Our staff is frequently asked for our opinion or insight on various industry matters, from the latest technology to best practices in securing work from specific client types. We encourage you to post a question in this blog or email me directly at pwember@wemberinc.com. Our knowledge is yours.
~ Paul Wember, Owner’s Representative
Dear Owner’s Rep,
From the Owner’s and Owner’s Rep perspective, what is the most important part of a proposal?
Thank you!
Angela,
You had me at Hello…..One of the most important part of the proposal is the cover letter. Most reviewers will expect some marketing material to creep into the proposal but when you don’t take the time to create a cover letter that reflects the project, how you can make it better and why you want to then the rest is simply rhetoric. As tempting as it is to pull the cover letter from the last proposal I urge you not too, each project is unique in some fashion, find out how. I also encourage you to have the Owner or even better, the project manager write the cover letter and then have the marketing department put its finishing touches on it.
Can you give some examples of what your owners typically look for in an architectural interview?
Thank you!
Gwen and Matt,
What are the three most important things the owner look for in an interview? Great question.
It’s rare that a team gets an interview if they are not qualified to do the work. Just like when an individual interviews for a job what may look great on paper can turn out to be a dud.
Authenticity. Early on in my pursuit of projects I fell victim to trying to read too much into the interview, what will my competition do, how do we beat them, what did this question really mean. Over the years we have learned and seen greater success by teams for touting who they are and what makes them special. Sometimes what you think might be a weakness could be a charming differentiator.
Answer the question. I would also suggest answering the questions asked. So often simple questions are responded to with diarrhea of the mouth. Rambling is not professional and sends the message that you don’t have a good response. My favorite question has always been “what percentage of your projects have been over budget”, our response was one word; Zero. The hard part is to sit and wait for them to regroup as nobody expects a one word answer.
Match. I know this is nebulous but the truth is sometimes there is chemistry and sometimes there is not. Recently we ran an interview process on nearly the same project with the same shortlist. The design firms came in with the same presentations and you know what happened, the scoring had them exactly opposite! I recall one point a firm made was “We have done 60 projects similar to yours” The one client who selected them stated they were the experts, the other stated, we don’t want to be another notch.
There are so many more things to talk about here, you might find some more information worth reading at our other blogs here. https://wemberinc.com/category/interview/
Dear Owner’s Rep;
Can you share what you think are three most important things an owner is looking for in the interview of an architect?
Conversely, can you share what have been some of the biggest fails you have seen in an interview?
Thank you,
Matt