On the LinkedIn group for the Society for Marketing Professional Services (smps.org), Lynn DiPlacito at the University of Kansas, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, invited marketers to answer the fundamental advice question. “What ONE piece of advice would you give an architect beginning his career in marketing?”
Of course, there have been many answers.
Danie Caldwell, Principal at Stout & Caldwell Consulting Engineers & Surveyors in the Greater Philadelphia Area, initiated the responses with:
They need to really like people, helping people, and building relationships. True for any marketing position and industry.
There are three other words besides Network, Network, Network that are equally and possibly more important. Referral, Referral, Referral; hand out as many good referrals as you can wherever you can. example: If your cleaning crew does a bang up job, give them a referral, if your bank is refinancing your loan and you love the process, give them a referral, if your web design company or printer or realtor or any of your vendors or clients do great work, give them a referral. It’s an investment with an almost guaranteed return.
Valerie Conyngham, Associate, Business + Marketing Manager at The Cecil Group:
I’d add be an expert. Pick an area or two that relates to your business and make yourself the go to person on the topic, both internally and externally. Speak at conventions, write articles for industry publications, work with organizations to put on seminars and contribute to your company’s communication channels (blogs, newsletters, website content, etc).
Theodore Levitt once wrote that he observed an inverse relationship between what was written up in the marketing journals and their impact/relevance in the real world. Based on that he concluded that the most important thing in marketing was taking a client/ prospect out for lunch — since that was never written about in learned journals!
Brien Charlton, Principal, Charlton Business Coaching, Edmonton, Canada Area:
The only thing I’d add to that is the importance of consistency over ‘cleverness’ – doing the right things in small amounts consistently will have an extraordinary impact over time.
Rick Stalle, Managing Partner, CAD Consulting Group, LLC (Chicago):
If you had to boil it down to just ONE:
“Most people won’t remember what you did or what you said. But they’ll always remember how you made them feel.”
I left out some other really good responses, including my own, which focus on aspects of networking and relationship development skills.