Articles/Publications

Marketing: Set Personal Goals and See Opportunities Arise
By Gary Pease, PE

Marketing is "anything and everything you do to create demand for your firm's services," according to a speaker at the recent ACEC/MA Emerging Leaders program. In my opinion, the most important word in this definition is the word "anything" because it is wide open. Every individual in an engineering firm — whether they're an emerging leader or not — has to define "anything" for themselves. Each company is unique and every person is different-with varying comfort levels and distinct goals. Each of us needs to look at the opportunities in marketing and see where there is a good fit. From my perspective as an extrovert (as extroverted as an engineer can get), this has some exciting possibilities.

For others to define their own possibilities, asking this question is worthwhile: What is the definition of marketing for a technical professional? The answer depends on who is asking the question and who is answering it. "It depends on what I have time for." "Technical people do their marketing by doing a great job technically." "I don't go to luncheons or events because I'm so busy doing 'real' work." "I try to take one person out each week and network with as many people as possible." Obviously, the range of answers to this question is huge. Which one best fits you?

To find your comfort level, base it partly on your position in your firm and think about what you like to do, evaluate what you want to do, and do a little bit of introspection. What are your strengths? Do you like writing technical papers, making presentations, meeting people at parties/events, joining technical committees, meeting with others to discuss current industry topics, playing golf with peers and clients, writing proposals, or working on spreadsheets/fee estimates? The list is endless. And each of these activities fits somewhere within a marketing program.

I started out as a technical engineer with no marketing background. I have no illusions that I have the answers or all of the insights, or know what's right for you at your firm, but I'd like to share some of my marketing experiences. I hope these experiences — with some suggestions thrown in — will help you determine your marketing role at your firm. Again, the key word is "ANYTHING."

How to Get Involved

Develop Relationships
My involvement in marketing began when I was in college, although I didn't know that was what I was doing. I met several people in college who have become clients and peers. I've learned that the relationships you develop throughout your career will come back in several ways — some of which will be very surprising. The way you work with others is very important, whether they are clients, friends, peers, or consultants. While working on several projects with the same client, try to develop a mutual respect with them at the least and a friendship at the most. Do you have similar interests? Do you both have families? A personal interest and a friendship will last much longer than a business relationship. Obviously, you have to be careful about what is appropriate and who will reciprocate, but there must be someone you can think of who fits into this category. Repeat business with current clients doesn't take much effort if clients call you just by instinct. Those relationships are developing for you now, even though you might not realize it.

Contribute to Proposal Efforts
Every company prepares proposals. Like most junior marketers, I began working on proposals by being involved in the fee estimate spreadsheets. Then, as I got more involved in project work, I became more aware of when a proposal was in development and would offer to work on it. I learned very early that there are several important parts of a proposal that need attention. For instance, to develop the scope and assumptions, you need to understand how a typical project develops. To develop the fee, you need to understand the client/owner's scope and your role in the project, have some experience as to how long a project will take, and know the level of personnel appropriate for various tasks. At Nitsch Engineering , we prepare a lot of proposals for architectural clients. As I've become responsible for preparing them, I've learned that the proposal phase is a very good time to develop relationships with clients.

My first questions when preparing my first proposal was, "Where do I start?" My biggest problem when working on a proposal was, and still is, trying to find the right balance between getting into too many design details to determine the exact scope and defining the scope, in order to be confident that things wouldn't come back to bite me later. This balance comes with experience, and you have to know when to let go. I'm still working on this aspect.

Join Organizations/Attend Functions
I have attended several functions and have joined a few professional society committees. I like people, and I enjoy attending some of these functions. Being married with three kids makes it tough for me to attend a lot of evening events, but I try to find a few functions each quarter that are appealing, and I look for the events that take place during the day. At Nitsch Engineering, we meet on a regular basis to discuss what events are approaching. We discuss what potential clients will probably attend and who at Nitsch Engineering might be interested in going. We do the same thing with industry organizations. Nitsch Engineering became an affiliate member of the Boston Society of Architects (BSA), and I have joined a committee and attended several of their meetings. This has been an enjoyable way to meet people and even a potential client or two in a non-threatening way.

Make Presentations
I don't love making public presentations. Some people do. I have presented at a few trade shows, at committee meetings, at informal sessions with prospective clients, and in front of town boards. This can be a good way to establish credibility and to meet people as well. After a presentation I made at a BSA committee meeting, I received calls from architects that had been there who were interested in learning more about my firm. Getting feedback like this makes it easier!

Do a Good Job on Your Current Projects
There is no better way to market your firm than by doing a good job on your project assignments. Be sure to always treat your clients well. Be honest and communicate often with them when things are going well, but even more so when things are not going well. Take the time to be sure your projects are adhering to quality assurance/quality control procedures. Arrive early for your meetings, Don't make your client look bad in front of other people. It's amazing how much work develops from repeat clients and word-of-mouth when you do good work with your clientele.

Write/Present Technical Papers
I have not written many technical articles or made many technical presentations. Several people at my firm have presented at functions and authored technical publications. This seems to work especially well for those who tend toward the more introverted side of being and engineer and/or those who enjoy working on very technical topics or developing an innovative solution to a complex problem. If you see a little bit of yourself here, maybe writing technical papers or presenting at trade shows/conferences would be a way for you to get involved in marketing. Some people view this option as very easy, because they are so familiar with and interested in their subject matter. They also may feel that they are talking about something that must only be interesting to them. You might be surprised how interested other people are in what you do.

Attend Your Firm's Marketing Meetings
The marketing staff and principals should not be the only ones doing marketing for your firm. At Nitsch Engineering, every two weeks we have a marketing meeting that is open to the whole company. If your company's marketing meetings are open to you, go! When I first started attending marketing meetings, all I could think about was all of the technical work that I wasn't doing. That sometimes still happens, but as marketing becomes more important to what I'm doing, I've actually started bringing items of interest to the meetings, rather than just listening.

Discuss Marketing With Your Supervisor and the Marketing Manager
Another measure of your success at marketing is how open your firm is to your marketing ideas and whether your ideas and their ideas about what is appropriate will match. You may need to have a discussion with people at your firm about the company's current marketing/strategic plans, but the key for you as an emerging leader is to be proactive.

What You Can Do
The most important thing for you to do when contemplating how to get involved in the marketing efforts of your firm is to decide what's right for you. In most consulting engineering firms, marketing is an integral part of your progression and development within the firm. Most engineers don't even hear the word marketing until they enter the work world. Many engineers are reluctant to get involved in marketing because they see it as non-technical and unimportant to what they do day-to-day. Also, many engineers are more comfortable with numbers and problems than they are with people. However, someone has to market what you do…so it's there for you to do. The best person for that job is you.

My suggestions for your development in marketing are as follows:

  1. Acknowledge that marketing is and will be an important part of what you do;
  2. Express interest in doing marketing (talk to your supervisor, the marketing manager, etc.);
  3. Get involved in the activities mentioned in this article…or create your own ideas;
  4. Don't be afraid; and
  5. Just do it!

Published in Insights, The Quarterly Newsletter of the American Consulting Engineers Council of Massachusetts, Aug./Sept. 2000