Have you reduced your fees, with the intent of obtaining more work? The economy dumps and projects vanish. In reaction, the architect drops her fees. Revenues plummet and the firm shutters its shop. Sound familiar? Do you fall somewhere in that scenario? I hope not. Reduced fees will not save your practice. It will kill […]
Recruit Your Clients to Help you Better Serve your Clients
Starbucks Coffee Co. has built a website dedicated to the interaction with their customers. It’s called My Starbucks Idea. Have an idea that will improve the Starbucks customer experience? Drop them a line at their website. The best ideas are actually implemented in Starbucks stores throughout the world. Check out the website here: mystarbucksidea.force.com How […]
Architects Can Learn Much from Other Industries
What can we learn from other industries to make the traditional architectural and construction processes better? Hospitals are filled with checklists and other systems to make sure that every step of a procedure is done correctly. NASCAR racing teams also use checklists and directives from multiple layers of team members, each with their own specialty. […]
Too Many Choices?
When performing our Design Development phase with clients, we typically assist them in selecting all their finishes, plumbing fixtures and lighting. This process is completed most efficiently when we discover and learn, through questionnaires and images, what our clients like and what they dislike. Then, with thorough knowledge of their taste, we offer a limited […]
Be Nice!
Besides creating wonderful residential architecture, marketing our firm well and encouraging our clients to spread the word about Fivecat Studio, I believe a major part of our success is “likeability”. Clients expect architects to design well. They expect us to provide a quality service at a reasonable cost. It is actually rather difficult to distinguish […]
White Windows
Many years ago, before Annmarie and I started our residential architecture firm, I was a project manager with Kaeyer, Garment & Davidson Architects in Mt. Kisco, New York. I worked very closely with the senior partner at the time, Dick Kaeyer. My first assignment as Project Manager was a major addition and renovation project for […]
Remark-able Customer Service
I am constantly looking to other industries to find ideas for my own business (a great tip for architects in itself). Here’s a very interesting post about customer service by Joel Spolsky, CEO of Fog Creek Software.