The Evolution of AEC Firm Business Development

Within the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) market space, firms conduct business development differently. Different people, markets, geographies, and firm sizes necessitate different approaches.

Yet many generalities can be drawn when looking at the bigger picture of business development (BD). In 2015 and 2016, I had the opportunity to lead a major research initiative for the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and SMPS Foundation, which resulted in the research report Sell. Do. Win Business: A Report on How AEC Firms are Using Staff to Win More Work.

The report offered a deep dive into how firms serving the built environment approached business development. Some used dedicated business developers, others relied on seller-doers, and many used a combination of both. Through the research, we learned how business developers and seller-doers focus their efforts. The research shed light on areas like training, goals, incentives, and future plans.

But in this current disruptive business environment, 2016 may as well be the last century. Between the significant technological advances, changing buyer behaviors and demographics, and the global pandemic, we were curious if that research was still relevant.

Survey Says…

Stambaugh Ness partnered with the SMPS Foundation to update and expand the research, asking many of the same questions for comparative purposes and many new questions to better understand what firms are doing today and where they are headed in the coming years when it comes to generating work for their firms. The new research was just released in the report AEC.BD: Building Business Development Success in a Post-Pandemic World.

In the Sell. Do. Win Business. research, one of the findings was that AEC firms had increased the use of both business developers and seller-doers. Furthermore, survey participants said they planned to continue adding staff in both areas. The new AEC.BD research findings verified the continued expansion of business development and seller-doer positions in AEC firms, with a net of 47% of surveyed firms adding business developers and a net of 47% of companies adding seller-doers.

In fact, our new research found that 89% of firms now use seller-doers, up from 74% in 2015, when the prior research was conducted. Seller-doers are critical to the business development efforts of most AEC firms today, but not at the expense of business development positions.

Seller-doer is a nebulous term, a role where someone is required to both generate work and deliver that work. Our research found that the most common seller-doers have titles of Principal, Owner, or Partner, followed closely by Project Manager and Project Executive.

Driving the seller-doer trend is the client/prospect preference to meet with people who would be working on their projects, as well as the firm culture embracing the model. While 70% of survey participants stated that they use the seller-doer model because of client preferences – the same percentage as the prior research – 60% noted that it is cultural and “we’ve always done it that way.” Interestingly, the latter category was identified by 49% of firms in the prior research, which demonstrates the expanding embrace of the seller-doer approach to BD.

The Responsibilities of BD

So, what do business developers and seller-doers do with their time? The research found that 72% of participants identified setting up appointments with prospects and participating in client meetings as the top responsibility of dedicated business developers. This is closely followed by managing client relationships.

Responsibilities are different for seller-doers. 96% of them are responsible for participating in client meetings, managing client relationships, and participating in shortlist presentations, which are the second and third most common responsibilities.

The AEC.BD report also provides a breakdown of how much time seller-doers spend in business development, which is a common question across many firms. Time dedicated to BD varied by position, of course, but the Principal/Owner/Partner, Vice President/Other C-Suite, and Market Leader/Champion roles tended to commit more hours to business development than other positions.

We were also curious about business development models employed by AEC firms, and the most common is to use seller-doers, followed by principal business developers and market champions. The least common model moving forward is projected to be that of the rainmaker, with one individual bringing in the majority of a firm’s work. There are several trends driving this, from founders – who are often the rainmakers – heading into retirement, merger and acquisition activities, and firms simply growing too large to rely on a rainmaker.

As a future-focused organization, Stambaugh Ness is always looking to understand the trends and changing dynamics, both internal and external to companies. We asked several future-oriented questions in the survey, including one around the necessary seller-doer skillset moving forward. The research identified active listening, becoming a trusted advisor, and verbal communication as the top required skills to be successful. The research also found that the trend of increased use of dedicated business developers and seller-doers will continue, with a net of 51% of firms planning to expand use of business developers, while a net of 49 firms are planning to add more seller-doers.

Next Steps

What else did we learn? How does your firm stack up against the research?

The AEC.BD report is an excellent benchmarking tool and can be downloaded here. Also, be sure to attend the forthcoming webinar, Unveiling the Future of AEC Business Development, where we will explore the data more deeply. Register here.