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Wearing Three Hats

By Richard Staub On October 29, 2019 · Add Comment
As an architect you probably want to design. So having your own firm would only seem to increase the opportunities to create architecture. But the minute you become the boss, you take on extra responsibilities. You actually have to wear three hats:  architect, business person/marketer, and client expert. Presumably, the architecture part is welcome. But being a business person/marketer and client facilities expert? Perhaps not so much. Are you a natural? Some architects are natural business people and marketing experts. They are comfortable running a firm and all that it entails. And they’re at ease when it comes to developing [...]
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Wear Three Hats

By Richard Staub On October 29, 2019 · Add Comment
As an architect you probably want to design. So having your own firm would only seem to increase the opportunities to create architecture. But the minute you become the boss, you take on extra responsibilities. You actually have to wear three hats:  architect, business person/marketer, and client expert. Presumably, the architecture part is welcome. But being a business person/marketer and client facilities expert? Perhaps not so much. Are you a natural? Some architects are natural business people and marketing experts. They are comfortable running a firm and all that it entails. And they’re at ease when it comes to developing [...]
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The Necessary Steps to Strategic Success

By Richard Staub On May 30, 2019 · Add Comment
Every architecture firm has goals. They can range from increased visibility and entering a new market to winning better projects and greater income.  Of course such aspirations take time and work to realize, but are at the core of what will take your firm from just surviving to real success. But what are the basics of realizing these long-term, strategic goals? To start with, they should be ambitious and their success measurable. And their foundation should be a comprehensive vision for your practice that you’re committed to realizing. A vision that describes the firm in all its aspects – both [...]
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Marketing Magic

By Richard Staub On January 17, 2019 · Add Comment
Early in my consulting practice, a client asked me for the secrets of marketing, the hidden, special tricks of the trade that I rarely disclose – but would share with him. Another client was convinced that the secret to getting work was having a project published in the Wall Street Journal and that getting publicity was the way to win clients. And more personally, when I was a marketing novice, I would go to marketing seminars thinking I’d find out the secret sauce, as it were, of marketing.  No such luck. It was always information I’d heard before, but hadn’t [...]
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The Hunger for Substance

By Richard Staub On November 1, 2018 · Add Comment
Today there is a strong desire for the authentic and genuine. And that’s true of the companies and institutions who hire design firms. They want to work with firms of substance, that are trustworthy, bring an informed passion to what they do and will be good company on a project. “Realness” in all its aspects is the most important part of a design leader’s in-person exchanges with potential clients. That’s when the essence of a practice comes across directly. But think beyond that person-to-person meeting. Does your website support what’s real and authentic about your practice and value? Is it [...]
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Put Your Client’s Perspective First

By Richard Staub On July 24, 2017 · Add Comment
Your website is where you offer your architecture firm’s credentials and demonstrate why you’re worth a client’s consideration. We’ll take it as a given that you have the relevant experience, understanding, staff and approach. So it’s just a question of making clients intrigued about your firm and wanting to know just how able you are to realize their project vision. But that’s assuming potential clients – such as educators, retailers, developers, heads of facilities, etc. – are your target audience. My sense is that architects often have another audience mind – fellow architects. For example, what client’s primary concerns would [...]
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The Client’s Investment

By Richard Staub On May 23, 2017 · Add Comment
Let’s go straight to the bottom line. That every architecture project involves a financial investment. That the client will want the best possible return on that investment and the best possible experience in realizing it. That finally, whatever the project, the client will select the firm which it feels is most likely to deliver on the dollars spent.  And this is true whether the project is a hospital, an office for a tech start-up, a K-12 school addition, a mixed-use high-rise or a museum. So how do you convince a client that you will deliver the best return on its [...]
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Creating a Marketing Culture

By Richard Staub On March 15, 2017 · Add Comment
In every architecture practice there’s a potent force that can help promote the firm and win new clients, the professional staff. Consider the investment your design professionals and other staff members are already making in the firm, their commitment to the success of each project and, by extension, to the success of the firm. Why not make the most of that energy and cultivate a firm-wide marketing culture that empowers them to help bring in work. Their contributions will, of course, vary as will their skill and interest.  But it’s in the firm’s interest to discover what each person is [...]
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Do You Want Clients or Projects? It’s Not a Trick Question

By Richard Staub On December 5, 2016 · Add Comment
Do you really want clients? Not projects, but clients. I’m asking because when I hear a design firm principal ask “How do we get more RFPs,” warning bells go off. It’s the wrong question – and the wrong goal – if your firm wants to succeed. Just getting more RFP’s very likely won’t produce the results desired. And simply submitting more proposals doesn’t increase your odds of getting work. Consider that some of your competitors are already building relationships with the clients who’ve published those RFPs. They’ve taken the time to get to know the clients’ concerns and ambitions. They’ve [...]
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Your Passion Can Win Clients

By Richard Staub On February 3, 2016 · Add Comment
I often think about how architects can engage potential clients. How willing are designers to fully enter the world of their clients and their aspirations and needs. And have they created a world of possibilities and solutions that will intrigue the client? Which brings me to Cindy Holland, VP for original content at Netflix, and how she selects what original shows to produce. In a recent NY Times video interview, she said that what attracts her is a great idea, coming from someone who’s passionate about their story and can create a world that people want to spend time in. [...]
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