Marketing Change

Today I had a conversation with a few friends who are also marketers within the industry. During our conversation, we talked about the way people operate, both as marketers and as team members around us--that is, the engineers, architects, land developers, environmentals, etc. We discussed the perpetual plague of lacking business oriented teams within the AEC industry.

First and foremost one thing is certain: our services have become a commodity. There are more companies today than there were 20 years ago. A combination of technology, incentives and career extensions have caused more individuals to branch out of the corporate world and to open small firms. Technology, probably the most significant factor, allows for just about anyone to streamline workflow and processes from anywhere in the world.

Now, the interesting part is that once upon a time, things didn't use to be this way. Because there weren't as many highly technical, specialized and licensed architects / engineers out there--well everyone was getting a piece of the pie. Why put an emphasis on getting clients when they were just walking through your door? Today however, the market is flooded with options--and has caused two notable observations:

1. The client retains the negotiating power when he has a plethora of options on who to hire--he or she is in the driver's seat.
2. Moreso now than before it is evident that differentiation and performance consistency are crucial at winning clients and retaining a profitable business.

Because of these significant trends, I believe that the AEC industry will need to invest more heavily in the business oriented departments such as Accounting, Human Resources, Operations, Marketing, and Information Technology. The firms that do will see an instant impact within their businesses, how their run, and how they interact with the public and clients. This type of focus (along with the technical departments functioning in sync) will produce financial results worthy of sustainability. It will be these firms that will swallow and acquire the firms that ignore these business differentiated essentials.

Of course though--these are just my thoughts and predictions.

Change for the AEC Marketing Role

Happy 2008! Can you believe it? The years just keep flying by. I wish you and yours only the best in all the new year has to offer.

Now--back to blog issues. I've been doing a lot of thinking about how I might work to improve the quality of my blog. One of these ideas was to try writing month long topical series. I understand fully that it's nearly halfway through January, but nonetheless, I'd like to test it out by writing on the topic of change and attempting to put a handle on how we can come to terms and better define the marketing role for today's AEC industry.

As a brief introduction, I think that first and foremost, it should be understood that change is viral. Take the most recent caucuses in Iowa and New Hampshire. All it took was one victory for everyone to hop on the "change" bandwagon. The interesting thing is that while many people are advocates of following the change, few are bold enough to actually MAKE the change. Why? The risk. The humiliation. The ridicule. The conditioned human psyche makes us fearful of these things--fearful of failure.

On the flip side of this coin it should also be noted that therein lies a balance in every aspect of this world. Specifically with change, comes resistance. Like a parasite, each feeds off the other. Otherwise there would be no such thing as change.

Once we understand and accept this reality, then we can move forward to thinking on the most rational manner to act for or against it. I look forward to delving deeper into this subject, more specifically speaking about change in the way we market for the AEC industry. I hope you do too!