Search results

By Scott Butcher | Despite capacity challenges, AEC firms still rely on seller-doers because complex projects reward expertise at the first client interaction.

By Mark Zweig | In the AEC business, recruiting isn’t just about finding people; it’s about becoming the kind of firm people want to join.

By Scott Butcher | AEC firms use seller-doers, business developers, or both, and the best model depends on buyer preferences and firm capabilities.

By Mark Zweig | There are nine reasons why selling your firm to the right buyer can strengthen opportunities, stability, and growth for your people.

By Mark Zweig | If you want people to work harder, hire the ambitious, lead by example, and reward real performance.

By Mark Zweig | In a relationship-driven business, clients hire people they know and trust — not just the firms they represent.

By Mark Zweig | Don’t take a cavalier attitude toward potential disaster, but recognize that experimentation is essential for building a growing, successful company.

By Mark Zweig | Winning big design projects requires strategy, preparation, credibility, and connecting authentically with decision-makers to secure long-term success.

By Mark Zweig | Implement these specific strategies to set the stage for your firm’s long-term growth and success.

By Mark Zweig | LinkedIn is just one tool in your marketing arsenal, but it can be powerful when used consistently and strategically.

By Will Swearingen | Selling your firm requires early, intentional prep to maximize valuation, avoid risks, and ensure successful transition.

By Mark Zweig | Success comes from bold, consistent marketing efforts that push visibility, build trust, and attract high-quality clients.

By Brad Wilson | This event is a catalyst for honest conversation, shared wisdom, and renewed focus on ownership, governance, and the future of the industry.

By Chuck Miller | Selling requires building credibility, showing up consistently, and proving that you’re in it for the long haul.

By Mark Zweig | Firms with owners who really understand how powerful this idea is don’t do things like all the other firms in our business.

This episode of the Zweig Letter Podcast dives into the journey of founding the John R. McAdams Company in 1979 by John R. McAdams himself. He discusses the company's initial funding, the deliberate planning, and...

By Mark Zweig | Having little understanding of banking could result in missed opportunities for growth or thorny problems that could put your firm out of business.

By Mark Zweig | Success in AEC hinges on guiding clients toward actions that align with their best interests.

By Matt Verderamo | By controlling three key moments in every sales meeting, you can launch yourself from amateur to professional and close more work.

By Mark Zweig | Successful mergers and acquisitions require an entrepreneurial mindset focused on growth, branding, and value creation.

By Mark Zweig | Limited office interaction, unclear business plans, and overly structured communication can prevent employees from understanding the firm’s big picture.

By Ezequiel Tovar | These are vital instruments for AEC companies to ensure smooth transitions and business continuity.

By Mark Zweig | Here are some ways your CEO could be even more helpful to your company than they already are.

By Mark Zweig | Firm owners should consider adding key employees to ownership for motivation, transition planning, and financial strength – before it’s too late.

By Mark Zweig | So many firm owners in our industry could do even better for their people and themselves, and build real value, if they were more entrepreneurial.

By Mark Zweig | At some point leadership has to take action and act like leaders versus just talk a good game.

By Mark Zweig | Exploring common questions – and their answers – from firm leaders about the buying and selling process.

By Mark Zweig | We all need new challenges, variety in our daily routines, and to see tangible results from our efforts to be fulfilled.

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 | LLCs are often ill-suited for growing AEC firms, leading to legal entanglements and hindrances later on.

By Mark Zweig | What owners and managers of AEC firms should be thinking about and doing as we plow headfirst into 2024.

By Lindsay Young | Business development should be a collaborative effort in AEC firms, with all employees, even technical experts, playing a role in identifying opportunities.

By Leisbel Lam | We need to be holistic, bold, and nimble in order to transform our organizations to better align with a service culture and gain a competitive advantage.

By Mark Zweig | These are some of the characteristics of people who bring out the best in us and steer us to the “right path” for business and personal success.

By Mark Zweig | This advice isn’t hard to follow; it just takes some conscious effort and a little discipline.

By Mark Zweig | These are the practical implications of defining the culture you want and then making that a reality.

By John Watkins | Great partnership between groups inside and outside the firm don’t just happen on their own.

By Mark Zweig | If you don’t want your people or yourself to be judged unfairly, there are a few common problems that must always be avoided.

By Mark Zweig | Companies in this industry could be more successful if they spent more time on writing better fee proposals.

This report details some of the biggest trends and movements regarding M&A activity in the AEC industry as of the end of Q1, 2023.

By Mark Zweig | You can learn something from every new experience, so don’t lose the sense of curiosity and wonder you had as a kid.

By Mark Zweig | Doing so will help you organize your thinking, present and preserve your work, and give you more credibility with your client base.

By Mark Zweig | As a business owner, people problems will probably be at the top of your “problems/opportunities” list.

By Will Swearingen | When looking to sell your firm, failing to prepare could result in you missing great opportunities when they’re right in front of you.

By Mark Zweig | This could greatly impact your firm’s ability to grow and adapt to a changing environment.

By Mark Zweig | The future will be here before you know it, so there is no time to delay your ownership transition planning efforts.

By Mark Zweig | It’s time to turn your firm’s HR upside down and make some big changes to your policies and practices.

By Russell Moorehead | Tips to help you get more comfortable with meeting people, building relationships, and winning work.

By Mark Zweig | Seven good reasons to look at implementing a market sector-based organization structure in your firm.

By Mark Zweig | Only a small number of people really get the idea that building a business is not a sprint – it’s an endurance race. It is all about who can last the...

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

By Mark Zweig | We create much of our own good luck – and a lot of that comes down to understanding probabilities and doing things that increase our odds for success.

By Mark Zweig | Saying you want to buy another firm in this business is one thing – actually doing it is another.

By Mark Zweig | Firms that can quickly fill any opening with excellent people have a major advantage over their competition in any market.

By Mark Zweig | How can we each achieve the lofty and satisfying position of knowing we have made a difference through our work in this business?

By Mark Zweig | If you’re trying to buy or thinking about buying another company in this business, here are a few things that may be helpful to you.

By Mark Zweig | The leadership abilities of you firm’s principals and managers will determine your collective success this year.

By Mark Zweig | Marketing starts with identifying who your target clients are. Your entire business needs to be focused on them.

By Will Swearingen | Don’t let the concept of treasury stock cloud your transition strategy.

By Mark Zweig | “Sometimes I think it is good to reflect back on all the lessons I have learned over the years. Here are a few that stand out to me.”

There are countless ways to develop business without being a business developer, and you are most likely doing some of these things already.

By Mark Zweig | When people are demotivated they become negative and cynical, and can pollute the attitudes of their co-workers. And if they’re really demotivated, they may quit.

By Mark Zweig | If we care about the success of our people and our businesses, we cannot keep ignoring the importance of people skills.

By Mark Zweig | Are you doing what you really should be for your business right now? Or are you just floating along on a sea of uncertainty, afraid to move or you’ll turn over your...

By Mark Zweig | Getting on the phone right now may be the single most important thing you can do to bring in new work.

“To maximize your chances for success, remember you are in the consulting business. Keep these points in mind as you guide the growth and development of your business.”

“If you have lofty ambitions for the growth of your firm, but aren’t exactly sure of what you need to do to accomplish it, here is my best advice.”

Believing in your value is the first step to success in winning on value. The next step is to walk away when clients don’t fit your new standards.

“The companies that really make an effort to understand and embrace basic marketing knowledge will continue to grow and prosper regardless of the markets they serve.”

“Top management is largely responsible for HR’s ineffectiveness on many levels in the typical A/E firm.”

“For those of you running A/E firms – if I were you, I’d focus on recruiting in 2020.”

“I used to be addicted to social media … So I stopped. Today, I still use social media, though only for business purposes.”

In an M&A deal, the seller’s professional liability insurance for legacy projects will likely come into play. Deal with it early on.

“We need everyone’s talents. And we especially need those with a tremendous amount of experience, contacts, and proven skills.”

President of JCJ Architecture, a local, national, and global architecture, planning, and interior design firm based in Hartford, Connecticut.

Ownership transition is a complex and ever-changing problem for the majority of AEC firms. No two firms are alike – so no universal formula or methodology will work in every situation. Creators of internal ownership...

“Are you missing out on this valuable knowledge in these or any other areas that it is needed? If so, amend your evil ways and make better use of your marketing talent!”

“It’s a debate that’s been ongoing for years in our industry, thanks in no small part to the popularity of Good to Great, an academic study of huge, publicly-traded corporations and other organizations.”

If your firm uses a doer-seller business development model, empowering your team is necessary for their success and your bottom line.

“Even if you don’t apply it to your business, knowing probabilities of success will at least keep you from buying scratch tickets or blowing your cash in a slot machine at a casino somewhere!”

By John Bray | It’s easy to send texts and emails, but to make a great and lasting impression, frequent phone calls throughout your network are essential.

“Right now, at the start of the new year, is a great time to be selling. Organizations of all types, public and private, have new plans and new budgets to go along with them.” Right...

As it relates to the AEC “industry,” we all should know by now that those who can sell a lot of work are the people who rise to the top of their firms, have the...

It’s hard to believe that in this market there are still design professionals who don’t feel fairly compensated for what they do – especially when compared to other professionals. While I don’t think the $200K+...

Gaining access to executives is not easy, but there’s plenty of opportunities to show value, establish credibility, and, in the end, make the sale. The most effective way to gain access to CXOs is through...

You know, the A/E and environmental consulting business has always been driven by the technical and design professionals who do all the billable work. These are the people who toil away on client projects that...

All of us in the A/E/P business are consultants. Sure, we are either engineers or architects or planners or surveyors or designers – but we are also consultants. I have been studying consulting firms and...

Some say that Project Management is a science. We're not sure about that but here are some simple things you can do to be the best Project Manager you can be! Find out what the...

As great as business is right now for most AEC firms, believe it or not, there are still some out there struggling. Struggling to grow, struggling to make a profit, struggling to be successful. If...

One of the problems pretty much everyone in the A/E business has is finding enough people who can not only do their technical or design work but also can do the “business” aspects of our...

Besides the fact that an external sale will typically provide the greatest financial return for A/E owners who want to transition out of their firms, a solid majority of principals still prefer internal ownership transition....

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...

A lot of what people call “cheese” these days really isn’t. When you’re talking about Kraft Singles, or Velveeta, for example, you aren’t talking about cheese. You are instead talking about “pasteurized, processed cheese food.”...

Digital is critical, but don’t fixate on having an army of followers. Instead, use social channels to build your brand equity. What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?...

Here is the full transcript of a great conversation that we had with Mark Zweig. He gave us a history lesson on AECWorkforce and the importance of an effective job board for the Design and...

Here is the full transcript of a great conversation that we had with Mark Zweig. He gave us a history lesson on AECWorkforce and the importance of an effective job board for the Design and...

Subscribe to The Zweig Letter for free to receive business management advice from industry experts to your inbox every week! If your marketing people are writing proposals, then they’re selling, not marketing. You need to know there’s a...

This is the second installment of the Modern Marketing for the AEC Industry series. Click here to read the first installment. What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?...

Don’t expect your PMs to be great leaders just because they are competent professionals. They need training and practice to be effective. Like peanut butter and chocolate; peas and carrots; Bert and Ernie. Project management...

Sell your firm to recruits, don’t overburden them with a marathon interview process, and cover yourself if a candidate pulls a fast one. I recently finished a webinar series called Becoming a Better Recruiter. It...

In spite of an incredibly healthy economy and high demand for AEC services throughout the land, there are still individual companies out there that are struggling financially for one reason or another. And inevitably, since...

99 is a lot of problems, how about 9 common problems and some solutions. 1) Difficulty making a decision. Engineers too often really struggle with this one. There’s never enough information. Therefore, it is deemed...

At nearly 59, I don’t sleep so well. My mind doesn’t shut off. So much to think about. Here’s some of what is keeping me awake right now: You have to get the right people...

Editor’s note: Originally published June 22, 1996 I’ll come clean. It’s time to fess up and share how I feel about the state of the art in project management today for A/E/P and environmental firms....

AEC firms have a big problem. We wait for clients to tell us what THEY want or need and then we give them a proposal. That may seem perfectly normal to you. What’s wrong with...

The thought occurred to me that some of our readers could benefit from a few of the lessons I have learned over the years – both on my own and from observing/working with a lot...

The thought occurred to me that some of our readers could benefit from a few of the lessons I have learned over the years – both on my own and from observing/working with a lot...

If you want to groom the next generation of leaders, you’ll have to make sure your firm is changing with the times. I’m a millennial. Gasp! There, I said it. A lot has been made...

As a matter of personal “policy” and business philosophy, I don’t get into politics in these pages or any of the other publications or social media outlets used by me or my businesses. Just seems...

By Mark Zweig | Those who are called “principal” should be cognizant of several important aspects of their roles. Here are a few of them.

While it is widely acknowledged that hiring people is probably the single greatest challenge faced by AEC firms today – and the problem WILL get worse and worse over the next 20 years – we...

Your entire staff can sell the firm, and don’t forget, there’s no such thing as a completely internal role that doesn’t affect the brand. When it comes to business development, professional service firms typically have...

It’s time for a quick review of what firm leaders should – and should not – be doing. There are a lot of people with the “principal” title in A/E of environmental firms. But I...

We got a fax the other day from a firm that wanted to cancel four seminar registrations it had sent in just a couple weeks before. Evidently, the firm had hit on hard times, had...

Demanding a resume is a good way to scare off potential hires, but your chances improve if you pick up the phone and sell your firm. One of the biggest challenges facing the AEC industry...

Your ability to sell work is probably the most crucial skill you can have IF you really want to maximize your opportunities in the AEC world we all live in. Here are a few pointers...

Demanding a resume is a good way to scare off potential hires, but your chances improve if you pick up the phone and sell your firm. One of the biggest challenges facing the AEC industry...

Avoid these common M&A mistakes, which happen a lot when firms try to close a deal without the guidance of a seasoned pro. When we talk to sellers in this industry, we often find that...

Dear Christy, I have a son who is in engineering school. I'd really like to have him join our firm and eventually succeed me in running this business. How do you suggest I make that...

Troublemakers within a firm can do a lot of damage, especially if they are tolerated. Every firm has these people to some degree. The naysayers, the skeptics, and the gossips. These people are holding back...

By Mark Zweig | If you’re hiring people without these traits you’re doing a disservice to your firm.

Taking the time to get these 8 items in order might make all the difference when seeking a buyer for your business. A lot of us don’t want to plan for it. We don’t even...

Inspiration is necessary for technical/design professionals and those who manage projects to be successful. ​I’ve been saying for years that having two tracks – one for managerial and sales people, and one for design and...

When it comes to generating opportunities for your firm, the more, the better. Entrepreneurial architects and engineers all do one thing well – they create lots and lots of possibilities. The more possibilities, the greater...

Four items of political savviness can help ensure organizational newcomers are accepted and successful. A/E/P and environmental firms are in hiring-mode nationwide. This industry is booming, and we’re bringing on new people – some of...

Four suggestions from Mark Zweig that will result in more work than you can handle. It’s interesting to me to see how many architects, engineers, planners and environmental consultants really don’t understand marketing. Many either...

Build a better, more sustainable company with these suggestions from Mark Zweig. 2015 is shaping up to be a FANTASTIC year for firms in this business. It’s really fun to see how many firms are...

Five facts to consider during the recruiting process at your firm. Managing expectations in an executive search process can be a burdensome task. After all, you’re eager to quickly find that perfect new team member...

Mark Zweig lists some things he has learned about the A/E/P and environmental business over three decades. The end of August marked 34 full years working in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business. I have...

Mark Zweig expresses frustration about the mishandling of the sales process at design firms. It is a hard to manage the business development (BD) effort in the A/E and environmental consulting industry. To start with,...

Mark Zweig provides 10 tips how to treat potential new employees right. One of the things we do at ZweigWhite is a limited amount of executive search consulting. Most people don’t really understand that. They...

They sell themselves into the job but do little else, Mark Zweig writes. We have a big problem in the A/E/P industry. As good as most of our people are, after 34 years of working...

Look for ideas to simplify every single thing you do and the benefits will accrue, Mark Zweig writes. For those of you not aware of it, earlier this month ZweigWhite announced the combination of two...

Consider the unexpected in your next candidate search and you’ll be that much closer to winning the war for talent. Dwight Eisenhower made a statement once that bears repeating. He said: “Plans are nothing; planning...

The seller-doer model works best for design firms and Mark Zweig shows how you can do it in your firm. 2014 is going to be the year of the seller-doer for those of us working...

Four additional suggestions from Mark Zweig because the time is now. It’s here – the New Year. They keep coming faster and faster. It’s kind of funny to see the past futurists’ ideas about what...

The year is half over, so here’s eight things you can do now to improve performance, Mark Zweig writes. Time’s a-wastin’. The year is now approaching halfway (time flies, doesn’t it?). You cannot keep rationalizing...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 1002 Originally published 4/8/2013 There are many things you can’t control, but this one you can. Here are seven ways you can be...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 995 Originally published 2/18/2013 Sometimes it’s more about gut, patience, clarity and follow-up than just following recipes. You can talk all you want...

By Mark Zweig CEO, ZweigWhite We’ve had a rough three years. And although there have been some bright spots and encouraging moments, it could get a whole lot worse. I read one gloom and doom...

Press Release: July 5, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 5, 2011) –A large number of A/E/P and environmental firms have made the decision to leave “survival mode,” but how to increase sales and grow is a...

By Mark C. Zweig I may make many folks mad at me with this week’s editorial. But too bad. I never wanted to be one of those CONsultants who tells his clients what they want...

Press Release: April 5, 2011 Lack of Ownership Transition Plan Puts Design Firms in Peril FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (April 5, 2011) – A crisis could descend upon many design firms because aging baby-boomer owners have not...

By Jeff Clark Many firm owners are afraid to market their firms, for fear that once the word is out that they are for sale, their perceived value will go down and their staff will...

By Mark C. Zweig There is a lot of interest in buying and selling firms these days. We are even having six seminars/conferences on M&A this year. Our investment banking group at ZweigWhite has never...

By Hobson Hogan I recently attended a conference on alternative investments for asset managers and investors. The attendees were mostly representatives from large institutional investors, endowments, hedge fund managers, and corporate bankers. The conference focused...

By Mark C. Zweig I thought it might be fun to reflect back on my 30-plus years of working in this business and assemble a list of fundamental laws none of us can get around....

I have worked on a lot of presentations over the last 30 years— and helped sell everything from seismic retrofitting for the Golden Gate Bridge to a three-day design charette. Along the way, I have...

You can talk about training all day long but when it comes to management training, there is no substitute for having your managers train by example. Let’s look at some common problem areas in A/E/P...

There are lots of firms that feel stuck in the mud today. They’re just muddling along, treading water, at a break even at best. Some owners think this is a fine position to be in....

Selling is what everyone in the A/E or environmental business WANTS to do right now. I mean really— who doesn’t need more work? That said, selling is something that most firms don’t talk about much...

I was talking with an old acquaintance recently— a principal in a very successful international planning and design firm— about how things were going for him and his firm. In spite of some rocky times...

Probably no one warned you before you started your A/E/P or environmental consulting firm about the slipperiest of slippery slopes— one you don’t want to go down— that of not paying your bills on time....

Economic crisis or not, there’s a lot of it going on these days— firms in our “industry” buying other companies— for a variety of reasons. And while there is lots of information out there on...

Breaking into new markets— you won’t find many more interesting (or timely) topics for those who run A/E and environmental consulting firms today. So many companies are either already attempting to or plotting to break...

Right now, a record number of senior owners of architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental firms are facing a serious question. Should they sell their firm— or not? It’s a question every entrepreneurial small business owner...

Yes— tough times are upon us. But that doesn’t mean any one firm can’t fight back and do well in spite of a weaker market. Marketing is a big factor in how well any one...

As the economy gets worse, and panic sets in amongst the management of too many A/E/P and environmental firms, mistakes will be made that are difficult to recover from. I’m referring to decisions such as...

I just sold a house this past weekend that I have had on the market for quite some time— much longer than it usually takes me to sell one. This was a beautiful little 1925...

I can’t believe the lack of creativity shown by creative companies with respect to their recruiting. Most firms place ads, post openings on job boards, and hire headhunter/recruiting firms. Some firms pay recruitment bonuses to...

After 20 years of writing The Zweig Letter and its no-named, type-written predecessor, I feel like I know our readers. Most of you are architects, engineers, planners, and scientists. You (rightfully) consider yourselves professionals. Theoretically,...

When it comes to mergers and acquisitions of A/E and environmental firms, there’s so much misinformation out there. Common misconceptions abound, such as: You can’t sell a firm that isn’t profitable. Not true. Nearly every...

Architects, engineers, planners, and allied professionals by and large have a really hard time defining exactly who they want to sell their services to. The unfortunate truth is that most will sell their services to...

If you look at why most A/E firms just sort of muddle along, and yet a few are growing by leaps and bounds, you’ll find the “secret ingredient” in the growing firms’ recipe is often...

For my kickoff presentation at our eighth annual The Zweig Letter Hot Firm Conference and Awards Celebration in Boston last month, I decided to talk about the differences in entrepreneurial A/E/P firms from those that...

Since this issue is dedicated to mergers and acquisitions in the A/E/P and environmental industry, I thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned over the years about this subject. Mergers and acquisitions can work...

Much has been written on how to be a more effective seller— lots aimed at design professionals and much more written for other industries/professions. The problem with most of this stuff is the credibility of...

When I passed the baton to Dick Ryan as our CEO three years ago, it allowed me to move on and do some other things I have always wanted to do. One of those activities...

It is conventional wisdom that our companies are only “as good as the people we employ” and that “our greatest assets go home each night.” Over the years, I have heard literally thousands of owners...

We’ve been at this business for some time now— and have worked with hundreds of A/E/P and environmental firms whose principals wanted to sell. Unfortunately, we can’t help all of them— just those who will...

With this branch office special focus issue of The Zweig Letter, I thought I’d take the opportunity to answer some of the recurring questions I get on this topic. Tough questions and even tougher answers...

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...

I recently witnessed a transformation. An old-line A/E firm that had been on the decline for about four years decided they’d finally had enough. Their top management reallocated their energy and efforts to one thing—...

The year is barely underway, and I am already hearing complaints from A/E/P and environmental firm owners: It’s time to be more profitable! This will sound like a bold claim. But the truth is, I’ve...

I just got another of the many announcements that come through the ZweigWhite e-mail system today— one of our clients just bought/merged with/sold to another firm. We see so much of this that I barely...

Every year, after we announce the winners of The Zweig Letter Hot Firm List, we get contacted by other firms wondering why they are not on the list. It’s always one of two reasons: Either...

It’s time to call an end to something that there are entirely too many of in A/E/P and environmental firms everywhere— lazy marketing directors. I am talking about those marketing directors who do very little...

I’ve said it before. The standards— what we expect— from people who are supposed to sell the work to keep our staffs busy in our A/E and environmental firms— are woefully low. Forty calls a...

This is a question that I see the majority of principals of A/E/P and environmental firms wrestling with. Should they sell their firm to a larger company, get liquid, and ready themselves for the next...

When it comes to predicting the future of a successful A/E or environmental enterprise of any sort, what’s more important— the market conditions, the passion of the individuals leading it, or the unity of those...

Every single A/E or environmental firm in this country needs more people who can sell work. These people feed the rest of the firm, allow the owners to sleep at night, and are generally the...

We held our 2004 AEC Mergers and Acquisitions Summit at the Biltmore in Coral Gables, Florida, the first week in December. The food and accommodations were great, and the meetings were a success. As someone...

The folks at Deltek Systems, Inc. (Herndon, VA) have always claimed their market for software and consulting services was “project-driven businesses.” The truth is, the first time I heard that, I was skeptical. I wasn’t...

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...

Everyone in the A/E or environmental consulting business wants to turn their technical people into sellers. Not a week goes by that the desire to do this isn’t mentioned to me by someone in this...

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,...

While I can’t be bound by convention and from this point forward be forced into matching my weekly missive with the focus of other articles in The Zweig Letter, this week’s issue got me thinking...

Here’s one thing we can all agree on. No one likes a whiner. Complainers suck you down. They are depressing. And when they work in our firms in key roles, they are like a cancer....

More A/E/P and environmental firms than ever are seeing their businesses slow down and profits eroding away. We find the situation is rarely, if ever, hopeless. Any firm can stop this slide IF they want...

It’s popular to say that everyone in the firm needs to be able to sell the firm’s services. Heck, I’ve even said it myself at times. The problem is that not everyone can sell. It’s...

Ask a CEO or managing partner of the typical A/E/P or environmental firm what keeps him or her up at night and you know what you’ll hear? It probably won’t be “selling work” or “getting...

Though it happens on occasion, rarely do I work with the top management of a design or environmental firm who will come right out and say, “We don’t want to grow.” Most at least pay...

I don’t want to be negative nor schizophrenic. Sure, there was panic after 9/11, but the fact is our industry (overall) has been remarkably healthy since then. The data still looks good in many sectors....

Leroy Whiteside, president and CEO of Those Fabulous Architects, Inc., a 200-person firm based in Charleston, South Carolina, is a great guy. He is, in many ways, the archetypal design firm principal. He works 60...

If you look at the effect the events of September 11 had on everyone in this country, it’s really pretty amazing. The collective funk that ensued hurt businesses of all types in an unprecedented way....

This week’s issue of The Zweig Letter is devoted to The Zweig Letter Hot Firm 2001 List. For me, this is what it’s all about— success. I love the Hot Firm focus and putting the...

Schweitzer, Rosenblatt, Tunick, and McBlarsky had just ended one heck of a run. The 250-person E/A firm had grown from 40 people to 250 over the past five years. And while it was undeniably exciting,...

If, like many firms, you have deferred maintenance on your marketing program because you’ve been too busy and it’s been too easy to get work, you might want to think about doing a marketing tune-up....

We’re talking to a lot of company CEOs who aren’t the least bit concerned about the effects a recession would have on their firms because they serve government clients. But my experience is, if the...

Everyone says they’re interested in it, and there are all kinds of articles out there on the subject. How to attract and keep an outstanding workforce is clearly on the minds of many principals and...

“What goes around comes around.” “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” “You reap what you sow.” “To get love, you need to give love.” These adages (and many more) all reinforce the thinking...

I’m bullish on this business. As a group of firms, we are doing better than ever. Revenue is up. Profits are up. And the projects are gratifying. It’s an ethical business. There are a lot...

I had a 56-year-old client say to me the other day that he just isn’t having any fun anymore. He wants to change his life, and he had decided to sell his firm so that...

The idea came to me at 3:50 p.m. on Sunday, January 2, 2000. It was a balmy afternoon here in the Boston area— temperatures in the 60s, sunny and bright. I took out my wife’s...

I have had a chance to work with a great number of firm leaders over the years. Some were incredibly effective people. Some were incredibly ineffective, too. When you look at the characteristics of those...

There’s a lot out there on management: books, articles, videotapes, newsletters, seminars, and more. Ditto for marketing. And negotiating. And project management. And leadership. There’s even a lot of stuff aimed exclusively at our audience—...

We talk a lot about marketing in The Zweig Letter. And we’ll continue doing so until we think all our readers have gotten the message about what it takes to really start using the knowledge...

While we’re big believers in building a brand name for your firm through a variety of means so your phone rings off the hook with new opportunities, we also know that somebody has to eventually...

As periodically happens, I have a number of issues I want to share with our readers, none of which merits an entire article. Here they are: There will never be true equality of the sexes...

The longer I have been involved with management of A/E/P and environmental firms the more convinced I am that the whole key to success lies in thinking long term. The sooner one comes to this...

Every single firm we deal with at Zweig White & Associates, Inc. could benefit from working on their hiring process. Everyone in the A/E/P and environmental business agrees that it’s hard to hire. Well here...

“The client will hire us because we have a long-standing relationship.” Don’t get too comfortable. Many firms take existing clients for granted. And when this happens, the deterioration in service quality is almost imperceptible (in...

Just ask anyone in this business— it’s damn difficult to hire good people today. And the situation doesn’t appear to be easing up. As long as this building boom continues, the competition for talent is...

The headline for this week’s editorial sounds like the title of a bad country and western song, but there’s a lot of truth in it. Maybe it’s human nature, but we don’t seem to appreciate...

The recent acquisition of Woodward-Clyde Group (Denver, CO) by URS Corporation (San Francisco, CA) is just one big deal among many, many other smaller deals that are going on weekly in the A/E/P and environmental...

“You’re only as good as your reputation.” Somebody wise must have said that somewhere along the line! It’s certainly true. When your reputation is good, the phone rings with new work opportunities, your competitors’ staff...

From my experience, I’d say that most owners and managers of A/E/P and environmental firms have forgotten that recruiting is selling. Instead of trying to create the best impression they can on every person who...

I CAN ADMIT IT. I haven’t always been entirely charitable to business development people in A/E/P and environmental firms. I’ve met too many of them who were too good on the golf course, too quick...

Goodness, how times change. Can you imagine what your reaction would have been five, or even three years ago, if a management consultant advised you to get out of the environmental consulting business and move...

You know, it drives me crazy when I hear some whiner complaining that you can’t make any money in the A/E/P or environmental consulting business. Sure, most people aren’t all that successful. The average firm...

This week, I thought I’d dedicate my column to answering some of the recurring questions we are asked about the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry. Here goes: Should salaried people be paid for overtime? I...

My daughter pointed out a great bumper sticker to me last weekend. It said “Stop Global Whining.” It got me thinking. With the state of the economy right now, it’s hard to understand how anyone...

One of the principals of a firm I have been acquainted with for a couple of years called the other day to tell me he had just left a board of directors’ meeting where they...

I had a revelation the other day: I don’t know of a single top manager in an A/E/P or environmental firm who is completely thrilled with every one of his or her partners, shareholders, or...

There is a lot of merger and acquisition activity today. It seems like just about everybody is looking to buy or merge with someone else. We’ve never seen a higher level of interest in acquisitions....

I gave a talk last week at a meeting one of our clients had for all their market sector leaders. This is a successful company that we do quite a bit of work for, and...

Mention “human resources management,” and too many principals and managers working in A/E/P and environmental firms will turn their noses up. They immediately associate it with benefits administration or eight-page performance appraisal forms, instead of...

We often run into firms that need help turning things around. The scenario usually includes some combination of the following: Principals/top managers who aren’t billable. Excess debt caused by poor collection of accounts receivable. Owners...

Every so often, it becomes necessary for principals and managers of A/E/P and environmental consulting firms to remind certain staff members that theirs is much more than a technical service business. It is a consulting...

We finally received notice a few weeks ago that Zweig White & Associates was selected for the Inc. 500, a list of the fastest-growing privately held firms in the U.S. It’s something we are certainly...

Management junkies— There is a whole cadre of “management junkies” out there working in A/E/P and environmental consulting firms. These are smart people. But as a friend-of-a-friend of mine, Tony Pirrone (an octogenarian Cadillac salesman)...

ONE OF OUR CLIENTS just hired a new marketing director. He’s a great guy— been in the business a long time— somebody with a firm handshake who makes friends easily. He can talk with anyone....

If I could give only one caution to principals of A/E/P and environmental firms, it would not be “grow slowly so you don’t over-expand and outstrip your managerial capabilities.” Nor would it be “watch every...

There really is something to the notion that you do your best work when you feel good about what you are doing. This is especially true when you are under stress. Any professional working in...

Most A/E/P and environmental consulting firm insiders would agree that we, as a group of companies, do not manage very well. I say that because if we did, we would not be an industry made...

Every firm in this industry must do four things to survive— sell work, do work, bill for work, and get paid for work. That’s it. If you ask me, architects, engineers, and environmental consultants (along...

Management people are usually critical of technical people for their lack of business knowledge. But having a business degree is no assurance you know any more than the average design or environmental consultant about how...

Twenty contacts per month! To know why we have a problem selling services in the A/E/P and environmental consulting business, look no further than the goals we lay out for our marketing and business development...

Anyone in the business of planning, architecture, land surveying, consulting engineering, or environmental consulting knows it’s tough. It’s hard enough just to survive, much less make money. The same goes for our business. We provide...

When it’s time to hire, most A/E and environmental consulting firms do a pretty good job defining their needs in terms of education, registrations, experience, and so forth. But they don’t do a good job...

We were talking in our office the other day about the “Big 6” accounting firms and their problems. One of our newest staffers just joined us from a Big 6 firm, and, believe me— those...

Have you seen the bumper sticker that says “Question Authority?” One thing is for sure— now’s the time to question conventional wisdom with respect to marketing A/E and environmental consulting services. Many of the experts...

No matter what the self-appointed experts are telling you, right now is a great time to buy a firm or to be acquired by or merge with another firm. But, like most things, it’s not...

We constantly get asked by principals in A/E and environmental consulting firms about what or where the next “hot markets” will be. It seems that these people have read about market life cycles in the...

With more than 40,000 architecture, engineering and environmental consulting firms in the U.S., most of which have less than 20 people, no one is going to tell me that design professionals aren’t entrepreneurial. If they...

It’s the time of year when you can’t reach anyone on the telephone, when important decisions seem to be postponed, and when, as one CFO who participates in our ZWEIG 100 index remarked recently, firm-wide...

What differentiates a “hot” firm from a “not-so-hot” one? In our experience, virtually all successful, marketing-driven A/E/P or environmental consulting firms are doing something that the mediocre firms are not. They’re developing a marketing process....

We’re convinced that 1993 is going to be a good year for the A/E and environmental consulting industry. No matter how bad the last few years have been, every single firm has the potential to...

Earlier this month, I was in Scottsdale for the Professional Services Management Association (PSMA) national convention— a worthwhile event that I encourage everyone to attend next year in New Orleans. I saw many old friends,...

After countless management consulting assignments involving turnarounds and strategic business planning for A/E and environmental consulting firms, it has only recently become clear to me why so many companies in this business don’t believe in...