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Actionable growth hacks to help architects improve their sales, marketing, and social media skills.
Alex: it is exciting.
It's a, it's definitely an interesting,
project, and there's another
opportunity for one of these as well.
so I think let's see how
this first one, pans out.
Tyler: That is Alexander Buckridge,
an architect based in NYC that
is in the process of starting
his own architecture firm.
And if you've ever felt unsure about
exactly how to win new clients and
give your firm the best chance,
then you don't want to miss this.
We'll dive into a distillery project that
Alexander is trying to win right now.
Alex: they would like me to send
on the latest and greatest deck, of
what I'm doing and get me in the mix.
Tyler: Then we discuss how to prep for an
upcoming meeting with a big NYC developer.
Alex: going back to your last point
about the smaller scale is like,
there's a bit more intimacy, there's a
bit more trust and all that stuff that
you're going to bring to the table.
Tyler: And we end by covering how
much time and consistency architects
should devote to business development.
Alex: they're not going to turn up trumps
this week, next week, the following
week, but it's, there's a payoff
coming down the line.
Yeah, let's talk about the distillery for
a minute, just because it's a conversation
that's been ongoing for roughly about 18
months and, now, it's been a situation
of awaiting funding, but, the project
is probably like 40 minutes outside of
Dublin, it's a large, mill building with
a huge renovation to the front of it.
It's an extension that's been completed
and that's actually the distillery itself
for the production because that has to
go first.
It's quite interesting.
and now they're talking about
more of the hospitality, more
of the tourism side of it.
As you see, it's a big thing, you know,
this yeah, probably visited the site.
18 months ago and you
know, it was awesome.
It was really nice to see that building
itself extension completed and then what
they were planning to do with the rest of
it, which was this old stone structure.
five stories, yeah, really
nice building potential.
So they were talking about offices.
They were talking about, having
like artists retreat there and stuff
and different things like that.
It's quite a creative hub.
They're seeing it as with whiskey.
So anyway, there was a lot of alignment.
What I thought myself, was interested
in, I was always passionate and I'm
passionate about, back 10 decade,
implementing and putting boots on the
ground there to get stuff, built and.
yeah, so that's how all
those conversations started.
recently that I had, on Wednesday
conversation that the funding had
now come in for, this second phase,
cause ultimately it's a second phase,
and, that, they would like me to send
on the latest and greatest deck, of
what I'm doing and get me in the mix.
Now, obviously I'm a startup.
This is, building itself is significant.
And.
And so what I want to do is position
myself where I can get some scope,
there's endless opportunities within this
complex, let's say, ultimately is what
it is.
I want to talk about, you
know, best way to approach her.
Cause I will just go
through what you would say.
If someone says, Hey, could you send
me over your latest and greatest?
You send it over, it goes into some kind
of a void that then goes through another
void, and then you may never hear again.
So I'm not
saying this is exactly what will happen
here, but, again, if we want to talk
about, how to do sales and negotiating
and all that kind of stuff, there is
approach to take that is much more
opportunistic and puts you in a better
positioning than, the latter of sending
if I email and praying that, an email
comes in saying you have been chosen.
It just doesn't
Tyler: Yeah.
Yes.
That's so true.
Okay.
So I know that you had mentioned, I
think you mentioned to me before that
you have a relationship with the director
there or one of the directors there.
So you
Alex: yeah, I know to be honest with
you, the two of the main guys there, I
would meet up when I go back to Ireland
and, get a coffee with, get a beer with.
there's definitely a
friendly relationship there.
Tyler: So the first thing that
you want to do is gather as
much information as possible.
And if I were you, way that I would
do that is I would try to jump on
the phone with those two friends that
you have, in Dublin or in Ireland
that are directors or at least
directly associated with that project.
And I would just try to get a sense
for that scope that they have.
like you said, like you just want
some scope, obviously you're not going
to get the full scope because you're
a startup, you're just one person.
But if you were involved, I
think you want to try to figure
out exactly What avenue is most
realistic for you to become involved?
is that through the interiors?
Is that through just, one floor or
something that they're doing on, so I
would open up that conversation and be
like, Hey, I'm, I saw, I saw your email.
I saw that you guys are looking for this.
I'm really curious to learn more, about
exactly what it is that you're looking
to do and how I can potentially help.
do you just have a few minutes to
answer some questions and then,
just say what are you looking for?
How many people are
you planning on hiring?
Are you just looking
for one firm to do it?
Are you going to be hiring like
a few different people to help?
Because if that's the case, if they
say, we're just looking for one firm,
Alex: Yeah.
Tyler: then, then, the next
question might be, Oh, okay.
Like who else have you reached
out to, to help with that?
or who else are you asking to submit?
Because then if I were you,
I would actually go directly
to those firms and say, Hey.
so and so also asked
me to submit something.
I'm not yet large enough to take this
project on myself, but I would really love
to help, I have a lot of roots in this.
I'm like, I'm really emotionally
attached to what's happening here.
is there any way that we can collaborate
or that I can help you with this as well?
Does that make sense?
Alex: yeah.
Tyler: yeah, first it's just gathering as
much information as possible if they're
looking for something finished in four
weeks, then I might say something like,
before I submit this whole thing in a few
weeks, do you have some time next week for
me to walk you through what I'm thinking?
Alex: Now
Tyler: Like get in front of
them as much as possible.
Alex: so you would say first just jump
on a call to clarify scope, just overall,
direction they're heading, a bit of a
more of an update from probably like
previous conversations.
Tyler: like a discovery,
like what are the, yeah.
What challenges have you faced?
What are you, what's the
outcome that you're hoping for?
What's the scope look like?
how many people would you plan on hiring?
how large is this project?
getting a sense, I think for those
things would be really great.
And then the second part of that
is trying to set up another meeting
where you can get feedback on.
What you're thinking and the way that
you're understanding so you can even
frame it that way like do you mind if we
schedule some time in a couple of weeks?
To make sure that I'm understanding
everything correctly and show
you what I've come up with
Alex: What would you
call that second call?
as a
headline,
Tyler: Check in you could call
it like something really casual
like that
Alex: A check in on not a proposal per se.
I know that's getting a bit too
granular, but it is like you're
drafting out kind of the bones.
Tyler: Yeah, it's almost like,
Hey, this is where I'm at.
This is the way that I was understanding
what you were saying, because it's
just meant to be a short call, right?
Because you're just meeting with the
people that you know directly, but there's
a larger group of stakeholders, right?
So you're just
Alex: Yeah.
Tyler: to meet with those people
because ultimately, to me, what those
two people are that is that they
are your champions in this, right?
Assuming that you have
some kind of relationship.
And so you really want to warm
and lean into those relationships
that you already have.
So that when they are part of
that stakeholder decision making
process, they can go to bat for you.
and they can say, Hey, we've
met with him a couple of times.
He's really interested.
He's super invested.
He has an emotional attachment to this.
and I think it's something that
he would do really great at.
and if I were you, I'd lean
heavily into that story.
Even when you do put together the
full deck, like even if it's starting
with a picture of you as a kid,
in the area or something, and it's
I think it's okay to be upfront.
Like this is my dream project, Yeah.
So it's like, this means a
lot to me for these reasons.
And, and I, I think I have a lot to
offer here and I want to take, almost
like you were just saying it to me.
I want to take everything that I've
learned from all over the world
and bring it back to my hometown.
so I think there's a, there's
definitely a storyline in
there that is really powerful.
you have an emotional tie to it that
I think could be used really well.
Alex: Yeah.
I like that.
So we're looking at a kind
of a light discovery call,
like a, like an updated one.
And then a check in after that with what
my findings are, my understandings are.
then I think after that, you share
where you've got to assuming that we're
all there, where I'm in the mix, etc.
And we take it from there, ultimately.
Tyler: yes, exactly.
And hopefully they give you an opportunity
to present that proposal to them in some
Alex: yeah, because I know we touched
Tyler: that's why, yeah, just in case
they, just in case they can't, I think
that's why it's really good to try to
create those champion relationships.
with the two that you already
know and just try to touch base
with them as much as possible and
make them almost feel invested
and involved in your own proposal.
Alex: yeah, that's great.
no, I think I'm gonna go through those
steps And let's see where it gets to
because
Tyler: that sounds exciting.
Alex: it is exciting.
It's a, it's definitely an interesting,
project, and there's another
opportunity for one of these as well.
so I think let's see how
this first one, pans out.
Tyler: Yeah, That's awesome.
Alex: okay.
And then the other, thing I want
to discuss was conversation.
Another conversation that I had this
week with a developer in the city.
it's one of their head
of their design team.
They're, they're called RXR.
And what they want to do is,
how we met was through Syracuse.
I was on the kind of a
professional practice.
board thing that we were sharing with
the students about, what it's like,
after you go into the workforce, et
cetera, the reality of it and much
more the nuts and bolts of business and
architecture, and they were also on it.
So just a bit of context as
well as helpful because yeah,
there's a bit of crossover then.
So then I spoke a bit about
the work I'd been doing.
They were speaking a bit more on a
higher level about their out there.
Like they've got the contractors,
they have the real estate, it's all
in house, which is quite interesting.
It's the architecture,
it's all one umbrella.
And so we were talking at different
scales, but facing similar issues.
So afterwards I kept in
touch with someone, invited
them to a going away party.
Then we grabbed a coffee when I just
got back from my trips in Europe.
And, they, that conversation
concluded with, seeing the first
opportunity for me would be to
work on some marketing activations
and some of their developments.
from my understanding of work I've done
previously, that would look like setting
up, whether it's an office space, whether
it's a retail space, a residential space,
for potential tenants bringing in design
that gets people excited that gets people
like visualize this could be something.
Special or it could be somewhere
I can position my company.
I could position my family
and, in New York city in particular,
there's a big demand and you need to
make a bigger effort, to entice people.
So.
I sent a message back on LinkedIn
to, to her just to, summarize my
understanding of the conversation
of what she was wanting, from me in
particular, in terms of showing examples
of that I've done, which I have from.
If I'm working previously at my
previous firm, we've done stuff
like that and potentially other
things that would speak to that.
And what was interesting was, as I was
thinking about it, there's within these
activations, they're they can be permanent
and they can be pop up kind of things.
It's essentially, you do have a
light activation, a medium and a,
I think it's called a full one.
And what that looks like is
the light version would be.
A sculptural piece, or it
could be just like lighting.
It's a lighter kind of
touch with a smaller budget.
It's all
capital orientated.
The medium would be a bit more immersive.
It could be, one space and then
the full is just the entire floor.
You're looking at different packages,
which I think is interesting again as
well to adapt to what the building
has and what the budget, I guess,
ultimately they have either.
So the idea would be to go in, in two
weeks and meet with the rest of their
team, which is a great opportunity to meet
with the rest of she's going to introduce
me to the other team members, et cetera.
And then to just share and present those
kind of like relevant projects that
I've done previously and for us to find.
Somewhere to kick off with things.
Tyler: Cool.
That's awesome.
Alright, so let's talk about
what's really great here.
Is that the whole reason that this
happened is because you you both
had some kind of commonality right
on, this, ProPrac board at Syracuse,
you maintained a relationship with
them and you continue to touch base.
You can continue to keep
your foot in the door.
And then that turns into
a potential opportunity.
That's
Alex: Yeah.
No, it is
Tyler: That's exactly how
things like tend to work.
That's that's how things should happen.
It takes some time to warm these things
up, but then opportunities come from it.
So that's awesome.
Alex: Yeah.
and I think what's great as well
as that, when you get that, you
two people just have the good
kind of rapport at feeling at one
another, then it flows obviously a much
more better and it's makes more sense.
Tyler: yeah, for sure.
That's awesome.
And so in a couple of weeks,
you're going to go present there.
And my question would be, and it's
really great that it sounds like
you had a discussion and it ended
with her being like, we'd love to
see what you've done with other
things and how that could impact us.
You're going to go and meet the team.
You even sent an email
following up to just make sure
that you were understanding.
It sounds like to make sure you
were understanding the scope as well
Alex: Yeah.
And also to know, am I missing anything?
Is there anything else
I should be aware of?
Yeah.
Tyler: into that meeting, right?
So when you already know, like
you're going to be pulling together
examples of, that are relevant to
them, which I think is really good.
I'd also be thinking about, what is
the top level priority that they have?
whether she told you that or not,
or whether you're getting a sense
for, maybe their top priority is
to get tenants, for example, that's
the whole goal of this space.
Then, the frame with which
you want to be presenting that
proposal from everything, right?
It is almost like a capital
conversation saying, this is how.
this is going to make
someone feel this way.
And so that's, they're going to be more
likely to do what you want them to do.
and so anytime that you can
frame it that way is important.
And then also, maybe in that
conversation, and I know we discussed
this last time is thinking about what
objections do you already anticipate?
And I think that's important too,
because you can address those when
you were presenting to them and
when you're meeting with them.
So I don't know if she mentioned
you're just getting started or you're
potentially like you're kind of small.
And so you can just address that and be
upfront about it right from the beginning.
You can say your background, right?
Like, Hey, I'm coming.
I am starting my own practice.
Now I'm coming from something like more
than 10 years of experience doing exactly
what it is that you're looking to do.
I have all of the partnerships and
I have the network in place to make
sure that these can be executed well.
Alex: and also for me in particular,
it's there's truth to the matter of, I'm
also looking to build my relationships
and partnerships right now with,
whether it is RxR or it could be another
developer, i.
e.
we've worked with Chipolle before,
I've worked with other developers.
And so.
For me, if there's a, we're building
a relationship that feels good.
I'm also saying that yeah, it going
back to your last point about the
smaller scale is like, there's a
bit more intimacy, there's a bit
more trust and all that stuff that
you're going to bring to the table.
Plus a handful of contractors ready to go,
Tyler: that's right.
Yeah.
you use a little bit of FOMO when you're
meeting with them to say I am starting
out and I'm also looking for, long
term relationships with developers.
that are looking for a more intimate
relationship, that are looking to be
more involved in the process and want
someone that can, acutely understand
exactly what they need to do.
Alex: Yeah, that's
Tyler: Yeah, so that's good because then
it also puts them, they're oh, okay,
I'm listening now because I want to be,
if Alexander is great, if Studio Bucky
is what we're looking for, then I want
to make sure that we are one of those
relationships, that he has moving forward.
So I think, I think that's great.
And then the other thing is just.
taking whatever those challenges are,
whatever those priorities are that you did
hear from her, when you were meeting with
her and making sure that you're mapping
those back in the presentation as well.
So it's, I don't know what her name is,
but yes, when Cindy and I met for, coffee
a couple of weeks ago, she mentioned, um,
This was something that you're focused on.
Here's exactly how I've done
that with another project.
you're reintroducing everything that
she said to you, showing that you
were listening very actively and
that you've been very intentional
about the examples that you're using.
Alex: yeah, that does, the deck is
going to be directly, taken over from,
the website in terms of translating
the kind of look and feel so that I
have this space, line one to run with.
let's see, I'm excited to just pursue
these avenues and go through each door
and these hurdles, that you're running and
it's like, you jump one and it's like, oh,
okay, so now we're on to the next stretch,
you hit the next one and you're like, what
do I got to do to jump over this one, it's
gotta you gotta state back to them what
you heard, you gotta list out this, and
this, and then this, and yeah, it becomes
then like, next thing.
Tyler: Yeah, I think what's
really great about, I think it's
challenging for you right now,
because again, the ideal scenario
is that you were doing, yeah, but you're
doing like one, you're doing one type of
project with one type of
client and then you can do it.
And so that process then stays the same.
but obviously for you, I can
tell you're excited by it.
It's really interesting that
since you are doing, you're
being a little bit more open,
to the types of projects
that you can take on.
It's leading you down a different
like business development cycle
and process with each one,
which is really
interesting.
So you're getting, the full exposure of
working with a larger firm, working with
smaller firms, working with individuals,
trying to do these different things.
And so eventually, after, if
you imagine just, this is, you
haven't even formally launched yet.
So if you imagine like
a year down the road,
great exposure to all of these different
things and you'll have a process.
For each one, you'll have a process for
when you're meeting with developers.
You'll have a process for
when you're meeting with
individuals about their project.
And I think that's just going to pay
a ton of dividends down the road.
Alex: yeah.
that's what I'm hoping for.
it's like a lot of things I'm saying
to myself right now is like these
initial conversations I'm having with
certain people or, these connections
that I'm building and I've had other
conversations I haven't got into this
week, but, they're not going to turn
up trumps this week, next week, the
following week, but it's, there's a payoff
coming down the line.
There's months.
there's years, when we talk about the,
you know, the distillery situation.
Tyler: it's a long, these
are long term plays.
And I think that's what people,
that's where architects make
usually the biggest mistake, right?
Is that they.
They might be focused on getting one
project and they get that one big project.
And then what happens, like three
months into the project, they
realize, Oh my gosh, we're going to
run out of money in three months,
unless we go get another project.
But it takes three months to develop
the relationships to potentially get a
project and get something in the door.
And so
as long as you're keeping
that consistent, right?
You're spending after you start getting
projects, like you're going to want
to spend probably still at least like
20 percent of your time doing business
development, focusing on relationships.
Okay.
going out and doing things that might
not have the immediate impact of, getting
an opportunity right now, but keeping
all the other things warm so that in
six months, in 12 months, in 18 months,
you have a really healthy pipeline of
relationships that you can fall back on.
Alex: Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
that's really important
to understand that.
And I came up recently
with my financial advisor.
We just had an annual check in and he
actually brought that up, which is quite
interesting also in the service, game.
Or he said to me that, yeah,
what's going to happen with you.
And it was quite interesting.
It was like, you're going to get stuff's
going to start moving very quickly.
They're all going to
move at the same pace.
There's going to be two or three
projects just moving along.
And you'll get through them in 12
months time and you'll get there.
And if you're not doing, the still that
20 percent of business development of
meeting people pipeline, you're going
to come out into a void of nothing.
And you're going to be
like, oh, that was great.
That was fun 12 months,
but where am I going now?
But it was so interesting
that you give me that feedback,
on a just an annual check in,
Tyler: That's awesome.
I love that the financial advisor
becomes a business development
consultant, but They're exactly right.
Because I'm sure that he sees
it all the time to his point.
Like he's got to see this
people starting their business.
They started a service business,
they get the work that they need
and they take their, feet off of the
accelerator and as a result, they
are just, they're done after they
finished those few projects, they don't
have anything else in the pipeline.
Alex: that's it.
And I think another
Tyler: It's the hardest part.
It's the hardest part of
you running a business,
Alex: it is because you've got to
keep, you've got to keep that portion,
Tyler: Yep.
You have to keep up quality and control
and execution of the projects that
you're getting, but then you also have to
maintain the pipeline of everything else
that you're going to get moving forward
Alex: yeah,
Tyler: and without maintaining,
without walking that line, you
don't have a sustainable business,
Alex: Yeah.
So it's good to, it's good to be aware
of all this, you know, out of the gates.
Tyler: Yeah.
Alex: So that I can divide
my time up as best possible.
with these potential, I mean, there's
a bit there to, to figure out, I think.
I just want to make sure I'm
putting myself in the best
possible position each time.
Yeah, no, I make sure that I give
them a real reason to not take me on.
Tyler: exactly.
I think they're both going
to be learning experience.
It seems hopefully there's good things
that should come out of them, but to
your point, like putting yourself in
the best position, I think is just about
gathering as much information as possible
about what it is that they need and, and,
and, and, and, And also leaning on your
differentiator, which for you is that
you're just starting, you're one person.
And so you're leaning into those
personal relationships that you've
already built with these people
and using that, to kind of wiggle
your way into these different
situations and scenarios.
I
think if you, if you continue to do
that, like you're going to at least get
the right clients for you right now.
because obviously this conversation
will be different in a year.
You might have a few different people that
are helping you or something like that.