ASPE 2016

Marketing Proposals & Business Development for the Engineer (Room 129 B)

02 Nov 16
11:40 AM - 12:55 PM

Tracks: The Business of Plumbing Engineering

Speaker(s): Greg Swafford
All business is personal. Historically, the consulting engineer has been portrayed as a socially awkward intellectual who would rather read code books than speak to a real person in real life, while marketing and business development has been left to big personalities and high-energy go-getters. The truth is that each individual plays an important role in building and improving client relationships. This presentation will explore the key role of owners, project managers, engineers, and designers in the world of marketing and business development by focusing on the following: the basics of building and implementing a marketing/business development plan; elements that improve marketing proposals and the pitfalls to avoid; the differences between market penetration, product development, and client development; key methods of strengthening existing client relationships and building new ones; and the essential soft skills needed to build and improve client relationships.