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Volume 31, Issue 2, April 2012
The Journal of the Society for Marketing Professional Services
keynotes
Water the Bamboo
Author Greg Bell
by Craig Park
conversation
With Greg Bennick
by Michael Reilly
client panel
What’s Next for Our Cities?
by Nancy Egan
programs
The Science of
Maximizing Revenue
by Kelly Riggs
CI to Transform Your Game
by Scott Braley and Krista Sykes
Digital Asset Management
by Kelly McNair and Donna Jakubowicz
Prevent Burnout
by Hope Wilson
Take Action!
Build Business 2012 Preview
leadership advancement program
Realize YouR
leadeRship
potential
Career advancement in the design and building
2012 Class MEEts foR 2 sEssions
Session 1
Session 2
October 18–19
College Park, MD
November 15–16
Washington, DC
industry depends on your business acumen. To help
you gain the business knowledge you need, SMPS
partnered with the University of Maryland’s Robert
H. Smith School of Business to develop the SMPS
University Leadership Advancement Program—
a program designed especially for A/E/C marketers
and business developers who want to achieve the next
level in their careers.
Registrations are being accepted
for the Fall 2012 Class.
In a graduate-level curriculum, SMPS U examines the
Discounted Early Registration
Deadline: June 15
principles integral to the strategic operation of the
learn more and register:
www.smps.org/smps_university
marketing, business development, and client service
professional services firm. Further, SMPS U exposes you
to critical business management concepts—research
and development, client development, finance, human
resources, and leadership.
“SMPS U is an entirely new level of professional development for
our field. University of Maryland instructors gave us a deeper
understanding of business finances, research, and strategy specific
to the A/E/C industry. I would highly recommend this program for
those who are serious about expanding their business knowledge
to grow their career and firm.”
“The information presented was immediately and directly applicable
to the work my team does every day. I left each session not only
feeling inspired to share these new ideas with my team but with
the confidence and knowledge to back them up. It was the perfect
continuation of what I learned through earning my CPSM.”
“Top-notch professors, content, and participants that have helped
me become a better business development professional. SMPS
University represents an investment in my personal development
that translates into quantifiable benefits to my company.”
As a participant, you will come away with a clearer
understanding of how marketing impacts a company’s
performance and equipped to contribute in new ways to
your firm’s success.
SMPS in partnership with the University of Maryland’s
Robert H. Smith School of Business
inside
from the national president
5
Monday Morning: Take Action!
BY FRANCIS J. LIPPERT, FSMPS, CPSM
from the editor
7
Do the Lights Go Down?
BY ED HANNAN
3
Marketer | Volume 31, Issue 2, April 2012
8
cover story
8
Water the Bamboo:
An Interview with Keynote
Speaker, Author Greg Bell
INTERVIEW BY CRAIG PARK, FSMPS, ASSOCIATE AIA
features
14
Build Business: The Urban Development
Client Panel—What’s Next for Our Cities?
18
A Conversation with Greg Bennick,
Build Business Keynoter
INTERVIEW BY NANCY EGAN, FSMPS
usiness Development: The (Hidden) Science
B
of Maximizing Revenue
BY KELLY RIGGS
24
arketing: Double Vision—Using Competitive
M
Intelligence to Transform Your Game
BY SCOTT BRALEY, FAIA, FRSA, AND KRISTA SYKES, PH.D.
26
ABOVE: San Francisco’s Zeum is a hands-on arts and technology
studio where young people can create their own audio, video,
and animation projects. San Francisco will host Build Business:
Take Action, the 2012 SMPS National Conference, this July.
PHOTOS: SFCVB photos by Tom Bross
INTERVIEW BY MICHAEL J. REILLY, FSMPS
departments
22
ON THE COVER: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
(SFMOMA) has been a landmark of the South of Market District
since it opened in 1995. Designed by architect Mario Botte, it
houses one of the most eclectic art collections in the world.
echnology: Digital Asset Management—
T
What Is It, and Do We Need It?
BY KELLY MCNAIR, CPSM, AND
DONNA L. JAKUBOWICZ, FSMPS, CPSM
Earn CPSM CEUs from Marketer.
See page 26 for details.
30
Tools: FRIED? How to Manage Stress and
Prevent Burnout
34
ehind the Lines: Marketer Team Bids Adieu
B
to Editor Randy Pollock
columns
38
Marketer to Marketer: Educating Coworkers
about Marketing
40
Bookshelf: Water the Bamboo: Unleashing
the Potential of Teams and Individuals
41
When in Doubt: Missed Connection
REVIEWED BY JESSICA TAFT
BY RON W. GARIKES, FSMPS
43
Resources for SMPS Members
45
National Event Calendar
BY HOPE WILSON, CPSM
BY MICHAEL J. REILLY, FSMPS
SMPS members and their firms contributed photos
used throughout this issue.
Marketer/April 2012
4
Now is the time to take
the next step in advaNCiNG
your Career.
As a professional services marketer or business developer,
you are vital to the success of your firm. Every day you help
your company grow by identifying new project opportunities,
developing smart business relationships, crafting outstanding
proposals, and getting your company’s name in front of
prospective clients. Your job is to build profitable business.
The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) offers
a credential that recognizes your experience and validates
your marketing and business development skills in the industry:
Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM).
Gain the recognition you deserve and differentiate yourself in
this competitive employment market by becoming a CPSM.
For more information, visit Certification at www.smps.org
or call 800.292.7677, x232.
Society for Marketing Professional Services
from the national president
About the National President
A coach, a team builder, and a creative, Frank Lippert,
FSMPS, CPSM, is a business development and marketing
manager for David Evans and Associates, Inc., headquartered
in Portland, OR. He serves as the 2011–12 National President of
the Society for Marketing Professional Services. Frank can be
found on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other SoMe venues.
Photo: Adam Bacher Photography, LLC
Monday Morning: Take Action!
In February, I had the good fortune to be a part
of a Fellows Forum at the SMPS Pacific Regional
Conference in San Diego. Besides the honor of
sitting with esteemed colleagues like Bill Strong,
Nancy Egan, Carla Thompson, Marion Thatch, Tom
Smith, and Howard Wolfe, I had lots of time to talk to
them and get their perspective on SMPS in general.
In the course of the conversation, I told them the Build Business
2012 team had exceeded its early-bird registration goals. We
beat the goal by about 15 registrations; people are coming back
to conference. My fellow Fellows were a bit surprised that I
was surprised. In their opinion, the national conference was the
most important of all SMPS events all year long. It was a given.
In classic fashion, they were passionate.
Carla Thompson told us she had been to more than 25 SMPS
national conferences over the years. Marion asked her if she
began attending in high school. Carla laughed graciously and
explained that the conference was a must for her. I dug deeper
and asked why. She was nearly tearful explaining the value of the
relationships she has built over the years, people she considers
the very best of friends, some of whom were seated around the
table at that moment. “In fact,” she said, “I met my husband
at an SMPS national conference!” Her husband, Don Tuttle,
nodded and smiled.
While everyone agreed that the renewal of relationships and
reconnection to the network were the top reasons to attend Build
Business regularly, we talked about the value of attendance
beyond that as well. Marion was passionate about the education
and programming at Build Business. “Every year, I come away
with something to implement that makes my firm even stronger.
As a consultant, now I know I’ll bring even greater value with
what I learn to my clients,” she said. We talked about the volume
of knowledge and what we honestly implement on Monday
morning is often only one to three key things at best.
Personally, this reality has frustrated me. I think about the money
my company invests in my attendance, and I work hard to give
back a healthy return on that investment. From the beginning,
when I asked my most-trusted friends and colleagues, Myrna
Wagner and Beth Harris, to co-chair Build Business, I asked
them to help me, to help all of us, find the tools to implement
more on Monday morning. I’ve stressed this message over coffee
with our keynote speakers, Greg Bennick and Greg Bell. As
Program Co-Chairs Doug Parker and Melissa Lutz endeavored
to select our outstanding slate of programs, this was top of
mind. This team has worked very hard to bring together a
conference that will deliver a new reality on Monday morning,
a reality where you can “Take Action!” to advance your firm
and your career as a professional services marketer. Come join
us, I promise to change Monday morning.
Marketer/April 2012
5
Welcome to the community!

Get connected at mysmps.org!
MySMPS is the new online community designed
exclusively for SMPS members. The mission of
MySMPS is simple: To connect you with the people,
information, and opportunities to make building
business easier. Log in now to connect to the powerful
SMPS network in an exciting new dimension.




7 Reasons
to Visit MySMPS.org
Today (and Every Day!)
1
Interact online with 6,000+ A/E/C marketing and business
development professionals.
2
Complete your personal profile to make it easier for
members with shared interests to connect with you.
3
Build your global network of invaluable contacts in the
design and building industry.
4
Share your thought leadership by writing a blog or starting
a forum discussion on an issue keeping you up at night–the
tools are available to you on MySMPS.org.
5
Discover new marketing and business development
resources in the modernized Marketing Resource Center.
6
Join (or create!) a group to facilitate committee work, lead
sharing, preparation for the CPSM exam, and much more.
7
Find out about upcoming national and chapter events where
you can continue networking live and in person!
So how do you get started?
Step 1: Log in at www.mysmps.org. (Use your member number and password.)
Step 2: Click on “My Page” to expand your profile, upload your photo, and add your bio.
(SMPS National has uploaded basic contact information for you.)
Step 3: Explore the community! (We recommend starting with “People,” “Groups,” and
“Marketing Resource Center.”)
Step 4: Let SMPS know what you think about MySMPS: E-mail your feedback to [email protected].
from the editor
7
About the Editor
marketer team
Editor:
Ed Hannan ([email protected])
Contributing Editors:
Mark Buckshon, CPSM ([email protected])
Nancy Egan, FSMPS ([email protected])
Matt Handal ([email protected])
Linda Mastaglio ([email protected])
Craig Park, FSMPS, Assoc. AIA ([email protected])
Marjanne Pearson ([email protected])
Michael J. Reilly, FSMPS ([email protected])
Andrea S. Walden ([email protected])
SMPS National President:
Francis J. Lippert, FSMPS, CPSM
([email protected])
CEO:
Ron Worth, CAE, FSMPS, CPSM ([email protected])
Publisher:
Lisa Bowman ([email protected])
Design & Production:
TGD Communications ([email protected])
Display Advertising:
Lisa Bowman ([email protected])
123 N. Pitt Street, Suite 400
Alexandria, VA 22314
TF: 800.292.7677
Phone: 703.549.6117
Fax: 703.549.2498
www.smps.org
The Society for Marketing Professional Services represents a
dynamic network of 6,000 marketing and business development
professionals from architectural, engineering, planning, interior
design, construction, and related specialty consulting firms
located throughout the United States and Canada. The Society
and its 50+ chapters benefit from the support of 3,250 design
and building firms. SMPS’s mission is to advocate for, educate,
and connect leaders in the building industry.
Marketer (ISSN 0 199-3690) is published bimonthly
(February, April, June, August, October, and December).
©2012 Entire contents copyright by SMPS with all rights
reserved. Partial quotation with attribution is encouraged,
but reproduction in whole or part is strictly prohibited.
All material submitted for possible publication becomes the
property of SMPS. The views expressed in this publication
are the opinions of the authors and not necessarily of SMPS.
Letters should be addressed to the editor or publisher; please
include your name, address, and phone number. Marketer
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Periodicals Postage Paid at Alexandria, VA, and
Additional Mailing Offices
Postmaster: Send changes to Marketer, SMPS, 123 N. Pitt Street,
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Member annual dues are $355, of which $27.50 is allocated for
Marketer subscription; nonmember subscription rate is $115.50.
Ed Hannan is principal of HannComm, a firm dedicated
to improving the quality of A/E/C marketing
communications. He’s spent the past decade covering
the industry as publishing director with two leading
management consulting firms, ZweigWhite
and PSMJ Resources. Ed can be reached at
508.308.9544 or [email protected].
Do the Lights Go Down?
We’re a few months away from the National Conference in
San Francisco. Rock group Journey, one of the City by the Bay’s
most prominent musical exports, offers us this lyric from “Lights”:
“When the lights…go down…in the city.” As every A/E/C marketer
can attest, the lights never go down in the marketing department.
That’s true at Build Business too, where full days of education turn
into long evenings of networking.
This Marketer offers a preview of the conference, which bears the theme Take Action.
Reading these articles written by or about conference speakers should inspire you to
take action to build more business for your firm this year.
Contributing Editor Craig Park interviews closing keynote speaker Greg Bell. Author
of Water the Bamboo: Unleashing the Potential of Teams and Individuals, Bell suggests
that marketers can be successful by developing personal visions that align with the
missions of their firms. (Check out Jessica Taft’s review of Water the Bamboo on page
40.) Opening keynote speaker Greg Bennick, in a conversation with Mike Reilly,
discusses how marketers can “master the unexpected” and why he blends humor and
serious messages in his presentations.
Nancy Egan gets a glimpse of “What’s Next for Our Cities” when she interviews
the outstanding clients participating in the Urban Development Panel moderated
by ULI Houston and San Antonio Executive Director Ann Taylor.
Scott Braley and Krista Sykes outline how competitive intelligence can pinpoint
game-changing actions that lead to wins. This is one article and breakout session
you won’t want to miss.
Co-presenters Kelly McNair and Donna Jakubowicz do a stellar job of making the
business case for digital asset management, offering lessons learned from Barton
Malow’s recent implementation.
Feeling burnt out on the recession? Hope Wilson helps us recognize the symptoms
of burnout, identify stressors, and regain control. Her antidote for stress? Music—
and she’s got some recommendations for you on page 31.
In “Marketer to Marketer,” we ask members how they educate colleagues about
marketing, especially after returning from an event like Build Business. Finally,
Ron Garikes’ reflections on missed flight connections will surely generate a chuckle.
Don’t miss your connection: Book that flight to Build Business now! I look forward
to seeing you in San Francisco.
Marketer/April 2012
8
Water the
Bamboo:
An Interview with Keynote Speaker,
Author Greg Bell
BY CRAIG PARK, FSMPS, ASSOCiate AIA
G
reg Bell, founder and Chief Bamboo Farmer of the Water the Bamboo Center for Leadership and
author of the best-selling book Water the Bamboo: Unleashing the Potential of Teams and Individuals,
will deliver the closing keynote address at this year’s SMPS National Conference, Build Business:
Take Action, July 11–13 in San Francisco.
Based in Portland, OR, Greg’s company provides essential value by helping its clients create lasting change while
not only maintaining their sanity but bringing fun into the process. Greg and his team help clients formulate and
refine their core values, vision, goals, and strategic relationships with a healthy bottom line in mind.
Greg learned the virtues of discipline and hard work from his grandfather, a Texas farmer. Greg was the first in
his family to graduate from college. He played basketball at the University of Oregon where he was twice named
Inspirational Player of the Year. After receiving a political science and law degree from the University of Oregon,
he practiced law within a large organization.
Personal events inspired him to re-evaluate his life and priorities, and he helped launch the Coaches vs. Cancer
campaign for the National Association of Basketball Coaches—a non-profit that has raised over $50 million
for cancer research.
Recently, Greg sat down with SMPS Fellow and Past National President Craig Park to discuss the philosophy
described in Water the Bamboo and the application of those ideas to marketing and business development in
the design and building industry.
“Every day, before my feet hit the ground, I ask, ‘What’s going well?’
Even on my worst day, I can find something that is working and that
fuels me for the rest of the day.”
Society for Marketing Professional Services
9
Marketer/April 2012
10
Marketer: What was the genesis for Water the Bamboo?
Greg Bell: My goal for the book and my talks is to have them be a
mirror. My theory is that you have all your own answers, but you
never ask yourself the questions. In my book, I ask more than 200
questions as a part of a Socratic Method of inquiry. I ask, “What
are your values?” I don’t tell you what your values should be.
I began the book based on one of my popular early speaking
programs, “Bring Your Spirit to Work.” That program was based
on the idea that everyone starts a new job really excited, but over
time, it often becomes just a job. My thought was, “How can I
help rekindle people’s attitude and spirit as if it were the first day?”
One day, during the writing of the book, I called one of my clients
and asked what they were doing. They replied, “We’re watering
the bamboo.” This phrase was drawn from one small part of that
presentation, but it seemed to resonate with many of my clients.
It hit me then that this was the book to write. The phrase water the
bamboo became my mantra, because it was more than just a book:
It was an idea and an inspiration. And three years later, it became
this book, which was the foundation for the Water the Bamboo
Center for Leadership.
Marketer: The economy’s impact on the A/E/C industry is causing
major disruptions, including business failures, acquisitions, and
downsizing, and is forcing many firms to reevaluate their visions
and missions to deal with harsh realities of limited capital funding,
fewer projects, and greater competition. How can our organizations
use the Water the Bamboo concepts to help their people become
more strategic and ultimately to be more successful?
Bell: One of the things I have been telling my clients during
these tough times is that there is somebody out there who is
going to enter your industry and they are going to win. Even
though they’re just starting out, they will become one of the
big players in 10 years. I think the question is, what are they
doing that you are not? What is it about them? What attitude
are they going to bring to their business? I believe it is going
to be a water-the-bamboo attitude.
They are going to show up, and they are going to water. They are
going to have faith. They are going to have belief in what they are
doing. They are going to have discipline and courage. Everyone
around them is going to tell them, “This isn’t going to work. This
is the worst time to start a company.” And after all that, they are
going to say, “Mind your own bamboo!”
A lot of people think it’s about the bamboo, but really it’s about
the watering. It’s about the effort—putting in the time and energy
and nurturing the project. While everyone else is talking about the
recession, the problems and challenges, and worrying, the bamboo
farmer puts all that energy into their growth. Ask yourself, “Does
worry work?” It never has once, never solved any problems.
What would you do if you thought what you were doing wasn’t
going to work? You wouldn’t do anything. You wouldn’t make
the call. You wouldn’t go out to seek the work. What if you had
a different attitude? You may have to work harder, but it’s just
work. It’s part of the process. It’s about character. My ultimate
goal is that everyone becomes a bamboo farmer.
Marketer: In your book, you speak of attitude and enthusiasm
as important characteristics to bring personal vision and projects
to completion, regardless of the circumstances. What advice
would you give SMPS members, who have roles in marketing,
public relations, and business development, to help develop and
advance their personal visions?
Bell: It is all about being really clear about what your vision is:
a burning desire. If it’s too vague, it fades. One of the tools I use
is a vision board. Mine illustrates visions for what I want to see in
my life and how I want things to be. There are pictures on it. My
values are on it. My family is on it. I look at it every day to remind
me, because there are lots of distractions in life. I believe that, when
a person leaves their house, they should know who they are and
what they are after. If you don’t, you can get a little sideways.
If you have a vision, then you know when you see it. For most
of us, you say “no” to a lot of things before you see the thing you
want. Then when you see it, you’ll know, “That’s in line with who
I am as a person; that’s in line with my vision.” Then you know
what you can say “yes” too.
“Don’t lose sight of the importance of relationships. Everyone in your company
probably has several hundred relationships. Everyone has to be on board with the
marketing of your firm and selling your services. If everyone in your network is not
talking about your firm in positive ways, you can miss a huge opportunity for growth.”
Society for Marketing Professional Services
11
Marketer: How can they best align their personal vision with that
of their company?
Bell: We talk a lot about technology and social media, but
ultimately we are in a relationship age. People and companies who
realize this will thrive. The last project you got was because of the
relationships you have. The next project you get will be because
of those relationships. Relationships are critical to our own personal
vision and mission, to our own marketing and public relations.
Technology is a great medium to get our message out, but it’s really
your relationships that will yield results.
“If you take care of
your relationships,
results will happen.”
Marketer: Your book speaks with a language of discipline,
patience, persistence, hard work, optimism, courage, and
sustainability and the importance of integrity, resilience,
versatility, and flexibility. Which of these characteristics do
you think are the most important for people in our industry?
As an example, marketing needs to have internal relationships
that align with the external relationships—the clients you are
trying to connect with. Too often we get caught up in creating
a message with a focus just on the medium. But without those
relationships, no one will come to your Web site; no one will
look at your brochure.
Bell: Drawing from the metaphor of the bamboo farmer, the
first thing you have to have is patience. You have to have patience
with the process and patience with the people. Like the seed of
any bamboo, or the seed of any idea, the bamboo farmer has to
bring the water. Next, persistence is important. You can’t just
water one day and expect results.
Don’t lose sight of the importance of relationships. Everyone
in your company probably has several hundred relationships.
Everyone has to be on board with the marketing of your firm
and selling your services. If everyone in your network is not
talking about your firm in positive ways, you can miss a huge
opportunity for growth.
Self-discipline is probably the most important character trait.
If you look at any successful person, self-discipline shows up in
many aspects of their life. Top salespeople always make one more
call then the rest.
You have to have balance. How do you keep contact with your
key contacts, helping them, and letting them help you? You need
to have relationships, but you also have to have results. If you take
care of your relationships, results will happen. You need to have
balance between the two.
The fourth trait would be courage. This concept, while natural,
goes against the grain. We live in a society with expectations of
instant gratification and overnight success. You have to have
courage to take on the bamboo philosophy, because everyone
is going to question what you doing. Most great successes start
out as delusional ideas.
Marketer: What advice can you give SMPS members about using
the concept of the Bamboo Circle to stay connected and improve
our business relationships?
Bell: Your Bamboo Circle is your A List. You can have a personal
A List and a professional A List. Your A Lists are your go-to people.
What’s interesting about a grove of bamboo is that, underneath,
each bamboo shoot’s roots can grow over 100 yards. Because all
of their roots are interlocked, when an earthquake hits a bamboo
grove, nothing happens.
Similarly, if you have developed a strong Bamboo Circle, you can
handle setbacks. Winning is the easy part of life. Losing is when
you need to be strong and together. That’s when a Bamboo Circle
is most effective. Who do I call when it doesn’t go well? Who do
I call when I need an idea? Who do I call when I need a project?
That’s what I think about when I think about a Bamboo Circle,
but you have to build it before you need it.
Greg Bell’s book,
Water The Bamboo ®:
Unleashing the Potential
of Teams and Individuals,
is reviewed by SMPS
member Jessica Taft on
page 40.
Marketer/April 2012
12
“Self-discipline is probably the most important character trait. If you look at
any successful person, self-discipline shows up in many aspects of their life.
Top salespeople always make one more call then the rest.”
And finally, you need belief in what you are doing, belief in your
company. The notion of belief allows you to sustain over time.
And to extend the bamboo metaphor, while you wait, you can
grow beans and corn on top. You often have to do other things
to sustain while your bamboo takes root and grows.
Focus on these five traits is the core of my message. Bamboo is
strong, but it also is flexible. When you take on the qualities of
bamboo, you can be resilient, adaptable, and versatile.
Marketer: Do you have any last advice for SMPS members on
developing a personal approach to enduring success?
Bell: I’m often called in to be a motivational speaker, but I tell
them I can’t do that. Motivation comes from within. Inspiration
comes from without. Motivation is the car, inspiration is the fuel.
When these two are combined, you get movement.
Find those things in your life that inspire you and put them in your
life every single day. Every day, find two or three things—it could
be a song or a poem—whatever moves your heart. Make sure those
things are part of your routine.
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
www.buildbusiness.org
Closing Keynote Address: “Water the
Bamboo: Unleash Your Potential”
Greg Bell, Author and Founder, Water the
Bamboo Center for Leadership
July 13, 9 – 10:30 am
Breakout Session 104: “Water the Bamboo:
Thriving with Change”
July 13, 10:45 am – Noon
Society for Marketing Professional Services
I have my own rituals. Every day, before my feet hit the ground,
I ask, “What’s going well?” Even on my worst day, I can find
something that is working and that fuels me for the rest of the
day. Then at the end of the day, I ask myself, “What went well?”
Those two times of the day are the most critical. I do these rituals
because I want to have great days and great dreams.
Marketer: I really enjoyed your metaphor of watering the bamboo.
It explains how long it takes before an idea grows, the discipline to
help it grow, and when it grows, just how fast it happens. I think
it’s a message we all can apply to our lives and our business.
Bell: When you look at any effort, it takes time to get traction in
life. If you think about it, what are grown are the roots. That is the
foundation for any person, for any company, or for any marketing
effort. It’s a universal message.
About the Interviewer
Craig Park, FSMPS, Assoc. AIA, is a principal with
strategic technology consultants, The Sextant
Group. Craig is a past president of SMPS National,
recipient of the 2007 Weld Coxe Marketing
Achievement Award, and author of The Architecture
of Value: Building Your Professional Practice. Craig
can be reached at [email protected].
Halfpage ad smpshrc_2012.pdf 1 1/17/2012 10:21:39 AM
13
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Marketer/April 2012
14
Build Business:
The Urban Development Client Panel
What’s Next for Our Cities?
INTERVIEW BY NANCY EGAN, FSMPS
Society for Marketing Professional Services
15
“What’s next?” It’s the question we hear over and over again in
client offices, staff meetings, and SMPS events. And it is on the top
of Ann Taylor’s agenda for the Urban Development panel that she
will be moderating on July 12 at Build Business in San Francisco.
Taylor, who is the executive director of the Urban Land Institute
(ULI) for Houston and San Antonio, has convinced three of the
best minds in urban development to join her for a discussion about
what they see as “next.”
With Taylor on the dais will be Uwe Brandes, ULI senior vice
president for Initiatives, based in Washington, DC, where he
leads ULI’s initiatives on Climate Change, Land Use, and Energy
(CLUE) and The City in 2050. Brandes was also a principal
contributor to the recent ULI publication What’s Next? Real
Estate in the New Economy, a must-read for anyone with an eye
on the future in our profession.
From the private sector will be Gary Holtzer, the San Franciscobased vice president and global sustainability officer for Hines,
the real estate investment, development, and management firm.
In his role, Holtzer oversees and coordinates sustainability efforts
worldwide for Hines, arguably the most influential real estate
development company globally.
Bringing his perspective as city manager for the City of Ventura,
California, will be Rick Cole. He worked in both the public and
private sectors before coming to city management. Cole’s work
has been praised by the Los Angeles Times, which called him “one
of Southern California’s most visionary planning thinkers.”
To get a sense of what this exceptional group might have to say
to us, I spent some time in conversation with each of them and
cannot wait for the session. Here’s a peek at what we can expect.
Ann Taylor sought to have several distinct points of view on her
panel: leaders in the field who would generate discussion. “It’s rare
that you have your first choices for panelists all commit,” she said.
“But I did and I am delighted to have this group together. While
each of them has their own perspective, I believe they all will be
able to engage across the important topics.” Taking advantage of
Brandes’ work on What’s Next?, Taylor envisons the broad themes
outlined in the book—jobs, housing, technology, energy, and
investment—as starting points for more in-depth exploration.
She is already formulating questions that are sure to take the
conversation beyond talking points. Thinking about sustainability,
she asks, “How do we move beyond the credentialing that
is becoming table stakes in the environmental field and find
meaningful, new performance measures? How do we inhabit
buildings? How does small, incremental change in behavior
begin to make a difference?”
With Rick Cole on the panel, she wants to know what cities
are looking for. Where’s the opportunity, especially in an era of
constrained budgets? She also has asked each of the panelists
to think about what A/E/C firms and their marketers can and
should be doing in response to issues that will be discussed.
Uwe Brandes’ broad understanding of the challenges and
opportunities facing the real estate and development community
will provide a clear context for the discussion. Acknowledging
that “the economic downturn forced most businesses to make
tough decisions,” he is optimistic about the future.
“The market is driving the demand for
sustainable buildings. Investors are now
asking the questions about these issues
when they are evaluating properties. To
maintain Class A status, sustainability
has to be part of the business plan.”
—Gary Holtzer
“The themes we addressed in What’s Next?—accelerating
globalization, changing demographics, and evolving
technologies—are forces reshaping our world and our markets
in indeterminate ways,” Brandes observed. “The conversation
is being reframed. It’s important to stay engaged with your
stakeholders and for our industry to take a leadership role.”
Brandes’ solid grasp of the trends transforming our lives and our
communities is matched by his passion as he talks, citing evidence
of positive change. He sees that “technology is not just a promise
anymore,” but it is up to us to exploit that promise. And he thinks
we will as “people are acting in new ways in communities, making
sustainable decisions.”
Gary Holtzer began our conversation by sharing a definition of
sustainability that extends beyond the environment to social and
governance issues. “The market is driving the demand for sustainable buildings,” he noted. “Investors are now asking the questions
about these issues when they are evaluating properties. To maintain
Class A status, sustainability has to be part of the business plan.”
Simply put, “green” adds value and reduces risk in the eyes of the
investment community, especially those like pension funds who
take a long-term view and consistently seek quality buildings. In his
work at Hines, Holtzer develops sustainable strategies that include
Marketer/April 2012
16
About the Panelists*
Moderator: Ann Taylor
Executive Director,
The Urban Land Institute
Houston and San Antonio
Houston, TX
As ULI executive director for
Houston and San Antonio, Ann
Taylor serves more than 900
members in one of the leading
District Councils of a 30,000-member
global organization.
Prior to joining the staff of ULI, Taylor had a 20-year career in
communications consulting and public relations for clients in real
estate development, financial services, and transportation. Her
background includes high-profile programs, such as developing
worldwide brand position for the R&D arm of one of the world’s
largest energy companies. She worked closely with clients in
Houston, UK, and The Hague. She also developed and implemented
internal and external communications strategy for a consumer
airline in 24 North American markets. Taylor’s work has won the
highest award for an ongoing communications campaign from
her peers in the Public Relations Society of America.
A graduate of Rice University and former owner of one of Houston’s
top independent PR firms, Taylor has won awards for crisis
communications, non-profit public relations campaigns, and
news and feature writing. She has been guest lecturer in the
MBA programs at Rice University and Texas A&M and for
communications classes at the University of Houston and
HBU. Taylor’s marketing and public relations campaigns for
residential and commercial real estate developers, as well as
architecture, engineering, and construction firms, have focused
on environmental stewardship and the responsible use of land.
“Marketing is always a leader, because
marketing is about vision. And we
need a powerful vision for this new
model, because it is not as cohesive
as what we had, but it is richer and
more diverse. It is about the renewal
of our existing towns and cities.”
—Rick Cole
Society for Marketing Professional Services
the interests of all stakeholders: investors, tenants, workers, and the
architects and engineers who design the buildings. Going forward,
sustainability will, of business necessity, be part of any competitive
development because it makes financial sense.
Holtzer suggests that the tasks for the design community are
morphing from educating the client and green practice to helping
define the next big leap in building performance. It may involve
some risk taking on our part in order to mitigate risk for the
developer and the investor.
While Rick Cole prefaced his comments by claiming that his is
an idiosyncratic view, what he had to say will resonate with many
in the building professions. “The delivery model for the housing—
the production model—is irretrievably broken,” he said. “It can
no longer be financed; it can’t be packaged up as a commodity
and sold to Wall Street. The model won’t disappear, but it is not
capable of delivering a quality product.”
The question is, how do we build a new model? If 2006 is never
coming back, how do we prepare for 2018? Cole points out
that, while the market for large two-story suburban houses is
oversubscribed, the market for an entire range of urban dwelling
is undersubscribed. “Neighborhoods need to be recontextualized—
there is real potential for value and community.”
The prospect of addressing a room full of marketers about urban
issues was especially appealing to Cole. “Marketing is always a
leader, because marketing is about vision. And we need a powerful
vision for this new model, because it is not as cohesive as what
we had, but it is richer and more diverse,” he said. “It is about the
renewal of our existing towns and cities.”
Big challenges, new opportunities. The panelists would say, “It’s all
about thinking in a different way.” Come and join the conversation
in San Francisco.
In the June issue, read about the client panelists scheduled to
participate in the healthcare panel during Build Business:
Take Action.
About the Interviewer
Contributing Editor Nancy Egan, FSMPS, heads
New Voodou, a small consultancy that provides
marketing strategy, branding, content development
and media relations to the design community.
SMPS National President in 1983–84 and the 1996
recipient of the Weld Coxe Marketing Achievement
Award, she is a regular contributor to several
professional publications, writing on workplace
issues, urban design and architecture, and professional services
marketing. You can follow her on Twitter as @newvoodou or
contact her at [email protected].
17
Senior Vice President for
Initiatives, Urban Land Institute
Washington, DC
Cole serves on the Executive Committee of the City Manager’s
Department of the League of California Cities and the Sustainable
Communities Committee of the International City/County Managers
Association and previously chaired the Ventura County City/County
Managers Association.
As senior vice president of initiatives
at the Urban Land Institute (ULI),
Brandes leads ULI’s initiatives on
Climate Change, Land Use, and
Energy (CLUE) and The City in 2050.
He brings an unusual public- and private-sector background to city
management, having previously served as the Southern California
director of the Local Government Commission, Mayor of Pasadena,
executive director of the West Hollywood Marketing Corporation,
and co-founder of the Pasadena Weekly newspaper.
Uwe S. Brandes
Prior to ULI, Brandes was vice president of capital projects at
the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation in Washington, DC, and
associate director of the DC Office of Planning where he managed
the award-winning Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, an unprecedented
$3 billion public-private partnership including the District of Columbia,
the US General Services Administration, the US Navy, and the
National Park Service to revitalize the shores of the Anacostia
River in the nation’s capital.
Brandes was a Fulbright Scholar at the Technical University
Dortmund and a Paul Sun Fellow at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
He has degrees in engineering science from Dartmouth College
and architecture from Harvard University.
Rick Cole
City Manager, City of Ventura
Ventura, CA
Rick Cole was selected as city manager
in 2004, focusing on the City Council’s
four key priorities, the “ABCS” of
Ventura government: (1) Accountable
government, establishing specific
performance management targets for
every city department; (2) Balanced
budget, overcoming a long-term structural deficit and pursuing
a balanced approach to delivering key services within available
means; (3) Civic Engagement, ensuring citizen participation in
decision-making and encouraging collaborative partnerships to
tackle Ventura’s community challenges; (4) Smart Growth, promoting
sustainable prosperity and quality of life by holding development to
higher standards while streamlining regulatory processes.
Gary Holtzer
Vice President/Global
Sustainability Officer, Hines
San Francisco, CA
As vice president and global
sustainability officer for Hines,
a global real estate investment,
development, and management
firm, Gary Holtzer is responsible for
capital transactions and portfolio
and asset management in Hines’ investment partnerships. He also
oversees and coordinates Hines’ sustainability efforts worldwide.
Since joining Hines in 1985, Holtzer has had a broad range
of operating, transactions, asset, and portfolio management
responsibilities in over 12 million square feet of Hines-owned
and -managed office and retail space.
*Confirmed as of press time. Subject to change.
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
www.buildbusiness.org
Breakout Session 101: Client Panel:
Urban Development Market
July 12, 10:45 AM – Noon
Marketer/April 2012
18
A Conversation with Greg Bennick,
Build Business Keynoter
INTERVIEW BY MICHAEL J. REILLY, FSMPS
Greg Bennick is a keynote speaker,
humanitarian activist, and award-winning
producer and writer. He speaks on themes of
personal and group dynamics and “mastering
the unexpected” to organizations worldwide.
Bennick is known for making people laugh
while inviting them to think. He speaks about
becoming the change you wish to see in the
world: getting involved in ideas, leadership,
and creativity. He follows up his words with
actions: He is the founder of One Hundred
For Haiti, a Seattle-based humanitarian
relief and development organization helping
to rebuild post-earthquake Haiti.
His artistic work focuses on projects that
explore the depth and range of the human
experience. He is the co-producer and
co-writer behind Flight from Death:
The Quest for Immortality and The
Philosopher Kings, two award-winning
documentaries that look at how we see
ourselves and the people around us.
On July 12, Bennick will deliver the opening
keynote address at the Build Business: Take
Action, the 2012 SMPS National Conference,
in San Francisco. Contributing Editor
Michael Reilly talked with him about
the recovery efforts in Haiti, his keynote
speaking style, and advice on how to
master the unexpected.
Society for Marketing Professional Services
19
“One Hundred For Haiti is a global collective of
individuals, artists, businesses, and organizations
who are providing direct action, humanitarian aid
through relief initiatives and rebuilding projects to
help in the healing process of post-earthquake Haiti.”
From www.onehundredforhaiti.org
Marketer: How did you first get involved in the relief
efforts for Haiti?
Bennick: After the earthquake, I sailed to Haiti with eight of
my friends on a sailboat loaded with 10,000 pounds of medical
supplies and food. We were one of the first private relief boats to
hit the southern coast of Haiti. After being in Haiti and seeing
what was going on there, I knew I had to help. So when I came
back to the United States, I formed One Hundred For Haiti as a
means of providing direct relief and then eventually development
support to the people of post-earthquake Haiti.
Marketer: How are the humanitarian relief and rebuilding
efforts progressing, two years plus after the 2010 earthquake?
Bennick: There’s most definitely a difference in Haiti now.
People have begun to rebuild. They’ve begun to remove a lot
of the rubble. But the problem in Haiti is much deeper. There
are problems with corruption, and there’s just so much work
to be done. Most definitely what the Haitian people need is
development more than relief at this point. So that’s what
One Hundred For Haiti has been doing. Switching over
from just sending money to actually creating development
opportunities. We have more information about our new
Moto Logistics program on OneHundredForHaiti.org. It’s a
job creation program. We’re moving in that direction of helping
with development. And it’s all because of what a man named
Jean Baptiste said to me outside a tent city in Port au Prince.
“I don’t want you to give me money, I want a way to make
money,” he said. That provided a shift of consciousness for
us in terms of what we were doing.
Marketer: Your keynote speaking emphasizes what you
call “mastering the unexpected.” How would you advise
someone in a marketing role—and for that matter anyone
in a point-person role—to start mastering the unexpected?
Bennick: I think the first and most important thing we can do
in mastering the unexpected is to stop believing the stories we
tell ourselves…the stories that say what we want to do can’t be
done. And that might sound like an empty motivational message,
but it’s really true in that, especially during trying times, we begin
to convince ourselves that nothing’s possible. In doing so, nothing
becomes possible. In trying times, the most important thing we
can do is stay true to the message. Not just pursuing the light at
the end of the tunnel but believing that there is an end to the
tunnel at all. I think that’s really important, stay true to what we
see as able to be done.
Marketer: You are famously popular for blending
entertainment and fun in with the more serious message
of your keynote presentations. How do you pull that off?
Bennick: Yes, well, what I do is present both at once essentially.
I find that people hear me more when they are laughing and
having a good time. In any speaking situation and in any
listening situation, if you are enjoying yourself in that moment,
you are going to be more apt to want to continue. So, for example,
I make the juggling I present my ideas with be metaphors for the
things I am talking about, and it all blends perfectly.
“I don’t want you to give me money, I want a way to make money.”
—Jean Baptiste
Marketer/April 2012
20
“Especially during trying times, we begin to convince ourselves that nothing’s
possible. In doing so, nothing becomes possible. In trying times, the most
important thing we can do is stay true to the message.”
Marketer: When you presented in the past, I’m sure your
audiences have learned a lot. What have you learned from
presenting these keynotes?
Bennick: That’s a great question. I would say to really be present
in the moment with my audience. I’ve been presenting and
performing since I was 13 years old. And in that time, over the
past quarter of a century, you start to do things the same again, and
again, and again sometimes. What’s important to remember is that
each audience is absolutely different. And if I treat every audience
as absolutely different, and truly pay attention to every audience
as absolutely different, then I’m going to be able to speak—even
if it’s the same material—in a way that is present and immediate
for them, and it’s going to make for a more effective presentation.
Marketer: Tell me about the Philosopher Kings documentary?
Bennick: The Philosopher Kings is a film I worked on as a
co-producer and co-writer, and it was an attempt to learn about
wisdom, as seen through the eyes of staff members at prestigious
American universities, specifically through the eyes of custodians.
So it was an attempt to upend the model of who has wisdom
and who we listen to. In talking to custodians, you start to realize
that, all around us, all the time, are people who most definitely
are marginalized or ignored simply because of their social status.
So when we hear these people, the world really opens up. We start
to hear more of what’s possible from people all around us, just
because we are hearing them for the first time.
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
www.buildbusiness.org
Opening Keynote Address:
“Take Action: Become the Change”
Greg Bennick, Motivational Speaker
July 12, 9 – 10:30 am
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Marketer: So what’s next for you, what’s the next big project
you are working on?
Bennick: I’ve wanted for a while now to write some books. I’ve
never been a published author. My only writing credit is from
co-writing the two documentaries. I always wanted to be in a
position to share my ideas through the printed word. So I’ve got
some ideas brewing on books I’d like to write. I’m always trying to
figure out the most effective ways of communicating with people.
So focusing on the written word is my next approach. I will be
writing about the process of succeeding, and how as I mentioned
earlier, we make ourselves fail through the stories we tell ourselves
about what’s possible and what’s not.
About the Interviewer
Contributing Editor Michael J. Reilly, FSMPS, is
principal consultant of Reilly Communications,
a public relations and marketing firm providing
communications strategy and creative content
for clients across the United States. Mike is a past
president of SMPS National and SMPS Boston, a
director and past president of the Massachusetts
Building Congress, and an adjunct faculty member
at Boston University. In 2010, he received the Weld Coxe Marketing
Achievement Award. He can be reached at 617.464.1717 or
[email protected].
21
CAREER CENTER
Build your team.
Build your bottom line.
Society for Marketing
Professional Services
Let SMPS help you find qualified staff from the
convenience of your desktop. The SMPS Career Center is
the only online employment site for professional service
marketers in the A/E/C industry. View 1000+ resumes
or post an employment ad online in the Career Center
which receives thousands of views per month!
See for yourself why hundreds of firms are using
the SMPS Career Center to hire professional service
marketers and business developers for their teams. Visit
www.smpscareercenter.org today or call 800.292.7677,
ext. 231, for more information.
www.smpscareercenter.org
It’s Here: Marketing Handbook for the Design &
Construction Professional, Third Edition
Marketing Handbook for the Design & Construction Professional is an indispensable resource
for those engaged in professional services marketing and dedicated to building business for their
companies. Reflecting the remarkable changes in business practices and technology that have
developed over the last decade, this third edition encompasses 64 chapters—including nearly 20
new chapters—authored by 72 industry leaders and practitioners with bottom-line accountability
for the success of their A/E/C companies.
Chapters are organized into six sections covering all aspects of professional services marketing:
market research; strategic, business, and marketing planning; client and business development;
qualifications/proposals; promotional activity; and marketing and business performance.
New material addresses metrics for marketing and sales, crisis communication, social media
strategies and tools, strategic branding, media relations, building consensus, go/no-go strategies,
positioning, sustainability, proposal writing and the SF330, client feedback initiatives, technology,
and the evolving role of the chief marketing officer.
Marketing Handbook for the Design &
Construction Professional, Third Edition
Published by SMPS, SMPS Foundation,
and Building News Inc.
$69.95 plus shipping and handling
(SMPS members: Log onto www.smps.org
to access the 10% discount code.)
To order, visit www.smpsbooks.com or
call 1.800.896.0793.
New features added in the third addition—a glossary, chapter take-aways, and recommended
supplemental reading—help to make this a must-have reference for marketers and business
developers as well as principals, CFOs, COOs, CEOs, project managers, graphic designers,
HR directors—virtually anyone whose job description includes marketing and business
development responsibilities.
The handbook is a primary reference book for SMPS’ Certified Professional Services Marketer
(CPSM) Program.
Marketer/April 2012
22
business development
The (Hidden) Science of
Maximizing Revenue
BY KELLY RIGGS
D
ownward economic trends do tend to put a
significant damper on business enthusiasm.
It’s just a lot easier to make money when the
economy is booming and opportunities abound.
More problematic is a prolonged economic slide
like we are currently experiencing. Not only do
revenues decline as opportunities diminish, but
every marginal competitor in the marketplace
resorts to slashing prices in a desperate attempt to
stay in the game. The assault on margins inevitably
damages the entire marketplace, including those
well-managed companies that work diligently to
create real value for clients.
Maximizing revenue is a subject for any economic climate, of
course, but a declining economy puts additional emphasis on every
single dollar of margin. Typically, as business slows, companies seek
ways to improve efficiency and trim expenses. Nonessential extras
are the first items to be cut out, followed by more critical items
like training and marketing and some employee benefits. Then,
as things get particularly difficult, cuts in direct labor costs follow.
While controlling expenses is a necessary part of maximizing
revenue, the other side of the equation—the revenue side—is
equally as important. More companies competing for fewer
projects will always compress margins, but preserving even
one or two points of gross margin on each project will have
a significant impact on the bottom line at the end of the year.
This means that companies must vigorously prepare to wage
war to defend their margins on the revenue side as well as the
cost side. In those opportunities where it is possible to negotiate
pricing, companies must bring considerable focus to bear on
the critical areas that dramatically impact the ability to protect
each and every margin dollar.
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Unfortunately, these areas are not always readily apparent. Consider
one area of great importance: competitive differentiation. In
my experience, companies are rarely able to effectively articulate
what makes them unique and compelling to potential clients.
While representatives readily extol the merits of their company’s
capabilities, when it comes to defining competitive advantages
and creating uniqueness in the eyes of the client, there is
generally little, if any, real differentiation.
For example, in a client presentation, representatives typically trot
out the same old slides—a list of generic benefits easily transferred
to every other competitor.
We’re the industry leader.
We’re dedicated to providing the best quality product/service.
We’ve been in business over 50 years.
We strive to exceed our customers’ expectations.
What follows is also predictable: a list of successful projects, a
description of the project team, and a review of current industry
accolades. The problem with this presentation approach is that it
does little to rid prospects of the notion that most companies are
pretty much alike and offer nearly identical products and services.
Since every company makes almost identical claims, the client is
presented with the perfect opportunity to pit what appears to be
equally capable competitors against each other to obtain the best
price. Good for the client—bad for margins.
“Maximizing revenue is a subject
for any economic climate, of course,
but a declining economy puts
additional emphasis on every single
dollar of margin.”
When every single dollar of margin is critical, the tendency is to
give in to the idea that price is, as clients readily claim, the only
criteria in which they have any interest. In this case, clients have
done a far better job of selling contractors than contractors have
done in selling clients.
Remember this:
Consider a second area that can dramatically impact the ability to
defend margins yet is typically overlooked completely: the need
for a defined sales (business development) process. The irony in
business is that just about every aspect of business is governed by
process—except business development. Manufacturing, operations,
engineering, finance, and accounting all have defined processes that
must be followed to ensure accuracy and consistency. However,
those responsible for business development rarely have a clearly
defined process for developing and managing new opportunities.
As W. Edwards Deming once noted, “If you can’t describe what
you’re doing in a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“More companies competing for fewer
projects will always compress margins,
but preserving even one or two points
of gross margin on each project will have
a significant impact on the bottom line
at the end of the year.”
Without a defined business development process, companies face
predictable challenges. For example, it is very difficult to know
exactly why a deal is won or lost. If you didn’t win a project, was
your price too high (the usual assumption), or did you fail to create
a compelling case for your company? Was your presentation lackluster, or did you fail to uncover critical buying motivations? Did
you lose—or did someone beat you? Did the client simply choose
a “safer” option, deciding against your “innovative” approach?
In my experience, when a team wins a project, they believe it’s
because they are good at what they do (they are responsible), but
when they lose a project, the fault lies with the economy (they are
not responsible). The lack of a process in business development
prevents a company from accurately identifying performance
barriers, determining causes of failure, or training on specific skills
necessary to win new projects and/or defend margins. On the other
hand, an effective business development process ensures you are
chasing the right opportunities, that you have properly qualified
each opportunity, that you understand the factors that give you the
best opportunity to win, that you have the right criteria for sound
go/no-go decisions, and much more.
If there is no process, you cannot assess it effectively.
If there is no process, you can’t measure it accurately.
If there is no process, you can’t improve it specifically.
These two items alone—differentiation and process—can have a
measurable impact on margins, yet they rarely get the time and
consideration they deserve. These are mistakes that leaders simply
cannot afford to make. Maximizing revenue, particularly in a
declining, price-driven market, is a difficult proposition, but the
solution is to carefully consider what strategies can be employed
to protect gross margins on the revenue side as well as the cost side.
Or, you could just wait for the economy to improve.
Kelly Riggs will explore this topic in greater detail during
his breakout session, “The Science of Maximizing Revenue:
Why Many Companies Fall Short,” during Build Business:
Take Action on July 13.
About the Author
Kelly Riggs is the founder and president of Vmax
Performance Group, a business performance
improvement company located in Broken Arrow,
OK. A Registered Corporate Coach with the World
Association of Business Coaches, he currently
serves as a leadership and business development
trainer for the Associated General Contractors
(Oklahoma) and the Construction Leadership
Council (Oklahoma). Kelly’s second book, 1-on-1 Selling™: How to
Win More Sales, Defend Your Margins, and Build Your Brand, will
be published this year. This is his first contribution to Marketer.
Kelly can be reached at [email protected].
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
www.buildbusiness.org
Breakout Session 405: “The Science
of Maximizing Revenue: Why Many
Companies Fall Short”
Kelly Riggs, Founder and President,
Vmax Performance Group
July 13, 1:30 – 2:45 pm
Marketer/April 2012
23
24
marketing
Double Vision: Using Competitive
Intelligence to Transform Your Game
BY SCOTT BRALEY, FAIA, FRSA, AND KRISTA SYKES, PH.D.
H
ow do you play the A/E/C Game? Do you
follow the rules and hope for a win? Or do
you recognize that success isn’t only about
the rules but rather about how the participants play
the game—their strategy, their skill, their positioning,
the amount of risk they take? In all cases, winning
comes down to how well you perform compared
to those with whom you compete.
On the surface, the A/E/C industry appears to be monolithically
project-centric. Many argue that, at its core, the A/E/C
industry has and will always boil down to clients and patrons,
opportunities and problems, creative designers and problem
solvers, and the resultant technical solutions. In a sense, this
fundamental composition and sequence—the A/E/C Game—
seems timeless. Similarly, the basic “rules of the game” remain
fairly consistent: find clients or patrons, create opportunities or
solve problems, provide attractive services, and hopefully reap
the rewards of professional satisfaction and commercial returns.
Consequently, many within the industry believe that success is
essentially rooted in the balance of two key forces: marketing and
operations. For many in our industry, the clichéd admonishment
to “keep your eye on the ball” takes on an ironic and taunting
connotation: “Which ball, which rule?”
Unlike a traditional game, we suggest that winning for A/E/Cs
isn’t about myopically following the rules. Success requires double
vision; the dual focus should be, “What now, what next?”
Here competitive intelligence transforms the game.
Vision /
Research
Analysis
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Competitive intelligence (CI) is an orchestrated process of
deliberate research, logical analysis, and strategic decision-making.
At its core, CI is a tool that will help you discern the actions you
can take to assure your success. Sometimes those actions may
be as basic as distancing yourself from the “we-all-look-alike”
commodity-influenced market. In other cases, the actions may
require genuine game-changing strategies and tactics. And in
some instances, the right action may be no action at all—stay
the course. CI proposes a consistent and orderly approach to
make the complex equation less daunting. CI’s process and
outcomes provide clarity and a logical basis for making the
most essential marketing decisions.
Competitive intelligence work is accomplished at and for three
A/E/C levels: market/client, firm/practice, and individual project
capture/execution. While the perspectives and performance metrics
may be different, the approaches and goals are quite similar at each
of the three levels.
Use and application of the CI process for A/E/Cs has four
fundamental components: vision, research, analysis, action. Take
these four elements and use them in one of two logical sequences.
In our experience, some A/E/Cs choose to begin with a clearly
defined vision of success such as expanding market share or securing
a specific client/project. On the other hand, some A/E/Cs choose
to begin with research based on a broad entrepreneurial perspective
with few limits or boundaries, thus using CI as a basis for defining
and clarifying the vision of success. Either way can work well.
The right approach depends on the type and style of the A/E/C
firm, the entrepreneurial bent of the individuals involved, and the
targeted level of CI focus (i.e., market/client, firm/practice, project).
Strategic
Action
Game-changing action requires
research, analysis, and strategy.
Luck accounts for success in some games, but it is not reliable in
the A/E/C industry. And while virtually all of our clients highly
value professional satisfaction, few are “playing just for the fun
of it.” Consequently, in our work, we have discovered that two
fundamental decisions—positioning and direction—are key
elements of every winning move in the A/E/C Game.
If you are responsible for individual project pursuit decisions,
market or client engagement, or even overall firm strategy, CI
should be your go-to tool to ensure proper focus. Use CI to make
the right decisions and take game-changing action in positioning
and direction. Check your perspective, and make sure you have
20/20 double vision!
Double vision is exactly what A/E/C firms need. Use CI to discern
the answer to pairs of diagnostic questions: What’s happening now,
what’s happening next? What position now, what position for the
future? What decision for today, what decision for tomorrow?
During their breakout session, “Combining Competitive
Intelligence and Action to Change the Game!” on July 13 at
Build Business: Take Action, Scott Braley and Krista Sykes
will introduce and explore CI as a science and an art—the
processes, disciplines, and procedures, as well as how to use the
tools for effective CI analyses and decision-making. The session
will combine theory, evidence-based A/E/C practice experience,
and anecdotes. Participants will be guided through a hands-on
illustrative CI analysis in which they can target one of their own
markets, clients, or project pursuits.
“Two fundamental decisions—positioning
and direction—are key elements of every
winning move in the A/E/C Game.”
As simple as these appear on the surface, wise A/E/Cs recognize the
awesome potential of the answers. Virtually all CI research work
combines both internal and external sources to uncover, organize,
and integrate a wide variety of material. Our CI investigations
move beyond base research to dissect and analyze both data and
information. This uncovers patterns, trends, and evolutions,
revealing truly beneficial knowledge. Then we move to strategic
and tactical options—creating, testing, refining, eliminating, and
ultimately helping A/E/Cs choose the optimum action for the
market/client, firm/practice, and/or specific project situation.
The CI process demands coordinated research, entrepreneurial
interpretation and analysis, facilitated visioning, and pragmatic
strategic and tactical decision-making. From a focused marketing
perspective, the process addresses the full range of influences—
strategic marketing planning, brand development, client
engagement, as well as highly effective marketing, business
development, and selling practices. Certainly A/E/C success
is based in great measure on marketing, but marketing alone
is not the answer. Therefore, CI initiatives must also include
considerations related to operations, finance, talent management,
and other aspects of A/E/C performance.
About the Authors
Scott W. Braley, FAIA, FRSA, is the lead
principal of Braley Consulting & Training
(www.braleyconsulting.com) based in Atlanta.
An active veteran member of SMPS, Scott helps
A/E/C firms in the areas of strategy, leadership,
marketing, management, and project delivery.
During his 30 years of private A/E/C practice,
he was a highly successful “closer/doer,” then
served as managing principal in an ENR Top 40 Firm. He may
be reached at 404.252.9840 or [email protected].
A. Krista Sykes, Ph.D., founder of Architecture
In Context, provides competitive research
and analysis for A/E/C professionals. An author
of books and journal articles, she has been
involved with the design industry for 15
years. She can be reached at 617.320.9445
or [email protected].
Krista and Scott wrote “How Does Your Competitive Garden Grow?
Using Competitive Intelligence to Determine Your Competitive
Landscape” in the February 2012 issue.
In every case, success begins with action. What action now?
What action in the future?
The A/E/C Game is evolving. Most notably the style and speed
of play have altered the game forever. Competition has increased
in both level and numbers, exceptionalism is often the price of
admission, all-star capability is common, and more and more
competitors are earnestly working to win. More often than not,
what worked in the past will not suffice for the present, and
certainly not the future. Within this dizzying environment,
success is not about playing the game—it’s about acting now
to change the game! CI helps pinpoint the game-changing
actions that lead to success.
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
www.buildbusiness.org
Breakout Session 205: “Combining
Competitive Intelligence and Action
to Change the Game!”
Krista Sykes, PhD, Founder, Architecture
In Context, and Scott W. Braley, FAIA, FRSA,
Principal, Braley Consulting & Training
July 13, 1:30 – 2:45 pm
Marketer/April 2012
25
26
technology
Digital Asset Management:
What Is It, and Do We Need It?
BY KELLY MCNAIR, CPSM, AND DONNA L. JAKUBOWICZ, FSMPS, CPSM
W
e’ve all heard or read about digital asset
management (DAM). If you’re like us, you
might have wondered if a DAM system
would benefit your firm. Barton Malow has 12 offices
in 8 states. Each office has marketing staff that needs
to access photos, graphics, video, and audio. We
knew we weren’t managing our assets effectively or
efficiently and there had to be a better way. For us,
the solution was DAM.
What Is DAM?
A digital asset management system provides an organization with
centralized storage, retrieval, and distribution for all digital media,
collectively referred to as assets. Assets can be any kind of digital
file, but most commonly assets are made up of digital images,
video, audio, and other creative documents types like InDesign,
Photoshop, Illustrator, and PDF.
DAM is gaining popularity in a world where we interact with
an increasing number of digital assets on a daily basis. Many
DAM providers provide their systems in the form of Software
as a Service (SaaS), in which software and its associated data
are hosted centrally (typically in the cloud) allowing for
browser-based access to assets and ensuring 24-hour access.
Earn CPSM CEUs
To earn one CEU toward Certified Professional
Services Marketer (CPSM) recertification, go to
the CPSM group library on MySMPS and access
the Recertification Materials folder. Questions
about this article will be available in the Marketer
Questions for CEUs folder. Questions? Please
contact SMPS National at 800.292.7677, x232.
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Benefits of DAM as SaaS
Among the benefits of SaaS-based DAM are:
front-end interfaces for browsing, searching, and downloading
that are familiar to users so that they can find what they need
with no training or experience
efficient organization, storage, and protection of digital assets
in a central location
dynamic distribution of assets to internal and external teams
cost savings realized by the ability to quickly retrieve needed
assets, eliminating redundant asset creation and wasted time
quick, seamless, automatic upgrades to the latest software
releases without the traditional hassles of a hosted installation
no software to buy or hardware to install and no internal
IT support needed
ease of customization, including custom branding
The Business Case for DAM
As mentioned above, we weren’t managing our assets efficiently.
Thousands of images and videos stored in network folders were
accessible by all marketing staff in our multiple offices, but
the process for accessing the files was painfully slow and very
frustrating. Aside from the time wasted searching for items and
then waiting to download them, we found that some marketers
saved files on their hard drives, and as a result, some graphics were
not being shared. We needed to streamline how we managed our
images and videos. As we explored options, it became clear that a
DAM system made sense for Barton Malow.
If you’re considering whether a DAM is right for your firm,
Marketnology.com (http://www.marketnology.com/2010/03/29/
does-my-company-need-a-digital-asset-management-dam-system/)
suggests asking the following questions:
Does my company have thousands of brand assets managed
by numerous departments and/or vendors in various
geographic locations?
“A digital asset management system provides an organization with centralized
storage, retrieval, and distribution for all digital media, collectively referred to
as assets. Assets can be any kind of digital file, but most commonly assets are
made up of digital images, video, audio, and other creative documents.”
Is my company challenged to verify we have the rights to use
some assets in our existing asset library?
Is there potential for numerous organizational groups to reuse
our digital assets across multiple communications channels?
Is the process/workflow for attaining access to digital assets
convoluted, confusing, frustrating, or improvised?
If your answer to any of these questions is yes, Marketnology.com
suggests your company might be a good candidate for a digital
asset management system. If you need further guidance, there
are some great articles that discuss digital asset management,
including “Making the Case for Digital Asset Management,”
which can be found at www.databasepublish.com/blog/
making-case-digital-asset-management.
Once we determined DAM was right for Barton Malow, we
began the process of building our system. We focused on four
areas for implementation that you might find helpful.
1. Assets. Before you begin cataloguing assets in your system,
it’s important to get organized. Determine what files are needed
and how they will be categorized. The science of naming
and organizing things into groups or classes that share similar
characteristics is referred to as taxonomy. It also can refer to
any scheme for organizing information and, in the case of
DAM, classifying and identifying digital assets.
2. Metadata. Metadata is structured information that describes
the contents of digital assets. It’s often called “data about data.”
Metadata is extremely important in a digital asset management
solution, because it describes your assets appropriately, and
most importantly, it makes the assets easier to find. Tagging
your assets appropriately and with some appreciation of the
needs of the users will ensure a quality search.
3. Workflow. An efficient workflow is imperative to keeping
track of and organizing your assets. A standard workflow
may include the following steps.
A. Upload assets to the system.
B. Apply metadata and other custom fields to your files.
C. Organize files in different categories or hierarchies.
D. Set appropriate permissions.
E. Share files with other users.
4. Permissions. Varying levels of user access and rights
management allow for customized control of assets.
Utilizing role-based permissions enables administrators
to set permission levels for viewing, downloading, and
even uploading, on a group-by-group or user-by-user basis.
Lessons Learned
Barton Malow’s DAM launched in early September 2011.
While we’ve been pleased with it and our provider, Quick
Square Consulting, here are some implementation tips based
on our experience.
1.Have a solid idea of just how much space you need to store
your assets. This is important because many providers charge
by the amount of space used. We underestimated our needs
and had to increase storage space, and therefore our cost.
2.Have a clear idea of how many users will access your DAM.
We overestimated the number of people who actually
accessed our system and initially wasted money
paying for their unused access.
Marketer/April 2012
27
28
technology
3.Find a provider who will work with you as a partner.
Quick Square was remarkably flexible in its pricing structure
and worked with us on the above bullets as well as with the
structure of our DAM. Be sure the provider you select is
willing to share best practices for set-up and implementation.
4.Understand the amount of time required to tag images.
This is where your provider should be helpful. Quick Square
was willing to tag images for us. But for budget reasons, we
opted to handle it ourselves. We underestimated the amount
of time tagging our images would take. Double whatever
time is estimated.
“Thousands of images and videos stored
in network folders were accessible by
all marketing staff in our multiple offices,
but the process for accessing the files
was painfully slow and very frustrating.”
Positive Results
While it was not fast—we spent months planning and then
organizing and tagging images before anything was uploaded—
the process was remarkably smooth for us. Since launching in
September 2011, we’ve seen positive results.
Assets are easily accessed. The search function built into
the DAM makes it as easy to use as Amazon.com.
New images are uploaded and accessible immediately.
No waiting for discs in the mail or FedEx or slow
network connections.
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
www.buildbusiness.org
Breakout Session 201: “That DAM Project:
Implementing a Cloud-Based Digital Asset
Management System”
Kelly McNair, CPSM, Marketing Systems Manager,
and Donna L. Jakubowicz, FSMPS, CPSM, Corporate
Marketing Director, Barton Malow Company
July 12, 10:45 am – Noon
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Photographer information is stored with each photo.
No more searching for the photographer’s name or
correct copyright information.
Images and photos are now shared more freely between
offices and groups. We’re not wasting time recreating
graphics or buying multiple copies of photos.
Kelly McNair and Donna Jakubowicz will explore this topic in
greater detail during their breakout session, “That DAM Project:
Implementing a Cloud-Based Digital Asset Management System,”
during Build Business: Take Action on July 12.
About the Authors
Kelly McNair, CPSM, is marketing systems
manager at Barton Malow Company
(www.bartonmalow.com). Kelly is responsible
for managing the development and maintenance
for the firm’s intranet, corporate Web sites,
marketing databases, and digital assets. She
served on the board of SMPS Michigan as
Marketing Committee chair and has remained
on the committee to provide Web site editing and management
of all electronic communications for the chapter. Kelly wrote on
search engine optimization in the August 2011 issue. She can be
reached at 248.436.5520 or [email protected].
Donna L. Jakubowicz, FSMPS, CPSM, is
the corporate marketing director for Barton
Malow Company. Active in SMPS, she has
served on the National Board of Directors and
as programs chair, president-elect, president,
and past president of SMPS Michigan. Currently,
she is the president of the SMPS Foundation.
Donna wrote on cost-effective marketing ideas
in the August 2009 issue. She can be reached at 248.436.5502
or [email protected].
29
Article Update
Effective March 12, 2012, the Small Business Administration increased the small business size
standards for a number of professional and technical services. This changes the information
presented in the article “Navigating Federal Procurement Opportunities” (Liz Kupcha, December 2011).
The following excerpt from the new Size Standards Table from the Small Business Administration
breaks down for the design industry the average annual receipts to qualify as a small firm.
22
business development
Navigating Federal
Procurement Opportunities
it’s More Than Checking FedBizOpps
BY LIZ O’ROURKE KUPCHA, CPSM
NAICS Codes
NAICS U.S. industry title
Size standards in millions of dollars
541310 Architectural Services $7
541320 Landscape Architectural Services 541330 Engineering Services $7
541340 Drafting Services 541370 Surveying and Mapping
(except Geophysical) Services 541410 Interior Design Services 541613 Marketing Consulting Services $14
541620
Environmental Consulting Services
$14
$14
$7
$14
$7
L
earning about upcoming opportunities
within federal agencies is an overwhelming
task. There are more than 20 different
agencies, each with numerous departments,
divisions, reporting structures, etc. Learning
which opportunities are appropriate for your
firm and where your efforts should be expended
is tough to figure out, and it’s easy to give up
when the answers don’t seem accessible.
It can be agreed that merely searching through FedBizOpps is
reactive and that by the time an opportunity is published, it’s too
late to do any pre-selling, perform appropriate research, and secure
teaming arrangements. With targeted research, firms can perform
competitive analysis and develop client development programs
to properly position themselves for upcoming opportunities.
First Things First
In order to be considered for any federal project opportunities,
register with Central Contractor Registration (CCR) by visiting
www.ccr.gov. This centralized database is used by Federal agencies
to learn about companies. Your firm’s profile, when completed,
will show assorted information including location, areas of
specialty, contact information, and socio-economic factors.
From a company’s perspective, creating a profile allows you easily
to update your information in one location, and the changes are
typically implemented within two to three business days.
A DUNS (Data Universal Numbering System) number is required
for registration with CCR. There are two ways to get this number;
one is by going to www.dnb.com and the other is through a
link on the CCR page (www.bpn.gov/ccr). Getting a DUNS
number for federal work is free; additional features are available
for a fee through Dun & Bradstreet in the areas of credit and
data management.
You must certify that all of the information in your company
profile is true is by completing the Online Representation
Certification Application (ORCA). This is another centralized
database that can save you time (and paper) by eliminating
the need to submit multiple copies of certifications to
numerous agencies.
Learn Which Agencies Have
Contracted Similar Services
The Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) allows site visitors
to see what projects have been awarded by Federal agency and
corresponding department. This site covers awards of any size and
updates in real time. Information can be drilled down by agency,
department, and vendor. In addition, contract information can
be sorted by various criteria including date contract was signed
and contract amount.
Go to www.fpds.gov and enter the NAICS number that relates
to a particular service in the “ezSearch” bar. For example, enter
the NAICS code for land surveying. A new window will appear,
and you will learn 27,293 projects have been awarded since 1998;
12,211 of those contracts were awarded by the Department of
Defense; and 10,968 were issued by the Army.
“To be considered a small business, an
A/E firm needs to prove that it earned
under $7 million, but in the case of
general building and heavy construction,
the earnings ceiling is set at $33.5 million.”
Society for Marketing Professional Services
The full Size Standards Table can be viewed at www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/Size_Standards_Table.pdf.
IS YOUR FIRM RETAINING
CLIENTS AND WINNING
PROFITABLE PROJECTS?
During this workshop, seasoned practitioners will give you
proven tools and strategies to lead an effective
business development program in your firm.
MANAGING AND LEADING
A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Atlanta, May 17 | San Francisco, July 11
Learn more and register: www.smps.org/bdmanager
Marketer/April 2012
30
tools
FRIED? How to Manage Stress
and Prevent Burnout
BY HOPE WILSON, CPSM
“T
o be honest, the greatest pressure I feel
is not reduced financial resources but
personnel resources,” a worn CPSM
shared in a discussion group. “Our firm had to let my
marketing coordinator go during the recession, and
now I’m expected to handle both of our workloads.
They just don’t get how hard it is—how much work
goes into proposals and marketing campaigns.
I’m burned out, and I’m thinking of leaving the
industry altogether.”
Others at the table nodded in agreement. Our group was
participating in a roundtable discussion on “Doing More with
Fewer Resources Available” during CPSM Day in August 2011.
There seemed to be consensus that what we needed most was
more marketing personnel…or more hours in a day.
The Great Recession may be over, but many marketing
departments continue to feel pressure to produce the same
winning proposals and campaigns that they had before the
surge of layoffs began five years ago. For many who remain
in the industry, the increased workloads have resulted in
high levels of stress, and even burnout.
Research indicates that jobs centered on creative- and
communications-related tasks are among the most stressful
careers today. A recent article in Forbes includes event coordinator
and public relations executive among the top 10 most stressful
careers (“The Most Stressful Jobs of 2012 Aren’t for Girls,” January
2012). Develop magazine studied creative professionals in the
games industry, noting that “crunch seems to just be accepted as
‘the norm in creative industries,’” and that these uncompensated
overtime hours often resulted in burnout (“Industry Comes
Clean on Crunch,” May 2009).
Society for Marketing Professional Services
The Centers for Disease Control’s National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health notes that, “In a tight economy,
overtime is not only increasing but also becomes less optional.”
This stress is augmented by the way in which overtime is
assigned: About 75% of the facilities studied by the CDC used
“hold-overs,” which means that employees show up at work then
are expected to stay late, with limited notice or ability to make
the appropriate personal preparations.
But there is hope. Marketers can take several steps to mitigate
their stress levels, maintain balance within their lives, and prevent
burnout for themselves and their teams.
Recognize Symptoms
The first step is to recognize the symptoms of overload. In their
report “Evaluation of Stress Levels of Professionals,” Janet K.
Schnorr and Jettie M. McWilliams noted three prevalent
symptoms of stress among the 800 professionals they studied:
fatigue (83%), nervousness (75%), and irritability (72.4%).
Other signs to look for include use of tobacco, alcohol, or
other mood-altering substances; forgetfulness; inability to
concentrate; headaches, stomachaches, or other muscle aches
and tension; grinding teeth; high blood pressure; excessive
perspiration; anxiety; depression; changes in eating or sleeping
habits; difficulty communicating; negative behavior towards
others; and social withdrawal.
“Research indicates that jobs centered
on creative- and communicationsrelated tasks are among the most
stressful careers today.”
31
Identify Stressors
Recognizing the signs and sources of stress can be difficult, as
focus and self-awareness may be compromised. There are many
self-tests online to help identify issues that may be causing
stress. While they are not meant to replace an assessment from a
qualified healthcare practitioner, they can provide a framework
for the initial discussions. There are also smartphone applications
available to track heart rates and stress levels.
Track Your Stress Levels
In addition to general assessments like the ones above, it can
be helpful to keep a personal log of stress levels. Throughout
the day, track your stress levels on an hourly basis, using a scale
of 1 (no stress) to 5 (very high stress). Note what you are doing,
the place you are located, and the people you are with. Also, note
your thoughts and feelings. Identify any specific circumstances
that are affecting your level of stress. Repeat this on a daily basis
for at least a week to recognize the people, places, events, internal
dialogue, and times of day or days of the week that are affecting
your stress levels.
Take Control
To successfully manage stress and prevent burnout, a key step
is to regain control over your life. “Managing stress is all about
taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions,
your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with
problems,” states Helpguide.org. Clearly identify what you need
to effectively accomplish your work tasks while maintaining
balance in the other areas of your life. Assert these needs in a
calm, friendly, and firm manner.
Manage Your Time
In a deadline-driven profession like ours, strong time management
is essential to career sustainability. Procrastination can spike stress
levels and result in feelings of being out of control. At the onset of
any project, implement a schedule with well-defined milestones.
Block out sections of time on your calendar on a regular basis
to focus on project tasks. If asked to take on an additional work
project, ask for guidance in prioritizing the related tasks.
Feeling Fried?
Positive music is like aloe for the burned-out spirit.
Give yourself and your team a dose of soul-soothing
tunes. Access the complete list or pick your favorites
from an ever-growing selection of more than 100
uplifting songs at www.wilsonbgc.com.
Tunes include:
“Don’t Stop Me Now,” Queen
“Feeling Good,” Nina Simone
“Hold on Tight,” ELO
“I Believe I Can Fly,” R. Kelly
“I Can See Clearly Now,” Johnny Nash
“Not Going Down,” Jo Dee Messina
“Today,” The Smashing Pumpkins
“Three Little Birds,” Bob Marley
“We Can,” LeAnn Rimes
“You Gotta Be,” Des’ree
Marketer/April 2012
32
tools
Manage Expectations
In an informal survey of marketing professionals, a common frustration was that their firms’ principals failed to realize the amount
of time and effort required to effectively complete marketing tasks.
“[The project managers] just don’t understand how much time
and effort goes into marketing projects,” one CPSM noted.
“They think I can just snap my fingers and it will happen.”
“In a deadline-driven profession like
ours, strong time management is
essential to career sustainability.”
To overcome this hurdle, think like a project manager. When
you create your project schedule and establish milestones, be sure
to incorporate descriptions of the required tasks and subtasks,
as well as the number of hours required to complete each task.
(For added emphasis, consider tracking ongoing marketing projects
on a Gantt chart.) By calmly communicating your workload in
an objective format that is familiar to your audience, you can help
them understand the effort required to effectively complete your
work responsibilities.
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
www.buildbusiness.org
Breakout Session 306: “FRIED: How to
Control Stress and Prevent Burnout of
Marketing/BD Professionals”
Hope Wilson, CPSM, Principal, Wilson Business
Growth Consultants
July 13, 3:15 – 4:30 pm
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Infuse Your Day with Joy
Even on-the-go marketers can take steps to increase the joy and
pleasure in their lives. As you move throughout your day, identify
little things that you can do to make each location and task more
enjoyable. Listen to uplifting music or a favorite comedian during
your morning commute. Place fresh flowers and photos of family
vacations in your office. Hire a cleaning service to make your home
an oasis at the end of a stressful day. Keep a journal of all the things
for which you’re grateful, and read it when circumstances have you
down. Participate in enjoyable exercise with an optimistic friend.
Nurture your body, mind, and spirit as much as possible to infuse
your day with a sense of joy.
With awareness, management of time and expectations, and added
elements of joy, it is possible to experience a rich, fulfilling career in
marketing professional services.
Hope Wilson will share additional insights and resources on this
topic during her breakout session, “FRIED: How to Control Stress
and Prevent Burnout in Marketing/BD Professionals,” during
Build Business: Take Action on July 13.
About the Author
Hope Wilson, CPSM, is principal of Wilson Business
Growth Consultants (www.wilsonbgc.com), a
woman-owned business enterprise that specializes
in business development and communications
for professional service firms. She is the author
of the 2011 SMPS Foundation-funded white paper,
“Funnel Government Funds to Your Clients’ Projects:
Five Components of a Strong Government Affairs
Program,” which she excerpted for the October 2011 Marketer.
Based in Denver, Hope can be reached at [email protected]
or 303.204.8563.
2009 Marketing Salary and Expense Survey Option 1: The Full Salary and Expense Report* The full report includes: • A survey sample of 1,153 respondents representing 774 offices • Compensation tables for the following job functions: Owner/Principal, Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer, Marketing Management, Business Development Management, PR/Marketing Communications Management, Business Development/Sales, and Marketing/Business Development Coordination • Compensation tables for 7 job functions that include: Commissioned by the SMPS Foundation, this study is the largest salary and expense survey of marketing and business develop‐
ment professionals in the A/E/C industry available today. mean salary, demographics, education, technical training, years in marketing, number of employees supervised, firm size, office’s 2008 gross revenues, percentage of revenue spent on marketing, primary services offered, scope of operations, and region/metro area (for categories with 20 or more responses) • 30 charts and 15 tables of relevant salary and benefits‐
related data SMPS Member Price: $125 Nonmember Price: $250 To access the SMPS member discount, log in using your member number and password at www.smps.org and then visit www.smps.org/shop to purchase the full survey or individ‐
ual tables today! Nonmembers may proceed directly to purchase at www.smps.org/shop. Purchase the full report or compensation tables for individual job titles. Get your copy today to inform your next performance review and to ensure that your firm’s compensation program is competitive! Option 2: Individual Compensation Tables* Do you need quick salary data? Each compensation table below was extracted from the 2009 Marketing Salary and Expense Survey to provide detailed compensation data for the noted job functions: • Marketing Management (Director and Manager) Compensation Table (PDF) • Business Development Management (Director and Manager) Compensation Table (PDF) • Marketing/Business Development Coordination Compensation Table (PDF) SMPS Member Price: $50/table Nonmember Price: $100/table 34
behind the lines
Marketer Team Bids Adieu
to Editor Randy Pollock
BY MICHAEL J. REILLY, FSMPS
A
few issues into his 14-year run as Marketer
editor-in-chief, Randy Pollock opened a
two-line e-mail one morning in his Houston
office. “Randy: Whatever you are doing editing the
SMPS magazine is really working. The quality of
articles has improved significantly.”
This brief note, written by Bob Richardson of Pepper
Construction (now Pepper Lawson Construction, L.P.), was a
succinct preview of what was already underway: a transformative
era for Marketer and appreciative notice by its readers. When
you consider Randy’s many achievements—recruiting talented
writers, winning awards, and upgrading the magazine’s design and
layout—what stands out is his instinctive ability to inspire quality
reporting. Staying true to his vision, and covering “the way we
market now” with integrity and style, Randy created appointment
reading six times each year for Bob and thousands more SMPS
members and Marketer readers.
Marketer in 1998 published an eclectic mix of contributed articles
but suffered from frequent editorial turnover, a lack of editorial
direction, and mediocre design. Under Randy’s guidance, the
fledgling publication quickly reversed these obstacles. Randy aimed
high, applying a creative style and attitude that became Marketer’s
new brand. Whether reporting on emerging trends, chronicling
success stories, reviewing books, questioning traditional marketing strategies, or “Flying with Eagles,” Randy’s Marketer team was
inspired to deliver great writing.
Photo: Courtesy of HDR Architecture, Inc.; © 2012 Jaime Sliker
Randy Pollock, FSMPS, in HDR’s Princeton, NJ, offices.
Society for Marketing Professional Services
In the December 2011 issue, his last as editor, Randy wrote about
his experiences and his decision to give up this labor of love.
“It’s time to move on, to do other things, and let others step up,”
he wrote. In this issue, we depart from our usual reporting to
acknowledge Randy’s accomplishments and impact. On behalf of
the hundreds of writers and collaborators who worked with him
over the years, we present a few reflections on our longtime editor.
35
“In Randy’s tenure at the helm of Marketer, he has served at many posts—editor
and writer, mentor and collaborator, leader and teammate, and above all else, friend.
It has been a heck of a journey.”
— J. Rossi
Bruce Lea, FSMPS, 1986–87 President of
SMPS National and a former Contributing
Editor to Marketer: “Unbelievable that
someone would volunteer for such an
assignment as Marketer editor, keep at it
so long, and do it so well. Of course, he
recruited an exceptional cadre of writers
and contributing editors, I think we’d all
agree. But that also was part of his genius. His most amazing
accomplishment may have been getting us all to meet our
deadlines. I can’t think of any other volunteer who has
served SMPS so long and so well in such a crucial role.”
Contributing Editor Marjanne Pearson
pointed out “how seriously Randy took his
responsibility, and how wonderfully he worked
with all of the contributing editors, writers,
and staff. Each year, he and [publisher] Lisa
Bowman created an editorial calendar that
would encourage all of us to bounce ideas off
each other and reach out to others for stories
and information. He was always open to suggestions, helping
us formulate a way to approach an interesting topic or making
suggestions about who else might be able to help. Each assignment
would expand our thinking and help us find new ways to talk
about what we thought mattered most.”
Former Contributing Editor J. Rossi: “A truly
good captain wears many hats as he guides his
ship and crew through known and unchartered
waters. In Randy’s tenure at the helm of
Marketer, he has served at many posts—editor
and writer, mentor and collaborator, leader
and teammate, and above all else, friend.
It has been a heck of a journey.”
Former Contributing Editor Sheryl Maibach,
FSMPS: “Only Randy Pollock could have
molded a group of writers with divergent ideas
into a single voice that educated a generation.
And he did it with wisdom and humility.
Randy inspired and influenced writers and
readers. We are better because of you. Bless
you for setting the bar high.”
SMPS National President in 1991–92 and
current humor columnist Ron Garikes,
FSMPS: “In my humble opinion, Mr. Pollock
was the epitome of a successful and effective
editor, especially when it came to my humor
column, ‘When in Doubt.’ Randy granted me
almost complete editorial discretion for the
topics and content of my columns. I’m sure
all who know me personally appreciate how risky and potentially
dangerous Randy’s hands-off leadership style was, entrusting me
with such a high degree of literary freedom. Turns out the boy was
a bona fide genius.”
SMPS CEO Ron Worth, CAE, FSMPS,
CPSM, Assoc. AIA: “Researching ideas,
recruiting talented and knowledgeable
authors, constantly following up, coaching,
mentoring, and every other month turning
over a finished magazine to the National
staff…this process has been his trademark.
His industry experience and editorial skills
have touched every member of the Society and reached outside
of the boundaries of SMPS into all segments of the A/E/C
community. Randy’s dedication has raised the bar for the
marketing profession, pulling us all up another notch or two.
Never content with an issue, he kept fine tuning and improving
Marketer over the years, leaving in his wake the absolute best
publication on professional services marketing.”
Marketer/April 2012
36
behind the lines
Mitch Levitt, FSMPS, 2001–02 President
of SMPS National and a contributing author:
“Randy Pollock has committed a good part of
his professional life towards the improvement
and elevation of SMPS in the eyes of our peer
organizations and our membership. He has
made Marketer one of the premier publications
in the A/E/C industry. Somewhere in between,
he even took time out to serve as SMPS National President while
coordinating guest editors for each issue. SMPS is better because
of Randy’s devotion, and for that he is owed a wealth of thanks.”
During the 2008 SMPS National Conference in Denver, Randy
Pollock was recognized for his then-10 years of service as the
editor of Marketer by 2007–08 National President Donna Corlew,
FSMPS, CPSM. (Also pictured, SMPS National Senior Vice
President Tina Myers, CAE.)
Carla Thompson, FSMPS, contributing
author: “I met Randy when he was a board
member with the Houston Chapter. He was
eager, had great ideas, and wasn’t afraid to
step up and take on challenges, the bigger
the better. It wasn’t long before Randy moved
up to fill many national roles, including
SMPS National President. But his greatest
legacy is Marketer. He took what basically amounted to a
newsletter created in PageMaker (which we thought was stateof-the-art at the time!) and turned it into a glossy, well-designed
national magazine that is chock full of great content featuring
only the best marketers and writers, starting with his own column,
‘From the Editor.’ The quality is so good that I route every issue
to all my principals. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for taking
Marketer, and SMPS as a whole, to the next level.”
Joan Capelin, FSMPS, Hon. AIA, former
Contributing Editor: “If anyone inspires
creativity, it’s Randy Pollock, who has been my
editor for many years and friend long before
that. How many times has Randy lobbed one
over Marketer’s net to me? I’ve never counted
the cover stories and columns that he encouraged me to write—most of them launched
with his ‘Why not …?’ or ‘Go for it.’”
Contributing Editor Matt Handal: “Randy’s
greatness wasn’t in what he published. It was
in what he didn’t publish. For example, I’m
a strange individual with weird ideas. Not
everything I sent Randy made its way into
Marketer. But when Randy felt a piece I wrote
fit, his edits made my words much more
digestible for a diverse and sometime fickle
audience. Looking through Randy’s lens, the reader always received
the best of what I have to offer. That’s what makes Randy a great
editor and a wonderful person.”
“Randy Pollock has committed a good part of his professional life towards
the improvement and elevation of SMPS in the eyes of our peer organizations
and our membership. He has made Marketer one of the premier publications
in the A/E/C industry.”
—Mitch Levitt, FSMPS
Society for Marketing Professional Services
37
Newly Released:
Design-Build Services: A Marketing
and Business Development Handbook
Design-Build Services: A Marketing and Business Development Handbook discusses
the selling and marketing of design-build which has become a leading procurement
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service to clients.
The first part of the handbook takes the reader through the process of developing a
successful design-build marketing and sales program. Using examples from successful
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The second half of the handbook focuses on how to run a successful design-build
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This book is packed with ready-to-use forms and sample documents, laying out a
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Design-Build Services: A Marketing
and Business Development Handbook
by Ron Worth, Kevin Miller, Sally Handley,
Carla Lopez del Puerto, Douglas D. Gransberg
Published by SMPS and Building News Inc.
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(SMPS members: Log onto www.smps.org
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To order, visit www.smpsbooks.com or
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Philadelphia April 10 | Honolulu April 19
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Learn more and register: www.smps.org/bdbasics
Marketer/April 2012
38
marketer to marketer
Educating Coworkers about Marketing
Do you share with your colleagues the information you gain during professional
development programs to educate them about marketing/business development?
What methods do you use to share this information?
Thomas S. Townes, AIA, FSMPS, CPSM
Tamara Goff, CPSM
Director, Business Development
Director of Marketing/Senior Associate
Van Note – Harvey Associates
Hnedak Bobo Group
Pennington, NJ
Memphis, TN
I am a firm believer that everyone in our
company needs to understand something
about marketing. By helping, it gives them
a perspective of the business they are typically not familiar with,
which can only put the organization in position to develop
more relationships.
There are four things I like to do to help my colleagues
understand marketing and what their role can be.
1.Once a month (same date each month), I will email all staff
a new Marketing Tip. It may address past experiences and/or
what I have learned through the development programs I have
attended. VNHA does have a policy if you attend a program,
it is your responsibility to share what you have learned.
2.The owners have a monthly VNHA Coordination Meeting
with the managers. As part of my report, I address one
marketing Discussion Topic. The topic will address something
different than the monthly marketing tip and will be directed
more specifically at the managers, as they are more visible to
existing and potential clients.
3.The individuals who participate in the marketing effort
sit down on a regular basis to evaluate what we are doing.
Those discussions and decisions are typically backed up
with educational-based references.
4.Lastly, I have conducted Lunch-and-Learns. I created a
Domains presentation [based on the Domains of Practice
for Professional Services Marketers] that is presented
over a six-week period, not necessarily consecutively.
The presentation lasts one hour and is open to those
who are interested.
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Sharing knowledge we gain outside our
organization helps energize our own creativity,
gives us an opportunity to compare and measure
our initiatives, and often ignites the spark we need to galvanize a
campaign or strategy we’ve been mulling.
Our marketing team typically gathers informally to share ideas
learned at Build Business or other seminars. Over the years,
these have evolved from information downloads to interactive
brainstorming sessions. We openly share what we’ve learned,
together with insights and suggestions for effectively introducing
new concepts into our marketing plan. Having participated in
SMPS’s Marketing Communications Awards (MCA) program
for over a decade, it’s also become a tradition for our team to
review MCA gallery photographs and discuss ideas that shaped
the year’s winners—evolving the conversation as an informal
audit of our own initiatives.
I’ve often been so moved by a speaker or a breakthrough topic
at conference that I’ve pulled together a simple 5- or 10-minute
synopsis for a larger audience of principals and associates, capturing
the big ideas and connecting those to specific applications and
strategies within our business.
We’re fortunate at HBG to also have a forum for sharing
knowledge firmwide on a regular basis through our monthly
“coffee talk” series. I’ve used this open platform to share trends
and engage deeper involvement in marketing and business
development across all levels of the organization. We’ve also
recently begun posting educational marketing content on our
intranet and have been tweeting on key marketing tips and
techniques when we attend conferences.
39
Scott D. Butcher, FSMPS, CPSM
Michael T. Buell, CPSM
Vice President
Marketing Director
JDB Engineering, Inc.
MHTN Architects
York, PA
Salt Lake City, UT
We’ve increasingly emphasized the
importance of knowledge sharing for
professional development and actually
gone a step further and implemented a policy requiring
employees who attend company-paid conferences to share
lessons learned. Employees can present an hour-long lunchtime
seminar, which helps strengthen speaking skills, or write
an article for the intranet. We’re interested in trends, new
techniques or approaches, benchmarking with similar firms,
conversations with colleagues, etc.
At this juncture in my career (20 years
leading strategic marketing/business
development efforts), I rarely find myself
attending professional development programs. It is not that
I don’t strive to learn something new every day, which I do,
it’s because I am regularly leading professional development
programs myself. When I attend, say, national conference,
however, I am interested in hearing a few nuggets that may
supplement my material. Whatever interesting dialogue I
experience, I always share with my staff.
Knowledge is also shared in company meetings with all staff
present, though the duration is usually only 5 or 10 minutes.
For instance, after I attended Build Business 2010, I came back
with a ton of knowledge about social media, which I presented
to staff at a company meeting. I followed up with an hourlong seminar, “Social Media in the A/E/C Industry.” I’ve since
implemented Business Development University, and I’m now
looking for monthly content. Our January session was “Blogging
for Business,” which was an outgrowth of Build Business as well
as an SMPS Central Pennsylvania session in which I participated
last December. SMPS is ripe with knowledge, so I continue to
look for the best ways to share that knowledge with co-workers
and colleagues at our affiliate companies.
At our firm, we have full-staff training sessions every Monday
morning, 11 am – Noon, on a variety of subjects from operations,
to project management, to marketing. I am firmly entrenched
to lead at least one session per month on a marketing topic.
My sessions have covered such subjects as networking, client
relationships, differentiation, prospective client engagements,
client presentations, etc.
Seminars are videotaped and posted on the intranet, with PDFs
of any related PowerPoints, for staff who could not attend or
for those who want to go back and reference the information.
We also use email summaries of conferences, trade shows,
networking events, and professional society meetings to
quickly distribute noteworthy information to key staff.
I lead highly specialized public speaking/presentation workshops
for select staff members on a quarterly basis. These sessions
consist of 3 different groups of 12 – 15 people on successive
Friday mornings. These sessions are highly interactive and very
heavy with discussion and exercises. Whether my attendees are
young, developing talent or tenured principals, they all take away
something they know will help them develop stronger and more
abundant client relationships.
This training regimen is considered the primary reason our
hit rate doubled within the first six months of my time with
MHTN. Being a leader means wanting to help others grow.
That is my professional passion...and I hope I’m helping
others grow every day.
Marketer/April 2012
40
bookshelf
Water the Bamboo: Unleashing the
Potential of Teams and Individuals
REVIEWED BY JESSICA TAFT
I
n Marketing 101, we learned that even the bestresearched and well-written strategic marketing
plans fail without a strong implementation
strategy. Through experience, we know the same
can be true in our personal lives—many of us excel
at planning projects but struggle when it’s time to
carry out our ideas.
Author of Water the Bamboo: Unleashing the Potential of Teams and
Individuals, Greg Bell believes that each of us has the potential
to achieve long-term goals in our professional and personal lives
if only we’d take a deep breath, identify our values, and pursue
meaningful projects that reflect those beliefs. Throughout the
book, he uses the metaphor of bamboo farmers, who must plant
and tend to their seeds for years before a harvest, to explain that
faith, perseverance, and an unwavering sense of purpose are the
keys to meaningful accomplishment. He believes the same is true
in our work lives but with one small adjustment: After identifying
our values, we should examine where they overlap with our firm’s
mission and use that overlap to develop long-term projects that
will benefit everyone involved.
Why Water Is Different
Water the Bamboo is full of pithy quotes and famous examples of
perseverance and success. It describes traits of successful people
(self-discipline, courage, optimism) as well as their habits (learn,
practice, don’t give up). The ideas aren’t new; it’s Bell’s approach
and methods that set him apart.
At the end of each chapter, Bell provides not only a review of
key ideas but also detailed exercises that demand a high level of
thought and analysis. The exercises are cumulative, and by the
end of the book, even the most self-aware among us will have
a new understanding of what lies within our institutions and
ourselves; we will be equipped to set goals, effect change, and
reap our harvests.
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Water the Bamboo: Unleashing the
Potential of Teams and Individuals
By Greg Bell
Three Star Publishing, 2009
190 pages, paperback; $14.95
Available at http://waterthebamboo.com
or on site at Build Business.
The Power of a Group
A key element of Bell’s book is the value of small group
mentorship. He calls these groups “Bamboo Circles” and describes
them as a meeting of like-minded individuals who hold each
other accountable for achieving goals and moving forward to set
new ones. Bell writes, “Bamboo Circle members ask questions,
offer suggestions, and brainstorm helpful tips and ideas to solidify
others’ goals and plans.” An internet search suggests that hundreds
of people meet in, and benefit from, these groups every month.
Summer in San Francisco
As a keynote speaker at Build Business 2012 in San Francisco,
Bell’s presentation “Water the Bamboo: Unleash Your Potential”
will likely mirror many of the themes in this book. After reading
Water, I’m both excited to hear him speak and looking forward
to the opportunity to ask him about his ideas.
About the Reviewer
Jessica Taft is the marketing director for
Enterprise Engineering, Inc. (www.eeiteam.com),
a multi-discipline engineering firm with offices in
Anchorage, AK, and Freeport, ME. She also serves
as the secretary of SMPS Alaska. Jessica can be
reached at 907.563.3835 or [email protected].
This is her first contribution to Marketer.
when in doubt
41
Missed Connection
BY RON GARIKES, FSMPS
I
n the never-ending pursuit of new and profitable
work, one of the alleged perks many professional
services marketers enjoy is the opportunity to
travel on behalf of our companies. Visiting exciting
new destinations, being exposed to different
cultures and the sights and sounds of exotic
locales, can be a rich and rewarding experience.
3.said mad dash would disappointingly negate my typical
leisurely caffeine, tobacco, and/or adult beverage fix at
favored airport gathering spot
On the other the hand, the trials and tribulations experienced
by today’s Road Warriors are enough to make a grown man cry,
a preacher cuss, and scare a dog off a meat wagon. Canceled
flights, closed rental car counters, security checkpoint maulings,
lost luggage, and encounters with rude travel industry personnel
are more abundant than white on rice.
Upon finally arriving at the departure gate—sweating profusely,
gasping for breath, and more than a little agitated, to my great
surprise, the door to the jet way was still open, and the message
board clearly stated “Status: Boarding.” With a great sense of
relief and hopes riding high, I presented my ticket to the gate
agent, fully expecting to calmly board, throw the luggage in the
overhead, and plant my happy butt in 3D for the two-hour
flight back to God’s country.
After chalking up over 2 million frequent flyer miles, untold free
car rentals, and premium hotel memberships during my 30 years
of life on the road, I certainly endured my fair share of travel
mishaps. Following is one of my most memorable, a situation
that is not only a powerful lesson in customer service but also
brought into question and severely tested my patience, calm
demeanor, sanity, and chosen career.
There is an old saying in my hometown of Birmingham, AL,
suggesting that, even when we die and head home for Glory, we’ll
still have to make a flight connection in Atlanta or Cincinnati.
When all the airline folks, waiters, and bartenders at these
two airports know you on a first-name basis, it’s hard to argue
the veracity of this sentiment.
Running over two hours late on the first leg of my return flight,
there was no doubt:
1.the chances of making the connection in Cincinnati were
slim to none
2.this would require a mad dash on the walking escalator and
down the stairs to the buses, enduring the seemingly endless
ride to the adjacent concourse, and a full sprint (narrowly
dodging small children and old folks) to get to the departure
gate before they pulled away from the jet way
4.the connecting flight out of Cincinnati would be making a
rare on-time departure
5.missing the evening’s scheduled recital would not be well
received by the wife and daughters back on the home front
“This impressive display of decisive
leadership, initiative, and common
sense effectively averted a passenger
revolt, enhanced the brand loyalty of
at least 10 frequent flyers, and kept
me on speaking terms with the family.”
To my astonishment and chagrin, with her best beauty-queen
smile, the gate agent robotically informed me my flight was closed,
I had been placed on standby on the next flight leaving in two
hours, and not to worry as I was confirmed for the last plane of
the evening which had a scheduled departure time five hours later.
Expecting an expression of my thanks and heartfelt gratitude, I
suspect my less-than-gracious retort of “You’ve got to be #@%$
$%#@* kidding me” didn’t exactly endear your humble columnist
to said gate agent, her colleagues in close proximity, and several
security types who were within earshot.
Marketer/April 2012
42
when in doubt
Our subsequent discussion went down something like this
(and didn’t exactly further enhance my standing with said
gate agent and company):
“Is the plane still parked at the jet way?”
“Why, yes it is.”
“When is it scheduled to leave?”
“In 45 minutes to an hour because of ground traffic backup.”
“Is the flight full?”
“No, actually it’s half empty.”
“So, you are not letting me board this flight because why?”
“After we shut that jet door, company policy and procedures
prohibit us from re-opening it.”
“Have you ever considered $#*& &%^$ your precious policy
and procedures?”
With several security types now bearing down on me, ears pinned
back and taser guns set on ready, I was mercifully saved from a
deserved, and let’s say enthusiastic, interrogation when 10 or so
equally agitated fellow passengers from my original flight showed
up at the ticket counter. It just so happened they were also making
the same connection to Birmingham.
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Society for Marketing Professional Services
They were also tickled pink and relieved to see the door was
still open and “Status: Boarding” posted on the message board.
Unfortunately, their elation quickly abated following the flight
update from said gate agent. After my subsequent report on the
reality of our situation, a full-blown passenger revolt was quickly
materializing as a distinct possibility.
About the time I handed over my cell phone to said gate agent
and instructed her to explain to my daughter why I was going
to miss the recital, a senior airline official showed up to assess
the growing insurrection. After making direct inquiries with
said gate agent, security, and me, she immediately instructed her
people to escort all of us to the gate, open the jet door, and see
to it we were comfortably seated and primed with free beverage
coupons for the flight home.
This impressive display of decisive leadership, initiative, and
common sense effectively averted a passenger revolt, enhanced
the brand loyalty of at least 10 frequent flyers, and kept me on
speaking terms with the family; I arrived safely at the recital
with time to spare.
Disaster avoided, I lived to miss that same connection dozens
of times over the next few years. Said gate agent thoroughly
enjoyed each and every opportunity to inform me, including
announcements on the public address system, postings on the
message board, and even greeting me at my arrival gate with a
change-in-flight-status update.
Got to admire her enthusiasm and commitment to personal service.
Happy Hunting!
About the Author
Ron W. Garikes, FSMPS, is executive vice president
(retired) of Karlsberger Laboratory & Technology
Group. Based in Birmingham, AL, and a past
president of SMPS National, Ron can be reached
at 205.995.2247 and [email protected]. He has
been writing this humor column since June 2009.
resources for smps members
T
he following services
and resources make your
SMPS membership a
valuable investment in your
career and your firm’s success.
Get Connected
A/E/C Buyer’s Guide
This powerful online search tool can help
you to identify, research, and connect with
A/E/C companies, products, and services
to support your practice or help you deliver
projects to clients. From public relations
experts to photographers, graphic designers,
and printers; from historic preservationists
to laboratory, school, and airport designers;
from CRM and accounting systems to
furniture retailers, you can find them
in the A/E/C Buyer’s Guide, accessible
from the SMPS home page at smps.org
or at aecbuyersguide.com. (Previously
known as the A/E/C Network.)
Build Business: The SMPS
National Conference
Build Business is the leading business
development, marketing, and management
conference for the design and building
industry. SMPS brings together 1,000
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and senior managers with bottom-line
accountability for the success of their
firms to explore best practices and expand
their networks of valuable business contacts. Developing details on the conference
are available at buildbusiness.org.
Future conference locations and dates:
July 11– 13, 2012
San Francisco, CA
July 31–August 3, 2013
Orlando, FL
July 30–August 2, 2014
San Antonio, TX
Chapter Membership
Local and regional contacts await you
when you participate and network within
your local chapter. Typical opportunities
include networking events, educational
programs, client panels, regional conferences, charitable activities to support
the local community, and more.
National Membership Directory
Available online at mysmps.org, the online
membership directory allows you to search
for members by name, title, city, state,
company services, and chapter. In addition,
you can keep your own profile information
up to date using this tool.
SMPS Connections
Containing news about SMPS, members,
chapters, professional development,
leadership opportunities, tips, and tools,
this bi-weekly electronic newsletter is your
connection with the Society. Archived
issues are available on www.smps.org
under Resources, Publications.
Social Networking
SMPS groups on Linkedin and Facebook
offer new opportunities to connect and
communicate with community members.
Follow SMPS National on Twitter too
(#smps)!
Forums
The SMPS forums connect you via
mysmps.org and email to member
subscribers all over the world. When
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perspectives on a marketing issue, and
send and receive important industryrelated information. To learn more
about the forums, visit the Message
Board at mysmps.org.
Get Ahead
MySMPS.org
MySMPS.org is the new online gathering
place for SMPS members. The mission
of MySMPS is simple: To connect you
with your peers, with information, and
with opportunities to make building
business easier. Build your network on
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accessing samples and models to make
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discussions, and joining groups that
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Career Center
Whether you are seeking qualified
marketing professionals to fill a position
or planning a personal career move, the
SMPS Career Center is a valuable member
resource. Check out the Career Center
at smpscareercenter.org.
Bookstore
SMPS’s bookstore offers an ever-growing
selection of publications and resources
on marketing, business development, and
management to support you as your career
advances. Shop the SMPS Bookstore online
at smpsbooks.com.
Marketer/April 2012
43
44
Certified Professional
Services Marketer Program
Based on the Domains of Practice for
Professional Services Marketers, the
CPSM program measures a candidate’s
experience and ability to apply knowledge
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designation, candidates must meet
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profitable business in the architectural,
engineering, and construction marketplace.
Details about the program can be found by
visiting the certification page at smps.org.
Marketer
This bimonthly journal—the premier
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management, and leadership strategies;
case studies; and lessons learned are covered
for marketing and business development
professionals. Articles are written by
industry experts who face the challenges
of marketing professional services every
day. Archived issues can be accessed in
the members-only Marketing Resource
Center on mysmps.org. An editorial
calendar is available under Resources,
Publications at www.smps.org. Published
in February, April, June, August, October,
and December.
Marketing Resource Center
This powerful Web-based tool puts a wealth
of resources on market research, marketing
planning, client and business development, proposals, promotional activity,
and marketing and business performance
at your fingertips. Search results produce
links to articles, research, Web sites, blogs,
books, and programs. Visit the Marketing
Resource Center at mysmps.org.
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Professional Development
SMPS works with industry leaders in
marketing and management to offer
educational programs at fundamental,
intermediate, and master’s levels. These
programs are designed to expand your
knowledge about business development
and marketing and to provide you with
valuable skills to build business for your
firm. Information about upcoming
programs is available in the Calendar
at mysmps.org. National programs are
available to firms to bring in house
for staff training. Call the Education
Department at 800.292.7677, x228, to
request a program catalogue and details.
SMPS Foundation
The SMPS Foundation is a not-for-profit
501(c)(3) organization established by the
Society to promote research and education in professional services marketing
that advances the body of knowledge and
builds awareness of marketing’s value in
the design and construction industry. The
Foundation actively promotes recognition
of professional services marketing as an
essential element of the modern A/E/C
business model. To access the Foundation’s
research, visit the Foundation section
on smps.org.
Get Involved
Awards and Recognition
SMPS’s awards programs recognize the
best and brightest leaders in professional
services marketing and the Society. To
learn more, check out the Awards section
of smps.org.
Marketing Communications Awards
MCA is the oldest and most prestigious
awards program recognizing excellence
in marketing communications by
individuals and firms in the design and
building industry. The 21 competition
categories range from books and
brochures, to media relations, threedimensional design, newsletters,
and Web sites.
Marketing Achievement Award
The society’s highest honor salutes
a remarkable marketing or business
development professional for career
achievements, leadership, and industry
contributions.
Fellows Recognition Program
SMPS is proud to recognize with
the designation of Fellow (FSMPS)
longstanding, certified members who
have made significant contributions
to the profession and the Society.
Chapter Awards
The Striving for Excellence and
Chapter President of the Year awards
honor dedicated volunteers and their
chapters for extraordinary leadership
and service to members.
Leadership
Volunteer service at the chapter or national
level can enhance your portfolio of talents
and leadership skills as you make a significant contribution to the profession and
the industry. To find out how you can get
involved in SMPS, contact the Membership Department at 800.292.7677, x224.
Visit smps.org or call the
Membership Team at 800.292.7677
to find out more about these
resources and other benefits
of SMPS membership.
national calendar
45
Subject to change.
Visit http://mysmps.org/c/month.php for details.
April 2012
3
“The Basics of Business Development in the A/E/C Marketplace,” Kansas City
5
“Managing and Leading a Successful Business Development Team,” Phoenix
10
“The Basics of Business Development in the A/E/C Marketplace,” Philadelphia
13
SMPS Foundation Think Tank: “Bridging the Gap Between Management
and Marketing,” New York, NY
13
Nominations Deadline: 2012–13 SMPS National Board of Directors
Nominations Deadline: 2012–13 SMPS Foundation Board of Trustees
17
Webinar: “10 Steps for Launching an Award-Winning Communications Program,”
Online, 2 pm ET, 1 pm CT, Noon MT, 11 am PT
19
“The Basics of Business Development in the A/E/C Marketplace,” Honolulu
19–21
Chapter Presidents Leadership Symposium, Alexandria, VA
26–27
Heartland Regional Conference, Cleveland, OH
27
Nomination Deadline: 2012 SMPS Chapter President of the Year Award
Entry Deadline: 2012 Striving for Excellence Awards
May 2012
4
9–11
Nomination Deadline: Weld Coxe Marketing Achievement Award
Northeast Regional Conference, New Haven, CT
15
“The Basics of Business Development in the A/E/C Marketplace,” Indianapolis
15
Webinar: “Ignite Your Marketing Program into Action—Client Surveys,”
Online, 2 pm ET, 1 pm CT, Noon MT, 11 am PT
17
“Managing and Leading a Successful Business Development Team,” Atlanta
July 2012
11
“The Basics of Business Development in the A/E/C Industry,” San Francisco
11
“Managing and Leading a Successful Business Development Team,” San Francisco
11–13
Build Business: Take Action, the SMPS National Conference, San Francisco
Marketer/April 2012
46
national contacts
National Board
President
Francis J. Lippert, FSMPS, CPSM
Associate, Marketing Director
David Evans and Associates Inc.
2100 SW River Parkway
Portland, OR 97201
503.223.6663
[email protected]
Past President
Carolyn Ferguson, FSMPS, CPSM
President
WinMore Marketing Advisors
19803 Sage Tree Trail
Kingwood, TX 77346
713.305.8163
[email protected]
President-Elect
Kevin Hebblethwaite, FSMPS, CPSM
President/CEO
Hebblethwaite LLC
9 Arbor Shores North
Newnan, GA 30265
770.401.4797
[email protected]
Secretary/Treasurer
Barbara D. Shuck, FSMPS, CPSM
Vice President, Marketing Director
Emc2 Group Architects Planners PC
1635 N Greenfield Road #144
Mesa, AZ 85205
480.830.3838
[email protected]
Chapter Delegate
Holly R. Bolton, CPSM
Director of Marketing
CE Solutions Inc.
10 Shoshone Drive
Carmel, IN 46032
317.818.1912
[email protected]
Fellows Delegate
Paula M. Ryan, FSMPS, CPSM
Director of Marketing
Braun & Steidl Architects
234 N Fifth Street
Columbus, OH 43215
614.224.9555
[email protected]
At-Large Delegate
Brad Thurman, P.E., FSMPS, CPSM
Principal & Chief Marketing Officer
Wallace Engineering
200 East Brady
Tulsa, OK 74103
918.584.5858, x7368
[email protected]
National Staff
Executive Office
Ronald D.Worth, CAE, FSMPS, CPSM
Chief Executive Officer
800.292.7677, x221
[email protected]
Certification Department
Kevin Doyle
Certification and IT Manager
800.292.7677, x232
[email protected]
Communications Department
Lisa Bowman
Senior Vice President
800.292.7677, x230
[email protected]
Molly Dall’Erta
Web Project Manager
800.292.7677, x231
[email protected]
Michele Santiago
Director of Marketing
800.292.7677, x245
[email protected]
Alexandra Chagouris
Marketing and Communications
Coordinator
800.292.7677, x227
[email protected]
Society for Marketing Professional Services
Education Department
Mark DellaPietra
Vice President, Education,
Certification, and IT
800.292.7677, x228
[email protected]
Daniel Reilly
Manager, Education and Events
800.292.7677, x223
[email protected]
Natasha Moussavi
Education Coordinator
800.292.7677, x243
[email protected]
Member and Chapter Services
Tina Myers, CAE
Senior Vice President
800.292.7677, x224
[email protected]
Mary Cruz
Director of Chapter Services
800.292.7677, x225
[email protected]
Lisbet McCarrick
Membership Coordinator
800.292.7677, x225
[email protected]
Denise Schjenken
Membership Manager
800.292.7677, x229
[email protected]
Franco Holmes
Membership Coordinator
800.292.7677, x246
[email protected]
B
p
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arty
c
o
l
b
B
July 13
trucks
6pmFOOD
by OFF THE GRID
10pm
live
TWO
aMUSIC
BARS
friday
local
AR
111 MINNA ST
gallery space
and alley way
REGISTER
smps
non-member/
TODAY $75 member $100 at-the-door
Search Event #: 235481 or
“BuildBusiness Block Party“
SMPS San Francisco is throwing a block party to help
mark the closing of Build Business: Take Action and
to celebrate its 30th anniversary!
Learn more at: smpssf.org
123 N. Pitt Street
Suite 400
Alexandria, VA 22314
Take Action: Register by May 15
to Save $100! www.buildbusiness.org
July 11–13, 2012
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
www.buildbusiness.org
Hosted by
The premier business development, marketing,
and management conference for design and
building industry professionals
www.smps.org