Recap of November 2018 Principals Roundtable: Creating a Seller-Doer Culture
Posted by [email protected] on Nov. 17, 2018 / Subscribe 0
Having your “doers” also sell your firm’s services sounds good on paper, but how do you make it work for your firm? That was the topic explored by nearly 20 A/E/C firm principals at the SMPS San Diego Principals Quarterly Roundtable held in November at Stantech’s offices in La Jolla.
It is a well known fact that the A/E/C industry is built on professional relationships. In the past, firms relied heavily on their professional marketing / business development staff to build these relationships. Now, however, market studies show a growing trend within the A/E/C world to have technical staff assist in the rainmaking effort to bring clients and projects into a firm. The most successful firms are those that have crafted their seller-doer programs as a partnership with a professional business developer who is fully dedicated to their business development.
Although the San Diego principals’ group was interested in the seller-doer concept, they expressed concerns about how best to make it work for them. A major concern was how to engage the entire staff to participate because not everyone in a company is cut out to “sell” the firm’s services.
After a robust discussion, the group agreed there are three basic types of business development personalities in a firm. First, there is the “natural;” the person who is knowledgeable, personable, and enjoys meeting with clients. The second type includes those who have the potential to be “sellers,” but who need some training to be effective. And finally, there are those who abhor the idea of networking and meeting with clients and just want to stay in the office and do their work.
The first two groups are easy to work with since “selling” is either an effort that is natural for the person or it is something they can be trained to do. The concern then becomes how much of their time should be devoted to rainmaking. At the principal level, business development efforts generally follow the 80/20 Rule, that is, 80% of their time is devoted to business development and 20% to billable projects.
These percentages shift as one goes down the management ladder with less time for business development and more time for billable work. The percentages also vary based on business requirements, goals, and the size of the company, with smaller companies usually having less leeway to assign business development tasks to technical staff because they need them to be 100% billable.
For the group that does not want to sell, there is an important role for them in a firm’s business development strategy. These are the people you want to continue producing highest quality work because the best way to retain current clients and develop new business is to be known as a company that consistently produces high quality work.
However, it is important to note that when it comes to the best business development approach for a company, there is no “one size fits all.” Each company is different and needs to develop an approach that works best for them. It’s good to have a business model to follow initially, but most firms make adjustments over time until they’ve developed a seller-doer program that works for them.
The key to doing that is communication. To cultivate a seller-doer culture, principals must have open communications with everyone in the company. Principals and top management need to make sure all staff are informed about the firm’s ongoing marketing / business development initiatives, out-reaches, etc., so they know where the company is positioned to grow.
Getting this information out can be as simple as having office meetings on a regular basis to brief the staff on your ongoing business development efforts and why it is important to the continued health of the firm. Let your staff know how vital they are to the firm’s continued well being. Celebrate not only project wins, but also accomplishments along the way.
In addition, remind staff they are building relationships even while they are working on a project. Encourage them to connect with every person on a project, from the prime, client project managers, to all of the sub consultants. Also encourage them to be active on social media and to attend industry events.
Galit Ryan, PE, principal of Peterson Structural Engineers who was attending her first Principals Roundtable, had this to say about the Seller-Doer discussion: “It’s helpful to learn what is working well and what challenges are being encountered. I walked away (from the Roundtable) with new ideas, as well as reminders about previously learned concepts. Sometimes the reminders are just as valuable as the new information, especially when in the mode of implementing modifications and/or new culture.”
The SMPS Prinipals Roundtable is a series of quarterly meetings sponsored by the chapter to help firm principals not only with the marketing and business development issues of their firms, but also with general business issues that are unique to our industry. For each Roundtable, a member firm hosts the event and selects a topic, which is then researched and presented by the Principals Roundtable Planning Group.
Once a topic is selected, the planning group researches the topic and prepares a Power Point presentation of background information and talking points for the group. The research and Power Point slides are then available to attendees after the roundtable.
The November 2018 Roundtable was hosted by Saeid Izadpanah and Lawrence Ramirez, Principals of Stantec in La Jolla. Todd Whelchel of BNBuilders has offered to host the next Roundtable to be held on February 6, 2019 at BNB’s offices. Stay tuned for further information on the topic to be discussed.
By Beth Bateman,Bateman Communications, Past President SMPS San Diego
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