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Designers Market-Link™ Newsletter
"Smart Marketing Tools for Architects, Designers, and Allied Professionals"

Online Issue No. 5

"Should You Generalize or Specialize?"

by Susan Bilenker

"We've always done a wide variety of project types," the architect and his partner sighed. "We think that's a strength, but when we market our services it feels like a disadvantage."

The next week, sitting in another conference room, I heard the same comment from another architect and her partner. Both firms had obvious expertise and abilities they were proud of, but they didn't know how to explain it all to prospective clients.

"We're good at lots of things" just doesn't cut it when the competition's done 20 projects of the type you're trying to land.

The answer to this dilemma turns out to be a paradox of sorts. Yes, versatility is a powerful tool for an architect, designer, or other professional. It's basic to the process of good design, which demands flexible thinking and an ability to become expert at whatever a project requires.

It's something your clients come to appreciate once they've worked with you awhile. But it's a complex concept, and it has more to do with you than with your client's immediate problem, which is to decide which firm will deliver the job on schedule, on budget, and well-designed.

So, when presenting your credentials to a prospective client, focus your message on their specific needs. Go straight to the heart of the matter, and make it clear that you're an expert in their market. This is called "niche" or "target" marketing.

Presenting yourself as a specialist in a particular niche doesn't invalidate your expertise in other areas. Rather, it keeps the message simple, so your prospective client can make a decision s/he's comfortable with.

How does this approach work in practical terms? Start by making a list of each of the "target markets" that seems most promising to your practice. You do this by looking at your job list. The project types where you've done the most jobs are good candidates.

Use a separate sheet of paper for each market type, and list the job names that fall into that category. You may use the same project on several lists if it has features that are appropriate to each.

Next, determine whether each target market looks promising in terms of growth over the next one to five years. Don't forget to enter geography into the equation. Your local area may be overbuilt in a particular project category, but there may bea boomlet beginning in the next state. If you're willing to expand your market region, you may be able to compete effectively for jobs in a particular niche.

For each market you wish to pursue, gather together all the in-house material that supports your experience and expertise in that area. This includes project photos, computer images, reprints from magazines, clips from newspapers, biographies of key personnel, proposal introductions you've written, news releases, and project description sheets.

Take a double-pocket folder -- use your own if you have one or get one from the local stationery store -- and start compiling an information package to send to a prospective client. In the left hand pocket, imagine a four-page brochure introducing your firm and the services you offer this particular market. In the right hand pocket, assemble reprints, project sheets, press clips, and press releases about relevant projects, topped off with a cover letter to your prospective client.

Everything in this folder should relate to the specific market you're targeting. Repeat this pocket folder approach for each market.

Imagine yourself on the receiving end of each folder. Are you impressed with the presentation? with the quality of the work? with the depth of expertise in this market? Is the material visually stimulating? Does it stand out among the dozens of other brochures you've received from rival firms? Is the written material interesting and useful? Or is it dry and dull, filled with professional buzzwords that you don't understand?

By taking this approach -- i.e., thinking like a prospective client -- you'll quickly see where you need to tune up your marketing materials. If you're like many firms, you probably already have a good supply of raw material. If it's well organized and graphically impressive, congratulations. If not, you have some groundwork to do. The important thing is to figure out where you stand and commit to getting your act together so you can take it on the road.

If you have a generalist practice, get in the habit of thinking of each project as part of a specialty you're developing. Each job you complete can go into one or more of these pocket folders to build your reputation as an expert in each target market.

So the answer to the question: "Should I be a generalist or a specialist?" is YES. Be a generalist in the office and a specialist in the marketplace.

Susan Bilenker is a marketing and publicity consultant. She specializes in strategic thinking and implementation for architecture and design firms, working directly with the principals to identify and open up new markets for their services. Involved with the Internet since 1995, she publishes several informational Web sites, including DesignSite and Rivertowns Online.

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copyright 1997 -2005 Susan Bilenker Communications.
Please send comments and suggestions to Susan Bilenker at
info@design-site.net.