MARKETLINK Principal Stephanie Craft is passionate about budgeting - and she wants to share that passion with you. Her four tips may take a bit of effort to implement, but the pay-off is immense.

How do you approach your annual strategic plan? Many AEC firms use the same tactics they did last year, not considering whether their end goal has changed or what they want to get out of their marketing efforts. We recommend a more methodical, strategic approach.

Whether you call it internal marketing, marketing mentality, or creating a culture of rainmakers, it’s a straightforward concept critical to the AEC industry: Training and motivating client-contact employees and support staff to work as a team to ensure client satisfaction.

Stop Clowning Around with your AEC Marketing Plan! Review your mid-year marketing goals and steer toward improvements.

At MARKETLINK, we practice the macro to micro approach to business development: Go from high-level to detailed when identifying and implementing business development strategies. And don’t just guess at where you are going, use research to make sure your strategies are on point.

It’s almost the new year. Many new resolutions will be made. Many firms will be renewing or starting strategic planning for the upcoming year. Did you know that many firms miss the mark on their targets because they continue with their current target markets and clients, simply because it’s what they have done it in the past? Don’t be that firm. Take the time to conduct market research and get headed in the right direction. Before you start down the wrong path, conduct market research that can help you determine whether your target markets will provide an equitable return.

“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” – Dale Carnegie

Principal Keri Hammond, FSMPS, CPSM, applies this quote to the fear professionals have about the most crucial industry task, market research.

Your Marketing Plan: If you have one, chances are your firm has invested hundreds of hours into what will be your roadmap for the upcoming year or two. But did you structure your plan with the end in mind? Did you create a strategy that can be monitored and measured? If not, a few modifications will ensure your firm’s success.

Every year, I call a variety of my clients’ clients to get their input on what impresses them in project interviews and what doesn't. While the Facilities Director of a Community College District in California declined to be interviewed, he did make me an offer I couldn't refuse. Rather than taking his word for it, he invited me to attend their next interview to experience the process myself. What I learned provided great insight into what works (and what doesn't), when your firm decides to participate in a formal interview process for a potential client job.

When I first started in this industry I worked for a large, very well-established civil engineering firm in the Intermountain Region. I was the first marketing person they had ever hired so I was fortunate to be able to set up the department and get their marketing programs put into place. One day I approached my boss, the president of the company, about establishing a Client Relations program to monitor client satisfaction.