If your A/E and environmental consulting firm is in a quandary about how to manage business data, at least you won’t have to worry about feeling lonely. The challenge of effectively coordinating and integrating business information systems can be as much of an ice cream headache for a 5,000-person firm as it is for a 15-person studio.

Disjointed databases appear to be at the heart of the challenge. If your firm’s marketing, HR, project planning, resource planning, and accounting information resides in separate files that are supposed to be linked but aren’t, it might be time for a change—today’s technology gives you an ability to integrate and share this information in a single- source, company-wide database.

Here are a few questions to ponder when considering your technology options:

What do you really need? Right or wrong, price is always a primary consideration when it comes to technology investments, so pay close attention to what the vendors offer. What features do you truly need and what features will you never use?

What level of technology is appropriate? How easily can the technology be distributed to the user groups? Is it “ClickOnce” technology (enables the user to install and run a Windows application by just clicking a link in a web page), a strict web application, or older windows-based technology? And what about the timing? Is it smart for your firm to make a technological jump right now? Maybe it is if your firm’s vision is to grow aggressively. But keep in mind that a migration to new technology will change the work environment—everything from how to access the system to the phone set-up will likely be impacted.

Can you integrate existing data into the new system? You have your great new software, but what do you do with the information in all of your legacy systems? Make sure your vendor or consultant can and will help you with the conversion. If you don’t get the databases converted in a reasonable amount of time, it puts you in a quagmire and everyone ends up disappointed. You certainly don’t want to put off the data conversion until “later”. You’ll get busy again and there will be no time to convert the old data—and your return on investment will be reduced.

Don’t get wound around the axle trying to finding the perfect solution. Often times it doesn’t exist—it’s usually too pricey or the technology means a significant change in investment (the new technology you select ends up requiring three more servers to function, for example). If you can find a good solution with a good price, move on it. The key is to shop around and educate yourself on your options. Understand there is a lot of work in that as well, but finding the right management information technology solution for your firm will be well worth the effort.

Do you have questions about your next technology move? Drop us a line!

Crank Up Your Marketing Machine. Now.
- MARK GOODALE

In either case, the temptation for leaders of A/E and environmental firms to go soft on marketing can be strong. In firms where capacity to produce the work is still the fundamental constraint, winning a big, new project can often be considered a crisis as much as a success. But for other firms, now that the feast of recent years has turned to left-overs and in some cases outright famine, slashing marketing budgets might be seen as the only rational course to take.

Here’s my suggestion. First, if you are among the fortunate firms that continue to grow, re-commit to marketing and step hard on the gas pedal. This economy is going to continue to shudder as long as energy prices continue to spiral upward, so wresting market share away from the competition should be your primary focus for the next 12-18 months. If you are among the have-nots, do everything you can to make your marketing efforts hyper-efficient and effective, and search for other opportunities to cut costs. If your plan is to wait it out, you’ll take a beating.

Whether your business is growing, retreating, or somewhere in between, here are a few marketing suggestions to consider:

1.  Centralize your client information. There are plenty of options available for firms of all sizes to consolidate and build up their client intelligence bank, ranging from integrated software solutions like Deltek, Clearview, BST Global, and Axiom, to hosted CRM solutions like ConnectWise and Salesforce. Given the available technology today, there really is no reason to have client information scattered about in rolodexes, individual Outlook databases, and worst of all, people’s memories. Having all of this critical data in one place allows you to institutionalize it, build upon it, and connect with a wider audience.

2.  Go Green—E-marketing. E-marketing is cost-effective (no printing or postage costs), easy to track, and easier on the environment. On-line list management services like Constant Contact, Campaigner, Email Publisher, iBuilder, and Listserve Maestro allow you to customize targeted e-marketing campaigns. You can also generate reports on critical statistics like who and how many people view your marketing messages, which pages they visit on your web site, and how long they view your content. This kind of intelligence can help you figure out what’s working and what’s missing the mark.

3.  Increase outreach—and bring value to every encounter. The above two points not withstanding, the A/E and environmental consulting business is still based on relationships. Building them requires personal outreach, whether it’s staying in touch with past clients or introducing your firm to potential clients. To do this effectively, make it a point to bring value to every encounter. Turn cold-calls into warm calls by first writing a personal letter to your network of contacts with your thoughts and opinions on what matters most to them and their business. Or simply email articles of interest to your client to let them know you are watching out for them. And certainly equip yourself for any phone or in-person meeting with information, expertise, and insight a past or prospective client can use. This is a far more effective approach than reciting a laundry list of what your firm does and following up with the obligatory question, “So, do you have any work for us?” Ultimately, you want to become a valuable resource for any prospect—a connection they will actively seek and value.

4.  Enhance the client experience. Creating a superb experience for existing clients is just another form of marketing. And in just about every client perception study we’ve done for A/E and environmental firms, we find that their clients are not afraid to change service providers if the client experience falls short of expectations. One way to manage client expectations throughout a project is to provide weekly project status updates to the external project team. A half- page memo that summarizes the progress to date, new goals for the upcoming week, and any issues the client should know about is a great way to improve the client experience.

Smart marketing can either dig you out of a hole or help you keep momentum going in the right direction. Don’t neglect it!