By the time an RFP arrives, a firm may already have spent months getting to know the owner. The decision to pursue can still happen in a hurried meeting. Research is valuable earlier, when the firm has more room to choose where to build relationships and where to spend its energy.
Here are ten decisions that become more informed when AEC firms combine market data with direct client insight.
Where to grow. Compare demand by sector, geography, client type, and project stage before treating a national headline as a local opportunity.
Whom to know. Identify owners with relevant capital plans and learn who influences their decisions, including users, boards, and project partners.
What clients value. Ask clients where service has helped them and where communication, delivery, or expertise has fallen short.
How to position the firm. Test whether prospective clients understand the firm’s strengths and whether those strengths address a problem they actually face.
Which pursuits deserve a proposal. Examine the relationship, selection criteria, competition, project fit, and likely fee before assigning a team.
Which services to develop. Look for recurring client needs that the firm can meet well, then weigh the talent and investment required.
Where to partner. Learn which capabilities or local relationships a collaborator could add, and what each party would contribute.
How to allocate time. Compare opportunity size and timing with the cost of pursuing and delivering the work.
Why clients stay or leave. Use candid interviews and project feedback to find patterns that a satisfaction score alone may miss.
When to change course. Revisit the assumptions behind the plan as funding, client priorities, and the firm’s capacity change.
These decisions need not become ten separate research projects. Confidential one-on-one interviews can reveal details behind a client’s choice; a broader survey can show whether a pattern extends across a group. A disciplined pipeline review and a small set of reliable external sources round out the picture. The point is to ask a better question before producing another report.
Which of these decisions would you most want clearer evidence for this year? If one is on your firm’s agenda, reach out to Larisa to discuss what you need to know and the most useful way to find out.
Larisa Forester Gilday, CPSM, Assoc. AIA, is a principal consultant with Cameron MacAllister Group. With a background in architecture and an MS in Marketing, she advises AEC firms on market intelligence, marketing and business development, and strategic growth. Her perspective draws on dozens of market studies and hundreds of interviews with owners and industry professionals.