A small example of fabulous construction professions marketing

Three things happen when you are the child of a QS (quantity surveyor). 1. You spend a lot of time walking around building sites 2. You acquire an innate distrust of architects and 3. You learn a lot about the construction industry.

As a consultant I have worked with some of the largest construction companies in the world (eg Vinci), with some of the largest and smallest property developers and a host of construction professionals - civil engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers, project managers and, of course, quantity surveyors. I have also had the pleasure of working with one of the UK's leading barristers chambers in construction (Keating Chambers) and worked with more construction solicitors than you could shake a hod at.

But the construction industry is in such deep trouble right now that it is hard to find something to bring a smile to your face.

So you can imagine my surprise and delight that whilst waiting to run a training session at a firm of solicitors today in Bristol I was browsing through the usual reception array of brochures, newsletters, legal updates and other promotional material when I came upon a real treasure.

This fabulous, compact and beautifully designed booklet is modestly called "Construction - a basic guide". But in all my years of working in construction I have never found such a simple, clear, comprehensive and really good introduction to the procurement process. From the concept, through the roles of the various advisers, the design process, tendering, the building contract and procurement routes and through all the standard contracts (it took me ages to understand what a JCT was!). There were even helpful sections on common issues in construction disputes, the pros and cons of the various dispute resolution methods and what to do if you receive a construction claim. A really subtle but valuable sell.

I wish I had had this guide handy over the years when getting the various suppliers, advisers and marketers up to speed with the construction industry. And how useful would this guide be to a senior business person in a corporation who is faced with his or her first construction project - for example, for a new head office. I will be sending copies of this guide to a number of people...

About 20 years ago, I remember a great lawyer (in the pensions market at Nabarro) telling me that the sign of a true expert was the ability to convey in the very simplest terms some of the most complex ideas. He advocated de-mystifying the legal process.

I also remember the big fuss I faced when I suggested to a large surveying firm about ten years ago that they produce a simple guide to commercial property investment. The investment agents (a bit like the corporate lawyers in a legal practice) were the king of the jungle and thought that a simple guide would be pointless. That guide had to be reprinted countless times - such was it's value to a range of existing and potential clients and referrers.

Anyway. I just wanted to say a huge, appreciative "Thanks" to the construction lawyers and their marketing/business development professionals at beachcroft - it is good to see such a fantastic piece of marketing from such a simple idea executed so well. I hope that is a huge success for you.

Fortress equity or successful succession?

Succession is one of those persistent and serious problems in the professions but, with the inevitable staff cuts that are taking place as a result of the economic turmoil, is one that has temporarily been forgotten. But it is sure to emerge again in an even bigger and uglier version in the not too distant future.

Nearly all partnerships are based on a model that requires the development of younger fee-earners up through the ranks and into equity. How sad then that so many firms fail miserably at this task.

There was a time when partners really were owner-managers and regarded their time in equity as a kind of stewardship - a temporary position in their careers where their role was to ensure that they passed on the firm in good shape to the next generation of equity partners while they earned a good living. Sadly, most equity partners these days adopt a rather short term view of things. Which leads to tension with the salaried partners and sometimes the tragic loss of tomorrow's leaders.

The founders of many small firms have managed to build successful practices by the sheer force of their willpower (or personality) and lead those firms well for many years. But then find that those very characteristics that enabled them to grow their firms, were the same characteristics that scared the next generation of leaders away.

I have observed that many firms have older partners who simply can't or won't share their clients. Sometimes this is because they fear that they will not be able to replace the lost income attributed to themselves and feel vulnerable to their fellow equity partners. I like the way the accountancy firms deal with this - each equity partner allocates some of their clients to new partners so that each new partner has a few inherited "legacy" clients on which to cut their partner teeth.

Some partners are so busy serving their long standing clients that they have no time to recruit, develop and nurture the next generation of equity partners. Or to generate new clients and new work. And some partners have clients and work that simply cannot be allocated to less senior people - which the level of fee-earners below finds frustrating as they often lack interesting and challenging work, or sometimes any work at all. These partners need to embrace business and client development techniques to grow a client base that is transferable - but rarely do.

But the biggest sin is the lack of transparency and communication. Yes, I agree that there is always an element of subjectivity in deciding who should join the equity ranks. But there are also a number of requirements that should be articulated so that those aspiring to equity know exactly what they need to achieve in terms of fee generation, new client development, nurturing of younger team members, contribution to the general management of the firm and, well, good firm "citizenship".

And then some partnerships fail to have an open and honest chat with those that they believe will make it into equity - which means that sometimes the best people give up hope and move away. Why maintain the guessing game - Everyone loses.

But I have seen some great ways to overcome the equity candidate vacuum:

* Giving non equity partners a management portfolio – like assigning them to oversee the technology, recruitment, training or marketing within a firm
* Allowing some non equity partners access to the financial information - and providing expert help in enabling them to interpret that information for themselves
* Having a rotating, non-voting member of junior ranks attend certain partner meetings on a regular basis to give them insight into the way the firm runs
* A “shadow” management committee where non partners are asked to tackle key management issues and report into the real management committee
* Allocating the role of “departmental manager” to a non partner to support the equity partner head of department
* Setting up strategic projects where salaried partners and senior fee-earners take the lead under the watchful eye of an equity partner
* Encouraging non partners to prepare and present papers on critical new business or management issues to the board
* Coaching programmes where external advisers provide focused support and/or training to potential or new salaried partners to help them make the transition
* Mentoring programmes where equity partners take responsibility for guiding and helping prospective equity partners

And it should be remembered that with generational differences, not all new professionals see equity as the ultimate goal – so you need to explore the particular aspirations of those that you really want to retain and find flexible ways to accommodate them. Some firms offer sabatticals or financial support for studying (MBAs are quite popular), some find overseas placements so that international experience can be obtained and some organise secondments in client organisations. These are all win-win situations.

Some firms have successfully introduced a dual career path – for those with great technical or other skills but who don’t want equity but need to have access to more senior status and/or financial rewards. And some allow non equity partners to take a leading role in the day to day management of the firm if their skills and ambitions lean that way.

One of the saddest aspects of the "veil of equity secrecy" is that in these troubled times, I have seen the sacrifices that many equity partners have made for their firms. Yet they fail to communicate this to the rest of the firm from some misplaced sense of pride. I really think that better communication in these difficult times would do a lot to help break down the equity-no equity divide.

Cash IS King and deserves respect - from everyone

One of the national newspapers is currently running a campaign to encourage big businesses to pay their bills on time with a proposed eight point plan to help the UK's 4.7m small and medium sized enterprises.

As an MBA with a long career advising businesses, the concept of "Cash is King" has always been familiar. But at the present time it is even more important. I find myself in the strange position of advising clients to preserve their cash by ensuring that their Accounts teams don't send out cash until they really have to (i.e. using all the credit available in the agreed payment terms) yet quietly going mad whilst some of my own clients (who, in the main are medium sized firms of lawyers, accountants and surveyors who you think would know better) are rather poor at paying their bills on time.

There are, of course, one or two notable exceptions - clients who understand that I am a sole practitioner and that all my time is spent working to support two children by myself with little time available to chase late payers or deal with the myriad hassles that result when the cash fails to flow. Not forgetting the effects of the stress of constantly moving money between accounts so that I continue to have enough cash to work, buy train tickets to get to clients and so on.

But just so that you know. Whilst I must preserve client relationships by not getting too heavy about my clients paying their bills on time, the various authorities and organisations who demand money from me have no such concerns.

I had a particularly bad run in recently with H M Revenue and Customs over a VAT bill where my accountant has miscalculated, one or two bills had come in particularly late and I therefore had to pay significantly more than expected. They were completely impervious to my explanation and request for some time. The only word I can use for H M Revenue and Customs is Draconian.

Then there are the PAYE people. And the banks. And then all those financial institutions supporting (and I use the term lightly - perhaps "exploiting" would be more accurate looking at their incredible charges) my business and my personal life. They have systems in place which ensure that you feel like a hunted criminal when you go over by a day. And this is really irritating bearing in mind how so many of them have shown that they have failed as good business people on so many counts recently - and caused unbelievable misery and heart ache to so many millions of ordinary people. With both my children's birthdays and Christmas coming up cash really is an issue for me right now.

A colleague of mine - with two young kids - recently had bailiffs knocking on her door threatening to take away the family car for a small amount which was a little overdue on her thriving new business. Can you believe this?

So I would like to add my support to newspaper's plea for all businesses to pay their bills on time. But I would also like to politely request that those organisations who demand their money (sometimes with menaces) remember that it is the small business person who gets thoroughly stuck in the middle - between late paying clients (often from larger businesses) and over-zealous creditors (usually from very large businesses).

WANTED - Men between 25 to 40 years

No. This isn't an attempt at on-line dating but a comment on the challenges of selling.

I gave up my Saturday evening to help out a friend of mine who is a member of Roundtable and who has invested a huge amount of his time and energy developing the West London membership and in organising events such as the fabulous firework display at Kempton Park last night (Well done my friend!)

My role appeared simple. A colleague and I, wrapped in roundtable sashes (this is the closest I ever got to wearing such an item - having never been in a beauty pageant!)were to approach men in the target age range to get their name and contact details in exchange for an a free evening of dinner, drinks and slot car racing in a totally male environment and to listen to some information about the Roundtable (which, for your information, aims to help develop young men, raise money for charity and for them to have lots of fun in doing so - oh yes, and their womenfolk get invited along to some events). I thought I had a winning sales proposition.

There were around 12,000 people at this event and, by rough estimate, at least 20% met the target criteria. Excellent!

I have to say that whilst selling to commercial organisations has long been an area of interest, study and work for me (having even written a book on the subject almost a decade ago)approaching people completely cold, out in the chilly evening air and rain, whilst they are enjoying precious down time with their loved ones and families proved to be a challenge. How to approach people? What opening line to use? What would be the compelling question or statement to engage in conversation? How to remove the natural fear that people have of those bearing clipboards? How to be heard above the noise of a live radio broadcast and a magnificent funfair? How to overcome people's incorrect perceptions about charitable/men only organisations? How to encourage people that it might be fun and fulfilling to do something for charity or their community? How to persuade people that the free offer of an evening's entertainment was genuine?

I have to say that I will forever more look at those poor street canvassers in a new light. And I will listen to the first few lines of what they have to say without being so suspicious or dismissive in future. Aren't we, in the professions, lucky not to have to generate new clients this way? I guess it makes the other methods of marketing and communication so much more attractive.

And how do I continue to help out my friend? Well, if you would like to know more about Roundtable, have a look at the web site. Better still, drop me an email and I will pass on your details to my friend and his free invite to a fun evening later on in November...