Improving Your Hit Rate: Six Rules to Follow Now

PSMJ Resources, Inc.
Posted on: 01/23/19
Written by: PSMJ Resources, Inc.

downloadsp-2Up-and-coming project managers at architecture and engineering firms are often frustrated by how hard it is to “win work.” That’s because "trying to “win work” doesn’t work. If you don’t know where to begin, apply these six simple rules and start improving your hit rate.


1. Know Your Client

What’s this person looking for? How does the client view the consultant? Is this a client that respects the contribution of the consultant, where the consultant is a true extension of staff or does this client view what we do as a commodity to be sourced from the cheapest vendor?

2. Know Yourself
What is your relationship with the client? How does he/she view you, are you a “trusted advisor” or just one of the stable of consultants out there?

3. Know the Project
Know it better than the client. Where are the pitfalls?  Where can this get off the track and how can you keep it moving? 

4. Be Passionate
Convey your sense of passion for the project in the proposal. Convey your ideas and thoughts about the project that will simply not leave you alone. The converse of this “Rule” is that if you aren’t passionate, “fugettaboutit,” you won’t win.

5. Think Like Steve
Steve Jobs was not in the computer business, he was in the business of enriching lives by providing life essentials before we even knew we needed them. Ask yourself/team: “What are we going to provide our client/community by doing this that they did not even knew they wanted?” Then sell the sizzle.

6. Keep it Simple 
Clients are busy and (trust me on this) don’t have the time or more importantly the desire to wade through pages of deathless prose. If it ain’t easy to read and comprehend, it will be disregarded.

AEC Business Development Bible_Ebook-1Looking for more tips on effective business development? Check out PSMJ's complimentary ebook, The A/E Business Development Biblea concise overview of the essential “must-knows” of business development, direct from PSMJ’s marketing and business development experts.

Download Now!

 

 
SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG:
March 15, 2024

A.I. STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES in AEC Applications

If there’s so much confusion about what A.I. is, does it really matter whether a machine actually exhibits artificial intelligence if it does the job it’s asked to do? In many..

Read More
March 11, 2024

Accelerating cash flow with automation: Your guide to greater efficiency and control

Are your finance operations slowed by manual data entry and paper trails? For the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries, where transparency and efficiency..

Read More
February 29, 2024

50 AEC Predictions for the Next 50 Years

To recognize and celebrate 50 years of improving the business performance of AEC organizations worldwide, we’re already looking forward to how we can help you grow and prosper..

Read More