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Author, Do YOU Mean Business? Technical / Non Technical Collaboration, Business Development and YOU
Sales Aerobics for Engineers
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[This is the second of a two-part series. Part 1 was posted on 1/23/2012 on the Sales Aerobics for Engineers® blog. Click here to read it! http://bit.ly/wDZE3S ]

Do we really understand each other?

If you are a civil or other type of engineer involved in the sales process (which means all of you), or if you are a business development professional working for a civil engineering firm, sometimes client relationships really frustrate us!

Part 1 of this two-part series addresses what happens when our clients “go away” or disappear after what we feel is a sure-fire, slam-dunk win for us. A lot of time, it’s because we make assumptions about the way the sales close is progressing. From our perspective, not theirs.

Why else might our clients disappear during the business development or design/engineering process? Just when we thought we had them from “hello!”

One reason we are frustrated is that our customers do not make decisions in a straight line.

The straightest path towards winning business for your company is not that straight line. Of course you spoke with the CEO, another civil engineer, or their company’s business development professional, and said all the stuff you were supposed to say, created empathy and “connected”, determined what their focus and priorities were, and their timeline and budget for making the decision to do business with your company. So the next logical step should be to ask for their business and sign that contract.

Except it never quite happens that way, the majority of the time. Because there are a ton of other factors impacting your client’s ability to give you the thumbs up. And they are never going to share these factors with you, no matter how well you know them, how frequently you golf with them, no matter how many interesting bits of information you share with them.

Our customers do not make decisions the same way we do.

So while your company may have sold you on “how great they are” as a solutions provider, you are not the one making that decision to sign that contract, are you? Clear the business development process of all of your own biases and baggage. You bring a lot of “you” into the business of winning business for your company. Identify a number of potential, sometimes illogical, and certainly not straightforward, paths your customer may take on their way to signing that contract.

Consider their revenue stream and prior years’ profit margins, the number of projects and commitments they already have on their own plate, the human assets on board to oversee and manage projects, the cost of logistics and raw materials, whether they have a diverse presence in the marketplace or whether they rely on a niche market. Where does your design solution fit into their overall business and market mix? How does your design solution solve a current business priority? (Hint: this is not the same as solving a discrete project’s needs)

We are too myopic in our client relationships. It’s not about you and them. It’s about you in relation to them and their business universe.

Where do you fit into their constantly shifting, dynamic business universe? Something to think about, isn’t it?

civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion

Every new year many of us assess our job. As an architecture and civil engineering executive recruiter, I find January to be a very busy month! New year resolutions abound. Candidates tell me that they will not spend another year working for a company or supervisor that doesn’t appreciate them…at a job that is no longer challenging or exciting. They won’t continue to go to work each day to be surrounded by people they don’t respect. It is time for them to be energized.

What questions should you ask yourself to determine if it is time to explore a new opportunity?

-COMPANY
Is my current company growing, shrinking or staying the same size? Do the company leaders communicate with all employees about the “health” of the firm? Do they communicate about their strategy for growth for the company? Are my values the same as the firm’s? Do I respect the company leaders? How is the company viewed in the industry?

-SUPERVISOR
Does my supervisor have and exhibit the qualities I respect in a manager? Am I learning from him/her? Does my supervisor keep me motivated on projects and informed about my career path? Do I feel comfortable asking for help or discussing situations?

-COLLEAGUES
Do I have established relationships with others in the company? Do I look forward to working with these people or do I dread walking through the office or visiting the lunch room? Are my team members collaborative or self-serving? Are they supportive or challenging?

-WORK/PROJECTS
Am I able to work on projects that are challenging and diverse?  Do I like the work that is presented to me? Do I have an opportunity to learn and try new skills? Do I have autonomy to do my work? Do I have the ability to contribute to the overall success of the firm?

-SALARY/BENEFITS
Do I receive a competitive base salary? Did my company change their benefit plan so I pay more for less?  Am I receiving incentive bonuses for exceptional work?

There are many other questions to ask when deciding to make a job move. It is important to make an informed decision. Changing jobs is often more emotional than logical. Before wasting your time, a recruiter’s time, your current employer’s and potential future employer’s time– do your homework and evaluate your situation.

One thing is for sure: If you “can’t take this.. not another day” at your current job, then start exploring your options!

civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion

By Rich Bedell
General Counsel, Greenhorne & O’Mara, Inc. and
Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Maryland University College, Graduate School of Management & Technology

Who is Montgomery Scott? How about Geordie La Forge, B’Elanna Tores, or Trip Tucker? Every engineer I know secretly wishes he or she could have their job. Getting close requires a lot of hard work, professional experience, dedication, and training. Formal training includes formal engineering programs that require specific engineering classes to successfully complete whichever engineering program chosen. Those programs also include various electives to help round out that young potential promising engineer. English literature, history of the western world, romantic arts, and even pottery making are known electives. Some of the more progressive schools offer Contracting 101. When I was in school, oh so long ago, I heard classmates complain that all they wanted to do was design and/or operate. The mechanics of contracting could easily be left to others. Oh how wrong they were.

By now you realize that I was talking about Star Trek, STNG, Voyager, and Enterprise. Each of them have had dealings with a race called the Ferengi. Ferengi have a mercantile obsession with profit and trade. Think about that. Without profit and trade our current society would fall into the dark ages and there would be no need for engineering or the sciences. Ferengi have what are commonly known as the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. There are hundreds of rules. Do a Google search for yourself and you will find that many of them actually apply.

For example consider the following rules:

#138 – Law makes everyone equal, but justice goes to the highest bidder. We all know that is true.

I couldn’t resist showing that one first but consider the top ten (10).

1) Once you have their money, never give it back.*

2) You can’t cheat an honest customer, but it never hurts to try.

3) Never buy anything for more than is absolutely necessary.*

4) Sex and profit are the two things that never last long enough.

5) If you can’t break a contract, bend it.

6) Never let family stand in the way of opportunity.*

7) Always keep your ears open.*

8) Keep count of your change.

9) Instinct plus opportunity equals profit.*

10) A dead customer can’t buy as much as a live one. Never kill a customer unless the profit you make off his death is larger than the profit you can make off his life.

Yes very funny, but consider Contracting 101 in relation to the above Top 10:

1. It is so important and difficult to collect from the client that you don’t want to do anything foolish that would require you to have to give it back. Think indemnification clauses in a contract where you indemnify for anything arising out of the performance of your services. Insurance doesn’t cover that. Insurance covers for the negligent performance of services.

2. How often have you found that the engineer is being cheated? If the engineer allows himself or herself to be cheated it is their own fault. Think about the fiduciary obligations owed.

3. Think competitive bidding and the contracting procedures associated with that.

4. Well that goes without saying.

5. How often have you found terms in a contract that allow termination for convenience?

6. How often have you been told to use a particular subconsultant only to find out that the subconsultant has some sort of relationship with the client?

By now I hope you get the idea…Some of the morals are questionable, but how true an application to Contracting 101!

civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion

Featured Guest Blogger: Babette Ten Haken
Sales Aerobics for Engineers
Strategies and Toolkit for the Sales-Engineering Interface
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Had coffee with one of my marketing colleagues yesterday. Interesting conversation about how so many of our clients in the B2B marketplace perceive the discipline of Marketing as a superficial indulgence they engage in, reluctantly, from time to time.

After all, everyone knows Who You Are, which is the first sign and symptom of Word of Mouth syndrome. Your company has been around for a while. You’ve been drinking your own Kool-Aid® and believe your firm will be top of mind when an A/E firm is needed.

Let the newbie competitor engineering and architecture companies nipping at your heels engage in “marketing communications.” After all, the newbies are the ones who need the business, not your company, right?

Newsflash folks. No matter How Great You Think You Art, you are not as top-of-mind in the vendor selection process as you think you “art.” And those competitor companies nipping at your heels? They aren’t all local, or even domestic, competitors. Their marketing communications efforts firmly place their companies where their clients and prospects are looking and when they are looking to receive strong and consistent messages about the core competencies of their firms.  And Where They Art, You Are Not. Now who is competing with whom? And in what market space?

Marketing isn’t the sprinkles on the cupcake, folks. It IS the cupcake. Marketing is the front end of cash flow. And if you are looking to shorten your business development, sales, and order-to-cash cycles, marketing is where you start. It’s not a matter of cold calling or constantly stopping by your customers and leaving coffee, donuts and brochures. It’s not a matter of wining and dining them or inviting them to your company’s annual golf outing.

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” Hmmm. Sounds a bit more noble than sprinkles on the cupcake. In fact, it sounds like marketing addresses how you identify prospective customers, the actions you take to secure these customers, and the strategies you use to retain these customers. Sounds like a plan to me. And it sounds like an endeavor that should be part of everyone’s job description.

Because everyone in your organization is the physical embodiment of your delivery of your core competencies against your marketing strategy and marketing communications. Yes, it’s that’s important.

So what kind of marketing strategy and communications does your company engage in? Especially since marketing appears to impact the type of cupcake you bake. Forget about the sprinkles. An annual ad in the ADA journal? A booth at a local trade show, maybe every other year? Purchase of Google ad words? A little bit of this, a little bit of that, dabbling instead of aggressively pursuing. Because the professions of architecture and engineering are noble and lofty, which preclude them from engaging in marketing communications? Huh?

Ah c’mon folks. Do you know how many people look for information about doctors on Angie’s List (yes, Angie’s List)? Do you know how many folks just type in local architect and call the company whose name starts with “A”, which usually is the local handyman or design-builder? Who ends up doing a good job?

If you don’t educate your current and prospective customers about Who Thou Art, they will never have an opportunity to find out How Great Thou Art. And you don’t have to necessarily feel like you are part of the latest chapter of Mad Men® when marketing. In fact, it might feel natural.

Marketing involves a bit more than hawking your wares. It’s more like growing your personal and corporate brand. In deeds, rather than words. In stewardship, rather than client dinners.

When’s the last time your firm published a white paper, worked with Engineers Without Borders®, taught a drafting class at the local trade school or partnered on the local Habitat for Humanity® project? When’s the last time you invited your prospective and current clients to join with you in these efforts?

That’s the real marketing. Because that’s what matters. That is how you can walk your talk and show how your art and craft is all about making this place far more tolerable and habitable for society.

That’s the recipe for a well-baked cupcake. One that your clients will want to buy. Over and over again.

Think about it.

civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion

CivilEngineeringCentral.com

No need to get into a lengthy diatribe as to who Steve Jobs is and all that he has accomplished.  You all know who he  is and I would have carpel tunnel syndrome by the end of this entry if I tried to explain all things Steve Jobs.  Two questions for you though about Steve Jobs:

• Do you know where he started?
• Do you know where he ended?

Back to that in a moment.  Over the years I have conducted numerous C-Level or Senior Vice President/National Business Line Leader searches for consulting engineering firms where I have been tasked to seek and find a key leader for national or global practices that are made up of hundreds or thousands of civil engineering and architectural professionals.  Deep down amongst the two or three page detailed job description there is bullet point indicating that a Professional Engineering or Architecture license is required.  Not preferred. Not recommended. Required.

Different companies have different roles, different titles, and different philosophies on hiring.  The philosophy that a senior executive must have a professional registration sometimes leaves me scratching my head.  I am talking about executive leaders who develop winning strategies, who develop revolving 5-year business plans, who glad hand, who often accept public speaking invitations, who are responsible for leading the pursuit of projects, or who are responsible for meeting financial goals of the company.  My question is this: “Is a professional registration really necessary at this level?”

I know many unlicensed professionals in the architecture and engineering community who are operationally responsible for hundreds or thousands of employees and who know how to effectively turn a profit.  I also know many unlicensed professionals in the architecture and engineering industries who are responsible for driving millions and millions of dollars worth of revenue through the door.  I also know many companies who have needs for people like these but who turn a blind eye to these candidates because they do not have a couple of initials following their last name.   Is this an old school mentality?  Is this a company worried about perception more than actual results?

This takes me back to Steve Jobs; No degree…college drop out…yet an innovative pioneer who is a good listener and who was capable of delivering what people want- even delivering what people want before they know they want it.  Not that companies should make a habit of hiring college drop-outs, not by any stretch of the imagination;  but, denying your company the opportunity to hire, or at the very least consider a change agent or someone who can help guide the ship to its selected destination because they do not have a license, seems shortsighted.

If someone can provide innovative concepts to clients, productive and profitable business models, has strong connections and a track record of success;  if they are a good listener, and if  through the collaborative efforts of the skilled and licensed management team beneath them they could even deliver a concept to a client that they may have not thought of otherwise; if they are able to drive top line revenues and help your firm climb to heights that you may not otherwise reach,  then is a professional license at that level even relevant?

What is your philosophy? Have you hired your firm’s Steve Jobs? Or maybe have you seen the Steve Jobs of your industry join the competition only because you shuffled his credentials aside because he or she was not licensed?

civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion

Featured Guest Blogger: Babette Ten Haken
Sales Aerobics for Engineers
Strategies and Toolkit for the Sales-Engineering Interface
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This is the time of year when many civil engineering and A/E consulting firms start pressuring their employees to complete outstanding projects for invoicing by year’s end. Now is the time of year when companies start pressuring their business development folks to bring in more work, win more contracts, make appointments with more people, talk to somebody, anybody who appears mildly interested in doing business with your company. It’s also the time when management simultaneously starts to threaten and cajole employees to become more productive and generate more revenue…. “or else.”  It’s the time of year when we sometimes sit with our collective heads in our hands and wonder how we ever got ourselves into all this.

OK. Time to climb off your mental ledge and get your feet firmly back into the building. While I am not about to wave a magic wand and tell you that all will be OK, there are some things you should think about doing if you haven’t already started. Regardless of whether your corporate fiscal year aligns with the calendar year. 

Some thoughts for teeing up for this fiscal year’s end and beyond….

1. Next year’s business development campaign starts January 1 of the previous year. Clients’ and prospects’ sales years and cash flow simply do not align with your or your company’s need to generate revenue. You work for them, not the opposite. As you identify prospects and projects, put them into your “mental file folder:” is this particular project or client worth your time and effort, should they not be in a position to move forward for, say 12 months? Some of the big projects are won in this manner. You have to work differently with these types of clients and develop a strong understanding of how decisions are made within their corporate culture and infrastructure.
2. Providing value to your clients doesn’t involve constantly jumping through their hoops. Some clients are sadistic: they treat all of their vendors in this manner, constantly changing their minds, upping the ante, and expecting not to be charged for their indecision and vanity. (You are not an advertising agency which self-selects for individuals who like living on the edge like this). Perhaps these are not the types of clients your company should be pursuing, even though they may offer the potential for landing big, juicy, high-profile projects. They may not treat you very well, while expecting you to put up with them and rack up a huge amount of non-billable hours in the process. If all of your clients are like this, how compromised and exhausted do you feel by the end of the year? Perhaps it’s time to clean out your client closet.
3. Best may be better than optimal. While you pursue your technical quest for the optimal solution, how much is it costing your company? Unless you are an architectural or engineering genius and are the only reason your company was awarded the contract in the first place, you are part of a collaborative team effort. So communicate and determine whether the optimal solution really is optimal in the long run, before you pursue that design path. Depending on where we sit around the table, we see the same thing differently. Make sure you validate your ideas along with everyone else’s perspective. The best solution may be the most robust, in the long run.

What is your strategy for finishing up the current fiscal year? Let me know.

I read a book not too long ago entitled Getting Things Done by David Allan.  The book provides strategies and an overall process for getting organized and becoming more productive.  One strategy that I’ve been able to take from this book and not only use myself, but also help engineers to implement through coaching is David’s A to Z filing system.

It is common amongst us civil engineers for papers to pile up on our desk throughout the course of the day.  Papers, plans, invoices, etc can swallow up our office.  Every once in a while it will become so overbearing that we’ll take a whole day and clean out our office which usually consists of throwing most of these items out.  Does this sound familiar?

David’s A to Z system is a great process that will help you to get and STAY organized.  Here is how it works.  Start by designating one large filing drawer or an entire filing cabinet for you’re A to Z system.  Fill the cabinet with 26 hanging folders and label them A through Z.  Next, start making a list of all of the items that you might file away (i.e. example, specifications, estimates, manufacturers information, stormwater guidelines, etc.).  Then create a file folder for each one of these items and be sure to label them clearly.  Then the fun part begins.  Starting with your desk begin to file away items into the proper folders.  You may have to create new folders along the way or slightly modify the system over the first few weeks.  For example, you might have to decide on whether you want to use the word ‘drainage’ or ‘stormwater’ which will determine whether that folder ends up in ‘D’ or ‘S.’

After a few weeks of implementing this system, your office will be clean!  Then you just have to work on keeping it clean, which is pretty easy with this system.  As items come across your desk simply file them into the proper folder or create a new one, when necessary.

You may think that this system is extremely simplistic and actually it is.  I have successfully implemented this system both in my office and in my home and I never have a problem finding something.  I hope this tip is helpful for you can bring more balance to both your career and your life.

Please share any organizational strategies that you are currently using!

Featured Guest Blogger: Babette Ten Haken
Sales Aerobics for Engineers
Strategies and Toolkit for the Sales-Engineering Interface
Connect With Babette On Linkedin
Read The Sales Aerobics For Engineers Blog

It’s Mid-Year! Time to reflect on where you have been and where you are going. And perhaps it’s time for your mid-year crisis. Or not. So….. what have you accomplished this year? In your own eyes? Not in the eyes of others.  We all work for other people. Even if we are self employed. We work for our customers.

In the long run, our customers elect to work with us depending on how we perceive ourselves. If we have trust, respect, ethical behavior, integrity and, therefore, confidence in ourselves, I don’t have to tell you how those qualities translate for our customers and prospects. They want us on their team.

So what kind of report card would you give yourself at this point during the fiscal year? What lessons have you learned and how have you used these to improve yourself, personally and professionally? Has your sense of direction remained stable or has it been altered in a new, positive, complementary direction? Are you becoming more than, compared to less?

And when I ask you about giving yourself a report card, I am not talking about a report card where you listen to those ”too”  voices in your head.  You know: too this, too that, too under qualified, too overqualified, yada, yada, yada…. Listen to your own voice, not theirs.  How are you doing? Really?

Developing business gets insane sometimes. You are so busy “selling” that you cannot develop business. You are meeting other people’s quotas or you are frantically trying to get someone to buy your consulting civil engineering services if you are self employed or own a business. And you are not getting much support from the “support” staff because you are treating them like, well, “support.”

You know, there is a BIG difference between most people’s perception of “selling”  and the sales process resulting in business development.  And business development is not a solo act. It needs a team of individuals who understand how to work collaboratively with each other. No room for rock stars here. So much for the sales paradigm. It’s been broken for a while. And needs fixing.

So am I describing your own workplace or some ideological, collaborative workplace which you feel  is in “la-la land”? Guess again. You know, those civil engineers who you feel are the worker bees rather than the rock stars. Gotta tell you… they are your rock stars. You are their agents. Put them in front of the folks you want to develop business with and facilitate and nurture those discussions. See what happens.

You civil engineers who prefer to get fed and sheltered by employers and their business development folks. You know who you are. You believe that business development isn’t part of your job description. Guess again. It is part of your job description whether stated or not.  Rise up and go forth from your cubicles and at least talk to these guys and gals who are in front of the customers. Find out how they think and approach business development. Because you need to become part of the same team.

So what kind of report card would you give yourself, thus far? And moving forward, how are your business development efforts going to change considering you are not alone. In fact, you have far more synergy in your efforts than you ever thought you had.

Now what are you going to do? Now that you have allies and assets in your organization. Cultivate these relationships. You may find out more about yourself than you thought you ever knew.

Think about it. And let me know.

civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion

CivilEngineeringCentral.com

Finally, after months of suffering under a new regime as a result of a reorganization, or after months of being laid off due to a Reduction-In-Force, or after months of pounding your head on the proverbial “glass ceiling,” you have uncovered the perfect opportunity for the next step in your civil engineering career.  After going through three or four rounds of interviews and conducting your own due diligence you find a company that is a good fit professionally, technically, culturally; and the path to your professional goal is crystal clear, assuming of course that you live up to your end of the bargain.  But you are confident in your ability and there is no question in your mind that you’ve got what it takes to climb your way to the top.  The offer comes through, the money is right, the benefits are on target, the performance metrics, though challenging, are attainable, and everything is on the “up-and-up.”  And then you get to the non-compete/non-solicit/non-disclosure employment agreement.  These agreements are no longer just limited to C-Level Executives or Partners, but now they are surfacing for Vice Presidents, Division Managers, and even Project Managers.

Suddenly some of that wind has been taken out of your sail.

Terminology and phrasing limiting you to go to work for ANY competitor within a 100 mile radius of any existing office, or limiting you from contacting any clients or prospective clients (prospective clients, well,  that’s pretty much ANYONE), all while applying to not only to the company you are looking to join, but it all carries over in the event of an acquisition, which would further limit your geography, especially if acquired by a big civil engineering consulting firm with offices throughout the United States.  Oh, and by the way, there is nothing indicating that you would be protected from any of this even in the event that you are laid off, your office shuts down, or if you were given the ultimatum to relocate.  Sounds a little one sided, right?  If left un-negotiated, you would have to switch careers altogether should you separate from the firm.

Putting into effect a non-compete for company executives or partners makes sense.  After all, if they don’t have an ownership stake, they do at least have access to company financials and the intellectual property that has brought the company much success.  They will also have access to clients that they might not have otherwise with other companies.  I am personally not convinced that Non-Compete Agreements are necessary for Project Managers and others who do not have an executive role or who do not have “skin in the game,”  but this is a trending policy in the civil engineering consulting industry.

Whatever the case may be, more often than not there are some areas that you should consider negotiating before accepting “as is” if you are not fully comfortable (please keep in mind I am not an attorney nor do I pretend to be – only in my own home when negotiating with my wife and kids):

-> If you are a company executive or partner, you may want negotiate some sort of severance package to help protect you and your family should you separate from the company as it will buy time for you to secure a new position within the other constraints of the agreement.

->If your non-compete contains geographic restrictions, make sure you would still have the ability to work for a “client” or client side company.  In other words, make sure it is limited solely to competitors, not clients.

->Make sure that the agreement applies only to the company you are working for at the commencement of your employment, not any future acquisitions.  For example – if your employer has 5 or 6 offices, but then is acquired by a national consulting civil engineering firm with offices in every major city across the United States, your options become extremely limited should you not negotiate this ahead of time.

->The non-solicitation of clients is an understandable clause – but if the agreement includes not only existing clients, but potential clients, then again you are limiting your options should you separate as pretty much everyone is a potential client.  Try negotiating to only existing clients or those potential clients that have been proposed to over the past 12, 18, or 24 month period.

->Make sure that the non-compete portion of the agreement is null and void in the event of a lay off, a closing of the office, or an ultimatum to relocate with the company.

I am not an attorney, and neither are you.

No matter how dire your current work situation is, you should always go through a non-compete/non-soliticitation/non-disclosure agreement with a fine tooth comb, or even better, shell out some cash to have an attorney review the document – your wallet may become a little light, but that decision could easily save you thousands of dollars in the end… and much stress as well. You may even find that your non-compete agreement will not hold up in a court of law in your state.

Every agreement is different, and these are just a few thoughts based upon my experience in placing civil engineering professionals with consulting engineering firms.  Any further advice you can give to the civil engineering community on this topic would be greatly appreciated!

civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion

Featured Guest Blogger: Babette Ten Haken
Sales Aerobics for Engineers
Strategies and Toolkit for the Sales-Engineering Interface
Connect With Babette On Linkedin
Read The Sales Aerobics For Engineers Blog

There’s an art to building and maintaining client relationships. It’s more important than ever before. Clients are becoming more difficult to “win” and their loyalty is more elusive. And the definition of “client” encompasses those individuals within the workplace, your subcontractors and the companies who have contracted your products, services and capabilities.

There’s no room for elitism in client relationships. Your clients, subcontractors, co-workers and boss may admire your skill set and communication acumen. However, they did not hire you so they can worship you. They hired you for What’s In It For Me (WIFM): what you bring to the table and how you build their revenue stream.

Your “wow” solution or creative design allows people to appreciate you for understanding their needs. They assess your ability at communicating and asking good questions. They are delighted in your facility in translating these needs to the various technical disciplines involved in the project. And they will laud you and your company for producing output that not only solves their initial problem, but perhaps moves their company further along competitively as well. 

So don’t ruin the momentum you, and your company,  have created by “wearing” an attitude that communicates you are “too cool” for your clients. Or worse, that your clients are “too ignorant” for you to truly impart the sum total of your amazing skill set.  Or that the language and principles of engineering and architecture are too far beyond the capacity of your clients (mere mortals) to understand.  Oh, please. This is not the differentiator you want to establish no matter how good you are, how educated you are or how wonderful your solutions are. There’s someone to replace you right around the corner.

That’s not to say, alternatively, you should be your clients’ best friend, either. There is a fine line to maintaining professionalism while being accessible to the full range of your clients’ needs. Developing the extra set (or two) of professional “antenna” which allow you to assess the context of business decision making is crucial to building and maintaining client relationships.  And while professionalism may extend into playing golf, providing tickets to events, and invitations to company social events, you still need to remember that you are hired by your clients (and your company, for that matter) to provide solutions, not companionship.

When it comes down to it, your client base doesn’t owe you anything after they pay their last invoice to your company. No matter how much they fawned over you during the course of the project.  Regardless of whether or not they made you feel invincible and infallible during the course of the project.  Repeat business isn’t guaranteed.  And the context of the next project with this same client may not afford you anywhere near the same degree of familiarity as you encountered during the previous project.

Think about it.

civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion