Right or wrong, many clients perceive architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms as equally technically competent. Although you may disagree with this perception, it can drive a prospective client's reality when deciding which firm to work with. Given this challenge, how can a firm differentiate itself from its competitors (beyond the promises of a facility/solution/end product that will meet the client's needs)?

A firm's project delivery process — what it's like to work with your firm — can be a huge differentiator. The project delivery process encompasses a number of vital skills and attributes:

• Responsiveness
• Attention to detail
• How well your firm keeps its word
• The quality of your firm's deliverable
• The ability to demonstrate that your firm has the client's overall best interests at heart (versus completing the defined scope on time and within the budget — there's a big difference!)

But short of a prospective client hiring your firm, how can you convey what it would be like to work with your firm? The answer: the business development process. I've always believed that the business development process is a proxy for project delivery. How you respond to and treat your clients and prospects during the business development process speaks volumes for what it would be like to work together on a project.

Your firm's business development process may be the most important differentiator between your firm and its competitors. It can mean the difference between winning and losing a project. Building relationships and developing business is a very individualistic process (there is no one-size-fits-all recipe that works for everyone). Nevertheless, there are specific strategies (some are attitudinal, while others are skill-based) that your staff can employ, no matter what role they play in the business development process:

• View the business development process as an opportunity to build a mutually-beneficial relationship based on trust, rather than a means to win a project and keep people busy.
• Respond to all inquiries within 24–48 hours. (And if you're unavailable, make sure a designate in your firm is.)
• Thoroughly research prospective clients before you meet with them. Useful resources include your colleagues, trade publications, D&B reports, and their web sites (particularly the news and media release sections, if they exist).
• If you don't know the answer to a question, say so and promise that you or a colleague will re-contact them shortly — and then follow through. (Admitting that you don't know the answer to something can be extremely difficult for a design professional.)
• Demonstrate a genuine curiosity for what makes your clients tick, what needs they have, and how your firm can make them more successful.
• Ask provocative, inquiring, open-ended questions to learn more about your client's universe. Then (and only then) provide specific information about your firm and the benefits it provides in the context of their needs.
• Listen to a client's questions and responses with "a clean slate" — suspend preconceived notions and solutions.
• Provide complimentary advice, resources, and/or industry best practices during the business development process. Doing so will demonstrate that you have your client's best interest at heart (vs. trying to land a job). The flip side of this is demonstrating the business acumen to recognize when you've passed the point of a bit of free advice and have begun tackling the client's scope.
• Stick to your word! If you tell someone you'll call them or e-mail an article on a particular day, then do so — this is the most basic litmus test for whether you'll be trustworthy during a project.
• Don't go it alone! Exposing potential project team members during the business development process has the dual benefits of demonstrating a collaborative approach and mentoring younger professionals in the art of relationship-building. (Just make sure that there's no confusion about the primary point of contact.)

In a world where too many design firms look and sound the same, the business development process provides the ideal opportunity to build the vital connections and relationships that can give your firm the winning edge.

Friedman & Partners is a marketing and management consulting firm serving the U.S. and Canadian A/E/C and environmental consulting industries. Our niche is in crafting and implementing growth strategies through:

• Market research
• Strategic market planning
• Business development consulting and training
• Mergers and acquisitions assistance
• Organizational and leadership development consulting