In the end, "there's no substitute for being good at what you do," says Coxe. Clients "find quality," he says, largely by listening to what others say. To develop a list of potential architectural candidates, Raychem's selection committee contacted and visited companies that had used West Coast architectural firms to build research facilities. Those architects that made Raychem's cut of top candidates were asked to make written proposals. The selection committee also contacted 40 to 50 references for each of the four finalists. John Kahl, Raychem's manager of design and construction, called real estate owners; company chemists called buildings' users; mechanical engineers called mechanical engineering firms that had worked with the four firms. "References became the number one influence," says Kahl.
Personal interviews are another key to the selection process. In Raychem's interviews, for example, conducted by a six-person selection committee, MBT was asked how it staffed projects, reached decisions with clients, and monitored costs. The committee also asked about MBT's goals. "We're looking for people who are clear on who they are," explains Kahl. "We want firms to work for us because they know it's the right job for them." Raychem also interviewed each member of MBT's project team individually to find out how each responded without the support of the group. "We're hiring people, not the firm," says Kahl.
Unlike companies that assign a project to different departments as it passes through various stages -- such as design, drafting, and construction -- MBT appoints a client team, led by one of MBT's principals, even before landing a project. At first the team may consist of only a principal and a project manager, but later it can include as many as 30 or 35 people. The team "tries to find out how the client works," says MBT president Tomsick, "and tailors the design to its system, not to some preconceived architectural conception." Some architects, he says, "work on the 'big bang' theory. They come up with a concept and they stuff everything into it." By involving clients in every stage of design, he notes, MBT forces them to make the design choices. "That way, the client, not MBT, becomes the project's chief defender," explains Tomsick.
After the project is completed, the leader of the team remains the chief liaison. Whoever led the team, stresses Weld Coxe, must be in constant touch with the client. Like a person who gets a feeling of security from a family doctor, says Coxe, "clients want to have their family architect and they want to know that architect cares about them. If the firm leaves the impression with the client that the firm has service, but there is no personification of this, it tends to be a more fragile relationship."
Besides maintaining personal contact, MBT perpetuates its client relationships by providing ongoing services. In 1980, the firm became a major investor in, and helped found, Design Logic Inc., an Oakland, Calif., computer services company. The alliance not only allows MBT to save money and time by computerizing drafting, data processing, and storage, but it also provides an additional service for clients. Floor plans showing how clients use space, for instance, can be stored in Design Logic's computers.
Once a project is completed, MBT performs yearly checks, or audits, on client buildings -- a strategy doctors traditionally have used with annual physical examinations, and one that lawyers, accountants, and other professionals have started to adapt to their own professions. The audit allows MBT an opportunity to rekindle relationships, evaluate a client's changing needs, and meet new personnel A building "might have been sophisticated for the people you originally worked for," says Tomsick, "but darned if they didn't retire."
To supplement personal contact, MBT relies on low-key merchandising and promotional programs. For instance, when a person joins MBT, an announcement is mailed to clients with a photograph of the individual and a short biography. When the company recently moved into a converted silverware factory in San Francisco, a poster was sent to the 1,000 people on its mailing list of clients, colleagues, and consultants. In contrast to businesses in which direct mail can effectively be used to solicit new customers, for service businesses it is of "almost no value to send mailings to people you don't know," says Coxe.
Since 1981, the AIA has relaxed its position regarding the appropriateness of architects advertising their services. Like many firms, however, MBT has shied away from such traditional media as newspaper and radio, in part because the architects don't want to commercialize their professional image. Besides, "people don't choose architects by leafing through magazines," says Bagwell. She argues that there is a "softer kind of publicity," designed to keep MBT's name before the public. MBT's principals frequently speak at design conferences and serve on the boards of preservation and regional-planning organizations, and reprints of articles on MBT are sent to clients and colleagues. "What clients want to hear in all the professions and in commercial advertising as well," maintains Coxe, is what other people are saying about you. You can't toot your own horn very well."
"The best way to market is to perform the best you can for your existing clients," acknowledges Koo. Each year, since 1980, approximately 85% of MBT's clients have been repeat customers. However, MBT's principals also learned during harder times that no firm can rest on its laurels. "You can't take it for granted that they know you're good," says Coxe. "You have to find interesting ways to remind them."
CORRECTION-DATE: February, 1985
CORRECTION:
The following photographers' credit were omitted from the Selling & Marketing column in the January issue: (clockwise from top) Pacific Aerial Survey (aerial) and Peter Xiques (model and rendering), Marvin Wax; John Steinbacher; Rick Alexander.
