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By Jeff Adams | The real work in AEC M&A begins after closing, where integration turns a transaction into sustainable growth and value.

By Mark Zweig | High-performing skeptics can sharpen decisions or quietly poison culture – the difference lies in how leaders engage them.

By Matt Cooper | Software should reduce friction, surface better information sooner, and free people up to do higher-value work.

By Michael DiOrio | Modern AEC firms win by connecting specialized systems intelligently, choosing APIs or stored procedures based on performance, scalability, and integration needs.

By Matt Cooper | These firms often rely on few clients, multitasking staff, and undocumented processes, creating volatility, inefficiency, and growth challenges.

By Mark Zweig | Is your firm one that commands top fees and thrives, or one that will struggle to compete and keep up?

By Matt Cooper | In 2025, faster firms win – optimize key processes from proposal to payment to stay competitive in AEC.

By Fred Smith | AI-driven conversational interfaces offer leaders instant, data-driven insights, streamlining decision-making for enhanced efficiency and profitability.

By Kristin Kautz | AI assistants empower personalized and effective support that will save time and money, and enhance creativity and quality.

By Mark Zweig | Entrepreneurial firm owners understand that marketing is an off-balance sheet long-term investment in the firm’s future.

By Mark Zweig | When used consistently, this strategy will allow you to grow faster, raise fees, shed bad clients, and ramp up your pipeline of job candidates.

By Mark Zweig | Your CRM should be a major asset for your firm, but you have to make sure your people are using and updating it.

Zweig Group is excited to announce the addition of Keith Sequeira in the role of Director of Data Analytics, and Ying Liu in the role of Strategy Advisor, to the team.  Keith is a collaborative...

By Mark Zweig | Most firms in this business still struggle to get their people to do their timesheets and turn them in – but there could be a simpler way.

By Mark Zweig | The payoff is a more valuable company that is healthier and provides more opportunities for its employees.

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to take a good hard look at what everyone in your business is doing for you.

By Katie Batill-Bigler | Set a tone firmwide to recognize the valuable work that’s done by people in every role at your firm – not just your technical staff.

By John Bray | There are a few things you should consider as you expect to receive an offer for your company from a prospective buyer.

By Lucas Hayden | Unanet’s inaugural AEC benchmarking study reveals the data-management practices that separate the best firms from the rest.

Lucas Hayden is product marketing director with Unanet, a leading provider of ERP and CRM solutions purpose-built for government contractors, AEC firms, and professional service firms. Unanet is also a presenter at Zweig Group’s 2021...

By Christina Zweig Niehues | It’s important for firms in all stages of growth to invest in marketing and continue to plan for the future.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | Firms need to devote resources toward business development and ensuring a steady stream of work for the future.

Develop a muscle memory around follow through and follow up to get ahead in the business development game.

By Chad Coldiron | Over the last 12 months, firms have been forced to rapidly adjust how they approach many workplace strategies – including recruitment strategies.

We don’t know what this year will bring, but by focusing on existing relationships and building stronger relationships, we can ensure long-term success.

By Mark Zweig | Many owners fail to understand how much value they can create in their companies if they make the right decisions.

When firms encourage a hybrid role between business development and sales, the result is often improved collaboration throughout the firm.

Founder of edg (New York, NY), a technology-driven firm that leverages the power of software and equipment to deliver higher quality projects in less time.

Growth and relationship management software turn marketing into the catalyst for growth: The four best practices for winning marketing teams.

There are plenty of tell-tale signs your AEC firm needs a set of third-party experts to help you achieve your goals.

The process must be deliberate and multifaceted, but don’t forget the human touch. Be yourself and enjoy finding clients that reflect your values. Recently, I had a conversation with a very busy, newly promoted division...

COO of Aguirre & Fields, LP (Best Firm Multi-discipline #27 for 2018), a 120-person engineering firm based in Houston. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “If you haven’t started planning for ownership transition, you’re behind and you...

By Christina Zweig Niehues | AEC credentials are necessary for the work of designing and building, but that’s not the case regarding firm management and ownership.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | A larger client database, higher shortlist rates, and measurable metrics. Yes, marketing is expensive, but it’s a good place to spend a bit of gold.

Non-creatives have to understand and respect what marketers do, or we run the risk of demotivating those who are critical to our success. A recent study by InSource reported that “Creative professionals are being asked...

CEO of Sullivan Engineering (Hot Firm #89 for 2017), a 20-person building envelope consulting firm based in New York, New York. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “We strongly reward autonomy and encourage each other to make...

Successful business planning isn’t about having a crystal ball. It’s about a culture that discusses goals, actions, and results on an open and regular basis. The end of one year and the beginning of a...

There’s always something nice about a new year. It’s a fresh start. It’s time for a new plan. The accounting starts all over at zero. Let’s get going! Here are my thoughts: Org structure. Do...

Keeping up with the latest and greatest in marketing is tough, but it’s easy to see what techniques need to be left behind. If you’re still doing the same kind of marketing you were doing...

The ‘next big thing’ in marketing and business development is not a piece of software, but the people behind it. I recently provided a day-long marketing and business development consultation for a very well-known niche...

Voice activation is coming to customer relationship management, and if you adopt it, you’ll save time and succeed. We spend a lot of time talking to our gadgets these days. Whether we’re seeking directions from...

We all have them and need them, but do we treat them right, and are we getting as much work out of them as we should? Trying to get work in the door can be...

Customer relationship management has changed over the decades, but some things have remained the same: currency, correctness, consistency, and completeness. Walkmen were all the rage, cell phones were the size of eggplants, and Whitney Houston’s...

There’s a critical set of benchmarks you need to measure so you’ll know what works, what doesn’t, and how to be more effective. Zweig Group’s 2016 Marketing Survey found that 27 percent of A/E/P and...

Make your marketing count. Here are seven marketing metrics you need to be tracking. Revenue/Sales goals: While not exactly a measure of your firm’s marketing success, revenue or sales goals should be the cornerstone of...

President and one of the founding partners of San Diego-based Rincon Consultants, Inc. (Hot Firm #35 for 2016), a 115-person environmental planning and engineering firm. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Mike Gialketsis shares his insights on...

Philadelphia firm undertakes huge effort to improve CRM, update brand, and otherwise remain ahead of the curve. For Pennoni (Hot Firm #48 for 2016) marketing “success” can be viewed in a variety of ways –...

Outdated or “dead” contacts are a real problem for any company that has a marketing program that uses a CRM or Client Relationship Management System. CLICK HERE TO UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFO WITH US The...

Your firm’s list of contacts is critical to your marketing activity, and it can have a tremendous monetary value, too, so make it a priority. This industry is still doing a poor job of building...

Your firm’s list of contacts is critical to your marketing activity, and it can have a tremendous monetary value, too, so make it a priority. This industry is still doing a poor job of building...

Creating a hybrid seller-doer team comprised of business development people and technical experts is a good way to win new work. As few as 25 years ago, our industry relied almost exclusively on relationships as...

Your firm’s list of contacts is critical to every marketing activity, and it can have a tremendous monetary value, too, so make it a priority. This industry is still doing a poor job of building...

Did you know? Marketing trends are discussed by only 40% of A/E firms during marketing meetings. Marketing departments are becoming increasinly responsible for tracking all marketing/sales related data. From 1997 until last year, the percentage...

Here's another snip-it from the 2nd Edition of Successful Project Management by Ernest Burden. Many project managers are more comfortable with the technical side of the business. The marketing hat that firms are now asking...

Five ways to increase your digital footprint in branding and recruiting the best and brightest in 2015. As we approach the end of 2014, I’m amazed at how much has changed in such a short...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (Jun. 2, 2014) –Zweig Group is proud to announce Bentley Systems, global leader in software solutions for architects, engineers, geospatial professionals, constructors, and owner-operators, as the Gold Sponsor of the 2014 Hot Firm...

Mark Zweig offers five steps to keep your expanded departments happy and productive. When I started working in the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry in 1980, most companies in the business did NOT have a...

Press Release: March 15, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (March 15, 2011) — Seasoned marketing professional Debbie Frederiksen has joined ZweigWhite as Director of Marketing Consulting Services, boosting the firm’s stable of expanding consulting services to architecture,...

Debbie Frederiksen | Marketing Consultant | ZweigWhite Consulting Debbie Frederiksen’s career spans 17 years in the architecture / engineering / planning industry. After graduating from the University of Nebraska, she worked for a 10-person firm...

By Mark C. Zweig It’s funny how firms in our business— many of which have been around for 20, 30, 40 or more years— can get to a certain level and then start to let...

Let’s face it. People will come AND go. And they don’t always leave (voluntarily or otherwise) at the best time. Sometimes it really hurts! A critical client relationship may be injured or lost by a...

I just got back from ZweigWhite’s 2007 A/E Marketing Now Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was our biggest and best-attended marketing conference ever! My task was to open the show with a short talk...

While there have been some “experts” who’ve made names for themselves by bashing IT and saying it is, at best, a necessary evil, I completely disagree with them. There are so many ways IT can...

When we remade our Revolutionary Marketing newsletter into The Zweig A/E Marketing Letter, we had a simple idea. Cut the theory and direct the focus of our efforts to implementation. What can firms DO differently...

On the one hand, it would be easy to get negative and discouraged about the current business climate. The war efforts are dragging on with no clear end in sight. The Middle East, in general,...

Many firms are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that they don’t know how much to spend on marketing. On the one hand, it’s harder than ever to get work, there’s downward fee pressure resulting...

As the year winds down, it’s apparent that the majority of design and environmental firms are finishing up a year that wasn’t as good for them as 2001. Flattening out of growth coupled with a...