Building strong client relationships is one of the backbones of AE firm success. PSMJ's 2015 Circle of Excellence members share their best practices in how to nuture long-term relationships and keep clients coming back again and again.
The Circle of Excellence represents the top 20% of participants in PSMJ’s annual AE Financial Performance Benchmark Survey. Sixty-six exceptional firms made it onto the exclusive list this year,
Following is list of suggestions on how to develop loyal clients from a panel of these top-performing firms.
1. Be responsive to your clients, or architects, or engineers—whomever you’re working with: Building a close, cooperative corporate culture enables your firm to focus on what’s most important to its success—the clients.
2. Let clients market for you: Instead of marketing aggressively, let your reputation precede you.
3. Never forget your mission statement: It’s about more than making lots of money. It's about developing relationships and doing great work.
4. Keep your clients close through active communication: Principals should be actively involved, and all projects should be thoroughly checked.
5. Align with your clients: Success is largely about alignment—namely, the firm’s alignment with clients of the same business philosophy.
6. Do what you do best: Commit to high professional business standards and sustainable business practices.
Looking for more tips from our industry’s most successful, forward-thinking AE firm leaders? PSMJ has just released a complimentary ebook Here's How They Did It! Becoming Part Of PSMJ's Circle of Excellence.