How To Keep Winning Clients

And so we went and met with them and they were essentially building out like a, a commercial, storage facility, essentially nothing high design, but we ended up getting that project. And I remember we won that project for 16, 000, which at the time I was like, Oh my gosh, that is. An insane amount of money. that's like a third of my annual salary. I can't believe that I just. That I didn't do this sooner.

but then I realized, actually that 16, 000, I didn't come to this realization until a couple of months in. So this is why this is important, but the 16, 000, I'm splitting this with my friend, right? So I'm getting eight and then this project is going to take, three or four months for us to do. so then that breaks down to two or 3, 000 a month. shoot, this is not enough. This does not sustain the business. This does not sustain the family.

and I came to that realization, in a place where I had to quickly find other projects and things to work on. But, for you, you just landed your first project. It's really exciting. hopefully you got a comfortable enough fee that it's not a huge deal for you to be spending the majority of your time on that. Bye. Even more important with this first project is that it is really short.

Like you're, you've got like a six week sprint going on and then you are doing some construction administration after

So it's a little bit different, a little bit of a different angle, but I, kind of see what's happening. I've got this, we've talked about stuff previously. That I will be meeting people to follow up with. So the RXR stuff, the people in Ireland, I'm actually going to be in Ireland next week. So I'm going to meet up with those clients. And I think, what will be helpful is obviously I'm in the process of bringing this project to life.

And the conversation now is a little bit different in terms of this is probably, we could chat about this a little bit as well and how that helps maybe, move things along or it looks a bit more. of interest is like, I am working on this project currently, but also I need to plan for September, I need to plan for some mid September or whatever of bringing something else in to now start running two at different points. One in the earlier phases, one at the later phase.

and, so I have in person meetings lined up, I think that at the same time, I need. From going through this experience and just landing this.

And this is something for us to chat about is like I need to know if any of these leads that I've been pursuing over the last I would say 12 months are actually anything at all because it's very draining and I think we touched on this before but You know the energy going into it I'd rather just get clarity on is there something tangible here because I know you can water the plant for a year or two Three years, but also when do you just stop watering the plant or maybe not stop watering it?

But it's pursuing because you also have to open up 5, 10 other channels, and stop pursuing that one. So I think that's an interesting part of this as well, where there's some new stuff in August that are brand new meetings with people, but there's also some old stuff where, I'm a facilitator, and I'm very like, open and keep conversations moving and ultimately, but at the same time, I have a level of business and impatience around things. It's like, guys.

You know, I've learned this from even just dealing with being in New York. It's Where let's get shit going or let's just not this right now or whatever. I don't know what the right expression is for that But it's just it's a bit more hard edged. I guess i'm getting into business more around like i've only got a finite amount of time That's the ultimate here and I also need more tangible things to occur as opposed to the intangible

about. So So for one, these relationships, they need to be managed somewhere. You need to have a quick way that you can see them all in one place and that you know when the last place was that you reached out to someone or something like that. And so you need a, this is why you need a customer resource management platform.

So that's part one, but I part two relative to what you're saying is something that we already talked about a little bit. and it was that difference between a lead pipeline and a sales pipeline lead pipeline being those, those relationships that you're continuing to nurture, but that haven't expressed, That haven't expressly said that there's a project that exists. It's just that, that they're connected or there might be a project that might fall sometime in the future.

And there's just a possibility there. Like it's worth it to continue those relationships. So that's what the lead pipeline is versus the sales pipeline is that a project exists. There's a budget that exists. They have said this is happening. Something is happening, and I think that line is really important. with these long conversations that you've been having and, that you've even been having for more than 12 months, it's have they said that there's a project? Have they given it a timeline?

or are they more so kicking the tires? Cause if they are still kicking the tires, maybe just pop them back over to that lead pipeline. But the sales pipeline, you should define the standards for moving something into a sales pipeline.

It's one, a project exists. Like maybe a site needs to exist is step one. two, a budget needs to exist. And three, a timeline needs to exist. Without a site, a budget, and a timeline, there's no real project. So maybe it's not worth your immediate pursuit

Could be quite helpful because some of the information comes out, some of it doesn't. hindsight, I should be getting better at getting all of that off the bat. I think straight off the bat in terms of like early conversations and that would definitely be my advice. I don't know what you think, but like actually establishing what is this timeline? What is this budget? Site. quite easily. You know, you usually get budgets complicated. Sometimes some people are like very apprehensive to share that.

I think it's, which is unusual, but, and then timeline, yeah, it can be a little bit, obviously something we're thinking about or, Oh, we've got this. this project I've got recently is a real great example of just like where there was no, it was all straight up this is happening versus.

confused and uncertain and, I wonder from my standpoint, is there a way to navigate that in a kind of just reaching out and we've said it before about just, saying where does the stand, I need clarity Around what's on the table versus what's off the table in a polite way, you know, or is this something that seems feasible, to come online in the next, two months, eight weeks, six weeks, whatever, some kind of a, like a more direct, warm email, whatever you want to call it to get a bit more

clarity on these kind of gray pipeline V sales or whatever you call it, the ones that are like. They have two of these things, but they don't have all three of those guidelines.

So for example, maybe they have a budget and a timeline, but they don't yet have a site because these are residential clients and they're still looking for the place. That to me is like, Oh, that's a pretty clear indication from the market that maybe there is an opportunity for those low cost, high value offers. That we talked about, last week, right?

if you have enough people in your market that are seeking that one thing, but they're not ready to move forward yet, but you want to get them in the door, you want to begin that relationship and start, start like a business relationship with them. then maybe it makes sense to have, to put together a low cost, high value offer that is like a consultation for you to help them find their site, find the right site for the vision Or something like that. Or maybe they have.

everything, but they don't have a timeline. So then there's an offer that you're putting together. That's helping them craft a realistic timeline for the work that they're looking to do. And so I think, there's a market answer to that, right? So that's the market answer. it's just something to be mindful of. if this does become the new threshold that you want people to break. start using that as a checklist. and maybe you even have that checklist in your CRM.

once you've confirmed that you've heard one of these things, it's like you have these three check marks. once they hit these three check marks, you're going to move them into the sales pipeline. but your goal is to identify whether or not those three things exist. Now, other part of that is trying to, get this information.

Obviously the best time to get this information I think is on a discovery call, but what's important to realize here is that it's not, I don't think it's as important, at least, and I'm just talking about for moving something into the sales pipeline, considering it to be an opportunity, I don't think it's as important to know exactly. Like what that budget number is, or even necessarily exactly what the timeline is. Maybe it's a little bit more important to have a rough idea.

Like they should, I don't need them to say that the timeline or that the deadline is December 20th, but I do need to roughly know, Hey, we want to finish this, by the beginning of next year. that's like enough of a timeline indication to be like, okay, they have that. the budget is harder because think. depends on the client, but I think most clients maybe don't even fully understand how much something is going to cost.

and if you tell them that they're not going to get their vision for the budget that they've mentioned, then they might even raise that budget. So it's part of an educational process. It's part of the process. I think it's part of your job as an architect and as a designer to help guide them through that process. And that's why I think, the discovery call, it's far more important to understand what their challenges are, what their pains are.

What their vision is, what are these things that they actually want to solve, because I think the budget works its way around that once they realize they, maybe these things are, or are not achievable with the number that I have in my mind, then things start to change a little bit. So that's why I think a question like, have you considered. How much you want to invest in this, right? It's like a soft question. It's just just getting an idea.

I just want to make sure that they have something set aside, That they're having conversations about getting a loan or they've already gotten approved for a loan. Or, there's just, you just want to make sure that there's something there and then the site, yeah, that's an obvious one, but do they have it or not? So that's how I think about it. But do think that.

And for those long word ones that you've been having, you're thinking about it, you're leaning into scarcity, maybe that's a healthy way to think about your business development right now. It's I know that I can. probably roughly going to have to bring on, depending on the size of the project, I need to bring on one to three projects every single quarter be healthy and to keep maintaining this so you can almost think about that when you are having these conversations with the people.

And I do think it's probably easier to have these conversations like over the phone or on a video call, rather than in an email. For these ones specifically, cause I would just maybe jump on and say something like, Hey, I know that we've been talking about this project for a while. I only have space for probably one or two more projects. So I just wanted to see if this was something that you think is realistic for you to begin this quarter.

Cause if it is, I have the time for it and space for it. And we can talk about that more. And if not, that's fine too. I'll just plan to reach out to you again in October.

It was more like, Oh, I'm just going to keep these contacts going. Eventually, it'll turn into a project. You have a very, just very easygoing, not really putting any kind of structure on it attitude. And I think that's quite common is you don't understand. It needs to be structured and needs to have a structure. It has to have thought process much more behind it. I think that's the big transition.

Do you want that to reply to be, are you available to jump on a call? Do you want that reply to be, are you able to start your project now rather than later? Is this a real project? Do you have a budget? you want to go into that with. a goal for an answer that you want to get out of them. If there's no, if there's nothing for, if there's no answer that you're trying to look for, then it's probably not worth it for you to reach out to them right now.

ultimately, even with the clients, and there are a lot of them as their first time projects, whether it's residential or commercial. And I think they haven't a clue. And I think for us, it's a big learning curve of having to always take them through that process together and understand how much things cost, how much fees are the value of what we're bringing to their project, the investment using all these different. right ways of speaking about it to show your value there in the market.

And I it'll be a constant always thing that you're doing and bringing to each different, person on our business.

And that becomes part of your standard operating procedure in terms of how you're communicating the the project progress with them. And guiding them through that process and educating them and keeping their concerns at bay because, even in a six week project, you're there, they're for sure concerned, like you don't want to keep them in the dark, you want to make them aware of what's happening. So that's just one small piece of the puzzle, a lot of amazing things to

come. So in terms of prioritization, yeah, I would focus on the conversations that you're already having, the people that have already responded. and maybe even focus on that in the next week, especially since you're going, you're traveling again the week after, which is going to make it significantly harder. So this week, maybe if there's 10, it sounds like there's roughly five or 10.

I would focus on those five or 10, either try to get on a phone call with them, send them an email, meet up with them before you leave and just see where they're at and see if you can identify these three things and see if it's worth it to move forward.

And that's a harder one for sure, in terms of, it could be as easy as I suppose picking up the phone and calling people and just being like, I'm on, Alex Buckridge, blah, blah, blah, Studio Bucky. We're doing this. I'd love to, pick your brain. and I think that's where my mindset is going, obviously regardless, because that's what you have to do.

just talking of like separate strategy to getting new leads. I'd like to hone in on, the kind of work I want to do. and, I've gone through the exercise of doing the client avatar and all that stuff. So I think that I haven't taken the step of going from that to actually, getting to them. Right.

when I was in LA, I, I'm doing a business of architecture course separately to this. And, one thing we were discussing was, how in high net worth areas, or for example, in West Hollywood, where the project site is located, that's a good area for you to go meet people essentially, right? It was a very simple way of putting it.

And so by getting out by those evenings when I wasn't with the client, even though I was a lot of the time to, find somewhere to go to see where people are hanging out to find open a new door and a conversation. And so that's an interesting mentality to get into. And especially, I think I'm a bit that would probably suit me. another angle here, which was kind of interesting was, there was a guy who brought the CEO of mad happy, which is a clothing brand.

They do all the hoodies and they do all this stuff. And they've been doing a lot of work in the retail area. and. I added this guy on social media and so forth a couple of days before I landed in LA because their projects are quite interesting and what they're doing in retail. So anyway, I ended up going to see the store. I was in the store and they have a coffee shop and I was meeting someone to get a coffee and discuss things.

And then wasn't the guy there that I'd added and he'd added me back. So then I walk into the store, the guy had set it up and I just went over to him and I looked at him and I think he knew because he saw whatever. So I shook his hand and I just said, look, love what you're doing with the brand. Love what you're doing with the store. And I'd love to speak to you a bit more about, what you're up to and what I'm up to and all that stuff. And, the guy just went, yeah, I, yeah, absolutely.

this was a good point blank example. And this guy is, LVMH or stakeholders in this business and everything, but, I think, I followed up with him after and I just said, look, I, when I'm in LA next season, let's put down some time and let's discuss what I'm doing. And I'd love to see, just get your thoughts.

And I think putting a bit more structure on that, obviously I'm making the right moves, in that situation and that was quite unique in some ways, but I think the follow up, And so I just want to get your thoughts on how that went. And so I followed up and I said, look, lovely, great to see you today. as you mentioned, I'd love to, when I'm next in LA, I would love to get an hour of your time or whatever to sit down and take you through what I'm building.

And he did respond and he just said, yeah, absolutely. You hit me up. And then what I did then was because I was thinking about you and stuff I'm doing, I was thinking about, okay, should I, this should be a bit more formalized, but I just said, look. Is here the best place to reach you or, do, should I get you on something else? So are you trying to get a number or an email or whatever he was comfortable with? Obviously. So he just said, hit me up here. And, so that's where it landed.

And I think this is an example of where another avenue could go with it. Again, this is the type of client that I'm looking to, work with. And there's a lot of potential for further growth. So I just get your thoughts on that.

and then you just happened to see, you went to his place and then you happened to see him. it can't be more perfect than that. And well, actually it can't be more perfect than that because it didn't go that far. You actually walked up to him and you introduced yourself and you said these things, and then you got his contact information and you followed up with him after you got that. And These are all, yeah, this is all perfect. two suggestions.

One rather than next time I'm in LA, maybe it's just, maybe you already know that because if you're, if you have this project in LA, maybe you already have a rough idea, like you're going to be in LA again in October. So you can just be a little bit more specific, Hey, I'm going to be there and I'm around the middle of October, so let's plan on that. Just to give him. a little bit more insight there.

Like just, as specific as you can get with the time, I think is good because it also forces you to commit to it as well. and then the other thing is just the way that you're framing that time with him. and I don't, I'm not sure if this is exactly how you wrote it or exactly how you said it, but the way that you said it back to me was, I'd love an hour of your time to tell you a bit about what I'm doing. I think that's the wrong ask.

No one wants to, he, it sounds like he's really nice, which is great, but as someone that gets this question all the time, I get like 10 of these a week, right? don't have the time to jump on a call and just hear about what you were doing.

that's not what it is, but I have the time to meet about a potential opportunity or to tell you about maybe what I'm working on you know, you either give that time to I'd say, be more specific about what you want to do with that time when you're asking about it.

So it's an hour of your time, for us to meet, because I think that there's, I think there's a lot of opportunities for us to collaborate in the future or for us to meet, because I've been to a couple of your stories and I have some ideas, you Or for us to meet, because I've been following you for a long time. And, I think this thing that you're doing is really cool. I'd love to just ask you a few questions about it.

So just having something specific to pull to rather than, so I can tell you a bit about myself because I, that's more like that's like pitching first, which isn't what you want to do. it's not, it's again, it's not a bad thing. It's just like with all communications, with perspective and actual clients. Be client first rather than firm first.

Like maybe, yeah, they wish that they could have more of their time. I guess that would be a, that would be a problem. And then you can take some of that scope, but yeah, understanding, I think the first step is probably understanding that process, which might be what that first meeting is. Because what I see this setting up to is again, it's a little bit, it's like a discovery meeting that you want to have with them. what their process is, how much are they actually devoting to this?

How much are they building out? How much is he looking to expand? getting an idea of that. And then, the next thing I would consider doing for that next meeting is being like, Hey, you know, I've thought a lot about our conversation. Here's some things that I think you can do to improve, to get more of that vision that you're looking forward to. for the next build out that you're doing, right? you bring your knowledge to him basically for free.

you share value with him for free to, to help prove and develop that relationship. and then, I would imagine that would eventually turn into a project for you.

I'm excited to, again, go through a process here to see what that looks like, I will be back in September, so early September, I think as soon as I know that, I'll just reach out and say I'll be in town this time, let me know, what, where I would work and ideally probably at the store and it's a bit more informal and we could actually walk around and get a bit more background on the store a little bit as well, something like that would be interesting.

Choosing one time is easier than them going into their calendar, finding when they're available, thinking through, Oh man, this is an hour that I'm not going to get back. You just want to give them what time is available.