EntreArchitect Podcast with Mark R. LePage

Every new generation of architects hopes that they will make a difference and change society for the better. We have so many new skills, access to new tools, and a driving passion to serve others. This week on EntreArchitect Podcast, Mark R. LePage talks with the National President of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), Danielle Mitchell, about How the Next Generation of Architects will Change the World. Danielle Mitchell, President of American Institute of Architecture Students Starting as Chapter President in her second year at Penn State, elected to North East Quad Director (leading chapters from Virginia to Maine) and eventually being elected as the 59th National President of the AIAS, Danielle Mitchell’s mission is to promote leadership and excellence within architecture. She is working to create a community of architecture students looking to push forward and do more. The role of AIAS is to fill the void in an educational experience by promoting advocacy for what architecture students are passionate about, in school or in the profession in general. They support students, encourage them to create change in the culture around them and help them to develop a personal track to become an entrepreneur architect. Why is it important for architecture students to be leaders? Architects tend to have a unique skill set: they have a unique ability to solve problems, understand complex situations, and take a holistic approach toward solutions. While they might not fit a traditional role of leadership, architects have a particular ability to understand people and context, allowing them to make connections and bring various perspectives to the table. In the same way that architects can change the shape of building, they can certainly change the shape of complex problems that our communities are facing. Leadership ultimately comes down to being able to use our architectural skill set to do more. How is AIAS advancing architecture students as leaders? The annual Grassroots Leadership Conference has different tracks, ranging from entrepreneurship to technology, for chapter leaders to learn about leadership excellence, how to work with others on a team, how to connect with professionals, and how to budget and fundraise. This generation of architects wants to create businesses that are thriving and profitable while serving and giving back. Mark says, “The more profit you make, the more you are able to give back.” It's important to work toward changing the unhealthy studio behaviors of an all-nighter, ego-driven culture. AIAS is trying to encourage students to become leaders for what healthy, balanced success actually look like. Danielle's encouragement: Whenever challenges occur and when times get tough, remember back to the inspiring days that lead you to architecture and design; how your leadership skills can push that forward for the upcoming generation. Visit our Platform Sponsors FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Referenced in this Episode AIAS.org Connect with Danielle on Twitter (@D_Mitch19), Instagram (DanielleMitchel19), LinkedIn and Facebook.   The post EA117: How the Next Generation of Architects will Change the World [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

Presentation Skills for Architects Leadership is about visions and ideas and being able to clearly communicate that knowledge to an audience. This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast, I welcome back futurist and professional speaker David Zach and we talk about How to Successfully Prepare and Present Your Ideas as an Architect. What steps can you take when preparing for a presentation? Design the presentation of information in a way that will meet your audience where they are. Confirm that the technology works beforehand; do a run-through with the audio/visual team! Look at all the angles of what could go wrong and have backups of your presentation and printed documents. Do your due diligence on the audience to whom you're presenting; ask two questions, What gets your people up early in the morning because they're excited?, and, What keeps your people up late at night because they're worried? Know your subject to give yourself flexibility to adjust the presentation to give the same idea from a different perspective if needed. Be interested and be interesting. Connect people, things, and ideas that you didn't think were connectable. What are some critical elements of a successful presentation? Learn to think on your feet. Show up fully prepared to be nowhere else; give your client your fullest attention. Ask specific questions to draw the client out. Try to be good and unique, don't try to be perfect. What to wear? Know your audience and don't over or underdress. Dress for the comfort of your audience. Put enough attention into what you wear, but not too much attention. What tips do you have for telling a good story? Mind Mapping: Map out a presentation with a cluster of ideas branched together. Only some of the things in your map will enter into the presentation, but then you have other material in your brain to use if needed. Cross Impact Analysis. Take various ideas in the presentation and spread them out. Then, figure out how they connect. Visit our Platform Sponsors FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Referenced in this Episode Connect with David at davidzach.com, on Twitter @davidzach and Pinterest. Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Gar Reynolds (book) slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte (book) Curious: The Desire to Know and Why Your Future Depends On It by Ian Leslie (book) In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki (book) Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain (book) The post EA116: How to Successfully Prepare and Present Your Ideas as an Architect [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

Are you an expert on a specific topic or technique? Do you have a passion for a specific cause? Do you seek to influence a group of people? Are you a leader or want to be one for innovation and change? This week on the EntreArchitect Podcast, I will share How to Become a Thought Leader in Architecture. What is a Thought Leader? Jayson Demers, Founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, defines a Thought Leader as an individual who drives innovation and new ideas in a given industry . Thought Leaders advance causes, influence groups of people, drive an audience to your business to better serve your clients, and make an impact by helping others and giving back. So how do you put yourself in a position to become a Thought Leader? Be a leader in a specific subject. You have to have knowledge, expertise, and skill in a certain field you can't fake this! Create a personal brand so people know who you are. Establish a presence on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, Periscope, Instagram, Slack Communities, etc.) Blog your thoughts on a specific topic on a regular basis. Syndicate your content through different avenues. Get out there and interact with the communities that you're working to influence through open forums. Reach out to mentors. Find people who are already talking about things in your area and connect with them however you can! Grow your network. Work together to support those who are doing what you're trying to do. Get published. Find larger blogs, magazines or newsletters that are talking about the things that you want to talk about and volunteer to guest write for them. This will establish credibility and point back to your own work. Write a book! Drive change and innovation. You're an established leader in this subject, so it's time to start moving new ideas… your ideas. Your thoughts! Show your ideas through your work in your own company. Going through this process takes a lot of time, but during that time you're making a change in the world around you. In order to succeed, your passion for this process and your intent to become a leader needs to be done in the service of and to benefit others. Visit our Platform Sponsors FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Referenced in this Episode 5 Steps to Becoming a Thought Leader in Your Industry Equity X Design // Rosa Sheng, AIA Architect as Developer // Jonathan Segal, FAIA The Architect and the Oracle // Jeff Echols, AIA AIA Custom Residential Architects Network 5 Principles of Servant Leadership Photo Credit: Pixabay / Stux The post EA115: How to Become a Thought Leader in Architecture [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

How to Build a Strong Balanced Team in Architecture As leaders, we determine who's on our team and how it will work. Getting this right is the difference between experiencing frustration verses experiencing a thriving team working toward your dreams. This week on EntreArchitect Podcast, I will share The Three Rs of Team Building. Where does building a great team start? It starts with us. We need to find people who complement our strengths and support our weaknesses. Step one: Figure out who are and what we're doing. What are my strengths and weaknesses? Step two: Build a business plan and develop systems. Step three: Build your team. When you're ready to build your team, how will you find the right people? How will you build a team that will get you where you want to go? Here are Mark's Three Rs of Team Building: Roles: You've established a process, and in that there are specific roles that you need to have filled to make that process work. What are the roles you're performing that you shouldn't be? Are there things that others could do or things that you aren't qualified for? Hire for roles, not for tasks. Tasks are pieces of work done, roles are actions that are expected of a person. Responsibilities: What are the responsibilities of the people who are in those roles? Communication here is critical: you must clearly communicate and document specific responsibilities for the role you're hiring for. Tasks of how those responsibilities are performed will be laid out in your system, but you need to be open to your team finding new and efficient ways to do the work required of them. Results: We need to know what the specific expectations are for those roles and responsibilities. Results will determine whether our team is succeeding or not. Document specific results that you expect to occur from each responsibility that you're setting. This will allow you to have a black and white gauge on whether each team member is meeting their expectations. It's the responsibility of the team member to make sure that results are being met. When you hire people using the Three Rs, you'll have a strong, balanced team with the right people in the right seats to help you reach for your goals and live your mission. Visit our Platform Sponsors FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Referenced in this Episode 17 Essential Elements of Successful Teams Photo Credit: Pixabay / Geralt The post EA114: The Three Rs of Team Building [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

Leadership for Architects Leadership can be overwhelming; where do we start? How do we grow a team and inspire them to work toward a common vision? Often, fear makes it difficult for us to try something new or take a step in a different direction. We find ourselves stuck in the same place we’ve always been, unable to change or grow into the person or business we want to be. This week on EntreArchitect Podcast, Mark speaks with counselor, facilitator and executive coach Steve Langerud about How to Start, Grow, and Inspire a Team as the Leader of a Small Firm Architecture Studio. Visit our Platform Sponsor FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Referenced in this Episode You can find Steve at stevelangerud.com, on Twitter @stevelangerud, or connect with him via LinkedIn. The post EA113: How to Start, Grow, and Inspire a Team as the Leader of a Small Firm Architecture Studio [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

How To Sell Architectural Services Throughout my years as an architect and since launching EntreArchitect in 2012, I have discovered that the number one weakness of small firm architects is Sales and the process of selling. We have no sales system or sales pipeline set up. We either don’t know that we should be selling, or we have a fear that we may become that stereotypical salesperson that we have all learned to hate. This week on EntreArchitect Podcast I invited Rochelle Carrington, President/CEO of Sandler Training to talk about a new way of selling. A process built around mutual comfort, which ends with the prospect asking us for the sale. We talked about building a strong sales system for architecture and How to Face Your Fear of Selling as a Small Firm Architect. Visit our Platform Sponsor FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Referenced in this Episode Secondwind Sandler Sales Training EntreArchitect Academy The post EA112: How to Face Your Fear of Selling as a Small Firm Architect [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

Every week we receive calls from potential clients; people who have come our way through word of mouth, a Google search or in response to our amazing marketing efforts. We answer those calls and we begin a process that will, hopefully, lead the most qualified of the bunch to signing a contract. That process is called our Sales System. But… how many of those calls are qualified to be our clients? How many people do we need to talk to in order to complete the process and sign a contract? How many contracts do we need to sign and how can we predict if we will meet those goals? How do we manage all those different prospects, in all different phases of our process? This week on EntreArchitect Podcast, I will share How to Manage Your Sales Pipeline as a Small Firm Architect. Visit our Platform Sponsors FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect)   A Sales Pipeline for Architects How do we structure an effective sales pipeline? Every sales system is different depending on who's developing the system, who's working the system and who we are hoping will buy. Think about your process Write down all the steps you go through; every step of the process from initial contact through signing the contract. That may be a few dozen steps. Look through the steps and pick out the 5 or 6 most important steps that lead a contact to client. You do not want too many steps in the system, because we want the system to be simple. You want the system to be easy to use; easier to use it than not use it. Maybe the 5 phases in your Sales Pipeline looks like this: Initial Contact Qualification Meeting Proposal Close That's a simple system and probably a very similar process to what you already perform each time a contact calls inquiring about your services. Probability of Closure What is the probability that a prospect moves from one phase to the next? Let's say you have 10 initial contacts each month. Out of the 10 contacts, let’s say that 1 of those 10 contacts are qualified as a prospect. That would make the probability, measured as a percentage, 10%. Ten percent of the initial contacts become qualified prospects. Then do that math for the remaining steps of your process. It may look something like this: Initial Contact – 0% Qualification – 10% Meeting – 30% Proposal – 60% Close – 100% Sales Opportunities Every initial contact entering your sales pipeline becomes a sales opportunity. Each sales opportunity has a value. One signed contract may be equal to $10,000 in revenue for your firm. You could determine the value of each specific opportunity or use a weighted opportunity value for each. For this example, let's say that we use a weighted opportunity value of $10,000. Apply that $10,000 to the opportunities in each phase of the pipeline. Initial Contact – 0% X 10 opportunities = $0 Qualification – 10% X 7 opportunities = $7.000 Meeting – 30% X 5 opportunities = $15,000 Proposal – 60% X 3 opportunities = $18,000 Close – 100% X 2 opportunities = $20,000 The weighted value of the entire pipeline at this moment in time is $60,000. If through our Profit for Small Firm Architects course we determined that we need $500,000 in annual revenue to hit our profit goal of 20%, we know that we need to sign about $42,000 worth of contracts each month. $500,000 / 12 months = $41,667 A rule of thumb is to have about 3 times more value opportunities than your monthly requirement. With that in mind, if we need to hit $42,000 per month, the opportunity value of your pipeline needs to be $126,000 not $60,000. We need to double the opportunities on our pipeline. With this knowledge, we can use this Sales Pipeline for Architects to predict our future contracts and future revenue. We can be sure that we have the work we need to be profitable. Sales Pipeline Tools A sales pipeline is a visual representation of your sales process where you can see all your potential clients displayed and neatly organized according to their phase in the sales system. You can create your own pipeline tools using a spreadsheet application like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, but there are also tools designed do this. There are many customer relationship management CRM tools to choose from. Here are a few examples: Podio by Citrix (the makers of GoToMeeting) Salesforce (small business edition) Zoho (free) Insightly Pipedrive Infusionsoft Marketo The post EA111: How to Manage Your Sales Pipeline as a Small Firm Architect [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

When someone wants one thing and we want another, how do we successfully convince them to go our way? How do we find a solution that works for everyone involved? Negotiation doesn't always come easy to us small firm architects. We are lovers, not fighters. We just want to make beautiful art and live a happy stress-free life. Well, the truth is that we don't need to fight. Like much in business, there are rules for negotiation. Learn the rules and you will be more successful. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, I will share How to Negotiate as a Small Firm Architect. Visit our Platform Sponsor FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Photo Credit: Pixabay / JanDix   The post EA110: How to Negotiate as a Small Firm Architect [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

Sales… It conjures up images of slippery slick salespeople pushing their unnecessary products on to people who don't even want them. For many of us small firm architects, the idea of high pressure sales tactics and dishonest tricks and techniques makes us squirm and sweat. Well, I have good news. Sales tricks don't work. High pressure will repel your prospective clients and send them into the arms of your competition. There is a better way and many of you small firm architects are already good at it. This week at the EntreArchitect Podcast, I will share 5 Steps to Successful Sales for Small Firm Architects. Visit our Platform Sponsors FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) Photo Credit: Shutterstock / holbox   The post EA109: 5 Steps to Successful Sales for Small Firm Architects [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

With a twisted sense of pride, too many architects today accept the small firm stereotype of starving artist . Seeds planted in architecture school bloom into a full-on virus as professionals launch their own firms and find their way to small business. New firms are launched every day without proper planning, without an understanding of basic business fundamentals and often with an eager acceptance that life as an architect will be a difficult struggle. Even my choice of Architect as a career was based on my naive understanding of the profession. At the age of 10, I chose architecture for my career path because, Artists don't make enough money. Architecture is a profession like law and medicine. Architects are rich. As I entered architecture school, it happened too quickly. Within days of starting first-year studio, I began to hear the stories. Architecture is not about the money. We change the world through our art. You must love the art, because you will never make enough money as an architect. Does that sound familiar? We all have similar stories. As students of architecture, we all learned to accept the myth that our paths were doomed to a life-long struggle. This week at the EntreArchitect Podcast, I am going to give you 4 Steps for Changing the Architect’s Mindset on Money. Visit our Platform Sponsors FreshBooks The easiest way to send invoices, manage expenses and track your time. Access Your 30-Day Free Trial at FreshBooks.com/architect (Enter EntreArchitect) The Architecture Business Plan Competition Take your firm to greater success with a plan. It's free to enter and grand prize is $10,000. Learn more and register at ArchBusinessPlan.com Referenced in this Episode Shepard Fairey Rhode Island School of Design OBEY Clothing The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It (book) The E-Myth Architect (E-Myth Expert) (book) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change (book) EntreArchitect Podcast episode 80 with Norbert Lemermeyer (podcast) How to Win Friends & Influence People (book) Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! (book) Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money (book) Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World (book) EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches (book) Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World (book) Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion (book) Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands (book) EntreArchitect Academy Photo Credit: Shutterstock / tomertu The post EA108: 4 Steps for Changing the Architect’s Mindset on Money [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up