy/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">This article</a> will help you get started.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Cultivate thought leaders as your primary sources of in-house content. </strong>Do
you struggle to get technical professionals committed to creating
content for marketing? Most firms do. And that's because most of our
colleagues tend to undervalue the benefits of thought leadership. In
fact, I would argue that our industry has a shortage of thought leaders,
especially on the engineering side of the business.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So what's a
thought leader? This is an individual who is recognized as an authority
in a particular field and whose expertise is sought out by others.
Surprisingly few in our industry seem to be interested in pursuing the
status of thought leader. They are happy simply being known by their
clients as qualified experts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But becoming a thought leader isn't
just about building a reputation; it's about enhancing your value and
serving more people. The best thought leaders are relentless not only in
building their expertise, but in sharing their knowledge and skills
with others. As their sphere of influence grows, so does their value to
clients. Indeed, they can command much higher fees than garden-variety
experts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A solid content marketing strategy requires a reliable
source of content. You're not likely to find that among experts who just
want to do their project work. So I advise finding professionals, even
younger ones if necessary, who want to serve on a larger scale. Persuade
them of the benefits of becoming a thought leader and help them grow
into that role—and they can become your primary source of original
content. <a href="https://hingemarketing.com/blog/story/the-visible-expert-how-ordinary-professionals-become-thought-leaders" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">This article</a> will help you get started.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Strive to make content curation a part of normal work activities. </strong>As
a consultant, I spend a good amount of time doing online research. Part
of that is just who I am—a compulsive researcher who can't make a $20
purchase at Walmart without reading product reviews. But the main reason
is my desire to provide clients with the best possible solutions and
insights. So even when working on issues I know very well, I'm doing
some research.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm assuming most technical professionals do some
research as well as part of their project work. And that's an
opportunity for fitting some content marketing into a busy schedule.
Simply consider whether the information you found would be of interest
to others—in particular, clients and prospects—and bookmark it in your
browser in the appropriate folder. Later, you can determine how to share
it with others, or perhaps use it as inspiration for creating your own
content.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Integrating content curation with doing other work is a
critical step toward building a sustainable process. The biggest
challenge to content marketing is finding time to collect and create
content. So it must become part of routine work activities to the extent
possible. This may involve creating some new work habits, like doing
more research. These can yield benefits beyond content marketing alone.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Imagine,
having your clients essentially pay you for a portion of your content
marketing efforts. I do, by sharing some of the content I find
researching for work I perform for clients. In reality, those clients
pay for the work performed, not the research. But I don't have to carve
out additional time for a substantial portion of the content I share.
That's important for busy professionals like you and me. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-should-hoarding-content-mel-lester/" target="_blank">This article</a> describes this process further.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Maximize the repurposing of your content. </strong>Continuing
with the theme of efficiency, it's important to find ways to extend the
reach of your content by reusing or refashioning it as much as
possible. For example, if you write a good post for your blog, consider
the different ways you might expand its audience. Of course, you'll want
to share it via social media, which holds the potential for others
reposting it to much larger audiences. Other blogs with different
audiences might reuse it unaltered or with revisions (I've had many of
my posts used in this manner, usually in blogs with much greater
readership than my own).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">You might also consider ways to convert
that blog post into other media, such as a podcast or presentation. It
might serve as the basis for creating a webinar or YouTube video. You
might expand it into an article for publication or a conference paper.
You could combine it with other related posts to create an ebook that
could be downloaded from your website.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Given the challenge of
creating enough content, repurposing is key to getting the most from the
content you do create. Thus I consider it one of the fundamentals for a
productive content marketing effort. I know this is routine for many
marketers, but I encounter many more who are not leveraging their
limited marketing assets as effectively as they could. <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/examples-repurposing-content" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">This article</a> provides further guidance on repurposing content.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Obviously,
I've not touched on many other crucial aspects of a competent content
marketing program, but the above steps are common shortcomings I see.
Too many A/E firms are trying to dabble in content marketing without
laying the necessary foundation for success.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The best best way to
think about thought leadership and content marketing is not as something
you should do but as something that reflects who you are as a firm—a
company committed to helping clients succeed at all stages of the
engagement life cycle. That not only helps you get the job, but
positions you as a regular go-to source of help and advice.</span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-73548434483439386382020-07-23T08:20:00.001-07:002020-10-27T08:29:08.262-07:00Keeping Employee Morale Up in an Upside Down World<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPt7WaakSckbY8Af5eT86kWgd6uZd-p78YbjA05_Onnz63Uyb_yE-uKEpxA-1_hyphenhyphenwGZEaGM8CnLY04zsiAu7wkw9AcndnB_jLE_dBrE6NvJHoRZybXajw4zoRhA37pi0q7V62Rx7D2A0/s1152/Employee+Morale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPt7WaakSckbY8Af5eT86kWgd6uZd-p78YbjA05_Onnz63Uyb_yE-uKEpxA-1_hyphenhyphenwGZEaGM8CnLY04zsiAu7wkw9AcndnB_jLE_dBrE6NvJHoRZybXajw4zoRhA37pi0q7V62Rx7D2A0/s320/Employee+Morale.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">If you play sports, or
just follow them, you understand the importance of the mental side of
the game. Winners are confident, focused, tough-minded. Losers may be
less gifted athletically, but their toughest challenge is usually
overcoming doubt. Yet when the weaker opponent is on mentally—or the
stronger opponent is not—that's the recipe for an upset.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In the
business world, we tend to underestimate the importance of attitude and
focus. But you don't have to look far for evidence of the powerful
influence of mindset on performance. Just crawl inside your own head.
How much does confidence, focus, and attitude impact your work? Now
multiply the effect by the number of employees in your firm.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">That's
why the issue of morale goes much deeper than how people feel. It
affects how they perform. So here's the scenario facing many A/E firms
these days: <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2020/06/19/is-working-remote-a-blessing-or-burden-weighing-the-pros-and-cons/#60b9c72140a9" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Morale is down due</a>
to a deadly pandemic, struggling economy, workplace disruption,
societal upheaval, and future uncertainty. The good news is that after
an initial drop in job satisfaction, productivity, and engagement, these
<a href="https://hbr.org/2020/07/the-implications-of-working-without-an-office" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">measures are improving</a> as workers adjust to the new normal.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Still,
the situation remains fragile. Backlogs and billings are dropping,
clients are slowing spending, reopening of the economy is not going
smoothly in many states, many parents face difficulties balancing work
and child care with scaled-back school schedules. Wise managers will be
monitoring the emotional and mental state of their employees in the
months ahead. They will also be taking steps to keep employee morale up
in this suddenly upside down world. A few tips:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Don't embrace a victim mentality.</strong>
It's easy to shift blame to the pandemic or the economy, portraying
your firm as innocent bystanders in a malicious marketplace. But there
are always firms that thrive in difficult times. Are they merely
fortunate or did they earn their good fortune? The problem with blaming
outside forces is that it seemingly leaves people with little recourse.
Those firms are "riding out the storm" hoping that<br /> "things turn around
before too long."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A strong wind can topple a sailboat headed in
the wrong direction or propel one to victory in a race. It's a matter of
aligning yourself with opportunities and harnessing circumstances to
your favor. Victims are in a dour mood these days; victors are busy
trying to get ahead of the game.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Get everybody involved.</strong>
Employees are more encouraged and confident when they feel they can
make a meaningful contribution in tough times. It lends them some sense
of control over the outcomes. One of the worst things for morale is when
firm leaders retreat into their bunkers, hiding behind closed doors (in
their homes these days!), limiting communication with staff, and making
decisions that leave out but ultimately effect firm members. Strong
leaders effectively engage their people in tackling the company's
challenges, and the more people you can enlist, the better. It clearly
boosts morale, not to mention the advantage of tapping into more problem
solvers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Develop and commit to a plan of action.</strong>
Most A/E firms are by nature reactive. That may get you by in good
times, but in our current circumstances you need a plan and disciplined
action. Besides the inherent benefits of planning and action, it's good
for morale as well. Employees want to know that the firm has charted a
course through this storm. As noted above, engaging them in the process
is even better. As things are fast changing, don't let your plan
stagnate. Revisit it often and modify your course as necessary.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Speaking
of mindset, let me encourage you to plan beyond merely weathering
whatever challenges your firm is currently facing. There is a vast
difference between firms that have what I call a "survival mindset" and
those with a "success mindset." The former may lead you to develop a
short-term corrective action plan, more defensive than offensive in
tone. That does little to lift spirits. Whatever short-term corrective
actions are needed should be done in the context of a longer-term vision
for emerging from these times even stronger.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Balance honesty with optimism.</strong>
Actually, to achieve a balance you need to go heavy on the optimism in
tough times (that's why a success vision is so important). Perhaps my
greatest failure as a manager was failing to realize this fact. I
thought it important to be honest with staff about the difficulties we
were facing. But I failed to offer enough hope and optimism to counter
the bad news. My staff became discouraged and performance slumped when
we could least afford it. Thankfully our downturn in business was
relatively short-lived. This one probably isn't, and may go on much
longer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Beware of letting your staff get bogged down in the
current reality; give them a hopeful vision of the future to carry them
through. But don't whitewash the present situation or paint an overly
optimistic view of the firm's prospects. That will undermine your
credibility. Do your homework. Get the facts right. Outline a realistic
plan. There are many opportunities, even in the current circumstances,
to build competitive advantage.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Be generous with praise and appreciation.</strong>
We tend to be stingy with this—not intentionally, but by distracted
neglect. Now is a time to make it a priority. There is abundant research
that points out how important this is, yet receiving recognition and
feeling appreciated are typically among the lowest scores I see in
employee surveys—and that's in the good times! Push everyone in
supervisory roles to step up their praise for good work and hard effort
among their staff. Establish or reinvigorate formal means for
recognizing employees' accomplishments. These are simple, but powerful,
steps for boosting morale and job satisfaction.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Keep communication flowing.</strong>
Even in normal situations, communication is problematic for most A/E
firms. Now with a dispersed workforce, with work and personal lives
increasingly blended, it's vitally important to step up communication.
I'm sensing that project teams are doing pretty well overall, with some
reporting that there's even greater team communication via virtual
meetings than there was when people were working at the office. But firm
leaders are often less visible now, and they play an important role in
setting the tone for this odd remote workplace. If you're a leader, make
it a priority to regularly communicate with staff, using multiple
channels to broaden your bandwidth. Visible leaders exert tremendous
influence on the work environment, and especially so when employees are
scattered. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So what's the mood among your employees and coworkers?
Have you taken the time to find out? Among the various strategies you
might be exploring to navigate your firm's way through this challenging
period, don't ignore staff morale. It's the mental side of the game that
may ultimately determine whether you win or lose in this
hyper-competitive marketplace.</span></p></div><p> </p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-4767813133083554912020-06-23T08:12:00.007-07:002020-10-27T08:20:01.180-07:00Is Expertise Hindering Your Ability to Sell to Clients?<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIZsEc-v_W3k7wC83VGj8x1333YrMWn1c2XhSlu-DBBgt9nbb6xTNabZH4iZK0RvF5T2tebtmRBW07nTBu1gmZsCKdVbTUI3QspJ5k0-BdW8iysvYU-SqzAT9YnifdKGoh2L-U6ZTtf4/s1080/Expertise+Selling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIZsEc-v_W3k7wC83VGj8x1333YrMWn1c2XhSlu-DBBgt9nbb6xTNabZH4iZK0RvF5T2tebtmRBW07nTBu1gmZsCKdVbTUI3QspJ5k0-BdW8iysvYU-SqzAT9YnifdKGoh2L-U6ZTtf4/s320/Expertise+Selling.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">If you're selling
engineering, architectural, or environmental services, you're obviously
selling expertise. So clients naturally favor working with sellers who
have some expertise of their own, who can talk knowledgeably about the
relevant technical issues and solutions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But is it possible that
expertise could be a liability in sales? The evidence suggests it often
is. That's because expertise is not the most important thing you're
selling—it's <em>trust</em>. And experts commonly struggle with the interpersonal dynamics of trust building.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Charles Green is perhaps the foremost authority on the role of trust in professional services. His book <em>Trust-Based Selling</em>
is highly recommended. He proposes four principal attributes that
comprise one's trustworthiness: credibility, reliability, intimacy, and
self-orientation. His research finds that experts characteristically
exhibit high levels of credibility and reliability, but come up short in
the trust attribute that most contributes to sales success—intimacy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What is intimacy in his trust equation? Green describes it as the "safety or security that we <em>feel </em>when
entrusting someone with something." In other words, it largely
comprises the emotional context of selling. Yes, it's important to know
what you're talking about and to consistently follow through on what you
promise. But buyers want to feel that you care about them. They want to
feel comfortable in choosing to do business with you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The
consulting group Huthwaite, which has probably conducted more extensive
research on selling than anyone, comes to a similar conclusion. They
break trust into three elements: concern, competency, and candor. In one
study, they asked clients what percentage of professional service
sellers they would rate as adequate or better in demonstrating each of
the three trust elements. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The lowest score? You probably guessed
it—demonstrating concern. Only 35% of sellers of professional services
were rated at least adequate in showing they cared. That compares to 66%
who demonstrated they were competent and 83% who came across as honest.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">By
the way, Huthwaite also surveyed buyers of large capital products,
asking the same questions. You would expect capital product companies to
employ more professional sellers, whereas professional service firms
would rely more on practicing experts (what we often call seller-doers).
Which group showed more concern? Over half (53%) of capital product
sellers were rated adequate or better in this trust element.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">How
is it that experts fare so much poorer than professional sellers in
showing they care, which is not an attribute we typically associate with
salespeople? My guess is that experts are often more focused on the
work than the client. They may be less inclined to really listen
because, well, they're the experts. Many of them lack strong
communication and interpersonal skills.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So how can you overcome the shortcomings that befall many experts when selling? Below are a few suggestions:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Cultivate the skill of empathetic listening.</strong>
Green concludes that listening is critical to sharpening your intimacy
skills. He notes that listening is partly a skill and partly an
attitude. If you don't care what the other person has to say, you're not
likely to be a good listener. I'd also add that it's important to go
beyond just listening for information, but to listen for
identification—seeking to understand the person and not just the
associated facts. That's at the heart of empathetic listening.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Why
is listening so hard for many of us? In a previous post on this topic, I
suggested two main factors: ego and expertise. Ego is reflected in our
tendency to spend most of our time in conversation either talking or
thinking about what we're going to say next. We like being the center of
attention. Being an expert means we have a lot to say and often find it
hard not to share what we know. Isn't that how we provide value? Not
necessarily. Remember the old axiom: People don't care how much you know
until they know how much you care. Really listening conveys caring.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Use your expertise to formulate great questions. </strong>Being
a strong listener, of course, involves asking effective questions. As a
technical expert in a sales role, give particular attention to two
lines of questioning: (1) asking <em>open questions</em> that reveal the client's perspective and needs and (2) asking <em>alignment questions</em> that influence the client to be receptive to what you have to say.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The
first line of questioning is straightforward; you simply want to learn
how the client sees things. You don't want to bias or influence the
responses in any way. In the second line of questioning, however, you
want to bring into alignment how the client sees things and how you see
them. So your questions seek to gently influence the client's
perceptions and nudge him or her toward certain conclusions (as, of
course, you are doing in response to the client's answers).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As
noted earlier, it's natural for you as an expert to want to share what
you know. But in an age of information overload, expertise as measured
only in facts and knowledge is a commodity. What people want most are
insight and discernment, and those outcomes are better <em>shared</em>
between the two parties. So rather than just telling the client what you
know, try asking questions that help the client discover it for himself
or herself.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">How? Start by planning your sales questions in
advance. Consider what advice you'd like to give, then determine what
questions you can ask to help lead the client to the same conclusions—or
least move in that direction. Of course, you can't always anticipate
what issues may come up in a sales call that warrant sharing your
expertise. So practice the art of framing advice initially with
questions such as, "What if...?" or "Have you considered...?" Don't be
afraid to pause momentarily before speaking, giving yourself time to
consider how you might ask rather than tell.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>See the big picture.</strong>
Experts, especially in our business, are often analytical thinkers.
Analysis involves breaking down complex problems into their constituent
parts, ferreting out underlying causes and defining targeted solutions.
That's a valuable skill in a technical profession, but it has its
limits. Usually the problems you tackle are part of an integrated whole,
involving dimensions that have little to do with your area of
expertise. <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">You add value to what you do by being able to connect
it to the big picture. This is especially important when it comes to
seeing the problem from the client's perspective. This comes more
naturally for some than for others. So the recommendation is to
collaborate with colleagues who are stronger at synthesis (putting
things together) than analysis (taking things apart). This includes
working with such individuals in planning your sales calls, developing
your capture plan, or partnering on sales calls.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Beware of always being right.</strong>
Another common axiom in the sales profession is, "The customer is
always right." Of course, that's not factually true. The point is that
what the customer thinks is what is true from his or her perspective.
This often frustrates expert sellers, to the point that they may push
for their point of view rather than persuade. That perceived
inflexibility is a key reason why buyers often complain about
professional service sellers not listening or showing concern.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">There's
also the distinct possibility that you're wrong. What may be the ideal
solution from a technical point of view may not meet other criteria—such
as cost or convenience—that matter more to the client. We don't sell
products in our profession; we sell customized solutions and outcomes.
That means you need to ply your expertise not just to come up with the
right answer, but the answer that's right for the client.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Yes,
expertise is critically important in our profession. But on its own,
it's often viewed as a commodity. The real value of your expertise is
when you can use it in such a way to better serve the client. And that
requires skills outside your expertise—relationship skills,
communication skills, collaborative skills. Master these if you want to
be a true expert.</span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-92211075541078076812020-06-10T07:29:00.001-07:002020-10-27T07:41:46.622-07:00The First Goal of Proposal Writing: Be Different!<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXOdxYFJitvcz_GHoTpe8UzEVGF3pBG0UGkT6A4W1wFTyMSSXzdLBwcDhBX8pa_QgYwG6nKTnzJTaBSwMDznjKasVJBdS8SQnF9N6GFMigYUJ_ymuuTrJ5aYRKQ76Utq12KULHl7BftU/s2048/ISS_4266_06053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1461" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXOdxYFJitvcz_GHoTpe8UzEVGF3pBG0UGkT6A4W1wFTyMSSXzdLBwcDhBX8pa_QgYwG6nKTnzJTaBSwMDznjKasVJBdS8SQnF9N6GFMigYUJ_ymuuTrJ5aYRKQ76Utq12KULHl7BftU/s320/ISS_4266_06053.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Over the course of my
30+ years as a proposal manager and consultant, I've reviewed thousands
of A/E and environmental firm proposals. Know what stands out? The fact
that it's extremely rare to find a proposal that does (stand out, that
is). It's almost as if the goal was to fit in rather than to stand out.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">How can this be? Aren't we trying to differentiate ourselves? Ultimately, the client's selection team has to <em>find a difference</em>,
a reason to pick one firm over the others. Yet in proposal after
proposal after proposal, I see a remarkable sameness in style, tone, and
content.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It would be one thing if firms were trying to pattern
themselves after the difference makers, those few firms that can produce
truly distinctive proposals. But more often what I observe is a
grudging mediocrity of poor writing, weak strategy, and me-too claims of
superiority. We can do better, and it's not as hard as you might think.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We've
yet to experience the full impact of this pandemic's economic damage.
Firms in our business are generally doing well, but getting new work is
bound to become a greater priority in the months ahead. Now's a good
time to start figuring out how to win more than your share of dwindling
opportunities. Here are some of my proven strategies for creating
proposals that stand out from the competition:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>First, let me review some key differentiators mentioned in </strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/responding-what-rfp-doesnt-say-mel-lester/" target="_blank"><strong>my last post</strong></a><strong>: </strong></span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Make your proposal distinctly client-centered</em>.
This, in my experience, is your best differentiation strategy. Put
their interests, priorities, concerns, and aspirations front and center.
The RFP usually won't encourage you to do this. Do it anyway!</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Focus on outcomes and strategy</em>.
Don't just write about your solution and your approach. Feature the
results. This is an unfortunate omission in most proposals—any mention
of what the project is supposed to achieve, or what defines success.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Describe how you're going to deliver a great client experience</em>.
The experience of working together on the project is a substantial part
of the value the client receives. Why don't firms in our business talk
about this more? So you can distinguish your firm in this regard!</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Make your proposal skimmable and easy to navigate. </em>The
selection committee will be skimming and skipping about, so what not
make it easy on them? They'll appreciate it, and you'll benefit from
having communicated your message more clearly.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><em>Include an executive summary</em>.
This is another thing RFPs rarely ask for, but clients usually read it
if one is included. And a well-written executive summary can give you
the edge you need to win the job.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Get out in front of the RFP in jointly defining project success with the client. </strong>Yeah,
yeah, you've no doubt heard this one before. But the majority of firms
still try to sneak into the competition only after the RFP has been
released. Not a good idea! In my last post, I outlined why the RFP is
not a reliable source of insight into what the client really wants.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I've
enjoyed good success as a proposal specialist, but I'd be the first to
tell you that the most important steps toward writing a winning proposal
are those you take in advance of the RFP. In particular, it's the
relationship building and consulting collaboration (not selling!) that
stack the odds in your favor before most firms are even aware of the
opportunity.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Be fully compliant with the RFP, but don't limit your response to only what it asks for.</strong>
Passive answering to the RFP is commonplace. That's when firms treat
the RFP much like they would a questionnaire; they simply provide the
information the RFP requested. That's a loser's tactic. I advise what I
call <em>assertive compliance</em> where you do what the RFP asks but go beyond it where necessary to tell the story you believe needs to be told.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This
would include, for example, inserting an executive summary when none
was requested. Or adding a project narrative (story) when the RFP only
specified a "scope of work." Or detailing the expected results of the
project when the RFP was silent about desired outcomes. Assertive
compliance, of course, is easier when you've been talking to the client
beforehand. But even when you're not well positioned, you want to be
bold enough to give it your best shot.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Frame your proposal planning with these two questions:</strong>
"What does success look like?" and "How will we deliver that?" The
first question focuses on outcomes, the second on strategy. If your
proposal can simply answer those two questions well in the context of
your project narrative and executive summary, you'll have a leg up on
most of the competition.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Take it a step further with the question:
"What are the needs driving this project?" Needs shape what outcomes
are desired. To better align your understanding of needs with the
client's, I recommend breaking needs down into <a href="http://www.ae-resource.com/2009/12/uncovering-client-real-needs.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">three categories</a>—strategic,
technical, people. This helps combat the tendency of technical
professionals to see the project only as a technical problem in need of a
technical solution.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This doesn't mean you explicitly include the
above questions or three levels of needs in your proposal. These
concepts are first and foremost tools to help you develop your proposal
strategy. But I'm convinced that I built my 75% win rate in large part
on being among the very few to discuss these perspectives in our
proposals—the expected business results from the project, how people's
lives would be benefited, how our project approach would make things
easier for the client, etc.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Make your value proposition clear. </strong>In
every buying decision, there is what I call the "value transaction."
This involves an explicit or implied offer by the seller to provide
something of distinct value to the buyer (the value proposition), and an
assessment on the buyer's part of the perceived value of that offer.
Whatever the formal "selection criteria," the buying decision will
ultimately be made based on how well the seller's and buyer's
definitions of value align.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Here's the odd thing: Most RFPs for
our services don't ask for an express value proposition, and most of our
proposals don't offer one. Instead, there is usually the premise that
the selection will be made based on the qualifications of the seller.
But qualifications aren't value; they are merely evidence that we can
deliver the value we promise (if indeed there is such a promise made).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I
think it's a big mistake to ignore your value proposition and focus
instead on qualifications because that's what the RFP intimated. Most
firms struggle to demonstrate distinct qualifications—which ironically
is why our industry has fought so hard for qualifications-based
selection. Lacking any real differentiation among offerers, the default
selection basis is price—which QBS has been established to prevent.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Of
course, present your qualifications as convincingly as possible. But
don't look there for the difference, in most cases. Instead, develop a
powerful value proposition—whether requested or not—which is how you're
going to deliver a successful project that achieves the results the
client needs. Your value proposition is essentially that success story.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Don't just offer a scope of work; tell the story. </strong>Passive
answering to the RFP typically results in information-laden proposals.
The problem is that information alone doesn't make for a very compelling
proposal. Telling a story does. And the story that will get the
client's attention is how you're going to deliver a successful project.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sounds
simple. But the tendency is to take the most client-centered part of
the proposal and reduce it to little more than a list of work tasks
(often in belabored paragraph form). Don't forget that a proposal is
supposed to be persuasive; it shouldn't read like a technical manual!
Persuasion necessarily engages the heart, which is the particular <a href="http://www.ae-resource.com/2019/11/engage-people-with-stories.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">strength of storytelling</a>. Make the project story at its core a human endeavor, not just a technical scope of work.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As for a <a href="http://www.ae-resource.com/2013/10/building-your-proposal-storyline.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">basic story outline</a>,
here's a what I recommend: Problem → Consequences → Solution → Results.
Typically, this will be divided into two sections: (1) Project
Understanding, which addresses the problem definition, goals, and
challenges, and (2) Project Approach, which describes how the project
will be executed. And be sure to include people and their interactions
in your story!</span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-5010390085345121422020-05-20T06:02:00.000-07:002020-05-22T06:03:32.906-07:00Responding to What the RFP Doesn't Say<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UOyWRRwmptVxGUwaMd6XYaw-IWiW6clA_bcyhd7mYdUSl-bF7YuwdB5722UdbHUIDelrakLiigXPWNaknGGw8nAlap3Q3ddLyGYE31jEStrsickCuvBAWXCQOaEnwpbKwKZQU0khwkU/s1600/ISS_17053_01634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7UOyWRRwmptVxGUwaMd6XYaw-IWiW6clA_bcyhd7mYdUSl-bF7YuwdB5722UdbHUIDelrakLiigXPWNaknGGw8nAlap3Q3ddLyGYE31jEStrsickCuvBAWXCQOaEnwpbKwKZQU0khwkU/s320/ISS_17053_01634.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't trust RFPs.
I've been hoodwinked by them too many times in my 30+ years as a
proposal manager. They've told me to do one thing when the client really
wanted something else. They've withheld critical information that I
needed to compete. They've pretended to be objective when in fact their
requirements wired the selection for another firm.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given my
distrust of RFPs, I've never understood the unwavering faith that so
many people place in them. These individuals pore over RFPs as if they
contain some kind of secret code. They slavishly follow not only every
instruction, but every implied message that may (in their minds) reveal
what the client is really thinking.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, if you wait until
the RFP comes out before trying to figure out the winning formula, you
probably don't have any other option but to trust the RFP. That's
unfortunate, because many RFPs are more likely to mislead than
enlighten. Here are a few of the most common deceptions that I've seen:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Your firm is not the centerpiece of this process; the client is.</strong>
The RFP would have you believe otherwise. Tell us about your firm, it
beckons, your history, your services, your office locations, your
relevant experience, your project team. If you trust the RFP, you might
think that this information is actually the primary influence in the
client's decision who to hire. Not likely.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The client is much more
interested in how well you understand their needs and aspirations,
whether you have a compelling solution, and whether you can convince
them of your ability to deliver it. These are factors that the RFP too
often downplays, if not ignores altogether. Make no mistake, the client
has probably had conversations about this with your competitors if not
your firm. If your proposal doesn't weigh in on that discussion, you're
likely to lose out.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The client is buying outcomes, not services. </strong>As
a general rule, people don't really buy products or services; they buy
what those products or services will do for them. The same is true of
our clients. Yet how often do you read about results in one of our
proposals? This is perhaps our greatest omission in the proposal
process, to give the client a scope of work without addressing the
desired outcomes it will produce.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not that the RFP suggests that
the client wants this. Only when you describe expected project results
in your proposal does it become evident, because the client mentions
that this was a prominent reason for selecting your firm. You see, the
RFP doesn't always include all the key selection criteria!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The working relationship is very important. </strong>Again,
the RFP won't tell you that; it's too squishy a topic to formally
include it in a supposedly objective selection process. Yet client
surveys tell us that the "client experience" is highly valued. In fact,
you're far more likely to lose a client over poor service than technical
deficiency. At some point—usually in the shortlist interview, since
proposals generally avoid the issue—the client will be assessing whether
they think they'd like to work with you.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you explicitly
describe in your proposal how you deliver exceptional client experiences
and optimize the working relationship, you're likely to be the only one
of the competing firms to write about it. That's an easy point of
differentiation that you can claim because the RFP overlooked it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>First impressions really do matter. </strong>Years
ago, before in-house color printing was commonplace and only a few
firms went all out on fancy proposal covers, some government agencies
would remove the cover of your submittal before ever opening it. They
didn't want to be unduly influenced by first impressions.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet
these same reviewers would dutifully subject your proposal to a few
preliminary screening criteria, a review that might take as little as
one or two minutes. If you failed to meet those criteria—which were
largely unpublicized—your submittal was tossed out before they even
checked your compliance with the RFP. First impressions still mattered.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And
they continue to matter today. Not that you necessarily need to go
overboard with appearances or worry about secret screening criteria
(although I'm sure some clients still use them). A more important
consideration is how the reviewer handles your proposal. What does he or
she look for first? What factors most influence first impressions? Is
your proposal designed accordingly? How will you know what matters?
Ask...before the RFP is released.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Making your proposal skimmable is the secret differentiator. </strong>Speaking
of first impressions, imagine your proposal was easy to skim and
discover its central themes. Of course, most clients are skimming your
proposal anyway. So why does your firm produce proposals that demand to
be read? If the client is skimming and your proposal is not skimmable,
you've lost message control. There's no way you can be confident that
the most important messages in your submittal will be seen and
understood.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Want a quick tip on how to make your documents more
skimmable? Present your key points using boldface inline headings, like
I've used in this article. Many of my readers will miss this tip because
the headings will be all they read. But they still will get the gist of
my article!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>A strong executive summary can make a big difference.</strong>
RFPs rarely ask for one, but clients are swayed by them more often than
you might think. The big advantage of a strong executive summary is
that it allows you to address the important topics that the RFP may have
missed or underemphasized. You can capture the essence of your proposal
narrative in a few well-designed pages, in a manner that may have been
impossible by merely following the outline of the RFP.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've had
many clients over the years tell me that our executive summary played a
key role in distinguishing our proposal—even though they didn't ask for
one. So my standard advice is to always include one unless the RFP
clearly forbids it. In that case, you will need to find another way to
feature the elements of your executive summary elsewhere within the
prescribed framework.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Remember:</em> RFPs are generally
designed to eliminate your competitive advantage, to level the playing
field among all competitors (unless it's wired). So why look there for
the keys to success? Fully comply with the RFP, but don't be complicit.
Figure out what the client really wants to hear and then find a way to
overcome the RFP's limitations to tell that story.</span></div>
Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-5685658222823104762020-04-28T05:56:00.000-07:002020-05-22T05:56:59.491-07:00Staying Close to Clients in Uncertain Times<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gV_SAOv16khILzHq893siOg7XgQhIoglZLiBVIYdF3v4pnaftYgtdJKxMIh1vOCuQHoR_zAzXWnHIgXdWH6kNlIjMgXcDH6EVeFixycepkxoJ2Ne_c7-039-PrbwdTBfTqpc9oAPq40/s1600/02c79723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gV_SAOv16khILzHq893siOg7XgQhIoglZLiBVIYdF3v4pnaftYgtdJKxMIh1vOCuQHoR_zAzXWnHIgXdWH6kNlIjMgXcDH6EVeFixycepkxoJ2Ne_c7-039-PrbwdTBfTqpc9oAPq40/s320/02c79723.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last time we faced an
economic downturn, I set out to research growth strategies for
businesses that faced low growth conditions in their respective markets.
One strategy rose to the top—<em>getting close to your customers</em>. A few excerpts from studies I reviewed (all from the 2010-2015 period when economic growth was less than 3%):</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The
solution [for low growth] is to focus more intensely on customers by
building a customer-centric organizational model." (Gallup)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"A
corporate culture centered on customers is the factor most likely to
yield financial results." (American Management Association)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Our
analysis shows that no leadership competency matters more [for growth]
than customer impact, meaning a deep understanding of customer needs."
(McKinsey)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Strong client focus was identified as CEOs' top strategic priority." (KPMG)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Firms with a clear plan for client focus grow 3x faster." (Hinge)</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But
within A/E industry in which I labor, there was evidence of firms
moving in the opposite direction: "I feel like our engineering service
providers have abandoned us since we're not spending money on capital
projects," lamented one public works director whom I interviewed.
Another told me, "Just because we don't have the budget doesn't mean we
don't have needs. I'd appreciate any help trying to figure out how to do
more with less."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The unfortunate reality is that many of us give
attention to clients only as long as they're paying us to. Witness the
common lack of follow-up with clients after our work is done (sometimes
even while our designs are still being constructed!). At a practical
level, this is somewhat understandable. Often it's all we can do to keep
up with the demands of serving clients with active projects. But it
does tend to make claims of how much we care about our clients seem
overstated.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet with the likelihood of another recession on the
horizon, we are presented with another opportunity to demonstrate where
we really stand with our clients. Whether they continue to have work for
us or not, here are some suggestions for staying close to clients
during these uncertain times:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Show personal concern beyond project matters. </strong>This
is always good advice, but is particularly important in times of
crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything we have faced and it
impacts all of us at many levels. With most people working from home,
it's become increasingly difficult to separate our personal and
professional lives. Plus this is a life-threatening situation for many.
In this context, it seems terribly inappropriate to limit client
conversations to business only. But how deeply you probe into personal
matters should be calibrated according to the nature of the
relationship.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Discuss how this situation impacts both the project <em>and</em> the working relationship. </strong>I'm
hearing that people have quickly adjusted to remote work, and that
things are generally going smoothly with clients. That's good, but don't
presume too much. I advocate reviewing expectations about how you'll
continue to work together in this ever-evolving situation. Pay special
attention to communication—how often, by what means, what time of day,
etc. This is the area where I hear the most complaints from clients even
under normal circumstances.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Be sensitive to changing priorities. </strong>Stay
abreast of what factors are driving the client's agenda. Chances are
they will be in flux in the coming months. Don't assume that priorities
will remain fixed on the projects you're working on. On the other hand,
new opportunities for you to help may arise from changing priorities.
But you could miss them if you limit inquiry only to your current work.
Which leads to my next point...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Understand the client's current needs, whatever they are.</strong>
Again, this is advice for all times, but it takes on special importance
these days. It's natural for us to be most interested in the work we're
currently performing or other issues that are within our realm of
expertise. Yet we sometimes miss important context when we are uncurious
about the client's concerns not directly related to the services we
provide. Your clients may have pressing needs that you're unaware of if
you don't explore outside your usual scope of services. That makes you
less helpful as an adviser, and could forestall a chance to at least
provide useful information or make a referral to someone who could meet
their needs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Be proactive in helping define how any project changes or stoppages will be handled. </strong>As
disruptive as these events might be for your firm, you'll build
goodwill for the long term by acting in the client's interest. Ask the
client about what specific challenges they're facing and what changes
might be coming. Then offer to work with them in transitioning (as
needed) the projects you're involved in as optimal a manner as possible,
whether this would require pausing work or revising scopes and
schedules. Your firm's perspective can be very valuable in this regard,
but that doesn't mean the client might not involve you if you don't take
the initiative.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Consider ways to offer your help at little to no cost. </strong>I'm
starting to hear of client requests for reduced fees. It may well come
to that, as was not uncommon during the Great Recession. But my
preference is to instead offer help through what might be called
"strategic investments" in clients, where you provide free or deeply
discounted consulting or other support in areas of considerable value to
the client. What's the difference? One action further contributes to
the commoditization of your services, the other reinforces the role of
trusted advisor. One is a concession, the other a gift. Of course, you
must have something of real value to offer—even for free—for this to
work. And you may be forced to eventually reduce some fees anyway.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Keep the client informed of how your firm is responding to this challenge. </strong>No
doubt, your firm contacted clients weeks ago announcing steps you were
taking to keep employees safe and still keep the work going. But since
this is a dynamic situation, it's wise to keep clients abreast of how
your firm's response continues to evolve. In particular, you want to
inform your client of any internal changes that will or could
potentially affect them. Besides the practical benefits of such
communication, it also contributes to the sense of this shared
experience we are having, which can help bring parties closer together.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Be diligent in collecting and sharing valuable content.</strong>
Talking with clients isn't the only way to communicate you care.
Sharing content and resources that address client interests and concerns
is a good way to stay in front of clients between conversations. Doing
this consistently depends on developing the <a href="http://www.ae-resource.com/2014/01/why-you-should-be-hoarding-content.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">habit of regularly collecting and sharing</a>
such content. I'm a content hoarder, constantly on the lookout for
information and insights that might be on interest to my clients—and, of
course, I create content myself. You can share content with individual
clients via email or to a broader audience through social media.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Finally, take this opportunity to nurture your capacity for empathy. </strong>One of my favorite article titles of all time came from the CNET website years ago: "<a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/eureka-engineers-arent-empathetic-because-they-cant-be/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Eureka! Engineers Aren't Empathetic Because They Can't Be</a>."
The article shared news of a study that discovered the human brain
seemingly cannot effectively engage in analytical thought and empathy at
the same time—undoubtedly a convenient excuse for technical
professionals who sometimes lack empathy. Assuming the study is true,
this suggests that most of us need to consciously switch between
thinking about project work and thinking about clients. In practice,
that may involve putting down the pencil and picking up the phone.</span></div>
Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-63672680346558504172020-03-30T05:50:00.000-07:002020-05-22T05:51:19.400-07:00Why Include an Executive Summary When the RFP Doesn't Ask for One?<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dFoQyyXn4On5B5nqw1PQl1PoURT5_h8wZ7adSrz_NP3af_nxG3aVOhkCoKOQIsEwd2jTel1ZnSk5YSy3ScyCARksgPeXghljamAcv2HuH68XP04INM53fXqtLfMVCm5_uQqWPm8YC7w/s1600/ISS_17072_01313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1117" data-original-width="1600" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dFoQyyXn4On5B5nqw1PQl1PoURT5_h8wZ7adSrz_NP3af_nxG3aVOhkCoKOQIsEwd2jTel1ZnSk5YSy3ScyCARksgPeXghljamAcv2HuH68XP04INM53fXqtLfMVCm5_uQqWPm8YC7w/s320/ISS_17072_01313.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The worst of the
COVID-19 pandemic is unfortunately still in front of us. How long this
will last or what impact it will ultimately have on our businesses, no
one can know with any certainty. Yet I'm reasonably confident in
suggesting that now is a good time to consider how your firm can get
better in bringing in new business. There will undoubtedly be fewer
sales opportunities for awhile. What can you do to improve your win
rate?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it comes to proposals, there are a number of relatively
simple, yet largely neglected, steps for differentiating your proposals
from the competition—making them distinctly client-centered, telling
the story of how you'll deliver success, keeping them concise and
skimmable—to name a few. Another effective step that most ignore is
including a compelling executive summary.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why should your
proposals have an executive summary? Well, for one thing, there's a
strong consensus in favor of them among the experts. A sampling:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The
executive summary is the single most important part of your proposal.
It's the only part that's likely to be read by everybody involved in
making a decision." — <em>Tom Sant, probably the best known expert on writing business proposals</em></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The
Executive Summary is often the most important section in the proposal.
It sets the tone for individual evaluators and are sometimes the only
pages read by decision makers." — <em>Shipley Associates, a leading
proposal consulting firm (I was trained by Shipley and was briefly under
contract as one of their consultants)</em></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The Executive Summary might be the only thing we read." — <em>Gary Coover, author of the book</em> Secrets of the Selection Committee <em>and former member of numerous private and governmental selection committees</em></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The
Executive Summary is your most effective and important selling piece
and deserves all the effort and attention you can give it." — <em>Robert Hamper and Sue Baugh, authors of the book </em>Handbook for Writing Proposals</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So,
you should include an executive summary in your proposals because it
might be the only part that the entire selection committee reads, it
sets the tone for the rest of the proposal (hopefully the right tone!),
and it can be a powerful influence in your firm being selected. To this
list of reasons I'll add the following:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>An executive summary gives you a greater measure of message control</em>.
RFPs tend to nudge everyone in the direction of sounding alike. That's
my observation, having reviewed thousands of A/E firm proposals over the
years. More importantly, clients agree, based on my conversations with
many of them.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>An executive summary enables you to lead with client focus</em>.
A truly client-centered proposal has an edge over all others that focus
instead on the offerer. Yes, they're simply responding to the RFP's
instructions to feature their qualifications and experience. An
executive summary, on the other hand, allows you to open your proposal
with the spotlight directed where it should be—on the client.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>The executive summary is the best place to deliver your value proposition</em>. This is the persuasive business case for selecting your firm versus your competitors. By outlining your <em>business case</em>
in the executive summary, you're focusing on outcomes that you know
constitute the client's definition of success. This is often quite
different from the formal "selection criteria" listed in the RFP.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As
you've probably detected, I have an uneasy alliance with client RFPs. I
certainly advise being fully compliant with the RFP, but not in the
manner of passively "answering" its directives as you might answer a
questionnaire or fill out a form. The latter seems the favored approach
for most proposals I review. By contrast, I advocate what I call <em>assertive compliance</em> where you satisfy RFP requirements without sacrificing best practice and common sense.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
leads us back to executive summaries. Why don't most firms include one?
Because the RFP didn't ask for it! So does that omission comprise a
prohibition on including an executive summary in your proposal? Do you
take a risk by including one? Not in my experience.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over a 20-year
period, I served as the proposal manager for a national environmental
firm and then a regional engineering firm, meaning I was ultimately
responsible for all aspects of the planning and preparation of key
proposals (typically with contract values in excess of $1 million). We
won 75% of those proposals, for combined fees totaling over $300
million.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I <em>always</em> included an executive summary, except
on rare occasions when the RFP specifically excluded one. And...the RFPs
almost never asked for one. In over 200 proposal debriefings, there was
never a situation where we were criticized for including an executive
summary. On the contrary, it was evident that clients consistently read
them (in contrast with cover letters, which are often ignored) and, in
many cases, they played a significant role in our being selected.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll take those odds. What about you?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As
noted earlier, a good executive summary sets the tone for the rest of
your proposal. It can also say something about your firm. Passively
answering the RFP can suggest your firm is merely an order taker—tell us
what to do and we'll do it. It occurred to me recently that both firms
mentioned above more commonly inhabited the realm of trusted advisor. We
included executive summaries because they provided us optimum space to
feature what we thought needed to be said—whether mentioned in the RFP
or not.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our industry has fought long and hard for
Qualifications-Based Selection, but I must confess I'm not a fan (I
know, that's heresy to some). My biggest complaint is that it doesn't
align with how research shows buyers make decisions. People don't really
buy products and services; they buy what they believe those products
and services will do for them. Similarly, buyers aren't inclined to pick
vendors or service providers based on what they've done for others, but
what they anticipate the provider will do for them. Past experience and
qualifications are simply evidence that the provider can deliver what
they promise.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This gets muddled when QBS is applied to the buying
process. Yet I remain convinced that most buyers of A/E services still
select firms based on the promise, not the past. Many RFPs seemingly
constrain our ability to adequately feature that promise. Ask for a work
plan or scope of work, and most firms will respond with just
that—essentially a list (in narrative form) of tasks to be performed. We
become so conditioned to this response that even when the RFP requests a
"project approach," many firms pass on the promise and provide just an
SOW.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A well-developed executive summary swims against this tide,
giving you 2-4 pages at the start of your proposal to succinctly tell
the client what they really want to hear—that you understand their
needs, what outcomes will define success, and the best approach to
deliver those outcomes. Will you pass on this opportunity because you
weren't asked? </span><br />
<br /></div>
Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8440990696807806980.post-42129647204875754282020-03-18T05:43:00.000-07:002020-05-22T05:44:31.957-07:00Management Communication Advice for Anxious Times Like These<div class="reader-article-content" dir="ltr">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWW-lGvX1TLffS_GveUH_Zcy74vx4tVXBSkoCKiq_XltC0b0ecopA1Y7G0TASpel8c0lz1XbKzOKfA9CjSw6tYbgCjyvyRtPjyoLqeU4dsUMN5RoCIlmaqj720hoA4Zr8RviWe3o5TuRY/s1600/02c64715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWW-lGvX1TLffS_GveUH_Zcy74vx4tVXBSkoCKiq_XltC0b0ecopA1Y7G0TASpel8c0lz1XbKzOKfA9CjSw6tYbgCjyvyRtPjyoLqeU4dsUMN5RoCIlmaqj720hoA4Zr8RviWe3o5TuRY/s320/02c64715.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Note: This is an
update of an article I wrote in 2008 in the midst of the financial
crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic may not yet constitute a serious "problem"
or "challenge" for your firm as references below suggest, but it likely
will become one. So I think the language fits what you're ultimately
going to be facing.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even in the best of times, management
communications with staff are often problematic. I've conducted and
reviewed several employee surveys and have found management-to-staff
communication to be among the most commonly identified shortcomings.
When a firm faces tough challenges, the need for effective communication
is even more crucial. Unfortunately that's when many managers struggle
most in this area.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, we
enter an unprecedented time of uncertainty. How will this affect our
industry? Our national economy? How should we respond? The answers
remain elusive and rapidly evolving. Most A/E firms still retain a
healthy backlog of work, but with growing restrictions on business
activity and social interaction, will that continue? What if the federal
government orders a widespread "shutdown" to try to contain the spread
of the virus?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We simply cannot predict what the impacts will be.
This is uncharted water. We've been through tough times before, but this
one leaves many business leaders scrambling to determine what steps
they should take. And as soon as they've made a decision, the situation
has likely changed. Despite the uncertainty, there is one truth that
holds in every crisis—good communication from management to staff is
critically important.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drawing from my experiences as a leader in
economic downturns, layoffs, bankruptcies, reorganizations, mergers and
acquisitions, and the like, let me offer these suggestions:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Formulate and share your response plan now. </strong>The
past few days we've all received numerous emails from businesses
describing how they are responding to the pandemic. Yet many A/E firms
have been slow to react. The time is now to determine how you will
protect your staff, serve your clients, and get the work done in the age
of social distancing. Yes, you may have to update it in a few days, but
getting the word out now communicates that firm leaders have things
(reasonably) under control. Don't wait until the crisis actually visits
your firm; being proactive is the imperative these days.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Increase interaction with staff.</strong>
Faced with tough challenges, many managers become distracted and
distant. They're too busy dealing with problems to spend much time
talking with their employees. But that's a problem in itself and it
neglects one of the most important responsibilities of being a leader.
In tough times, managers should increase, not decrease, communication.
Effective leaders become more visible in tough times. Given the evolving
nature of this crisis, more frequent and timely communication is of
even greater importance.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Help other managers improve their communications.</strong>
In larger firms, it's difficult for the CEO and other corporate
officers to interact adequately with multiple offices or departments.
Unit managers need to communicate for the company at the local level
(although this doesn't replace the benefit of communication from
corporate management). The CEO or other officers can help this local
communication in two key ways: (1) support frequency by communicating
regularly with unit managers and informing them about what needs to be
communicated to staff, and (2) support consistency by providing talking
points to unit managers so they can convey the same messages across the
organization.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Be honest, but accentuate the positive.</strong>
There's a tenuous balance to strike between being open about the
problems or uncertainties your firm faces and creating an atmosphere of
optimism. Too much concerning news can overwhelm and demotivate. On the
other hand, too much positive spin comes across as insincere and
dishonest. You must try to mix the right proportions of both. Here's my
advice: Be honest about the concerns, but spend more time talking about
what's being done about them.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Keep your vision and values at the forefront.</strong>
Detours are easier to endure when you know where you're going. Some
firms handle adversity by moving into "survival mode." It's akin to
throwing the cargo overboard to help stay afloat in a storm. These firms
lose sight of their vision (if they have one) and focus on the present
calamities. It's easy to get stuck there. A better approach is to renew
your vision and blend corrective actions with your strategy for the
future. There's no need to shift from "success mode" in tough times.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's
also important to make your values a recurring theme in your
communications in difficult circumstances. Why? Because your values
should be an anchor in stormy seas. The economy may change; the firm may
undergo changes. But the one thing that shouldn't be subject to change
are those immutable principles that guide all corporate activity. Keep
reminding staff what you stand for and that these things are
non-negotiable. Of course, walk the talk! Strong corporate values give
employees a much-needed assurance in uncertain times.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Beware of the convenience of email.</strong>
Because it's easy to distribute a message across the firm via email,
managers are often tempted to use it improperly. Sensitive,
emotionally-charged messages are better delivered in person. If that's
not practical or wise in these circumstances, video conferencing or a
conference call would be the next choice. Why? Because voice tone and
body language provide important context for communicating sensitive
messages. It's hard to convey concern and empathy by email, for example.
Plus it's beneficial to give employees the immediate opportunity to ask
questions.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another downside of email convenience is the tendency
to spend too little time crafting important communications. Which leads
to my next point...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Appoint a communication team to screen all potentially sensitive company-wide emails and memos.</strong>
We have probably all seen important emails or memos that were unclear,
misleading, inaccurate, sloppy (typos), or even inflammatory. These
communications often do more harm than the good that was intended. It's a
simple fact that many technical professionals, including A/E firm
executives and managers, are not strong writers. Even among those who
are proficient, it's still wise to have others preview important
company-wide communications before they're delivered. I would suggest
that CEOs have someone check all written company-wide communications
from them, because any message from the top executive can be considered
important.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Remember that communication is two-way.</strong>
The effect of communication is not determined by how it is delivered,
but by how it is received. I have sometimes been blindsided, thinking I
had eloquently made my point only to find that it had been grossly
misinterpreted. You've probably experienced the same thing. That's why
effective management-to-staff communication must have a feedback loop.
This can be done formally or informally (both is probably best). The key
things are to make sure you (1) actively solicit feedback, (2) listen
empathetically, and (3) respond appropriately to what you hear. If
employees think you are listening and care about them, they will be more
tolerant of any shortcomings in getting your message across.</span></div>
Mel Lesterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885787845207354779noreply@blogger.com0