You are an A/E/C professional marketer. You work for professional architects, engineers, and construction experts. Your firms typically have professionals who take care of payroll, accounts payable and receivable, IT and other technologies. The firm does well when everyone does their job and executes tasks based on their skills and expertise.

The Marketing Squeeze
As a professional marketer you have specific skills and expertise that are unique to you. It is why you are hired, or maybe why you should have been hired. But this marketing gig is often a frustrating and sometimes confusing role to tackle. Unlike IT or payroll, somehow marketing is an area where firm owners, usually design or construction experts, like to meddle. Too many professional marketers get hired at A/E/C firms, but never do any "real" marketing. They quickly become proposal coordinators and graphic artists. Eighty to ninety percent of their daily tasks become centered around proposal writing, coordination, and graphics. Whatever time they have left over may get spent on actual marketing. If a lucky marketer spends time on marketing tasks, firm leaders pick it apart or reject it. These tasks include market strategies, website UX, brand image and integrity, social media campaigns, video marketing, and others. So, what is an A/E/C professional marketer to do?

Let Me Take a Look at That Bridge for You!
Let's flip the script and see what it might look like if the shoe were on the other foot.

• How would a professional architect respond to a marketer looking over her conceptual designs, redlining them to death?
• What would a professional engineer do if his marketer decided to give the client advice on the structural integrity of their bridge?
• How well would a construction project manager respond to a marketer signing off approvals for sub-contractor pay requests?

You see, we need to allow professionals to be professional. Engineers are meticulous about engineering design. Architects are picky about their concepts and reports. Contractors are stingy with their budgets and schedules. Marketers are perfectionists when it comes to marketing.

Stay in Your Lane :)
If you are reading this as an A/E/C technical professional or firm leader, please hear me! It takes the whole team to make the ship move. Your expertise and leadership are vital to the firm's success. However, it slows you down and the firm when you try to play the role of the marketer. Your participation is needed and appreciated but stay in your lane. Trust your marketers to be experts in marketing. Listen to their advice and trust their judgment. Here are a few steps to take.

1. Hire marketers who like to do marketing! Hire proposal coordinators who love writing and coordinating proposals. Don't confuse the two.
2. Hire enough staff for your marketing team so all aspects of marketing your firm receive attention. About three percent of your total staff should be in marketing. That's about a one-to-thirty ratio.

Step Into Your Power
If you are reading this as an A/E/C professional marketer, believe in your skills and expertise! Your firm needs you and needs your unique voice. Do not allow yourself to get sucked into tasks you are not meant to complete. Lead your firm in marketing! Move the culture toward excellence in marketing. Here are a couple of pieces of advice.

1. Learn everything you can about your firm, what you do, who you do it for, and why! You cannot market what you do not know.
2. Share your ideas and share them often and freely. Your firm needs your voice and perspective. Be optimistic and do not give up on great ideas!

Win - Win - Win
If all the professionals are allowed to be professional, then we have happy employees and leaders growing together. Leaders - lead. Designers - design. Marketers - market. The firm succeeds, everyone makes money, and society benefits!

It's been a minute since I've written on theaecguide.com blog. Several things have changed over the summer. I took a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) position at Prairie Engineers in July. With the new role, the Amplify AEC conference, and a short family vacation, I've missed writing. But I'm back in the saddle and ready to keep pushing the AEC marketing profession forward!

CMO Doesn't Mean "Consider Marketing Optional"
The CMO position for AEC companies is not a common one, but a growing need. According to Michael Racis, "In recent years, fractional marketing leadership has grown much more popular as mid-sized firms look to realize the benefits of working with an experienced marketing leader without the price tag of a full-time Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)" (The Fractional CMO: What it is + How it Can Benefit AEC Marketing | LinkedIn). Many firms are using the "fractional CMO" to fill the marketing leadership gap. Others see the long-term benefits of a full-time CMO.

So, what exactly is a CMO and what value does this role bring to a firm? To answer this question well, it is important to lay the groundwork in answering "why?" Why is marketing critical to AEC business . . . or is it? Is AEC marketing business-critical or business-convenient? AEC services predate the permission to market them. So, many firms have lagged in making marketing business-critical. The commitment of a firm to recognize the value of a marketing executive who participates in the top leadership says something about that firm. So does the lack of commitment to elevate marketing professionals into top leadership roles.

Business-Critical or Business-Convenient?
Business-critical functions are those that serve a company in its sustainment, growth, and profitability. Payroll, accounting, HR, and operations are critical business functions. These are sustaining functions. However, leadership, strategy, technical delivery, sales, and marketing are growth and profitability functions. Most AEC firms accept leadership and technical delivery as business-critical. When it comes to strategy, sales, and marketing, it gets a bit fuzzier. That is because so much of what AEC businesses provide are essential for living and economic stability. Firm owners have a long-standing belief that the phone will simply keep ringing and work will keep flowing. While this may be true in strong economies and stable markets, those who have been around a while know this is shifting sand.

Marketing Leadership Solves Challenges
There are several factors shifting the AEC industry. Recruitment and retention continue to be a primary challenge. Inflation and rising wages challenge financial performance and profitability. Firms wish to diversify by discovering new project opportunities in current markets or pre-positioning in new markets. As technology changes how firms deliver projects, finding your edge means quickly adopting and implementing it. (Blog | New SN Research Sheds Light on State of AEC Industry Heading Into 2024 (stambaughness.com)

These challenges can all be positively impacted by great marketing leadership! The principles of marketing your services to clients are the same as marketing your company to future employees. Firms utilizing their marketing leaders for recruitment and retention campaigns are discovering a competitive edge. Firms that have discovered their differentiators and employ laser-focused marketing strategy enjoy better financial performance and profitability. Marketing helps firm leaders better identify their ideal clients and markets. Finding growth opportunities in current markets or pre-positioning in a new market is not guesswork. Marketing leaders understand how to research and skillfully adapt to market changes.​

Business development is not for today. Business development is for tomorrow. A common misconception plagues the AEC industry. Too many firms frame business development (BD) as a quest for immediate gains rather than long-term growth.

Today's BD is Tomorrow's Success
Too often, we think of business development (BD) as finding work TODAY. BD within the AEC sector is mistakenly equated with sales - a direct push to win work, sign contracts, and fill project pipelines. But that is not how great business development works. Rarely does a BD professional visit a client and get a project the same day, the same week, or even the same month. On the rare occasion, a project may be solicited a few days or weeks after a BD visit. These are usually not the right client or project fit. Only disorganized clients will solicit work from a consultant in a short turnaround.

Cultivate Relationships to Harvest Revenue
The best clients, the ones with whom we want to grow, are well-organized and funded. These clients know the projects they wish to accomplish months, if not years, in advance. Great BD work means pursuing a relationship with these clients. While growing or maintaining a client relationship, the BD professional stays ahead of project opportunities. Together, the BD professional and client look ahead to discover projects that are in the best interest of both the client and consultant.

Great well-prepared clients are more distinguishing in selecting consulting partners. They're looking for more than a service provider. They're in search of a partner that aligns with their vision, values, and long-term objectives. BD professionals take the time to learn these things through relationship-building.

Positioning Leads to Profits
BD work done today is positioning for desirable clients and projects tomorrow. Often, the project a prospective client talks about today will not be needed for 12-18 months. The consultants who maintain relationships and stay in the know are the ones who will be best positioned for work in a year or more. Firms with an eye on long-term success shift the focus from reactive opportunism to proactive strategizing. This requires a long-term vision and consistent effort to build relationships and stay informed about industry trends and upcoming projects.

The Road Ahead
For the AEC industry, redefining business development as a forward-looking task requires a cultural shift. It requires patience, foresight, and a commitment to investing resources without the immediate gratification of tangible wins. Just like smart 401(k) investing, the return on investment (ROI) should be measured in months and years, not days and weeks.
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In conclusion, great BD work predicts the future of an AEC business and actively participates in creating it. The work put in today yields profitable business tomorrow.