Technology and your firm’s success

Nik WerkExpo
, by Nik Werk, vice president, North America, B2B International

Not adopting new tools can impact growth

people looking through vr goggles at a building

For many firms, top priorities include two things—winning more clients and improving profitability.

Achieving both, in today’s world, relies on having good IT in place. Unfortunately, technology isn’t known as a strong suit among the design and construction industry, particularly in smaller firms where principals wear many hats, including the role of IT manager.

Knowing these challenges, AIA and B2B International conducted a study to assess 40 different types of technology, from Teams platforms to BIM to specification software, to determine their influence on firm success.

Winning new clients relies heavily on old-school techniques

One key the study revealed is that architects think growth tomorrow will come in the same ways it did five to 10 years ago. Firms overwhelmingly expect existing clients (86%) and client referrals (85%) to drive growth over the next three years, while a much smaller percentage believe in the role of outbound business development and sales efforts (33%) or digital marketing (24%).

Even a social media presence, something that is a no-brainer in nearly every other industry, is less prevalent: Only about 20% of small firms in the study are using social media, but the majority that do are seeing their efforts pay off in terms of attracting new business.

There’s a significant cultural challenge. Firms want to focus on doing good work, and they acknowledge that this is still a handshake business. But that doesn’t change the fact that the design and construction industry is behind many others in adopting even basic technology solutions. Many architects may not realize this is a problem because times are good, but there’s a sense of urgency looming, and the time to act on even the most basic of technology tools is now.

Adoption of management technology is sluggish

Many firms lack infrastructure for firm and project management. Fifty-nine percent of respondents are using an accounting-only solution, with only 19% using a CRM system and only 18% using an ERP system. In addition, many firms lack a good way to track project changes, including swaps/subs.

Yet firms with strong capabilities for managing specifications and project changes, and those with real-time project insights, are more confident about their future success. Keeping track of specs and what has changed is a significant source of inefficiency, and firms that keep track are disproportionately successful.

In addition, firms that know their project pipeline in real time disproportionately outperform those that do not.

The top areas firms need to focus on to improve firm management include making accurate projections for projects and budgets, understanding the holistic pipeline of potential projects, tracking touchpoints and interactions with clients/prospects, and using digital marketing to drive new leads and more business.

Dive deeper into the results of the study—and where your firm should focus its IT efforts. Watch “Aligning Firm Technology for Competitive Advantage” >