Meeting clients’ expectations 

Goetting prides itself on its repeat client base — 78% of all the firm’s new work is generated by clients that they have worked with before. How does the firm generate this repeat business? “We spend the time necessary to find out what clients really want” explains president Louis Rowe. “We use a value based design approach, which includes modeling and life cycle studies to provide multiple system solutions to help the owner pick the systems with the best return on investment (ROI) for their budget. “It’s not always easy to balance the clients needs, desires and budget, but this process allows us to consistently meet the client’s expectations. This is one of the principal values that clients get from working with us.”

The firm is also very efficient at staying engaged with clients who are not currently working with the firm on projects. Goetting has automated the process of staying in touch and provides ongoing communication with clients on the firm’s activities and also topics related to the industries in which the clients operate (e.g., health care, commercial office, education, etc.). 

Not a boutique

Goetting is not a boutique firm. The company is broken into business units/design teams who work together on a regular basis. Each business unit/design team is responsible for positioning itself as an expert in its specialized field and is responsible for specific clients. The business units allow them to keep the work interesting for staff and to disperse risk during the down cycles of market segments.

“Being able to work on a diverse set of project types makes the firm an attractive place to work for our staff and prospective staff,” comments Rowe, “people are able to do things they would never have been able to do working for other firms that operate in our geographic area.

“Employee training is done through our project teams and our discipline focus groups. The team approach to training people is very successful because people are willing to invest time in training knowing that the team benefit directly from that training in the future. Every employee gets a career ladder. The individual requirements for people to become owners and project managers are clearly defined so that people can work on them right from the beginning”.

Entrepreneurism a plus 

People with an entrepreneurial bent are generally good fits for the organization, but it’s not a mandatory requirement for employment “I hire on attitude and aptitude,” explains Rowe, “I’m looking for people who can think independently and generate new opportunities but we also place a high value on technical ability.”

Each team manages everything within their scope—they get work, write proposals, plan projects, produce the project, keep clients happy, do billing, and get paid for invoices. The firm provides the teams with support processes for each of the critical aspects of project management. It is these processes that ensure that projects are successful. “It’s the details that are critical,” explains Rowe, “it’s the little things that don’t get done that cause problems on projects and where most firms leave money on the table.” Goetting also believes in continuous improvement of its processes (analyze, try, correct).

In order to help the clients and project teams, Goetting uses a design narrative that articulates the details of the project scope in prose form. The narrative is updated at every phase of the project. “It helps a lot,” says Rowe, “it’s a subtle tool for keeping the design team and a client on the same page, meeting the client’s needs, and enhancing the quality of our final product.”

Goetting does annual strategic planning between Christmas and New Year’s Day when they bring in all the principals to set target benchmarks and develop a corporate action plan for meeting the strategic goals. The individual teams then write their own team goals and action plans to be compatible with the corporate plan.

Project managers at Goetting then have the opportunity to organize and manage their teams, projects, and process the way they want to meet those goals.  Management provides the logistical support (e.g., financial management tools, marketing tools, etc) and performs monthly and quarterly assessments to determine what is working and what is not, and correcting as necessary. 

For more on PSMJ’s book Circle of Excellence: How the Best-Run A/E Firms Manage Clients, Staff and Projects, go to www.psmj.com/publication/?id=173.