We’ve all heard stories of job candidates who looked great on paper but who were absolute disasters in person. With fewer interview opportunities available in our competitive job market, it’s essential to make the best possible first impression. Learn from the mistakes of others and avoid these top five worst interview blunders:

1. Not preparing for the tough interview questions.

Like every job seeker, you probably have your own set of tough interview questions you hope will never be asked. The best strategy is to prepare ahead of time with answers to ALL of these questions. A career coach can be a great resource for helping you work out suitable answers with a positive spin on negative or challenging career situations.

2. Failure to match communication styles.

Making a great first impression is easier to do when you communicate effectively with your interviewer. The best way to do this is by mirroring his or her communication style. Allowing your interviewer to set the tone of the conversation will put him or her at ease and makes the conversation flow more naturally.

For instance:

• If the interviewer seems all business, don’t attempt to loosen him or her up with a joke or story. Be succinct.
• If the interviewer is personable, try discussing his or her interests. Personal items on display in the office can be a clue.
• If asked a direct question, answer directly. Then follow up by asking if more information is needed.

3. Talking too much.

In my recruiting days, I abhorred over-talkative candidates, and so did most of my client employers who interviewed these candidates. Over-talking takes several forms:

• Taking too long to answer direct questions. The impression: This candidate just can’t get to the point.
• Nervous talkers. The impression: This candidate is covering up something or is outright lying.

To avoid either of these forms of over-talking, practice answering questions in a direct manner. Using role-playing in preparing for your interview will help you avoid excessive, nervous talking.

4. Saying negative things about your current or past employers or managers.

Even if your last boss was Attila the Hun, avoid stating your ill feelings about the person or work situation. No matter how reasonable your complaints, your negative comments will be viewed as disrespect towards your boss. When faced with the challenge of talking about former employers, make sure you are prepared with a positive spin on your experiences.

5. Giving away too much salary and earnings information.

Candidates often weaken their future earning potential by speaking too freely about their current income. No matter the official salary range of the position you are interviewing for, your current earnings have an enormous effect on the size of the offer. Investing in a career coach to help you answer salary questions can add thousands of dollars to your new job offer.

You already know that it takes a strong resume that sets you apart as a candidate of choice to be invited for an interview. The next step is to hone your interviewing skills to actually win job offers. Polishing your interviewing skills can mean the difference between getting the job and being a runner-up.

Via Twitter, I recently asked some smart tech people for recommendations for designer-developers for a website overhaul. I got a curious reply from Charlie Crystle, a serial CEO who currently serves as Interim CTO at a consumer web startup in NYC (I have met him once in real life). He tweeted back, “Click heels three times. Rinse, repeat.”

“There’s no place like (a good) home(page),” said Dorothy while wearing her ruby slippers. An architectural portfolio should look shiny-haired and beautiful, just like the shampoo label suggests. So begins the fantasy-filled voyage to a new website.

Since the website for my firm was launched several years ago, developer technology has changed dramatically; since then, too, online communities that index and link to these portfolio websites have flourished. Today, we want to be able to manage a site’s content from the comfort of the marketing department without going through a developer every month. Most recently, we expect a website to be optimized for enjoyable viewing on an iPad and even a phone, not just a desktop computer.

The U.S. bear market of 2007-2009 changed our industry, too, of course. After rapid crisis management and downsizing, firms got caught holding expensive, high-maintenance sites weighed down by Flash movies that cannot be viewed on popular tablet devices. Looking for stopgap measures, some firms developed microsites that served as updated brochures and others launched blogs in order to feature fresh content.

Our firm has changed so much in recent years that a website redesign is nothing less than a critical retelling of our story. We went through a merger a few years ago that made for an exciting portfolio mix; the cultural integration was difficult, however. Then the recession hit. Despite such major bumps in the road, we have settled into our authentic self as a company. Our customers brand us better than we can ourselves: they see us as healthcare experts, which we have been since the 1940s.

We are also tackling the essential question of defining the firm’s personality in order to reflect it visually in the new site. It is my hope that we can show our mission and values through the design and content of our website more effectively than we could by posting a manifesto in large type. We stand for the betterment of the human condition; we achieve this through a combination of century-old heritage and innovation. Can we show this rather than say it? Likewise, rather than be trapped by the promise of an artistic visual design, I would rather the user experience be so great that it is itself art.

At this early stage of choosing a designer, taking a content inventory of our existing site, developing essential use cases, looking at social media modules, and collecting inspiration, we dream of waving a magic wand over the whole kit and caboodle. Perhaps that’s what Charlie meant in his tweet. Seeking a website designer is like shopping for fairy dust.

My original intention in writing this article was to review a new, casual (and possibly romantic) dining location for a Valentine’s dinner. After going to Trade , it became apparent that while the food was delicious, it was not a good location for an intimate dinner – at least not on a Friday evening.

Located on the ground floor of the newly renovated Atlantic Wharf building (LEED Gold-Certified) in Boston’s Waterfront District, Trade has an open layout with high ceilings and front glass windows which face Atlantic Avenue and Congress Street. The atmosphere is inviting and warm. However, one thing to keep in mind is that it is loud with customer conversation, which could make it difficult to carry on a discussion.

In the bar/lounge area there are several high tops, seats at the long, wraparound bar, and some comfy lounge chairs with low tables – all of which were occupied on this unusually warm winter night. While there isn’t much of an area to queue, there is room to wait near the entrance. The dining room is separated from the bar by some high-backed, cushioned chairs, which helps keep the noise down during dinner.

After we were seated (reservations are recommended), our waiter came over to take our drink order and let us know about the evening specials. Trade has a well-stocked bar, and custom cocktails including Bully Day, Russia Wharf, and Easy Fashion.

Working with the suggestion that the menu was tapas style and that all ingredients are locally purchased, we ordered an appetizer and one of the flatbreads to start. We each ordered our own meal, a bottle of wine, and dessert to share – and went home with a small bag of leftovers. The wait staff was efficient and very friendly, working as a team to bring customers their drinks and food.

Trade seems like it would be a fun spot for an after-work drink, and then a light dinner. There is a private dining room available. While it is noisy, it manages to be cozy. If you can, request a seat by the window as you will be very happy. Parking is complimentary with validation after 5 p.m. in the Atlantic Wharf Garage at 280 Congress Street. Alternatively, you can take the Red Line to South Station and walk up two blocks.

I’m looking forward to stopping in during the summer to watch the crowds on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy.

Trade is located at 540 Atlantic Avenue in Boston. For reservations, call (617) 451-1234.

In today’s business environment and media landscape, companies are vying with each other for attention from a myriad of audiences: customers, suppliers, consultants, and prospective employees to name a few. It can be especially difficult for small businesses to make a big impact in such a noisy environment. Small businesses have their own particular goals and challenges in the marketplace. Public relations can play a significant – and often cost effective – role in raising the visibility of small businesses.

Why should a small business consider launching a public relations program?

• For small businesses, public relations is an invaluable marketing tool. It creates visibility and brand recognition, builds credibility and third-party validation through editorial placement, and hopefully, generates new business leads. Targeted, strategic public relations can also produce tangible results that raise awareness of a company’s competitive differentiators, promote a niche expertise, or target specific markets.
• Earned PR is validated by the media, a distinction that sets it apart from most other communications vehicles. People who read about a new product or service put more credence in an article than a paid advertisement. Moreover, PR tends to be less expensive than paid marketing, advertising, or direct mail – another plus for small business.
• Just as a small business owner would hire an accountant to do their taxes, the services of a PR consultant or firm should be used to handle communications. Unless there is someone within the company who is dedicated to or tasked with PR, it often falls to the bottom of the ‘to-do’ list. Like any other discipline, there are best practices and nuances in public relations that a small business owner might not know or have the time to learn. Small business owners are focused on running their business: PR professionals have the expertise, contacts and creativity to garner coverage and get the message out.
• Hire wisely. Whether it’s a sole proprietor or small PR firm, ask questions to ascertain a PR professional’s approach. Find out their track record for delivering results, how familiar they are with traditional PR and social media, and whether their media contacts align with your business model or targeted region. Ask for samples of a consultant’s placements and speak with a firm’s other clients before making any decisions. PR consultants should work with your small business as an extension of your marketing department, so culture, personality and fit are important to working as a team.
• Choose a PR professional or firm that understands the unique goals and challenges of small businesses. The first step of every successful PR program is to understand the client’s core business by knowing what sets it apart from its competition. For small businesses owners, that golden nugget includes their expertise and the story behind their business. A good PR professional will convey the message – and teach you how to express it to the media, too.

As a critical piece of any small business’ integrated marketing efforts, public relations can bring measurable results to a company’s bottom line and help it achieve its business development goals.

Metrics are a part of everyday life, both inside and outside the office. In our personal lives we might be tracking our BMI, weight, running speed, even our wii fit age (mine is embarrassingly pathetic), at school we might be tracking grades, and at work we might be tracking press hits, social media mentions and proposal hit rates. But are we tracking the right thing? There are lots of people that will tell you exactly what you should be tracking and what numbers you should be aspiring to. However, the reality is that only you can decide which metrics are worth your time and what your goal numbers are. The space where this is most apparent is proposal hit rates. Here’s just some of the advice I’ve been given by respected industry peers to track and aspire to:

• Your hit rate should be 50%
• Your hit rate should be 30%
• Your hit rate should be 75%
• You should make the short list 50% of the time
• There’s no reason your hit rate shouldn’t be 100%
• 20% of your proposals should be rejected outright as this shows you’re stretching your comfort level with what types of jobs you’re going after
• If your hit rate is 30% and you want more jobs, you just need to increase the number of proposals you send out.

The point is, without knowing what you’re measuring and why you’re measuring it the data you cull is useless. Your first job in developing a system to track your firm’s metrics is to go back to your marketing strategy (or if you don’t have a strategy, create one). Define how you’re going to measure success against your goals and track the metrics that are directly tied to those goals. Once you define your goals and the metrics that will help show your success in meeting them you need to go back and figure out what your current metrics are and then establish reasonable goals for increasing them. For example, if your goal is to “win more business in the healthcare market” you might want to track some of the following:

• Hit rate on healthcare related proposals, but make sure to establish a reasonable goal. If your current hit rate is 10%, how about doubling it?
• Number of speaking engagements in front of your target audience.
• Number of new leads generated – this could include email sign-ups for your healthcare related e-newsletter, new contacts made at networking events, leads from a direct mail campaign, etc.
• Press hits in healthcare industry trade magazines.

Just remember, with each metric you’re measuring you should define what you’re measuring to. And make sure that number makes sense within your own environment. While we’d all love to have a hit rate of 99.9% it’s just not a feasible number for everyone, especially if you’re starting out with a hit rate of 10%.

Now for something a little yummier to measure:

Easy Chocolate Liqueur Truffles

9 oz dark chocolate, chopped

4 oz heavy cream

1 oz softened butter

1 oz liqueur

Cocoa powder

1. Place your chopped chocolate in a medium bowl.
2. Bring your heavy cream to a boil over medium heat.
3. Pour the boiling cream over the chopped chocolate.
4. Cover with foil and let sit 5 minutes.
5. Whisk cream and chocolate to blend (the resulting mixture is called a ganache)
6. Whisk in butter until thoroughly blended.
7. Whisk liqueur into ganache in a slow and steady stream.
8. Let ganache sit at room temperature until firm (about 4-6 hours).
9. Scoop hardened ganache and roll into balls with your hands.
10. Roll balls into cocoa power to coat.
11. Eat and enjoy.

Marketers are working harder than ever these days. There is barely time to pop up from the toil of the day and take stock of our surroundings. I have had a difficult time in the past few months because two people with whom I work very closely gave notice in early December. We are in dialogue with some great candidates, and I am sure a new team will take form soon, but it is has been a rocky time. Throughout, I have been supremely grateful for these aids for the busy, fretful marketer:

1. A mentor. The benefit of having someone older and wiser in your life to advise you in career matters is enormous. My mentor achieved more in her career than I can imagine achieving, so her insights truly push me beyond my comfort zone. Our relationship has grown naturally, yet I will take credit for recognizing a good thing in the making and nudging it along. If you are a little shy about approaching someone more senior, know that people who are facing the twilight years of their career are quite often very happy to share their knowledge.
2. Rain Making: The Professional’s Guide to Attracting New Clients by Ford Harding.  I keep one copy at home and one at work. It is now an older book, so the revised text is a little awkward about websites and blogs‚ but it is the gold standard resource for AEC marketers nonetheless. You can open it up at any page and get ideas for whatever promotion or project you are working on. It is elegantly written, too, which is why it has so much staying power.
3. Vitamin P2: New Perspectives in Painting by Phaidon Press, Peio Aguirre, and Negar Azimi.  Before I even cracked open the spine at the bookstore I knew it had been produced with such care in every aspect from the typography to the printed ink to the choice of cloth for the cover. From an Amazon review of the first volume, “This is an intense book filled with a lot of beautiful reproductions from some of the best contemporary painters today. It is a great resource for artists and art lovers alike. You will own this book for years and still be able to flip through it and find something new because there are so many artists in it.” The same is true of the second volume, which like the first is compiled with the nominations of curators, critics, and art historians. My husband snuck over to the bookstore register when I wasn’t looking; it became my favorite Christmas present and latest source of inspiration.
4. The SMPS brochure “Domains of Practice for Professional Services Marketers.”   This is an objective guide helpful for explaining to others what marketing encompasses. I have carried copies with me to meetings with the CEO, IT, HR, and Accounting at various times in order to build a case for something that was needed in my department. Download it from SMPS National
5. Twitter. It just gets better and better for our industry. Clients, referral sources, promotion opportunities: There are so many people with whom to network without going out in the snow! If you haven’t yet fallen in love with Twitter, ask someone to tutor you. Or teach yourself using how-to videos. Either way, bundle TweetDeck or HootSuite into your lesson plan. You’ll be ready to broadcast and twitter-chatter all the better with one of these dashboard programs.
6. The Power of Alignment: How Great Companies Stay Centered and Accomplish Extraordinary Things by George Labovitz and Victor Rosansky. From the Amazon reviews: “The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing! This book cuts through the consultantese and helps the reader understand alignment and why it is critical to organizational success in a straightforward… manner. The book’s premise is based on the belief that for a business to be successful it must align the four essential elements that together create growth and profits: strategy, customers, people, and processes.” It uses an overall metaphor of flying a plane, using instruments to control the flight. Dating from 1997, it is a true gem.
7. Scott Naiva, PE, sales representative at enterprise software company Cosential. I often feel like standing on a soapbox and saying, “Marketers, marketers, recognize that your job is really information management. And you hold the intellectual property of your company!” Scott is smart and helpful. Cosential was developed by people like us, for people like us.
8. Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves. Don’t wallow in feeling trapped, take charge of your own moods and how you treat others! This book helps you grasp yourself, then others, then yourself relating to others. It is appealing because you can take little lessons out of the book and work on them quietly throughout your workweek.
9. www.AVC.com by Fred Wilson. Some like Mashable, others like TechCrunch; AVC is my choice since 2003 for the insider scoop on tech trends and social media, written by a star venture capitalist with a smart, global group of contributing entrepreneurs.
10. Spotify Premium. $10 per month and worth the money. I don’t have time to put together pitch-perfect playlists, but some of my Facebook friends do!

We all know that creating experts is a key way to establish credibility for our firms. When our principals are teachers, presenters, lecturers, we have something to talk about. It’s easier to present their credentials for an upcoming project, especially if you’re presenting them to someone who has seen that principal speak. Why then don’t we do the same for ourselves?

Being marketers we’re at an advantage in creating our personal brands. We know the tricks, we know how to get our names out there. And in an environment where job stability is a thing of the past it’s even more important to start building that credibility now. Maybe you’re already on your way to building your personal brand, but if not here are 6 simple steps to get your started:

1. Develop your story: Who are you? What are your professional goals? How are you achieving them? Then talk about it.
2. Think about where your home base is going to be – that URL that you can point people to. Maybe it’s your LinkedIn profile or maybe it’s your personal website. If you haven’t claimed your name as a URL do it now. You may want it later and it would be terrible to build your name only to send traffic to another person’s website.
3. Establish your expertise through blogs. If creating your own blog is too time consuming consider contributing to a blog within your industry. For those in the AEC industry SMPS Boston and Help EveryBody Everyday are good places to start. Both are always open to guest contributions.
4. Comment on other people’s blogs, not only does this show your expertise, but it helps raise your name in SEO rankings.
5. Share industry news with your peers through status updates either through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or a combination of all three.
6. Join an organization within your industry and get active.

The most common concern among job seekers over 50 is that their resume tends to date them. While it’s true that with age comes wisdom, it’s also true that securing a great new job becomes challenging after a certain age. If you are a member of the baby boomer generation you’ll want to take note of the following three resume rules.

1. Don’t make it a history lesson.

One sure way to date yourself is to take your resume all the way back to your first job out of college. That type of ancient history only serves to give a time line to your age. Worse yet, it may show a zig-zag career path that leaves the reader wondering how you arrived at your current career destination.

When deciding how far back in your career history to go, think in terms of relevancy rather than years. As a general rule, go back only as far as it relates to your current career objective. There are a few exceptions to the rule. First, if your current career path is five years or less you’ll need to show a few years prior. Otherwise the reader will wonder where you came from and how you got there. The second exception is if you are returning to a previous career path and wish to show the experience. In that case you’ll want to use the hybrid resume format to allow your most relevant accomplishments up at the top of your resume.

2. Get rid of ancient technology.

Another way your resume says “old codger” is by your choice of technology information. Selling your skills with outdated technology is as ineffective as an ad for buggy whips. It tells the reader that you are living in the past rather than solving today’s problems with today’s technology.

One way to weed out your resume of old technology is to test your resume against current job postings. Compare the needed technology skills with what your resume lists. Delete what is no longer current. If you find gaps look around for ways to bring your skills up to date. Professional associations often provide certifications and special training to help bring you up to date.

3. Make the present as alluring as the past.

The worst resume error for post-fifty job seekers is when their chronological resume shows all the best accomplishments in earlier employment entries. Nothing says “has been” like accomplishments that don’t show up until page two or three. If your resume has no accomplishments illustrated for the most current five years the reader has no choice but to conclude you are an “over the hill” worker with no ambition left. No employer wants to hire dead wood.

Given the downward trend of business over the past several years, lack of resume accomplishments is a common problem. None the less, make all effort to include accomplishments in your most recent years even if you feel that your best years were pre-2001. Think in terms of problems you’ve solved, costs you’ve cut, man-hours you’ve saved and clients you’ve kept.

Another way to get accomplishments on page one is with a hybrid resume format that allows you to create a highlight of accomplishments section at the top of page one.

Age discrimination may be against the law, but we all know that it takes place. Don’t let your resume stop you from getting your chance to interview for your next job. Make sure your resume draws attention to your skills, abilities and accomplishment rather than your age. Let your success stories show how you can solve today’s critical business problems.

Oftentimes, a business will use its public relations program as a means to promote recently completed work or new assignments. In other instances, it may be tied to a new hire or promotion of a key executive. While a not-for-profit has similar motivations for drumming up awareness, marketers for non-profits must take a unique approach. External communications must be used to not only share news about the organization but also to demonstrate the effectiveness of its mission and petition for support from current and prospective donors.

After absorbing the devastating impact of the global recession on charitable giving throughout the late 2000s, non-profits faced an uphill battle as the economy sputtered to life. Private giving increased by about 2% in 2010 in comparison to the previous year, according to a study by the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS).  According to the same study, however, giving merely rose to year 2000 levels in 2010, to approximately $290 billion. With numbers like these increasingly seen as the new normal, promoting a non-profit’s commitment to its clients and the community can play a key factor in preserving existing donation levels.

So, in a world of decreasing attention spans and Twitter-sized word counts, how do marketers effectively tell an organization’s story without overburdening the reader? Simple: build the mission statement into the details of every press release, award submission, or case study. A press release about a fundraiser doesn’t just capture essential details about the event or financial goals; instead, it contains information about how previous funds have been used to provide job training to an organization’s clients, or support a capital campaign to renovate a facility to offer additional counseling services. Every form of communication is an opportunity to tell an organization’s story within the context of a recent event or milestone.

Oftentimes, a non-profit can feel as if too much self-promotion will hurt them in the public eye. When times are tough, however, it’s the organizations that are taking the steps to raise awareness that will most likely gain traction in achieving its fundraising goals. Many non-profits find that creating an annual gala event with a guest list that includes the rich and famous is a sure-fire way to grow awareness of the organization both among invited guests and the media.

An event can range from extravagant to simple, whether an intimate cocktail hour downtown or an evening affair complete with honorary speakers, a live auction and passed hors d’oeuvres. Despite the upfront expense of securing a venue, planning an event can potentially result in financial gain in the form of registration fees, auction proceeds, and charitable donations. Plus, events can be promoted in regional publications, using online calendars, press releases, and media alerts to target key photographers and reporters who cover the non-profit beat or party press. Think of it this way: an annual event provides three hours in a room with a non-profit’s most important supporters and guests, some of whom are likely learning about the organization for the first time. A gathering to celebrate a non-profit’s successes over the past year creates a setting in which new attendees are excited to learn more about the organization’s mission and (hopefully!) be inspired to donate.

Other ways to create a buzz about a non-profit’s mission is to identify a champion or advocate for the group. Whether the individual is a Hollywood heartthrob or a locally-recognized figure, consider pitching an area celebrity who would take up the cause and volunteer on the organization’s behalf. From distributing gifts at the holidays to stacking shelves at a food pantry, having a famous face donate a few hours to pitch in presents ample opportunity for photo ops and media alerts about the non-profit and the caliber of individuals volunteering. In some cases, a non-profit can identify connections to media darlings like movie stars and popular politicians within its board of directors. ‘Street cred’ is huge when approaching the media to cover an event or to profile an organization, and celebrity endorsements never hurt.

No matter how you choose to promote your organization, the same rule still applies: incorporate the non-profit’s mission in every form of external communication. From a press release to a case study, to a volunteer outing or gala event, don’t be afraid to promote the organization’s successes. In a world where every donation is considered sacred, non-profits need more than ever to highlight the positive change the organization is making in the community.

So your firm has developed the “Marketing Plan” for the new year. Now it’s time to implement the plan – where to begin and who should be involved? These are common questions for any marketing professional.

The SMPS Boston Education Committee hosted a timely and informative luncheon on Jan. 5 to address marketing planning and implementation strategies for the new year. Marc Pelletier, a seasoned marketing and business professional and principal of the Baldwin Group, facilitated the luncheon. Marc shared various strategies and tactics for ensuring that the marketing plan is put into action, as well as engaging the participants to contribute ideas and suggestions.

Get more business

The foremost goal of the marketing plan should be to generate more business. The marketing plan should follow the strategic plan, in order to support the firm’s business goals. Marketing should be at the table when discussing strategic business planning, particularly if it’s been tasked to develop a marketing plan to support these business goals.

Once the marketing plan has been developed, it now becomes the marketing department’s sole responsibility to achieve set-forth goals and results… Right? This sounds like a big task for any individual or department to champion on its own. Fortunately, you are not alone in this task (or at least you shouldn’t be). Everyone in the firm is responsible (or should be) for generating new business. So everyone in the firm should be invested in the plan and accountable for various aspects. Clients and potential clients come into contact with various individuals within your organization, from the receptionist who answers the phone, the accounting department handling billing, to the engineer working directly on projects. Therefore, everyone should be involved and participating in the marketing planning and implementation.

Accountability and ownership

Accountability and ownership are important to establish upfront during the marketing planning process.

The plan needs to be sold internally before any external selling can effectively take place. “If people aren’t buying it internally, then they can’t help you sell,” Marc said. Gaining consensus and involving the technical and administrative staff during the planning stages is crucial to successfully implementing the plan. Effective selling is a function of the various efforts of the people across your organization.

Strategies for achieving buy-in and involving staff include:

• Top-down support (key leadership should communicate the value of the plan across the organization)
• Involving a variety of staff at all levels in the planning process
• Budgeting staff hours to marketing
• Delegating marketing tasks (such as market research and client outreach/check-ins)
• Tying marketing initiatives into raises and bonuses
• Conducting regular meetings to provide updates and ensure accountability, etc.

Marketing planning and implementation is more effective when you adopt a ‘divide-and-conquer’ approach.

Change is good

A marketing plan is a living document, one that flexes and changes over time. The A/E/C marketplace is constantly shifting, whether these changes are derived from the political climate, funding sources, technology, national or global economic conditions, etc. Your clients and potential clients are faced with the same changing landscape, so your marketing strategies should shift accordingly to accommodate these variations. A marketing plan is never finished, and should respond and forecast the firm’s next move. This is a critical point to ensuring that the marketing plan doesn’t just ‘sit on the shelf.’

“Build your efforts around the ‘client experience,’” Marc said. This industry is centered around service and relationships. Your marketing plan should include those tactics that support proactive client relationship building.

This could include touring a finished project with the facility manager, checking in with a client a year later, or offering to resolve any minor issues (whether or not they were in your project scope). Make the effort across the organization to provide good client service to sustain and improve the ‘client experience’.

Want more information? Marc Pelletier is the principal of the Baldwin Group, a marketing consulting firm. He can be reached at marc@baldwingroup.us or 617-242-2900.