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

By Matt Verderamo | Our future depends on bridging generational gaps through mentorship, field experience, and modern leadership development.

By Sara Parkman | The top 2025 Marketing Excellence Award winners share how strategy, authenticity, and collaboration drive real AEC marketing impact.

Zweig Group, the leading provider of management consulting, research, and education for the architecture, engineering, and construction industry, is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Marketing Excellence Awards. This program honors outstanding and...

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

By Mark Zweig | AEC firms today still struggle with the same old organizational issues that undermine clarity, accountability, and leadership.

Zweig Group, the leading provider of advisory services, research, and education for the AEC industry, has released its 2025 Fee & Billing Report of AEC Firms. This definitive resource offers a clear picture of today's fee...

By Javier Suarez | Instead of trying to fix “the big problem,” we should handpick issues that we could have a decent chance of addressing successfully.

By Jane Lawler Smith | Marketing professionals are the unsung heroes of the AEC industry, driving synchronization, strategy, and success in securing projects.

By Mark Zweig | Start 2025 strong by reviewing your AEC firm’s marketing tools, including your website, email lists, signage, and more.

By Stephen Dominguez | Implementing these best practices will help your team get paid for their work and keep your project within budget and on schedule.

By Mailena Urso | Zweig Group’s Marketing Excellence Awards showcase top creative campaigns that elevate AEC industry branding.

By Jane Lawler Smith | Creating non-traditional peer groups allows AEC marketers to gain fresh perspectives and enhance creativity.

By Sara Parkman | Zweig Group’s 2024 Marketing Excellence Award winners share the strategies behind their winning campaigns and the impact on their firms’ success.

Zweig Group is excited to announce the winners of its 2024 Marketing Excellence Awards, which recognize outstanding and effective marketing in the AEC industry based upon overall creativity, messaging, results achieved by the campaign, and level of...

By Alicia Kamischke | This is a versatile segment of your organization that should be tailored to best fit your company structure, strengths, weaknesses, goals, and needs.

By Safa Kamangar | By applying these principles, a manager can become a source of inspiration, guidance, and stability for their team members.

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

By Leisbel Lam | To integrate effective change management, identify needs, understand deeply, honor the past, mandate change, and provide a precise, optimistic roadmap forward.

By Matt Johnson | Client managers face new challenges post-pandemic, requiring increased client contact, realistic budgeting, and managing expectations for success.

By Ivy Mendoza & Justin Patterson | By effectively communicating the complexities of engineering, graphic designers and marketers add value to a AEC firms.

By Kraig Kern | If you stay disciplined, empathize with your team, and commit to excellence you can meet your deadlines and ultimately win more projects.

By Mercedez Thompson | A firm’s approach to proposal development greatly impacts how marketing and proposal professionals do their job and how they understand their role.

Zweig Group’s 2023 Marketing Excellence Award winners share the strategies behind their winning campaigns and the impact on their firms’ success.

By Mark Zweig | The majority of AEC companies are doing well, but that could be in spite of how they are being managed.

Zweig Group announces the winners of its 2023 Marketing Excellence Awards, which recognize outstanding and effective marketing in the AEC industry based upon overall creativity, messaging, results achieved by the campaign, and level of design.

Zweig Group is delighted to announce the promotion of Katelynn Santiago to the position of Senior Design Manager. In this role, Katelynn will spearhead the company's design team, oversee the management of marketing and creative requests, and...

By Lindsay Young | Investing in marketing helps you grow, recruit employees, and gets you the projects you want to work on.

By Justin Smith | Instead of waiting for the perfect project manager to appear, invest in developing these valuable professionals within your firm.

By Jane Lawler Smith | By applying various levels of rewriting, redesign, and repackaging, you can successfully bring adaptive reuse concepts into your AEC marketing realm.

By Mercedez Thompson | Many of the biggest obstacles AEC marketing teams face are ultimately the same – regardless of firm size.

Zweig Group has announced its client DBR Engineering Consultants, Inc. has acquired SW Associates Consulting Engineers, Inc.

By Mark Zweig | These three things are important to your firm’s success, but they may require a reallocation of your time and money.

By Malory Atkinson | Challenge your marketing team to think beyond proposals and begin to work to strategically impact the entire client experience.

By Amber Milot | Creating a recruiting culture and focusing on retention are business savvy strategies to help your organization continue to thrive in today’s job market.

By Mercedez Thompson | It’s worthwhile to continue conversations around what marketing is and is not and why it’s critical to your bottom line.

Zweig Group, a full-service AEC management advisory firm, announced its client Williams + Paddon Architects + Planners has merged with 19six Architects, one of the oldest architectural firms in California. Zweig Group advised Williams +...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 29, 2022) –Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 Marketing Excellence Awards. These awards recognize outstanding, results-driven marketing in the AEC industry in fifteen different categories. Award entries...

By Lindsay Young | Best practices for AEC firms will continue to evolve, but firms that take steps to innovate will be the ones that succeed.

By Mark Zweig | Marketing for AEC firms has come a long way in the last few decades, but we still have a number of problems that could be easily solved.

Zweig Group, a full-service AEC management advisory firm, is proud to announce that Drake Hamilton and Andrew Chavez, CM&AA, have been promoted to advisors on Zweig Group’s Mergers and Acquisitions team. "Drake and Andrew have...

Zweig Group is proud to announce it has won six Hermes Creative Awards for its publications, conference, and website redesign. Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing, and...

Zweig Group, a full-service AEC management advisory firm, announced its client W.E. O’Neil Construction Co. has acquired DCA Construction, a prominent general contracting firm based in Austin, Texas. The acquisition marks an exciting opportunity for W.E....

By Lindsay Young | Recruiting and marketing play a role in growing your firm, and it’s more important now than ever to make sure they are working together.

Zweig Group, a leading provider of advisory services, research, and education for the AEC industry, has just released the 2022 Engineering Salary Reports for all regions of the United States.  These reports are based on...

Zweig Group, a full-service AEC management advisory firm, announced its client EUA has expanded its reach and service offerings by merging with Performa. This merger expands EUA’s reach, enhancing the firm’s ability to serve clients...

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

There are several management areas where award-winning, fast-growth, and very high profit AEC firms stand out. Fast Growth, Very High Profit, and Award Winning firms have unique metrics. Zweig Group has just released a special...

Zweig Group, a full-service AEC management advisory firm, announced its client Galloway & Company, Inc. has acquired JRCA Architects, creating a dynamic alignment of knowledge and culture. Jamie Claire Kiser, Zweig Group’s managing principal, served...

By Liisa Andreassen | Owner and managing principal of Arrive Architecture Group (Bedford, TX), a firm that specializes in multi-housing residences for individuals, families, and seniors.

Idaho-based neUdesign Architecture has announced its merger with Colorado-based architecture and engineering firm EVstudio. This merger will open the door to Colorado’s and Idaho’s ever growing industry for both firms and will better serve clients...

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.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 22, 2021) – Zweig Group, a leading provider of advisory services, research, and education for the AEC industry, announced that Dathan Gaskill has joined the firm as Managing Director of Zweig Group...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 6, 2021) – Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the 2021 Marketing Excellence Awards. These awards recognize outstanding, results-driven marketing in the AEC industry. Award entries were judged by...

Endurance Partners, a leading investment group that partners with exceptional management teams for the long-term, has made a strategic investment in Westwood Professional Services, Inc., a national award-winning AEC firm. Zweig Group, a full-service AEC...

By Stephanie Warino | These 10 ideas can increase engagement and create a truly effective doer-seller culture.

SWCA Environmental Consultants (Phoenix, AZ) has acquired Sycamore Environmental Consultants, (Sacramento, CA) an environmental consulting services, compliance and permitting firm. Sycamore provides environmental permitting support to the public and private sectors and specializes in public...

By Anne Melia & Nicolle Scheller | This addition allows technical staff to focus on their core functions and allows for a marketing process that is more collaborative, streamlined, and consistent.

By Jane Lawler Smith | Make sure your marketing uses fresh ingredients, is thoughtfully assembled, and temptingly delivered.

By Mark Zweig | Answer these questions and many more, or you will, at best, be a decent copy of a firm or firms that do as well or better than you already do.

By Mark Zweig | Firms in this business are quickly sorting themselves into two categories – those that are doing better than ever post-COVID-19, and those that are doing worse.

Zweig Group and OnStrategy Announce Industry Partnership to Offer OnStrategy’s Strategy Management Software and Process Management Best-Practices to the AEC Industry Fayetteville, Arkansas and Reno, Nevada (September 9, 2020) – Zweig Group, a leading provider...

COVID-19 has pushed leaders in the design industry and beyond to develop new strategies to manage an increasingly untethered workforce.

In the current economic environment, avoid costly payment disputes and counterclaims by choosing clients carefully and staying on top of your receivables and collections.

To get the most return on your marketing investment dollars, leaders need to help build dynamic, collaborative relationships between principals and marketing teams.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 8, 2020) –Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the 2020 Marketing Excellence Awards. These awards recognize outstanding, results-driven marketing in the AEC industry. Award entries were judged by a...

For firm leadership, marketing may not always be top of mind. For your marketing staff, it is. Make sure they have a seat at the table.

By checking in either monthly or quarterly, you can ensure that those responsible take the time necessary to follow through on your marketing plan.

“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.”

In this digital era of PURLs, OKRs, and java scripts, a dimensional mailer and handwritten note are still the best way to grab attention.

Westwood Professional Services, Inc., a leading multi-disciplined surveying and engineering firm, completed the acquisition of Main Line Energy Consultants, LLC on October 1, 2019. The acquisition combines the firms’ expertise and strength to better serve...

Zweig Group’s 2019 Project Management Report of AEC Firms presents an in-depth look at the responses of over one-hundred project managers and firm leaders in the industry. What are they doing to optimize project delivery...

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

Getting a better handle on your data helps you identify what your firm is truly good at, and where the highest profits are.

Considering a design project in the fledgling cannabis industry? Make sure your professional liability coverage won’t go up in smoke.

A small investment of your time, energy, and creativity can yield a large return with your clients. Start gently and build your confidence.

A lot of AEC firms fall into the trap of neglecting their marketing departments because the work is not billable. Marketers need to fight back with consistent effort.

DBR Engineering Consultants, Inc. expands El Paso footprint with acquisition of Borunda & Associates After three years of success in the El Paso market, DBR Engineering Consultants, Inc. cemented its presence in West Texas with...

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

“There’s a lot to know about your own business that you cannot know if you aren’t intimately involved with every detail of it at some point.”

Add value, share work, respond quickly, and be open about your process to get more business and increase revenue without spending more.

If you are looking for a training program that covers all the basics, Zweig Group has what you and your team needs. Our Excellence in Project Management training program was developed to support project managers...

As an industry, we generally leave a lot of money on the table and drive up costs with our lack of effectiveness in management and training. When we think of improving, we often turn to...

President of Gale Associates Inc. (Best Firm #18 Multi-discipline for 2018), a 115-person consulting firm based in Weymouth, Massachusetts. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Gale has been involved with a number of design-build procurements, primarily for...

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...

President and CEO of Morrison-Maierle (Best Firm #27 Multi-discipline for 2017), a 280-person firm based in Helena, Montana. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “It’s vital to our success,” Murphy says, referring to entrepreneurship in the firm....

Zweig Group opens office in Dallas DALLAS – Doubling down on its commitment to client service and opportunity for its staff, full-service AEC consulting firm Zweig Group has opened an office in downtown Dallas. Set...

President and CEO of Tectonic Engineering & Surveying Consultants P.C. (Hot Firm #89 for 2018), a 500-person multifaceted engineering firm based in Mountainville, NY. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Years ago we tried the sales force...

Texas-based Atlas Technical Consultants acquires Piedmont Geotechnical of Atlanta Atlas Technical Consultants recently picked a peach when it acquired Atlanta-based Piedmont Geotechnical Consultants, a move that continues Atlas’ expansion into infrastructure engineering, program management, and...

South Carolina-based O’Neal, Inc. acquires DME Alliance, Inc. of Allentown In a nod toward the ongoing growth and dynamism of the biopharmaceutical market, South Carolina-based O’Neal Inc. moved into the Northeast corridor by acquiring a...

Mergers and acquisitions, among other events, can wreak havoc on firms. Keep in mind that when faced with upheaval, different people adjust in different ways. I checked Wikipedia at the start of this article, and...

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.

LandDev Consulting acquires CivilE to form rising Austin metro firm Zweig Group continues to increase its footprint in the AEC market for mergers and acquisitions in the booming state of Texas. A full-service consulting firm...

President and founder of Brudis & Associates, Inc. (Hot Firm #36 and Best Firm Multi-discipline # 51 for 2016), a 90-person firm based in Baltimore. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “While I like to say we’re...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 25) – Zweig Group recently deepened its bench with the addition of Bill Fox, who brings a wealth of expertise in small-business administration, financial management, and strategic planning to the firm’s full-service...

An experienced insurance advisor can help design firms find the coverage and program structure required to address their evolving needs. A new survey by Ames & Gough of 17 leading insurance companies providing A/E professional...

Debating entering Zweig Group's 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards? Here's a few reasons why you should enter this year: 1) Double your marketing efforts. The Marketing Excellence Award winners get a lot of attention: The list...

President of Burns Engineering (Hot Firm #88 for 2015), a 220-person firm based in Philadelphia. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The downside of the seller/doer model is that staff often likes the doing more than the...

The second someone becomes a principal, they (erroneously) think they know everything there is to know about their industry and how their firm fits in. In the Fiddler on the Roof song, “If I Were...

Chairman and CEO of David Evans and Associates, Inc. (Hot Firm #93 for 2016), a 1,000-person engineering firm based in Portland, Oregon. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Barkouli joined DEA in 1988 as an engineer-in-training. He...

The Principals Academy is coming to Sonoma, CA on April 26-27 1) Enjoy some red while learning how to keep your firm out of the red. 2) No reason to wine about getting your CEUs/PDHs....

Editor's Note: This article was written by Mergermarket, the leading provider of forward-looking M&A intelligence and data to M&A professionals and corporates around the world. by Deborah Balshem in Fort Lauderdale JLG Architects, an employee-owned...

UPCOMING EVENTS A seminar designed to improve the effectiveness of Project Managers Excellence in Project Management covers the critical areas every project manager in the AEC Industry should know, and is presented in tutorial and...

When taking control of proposals, squat down, get dirty, and just like a baseball catcher out on the diamond, manage your team. Johnny Bench, one of the greatest baseball catchers of all time, said: “The...

So many companies have done it but there are many more that still haven’t – morphing from a geographically-based to a market-based firm. Why is this so crucial? There are many reasons, but first and...

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...

A successful marketing campaign is difficult to measure using hard metrics, so don’t get caught in the quicksand of trying to quantify nebulous numbers. It’s Monday, 9 a.m., and as you get comfortable in an...

There’s three horses you need to ride if you are going to win the race, so saddle up with Facebook, Twitter, and a killer website. It’s time to roll up your sleeves. In this installment...

Your next generation of business builders has arrived. Have you shown them the way forward with a comprehensive set of goals and expectations? What are the career paths in your firm? The next generation wants...

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?...

Assignments, attitudes, and acknowledgment – if you take care of the Big Three, your marketing people will do great things. I have been an A/E industry marketer since the early 1980s. In those 30-plus years,...

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...

President of Environmental Partners Group, Inc. (Hot Firm #22 for 2017), a 55-person firm based in Quincy, Massachusetts. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Their problems need to be your problems,” says Gabriel, referring to the client-firm...

Clients want to learn about your firm’s capabilities, resources, and experience, but only as it relates to them and their projects. One of the best-known songs in the Pink Floyd catalogue includes a voiceover that...

Regardless of what else the future holds for B2B marketing, one thing is certain: Content marketing is here to stay. Marketing communications. Social media. Graphic design. Media relations. Proposals. Internal communications. Event engagement. Brand management....

When your marketing people are not empowered to make big decisions, their great concepts often get parked in committees, where they die. Marketing is where the creativity is, right? Not always. Too many marketing departments...

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...

In this episode of the podcast, Randy Wilburn sat down with Kyle Ahern, Zweig Group’s awards manager, to talk about the upcoming Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference and all of the awards that...

For multi-office firms, it’s important to monitor overhead allocations so one region doesn’t consume more than its fair share of resources. Here’s the issue: Department managers, regional managers, and office managers all question the general...

Marketing is the backbone of sales and business development, so be proactive and stop thinking of it as just an overhead function. I am passionate about marketing. Everyone who works with me knows it. I...

President and CEO of Jones|Carter (Best Firm Multidiscipline #17 and Hot Firm #18 for 2016), a 465-person engineering firm based in Houston, Texas. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The board must conduct itself as a board...

“At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus qui blanditiis praesentium voluptatum deleniti atque corrupti quos dolores et quas molestias excepturi sint occaecati cupiditate non provident, similique sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt...

You know what you’re supposed to do, but since your marketing department is understaffed and disempowered, you can’t make it happen. I’m sure many of you have found yourselves in that familiar seminar or conference...

New Jersey firm has a nice book of business thanks to a willingness to both study and influence the industry it serves. By Richard Massey Managing Editor DMR Architects of New Jersey has been retained...

Automation can be helpful, save a ton of money, and even cut down on errors, but you have to know how to push the ‘stop’ button. Not long ago someone at Zweig Group was scheduling...

Automation can be helpful, save a ton of money, and even cut down on errors, but you have to know how to push the ‘stop’ button. Not long ago someone at Zweig Group was scheduling...

Move forward in 2017 with Zweig Group seminars across a range of essentials – business development, project management, marketing, and more. For a short while during my undergraduate years, I majored in management. After a...

Make project management a cornerstone of the way your firm does business, and win more work in a competitive market. By Richard Massey Managing Editor A work in progress since 2005, the Technical Core Team...

Many of us in the marketing clan ended up in it by accident, but in an industry that once considered us a no-no, we have chosen to stay, and to succeed. In my more than...

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...

Take a good hard look at your firm and what it’s saying to the world. If things appear stale, it’s because they are. Fix it or lose out. Here are ten signs it’s time to...

If your content is consistently valuable, potential clients might give up their personal information to have it, and chose your firm over others when it’s time to close the deal. Are you lost in marketing...

If you’re one of those people who still thinks “word of mouth” is the way to go when it comes to marketing, my guess is you have a very small firm that will remain a...

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...

SlideShare is an easy and inexpensive way to present information to your target audience in a visually appealing manner. SlideShare is a web-based service that gives AEC firms the ability to infuse a powerful visual...

This month, readers seek advice on topics related to social media, benchmarking, and increasing prices. WHO SHOULD FIRMS COMPARE THEMSELVES TO WHEN BENCHMARKING? Dear Christy, “We’re about to start our strategic planning process and like...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ar. October 30, 2015– On November 15, Zweig Group releases the latest Project Management Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning, and Environmental Consulting Firms, which contains an expanded look at project management trends. “In every...

Klohn Crippen Berger (Vancouver, BC) – a 500-person international engineering, geoscience, and environmental consulting firm – is taking home first place in Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards in the External Newsletter category for its...

In a recent poll of project managers and firm leaders in the A/E industry, training/mentoring was ranked as the most important thing A/E firms could do to improve project management. The poll also indicated that...

Take the last few months of 2015 to assess your clients and marketing. Although 2015 won’t be over until the last day of December, September always feels like the start of something new. With the...

Though most everyone on your team is important, there are 4 major positions that no successful firm can do without. Managing your business effectively means the business grows, makes a profit, and has good employees...

Harris & Associates (Concord, CA), a 200-person engineering and construction management firm, is the fourth place winner in the Internal Marketing category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for its ownership campaign and the...

Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd. (Vancouver, BC) – a 500-person international engineering, geoscience, and environmental consulting firm – is taking home second place in the Internal Marketing category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for...

AC Martin (Los Angeles, CA), an 85-person architecture firm, is the fourth place winner in the Online Marketing category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for its new website. The AC Martin team wanted...

Harris & Associates (Concord, CA), a 200-person engineering and construction management firm, is taking home second place in the Online Marketing category of Zweig Group’s 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards for its new and improved website....

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (August 6, 2015) – Zweig Group’s Marketing Excellence Awards recognize outstanding and effective marketing in the architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting industry in five categories. Awards were judged by a panel of...

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...

Diverse firms can implement rules-of-thumb to establish priorities and see results for years to come. By Andrea Bennett Managing Editor A/E/P and environmental firms have several items on their to-do lists at any given time:...

Successful Project Management for A/E/P and Environmental Firms, 2nd edition covers projects from inception to completion and beyond. By Andrea Bennett Managing Editor On April 30, Zweig Group will release the second edition of its...

In an industry with constant news and needs, following a few simple tips can keep your messages efficient and effective. In today’s world, there’s an endless array of marketing that could or should be developed...

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...

Debating entering Zweig Group's 2015 Marketing Excellence Awards? Here's a few reasons why you should enter this year: 1) Double your marketing efforts. The Marketing Excellence Award winners get a lot of attention: The list...

Which units are performing and which are not? Do a little research; allocate your investment appropriately. I'm all for holistic thinking – always have been. I’ve seen a lot of silly (make that stupid) stuff...

Using industry benchmarks can help invest with confidence. Have asked yourself how many marketing staff members your firm should really have? Firm leaders often ask us this because they are constantly hearing how they should...

Design firms may have a niche to fill in this area. After all, you can do it better than a dispassionate program manager. Architects and engineers have long complained about their relationships with program managers....

Portfolio: Mascot delivers the good news Internal newsletter modeled after internal mascot an award-winning success. By Christina Zweig Contributing editor ECS Carolinas, LLP (Chantilly, VA), placed first in the Internal Marketing Category of Zweig Group’s...

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,...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 28, 2014) – Zweig Group is proud to announce the winners of the Zweig Group 2014 Marketing Excellence Awards, an award recognizing outstanding and effective marketing in the A/E/P and environmental consulting...

The motherload list of truisms that makes Mark Zweig’s blood boil. One benefit of aging has been a certain calmness that I now have that I didn’t have when I was younger. That makes each...

Mark Zweig offers two examples of divisive attitudes, and how to fix them. It kills me how some people working in our client companies forget that they are all working for one firm. These people...

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...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (Feb. 19, 2013) – Business consulting firm ZweigWhite has hired Chad Clinehens as its Executive Vice President. Clinehens brings more than 15 years of consulting engineering and management experience to ZweigWhite, and he...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 994 Originally published 2/11/2013 Twitter is riddled with management experts. Mark Zweig dispels them all. I spend a little time every day on...

Editorial: By Mark C. Zweig It seems to me that many – if not most – companies in our business today have given up on the idea that they can grow in this economy. Instead,...

Press Release: October 18, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (October 18 , 2011) – The fastest growing firms in the design industry are relying on traditional methods to achieve marketing results. According to the ZweigWhite’s 2011-12 Successful...

Press Release: September 26, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (September 26, 2011) – Attracting new business is a serious task, and who would be better for the job at architecture, engineering, planning and environmental consulting firms than...

Press Release: September 21, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (September 21, 2011) — It’s no big news that a rough economy has taken its toll on many architecture, engineering, planning and environmental firms, but this situation isn’t...

Press Release: July 18, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 18, 2011) – The A/E industry has seen some of the most challenging times ever on record for the post-WWII generation. One A/E revenue bright spot continues...

Press Release: June 29, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 29, 2011) – With the economic challenges that architecture, engineering, planning & environmental consulting firms have faced in recent years, effective project management skills remain a crucial...

Press Release: June 16, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 16, 2011) – Social media, fierce competition for the same jobs, clients who expect more value, and young creativity all are pushing the evolution of marketing to...

Press Release: May 24, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (May 24, 2011) — In an era where creativity, reputation, and interconnectivity are highly desirable, more design firm leaders are turning to social media to strut their stuff,...

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...

Press Release: April 1, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (April 1, 2011) – An expected resurgence in private spending in 2011 means that diversified architecture, engineering, planning and environmental consulting firms will be better poised to benefit...

By Mark C. Zweig We have come a long way in the A/E/P business over the last 30 years. Not only is it OK to market to clients, we even have computers on every desk...

Press Release: March 28, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (March 28, 2011) – ZweigWhite’s first course in its new Project Management eLearning Inititative—“Managing Project Communications”—recently achieved approval by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), allowing course takers...

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...

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...

Press Release: February 22, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (February 23, 2011) – ZweigWhite’s new eLearning courses offer easy, convenient project management (PM) training ideally suited for today’s time-pressed, on-the-go professionals in the architecture, engineering, planning and...

By Christine Brack, PMP A few weeks ago, I was talking to a client about his firm’s project management practices, its managers, and systems, and… eventually we began discussing the challenges and frustrations he was...

Press Release: February 8, 2011 Increasing regulation and a new focus on efficiency are turning the water market into one of the hottest commodities for engineering firms, The Zweig Letter discovers. A reinvigorated focus on...

Press Release: February 1 , 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR — Anyone who is—or wants to be—a leader in the architecture, engineering, planning and environmental-consulting fields will benefit from an MBA-style crash course offered by ZweigWhite experts...

Press Release: January 20, 2011 The 2011 The Zweig Letter Marketing Excellence Awards will recognize the most innovative and effective marketing strategies in the architecture, engineering, planning, construction and environmental consulting industry. The competition will...

Press Release: January 7, 2011 If the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry has learned one thing in 2010, it’s that recov­ery doesn’t happen overnight. Last year there was an expectation that 2010 might provide the...

DUBLIN, Jan 07, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/e27350/management_from_a) has announced the addition of the "Management From A to Zweig, Revised Edition - A Collection of Articles from 1992-2010" book to their offering....

Press Release: December 22, 2010 New Management How-To Book Helps Every Business Manager. Management From A to Zweig, Revised Edition, is the one book to own if you are serious about your firm’s success. Want...

A “gloom and doom” economic outlook is still seen by many in the A/E and environmental business, even after the recent pronouncement that the recession officially ended in June 2009. This offers opportunities— as well...

Press Release: November 17, 2010 M&A activity is expected to accelerate in 2011 as many struggling firms look for an exit strategy and firms that are doing well look for bargains and distressed sales. “2011...

The proverbial title gets right to the point but do all staff members understand their role? Who, exactly, are the bees? Rebecca Martinez, associate principal and director of marketing at Cuningham Group (Marina del Rey,...

As I begin to write this article I am sitting at “The Tournament of Kings” show at The Excalibur in Las Vegas with my two oldest daughters. Earlier today we finished off the 10th annual...

Project management training tends to emphasize the legal and liability aspects of what we do, along with scheduling and budgeting techniques. But, there is so much more to it beyond the science of project management....

Many firms in the A/E/P or environmental business today have some sort of designated market leaders. Usually, there’s a new business plan and part of it requires a “realignment” to a more market-driven structure. Then,...

My desk is in such disarray these days that my former co-workers at ZweigWhite would surely think I’d lost my mind if they saw it. I have always been an “everything in its place” kind...

When the company sold many years ago we learned in business school that the greatest asset of the Reader’s Digest was its subscriber database. Supposedly, it contained so many names of people who could buy...

NOW, not later, is the time to take a hard look at your strategic plan for improved performance. The new year is just around the corner. The environment is volatile. It’s hard to see what’s...

I just saw a blurb in our ZweigWhite’s 2008 Marketing Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms that stated A/E and environmental firm’s number-one marketing strategy is “relationship building.” While most people in...

I have worked in this business nearly three decades (how can I be that old??). And I can tell you with certainty that our managers have a real tendency to be overly optimistic. I have...

As the market softens a bit and collections are starting to stretch out, more firms are moving a little deeper into their lines of credit. That always raises the stress level for everyone in the...

By Mark Zweig | If you really want to raise your effective labor multiplier, here are some things to try.

This morning, I am sitting on a bench outside Vol Walker Hall in the beautiful old campus area here at The University of Arkansas. Vol Walker Hall is home to our School of Architecture. Today,...

Mitchellene Terrence was the 42-year-old director of human resources for Wright, Skidmore, and Johnson, a top-line A/E/P firm in Los Angeles. She was proud to be there. Graduating with a BS degree in 1986 from...

As most long-time readers of The Zweig Letter know, I can’t stand it when someone quotes the latest pop management book or article. The authors are always a little too smug in the universal applicability...

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...

There are many experts on time management that I see used periodically by A/E and environmental firms. These people are brought in from the outside to help train our principals, PMs, and technical and design...

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...

It’s one of those certainties, like death and taxes. Managers are supposed to hold those who work for them accountable to reaching certain goals or achieving certain performance metrics. It sounds good to say, “I...

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...

From time to time, we’ll hear from a reader who wants us to give more management advice specifically aimed at small firms. These people seem to think their small firm is different from a larger...

It’s becoming more apparent to me every day that human resources management as we know it needs a total overhaul. Many human resources experts (staff and consultants) are perpetuating bad advice, and the typical A/E/P...

I hate to say it. I thought the past was behind us. But the fact is some architects are repeating history right now. They’re getting ready for another fall. They’re making the same mistakes they...

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...

I have found myself saying more than once recently that just about every firm (would you believe 80-90%+?) is looking for someone to work in their marketing area. Whether it’s a marketing manager, marketing director,...

Here’s a collection of practical advice I think anyone in the A/E/P or environmental consulting business can use in response to questions that seem come up over and over again: Where can I find someone...

At our new “Managing a Growing Firm” seminar series, which kicked off last week in Boston, a hard-driving CEO from a local area firm took exception to one of our recommendations on how to improve...

Here are 10 things about the A/E/P and environmental consulting business that they don’t teach you in college. The best clients get crapped on. I hate to say it, but sometimes we treat our best...

Every once in awhile I feel compelled to unload a few disconnected thoughts that might be of value to our readers. This is one of those times: Company cars: When it comes to picking company...

To a lot of people in the A/E/P and environmental business, small projects are still something to be avoided. In fact, many business plans we read contain some sort of strategy statement that say the...

It seems that our readers in A/E/P and environmental firms can’t get enough on project management. No one out there appears content with how he or she is handling it. Although my treatise a few...

We work for the owners and top managers of a lot of different A/E/P and environmental firms. While all those companies and their managers are different, they share one thing— they’re not happy with project...

We’ve all either experienced it in our own firm or heard about one of our competitors going through it— what I’m referring to is a complete turnaround. Consider the case of one of our clients....

Because marketing really is “where it’s at” for firms in this business, it’s hard for me to keep from writing about it. You see, an A/E/P or environmental consulting firm can solve just about any...

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...

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...

The ability of an A/E or environmental consulting firm to quickly hire qualified people for any opening affects virtually every aspect of its management. I call it “supply-side human resources management.” If you think about...

Reflecting back on all of the A/E and environmental consulting firms that we came in contact with during 1992, one thought comes to mind. By and large, our industry’s management expertise has significantly improved. The...

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...