Katie [00:00:02]:
Welcome to the AEC Marketing for Principles podcast. This show is designed as a conversation between sales and marketing principals to address trends, challenges and best practices that are driving growth for professional service firms. Through our collection of discussions with subject matter experts, industry legends and leaders, we aim to share thoughts and practical tips with our listeners and that you can use for growing your AEC brands. Hosted by me, Katie Cash, Senior Vice President at smartigies, the AEC growth consulting firm that’s been developing smart business strategies for design and construction firms since 2008.
Katie [00:00:43]:
Hi everyone. Welcome back to another episode of AEC Marketing for Principals, the show where we explore how marketers, seller doers and firm leaders are driving real impact in the built environment. Today’s guest is someone who knows exactly, exactly what it takes to position a firm for success not just with words, but with strategy, with alignment, and with serious pursuit discipline. So today I’m excited to be joined by Lee Jarbo. Lee is the Vice President and Senior Client Solutions Director at JE Dunn Construction. And I’m not trying to paint a picture of Lee, but she’s been in the industry for a while, but she’s been in the industry just like myself for over 20 years and today she supports over 2.2 billion. Yes, billion with a B annual sales goals. And she does that by working hand in hand with operations with in house marketing with her business development team and executive team to lead winning strategies across all kinds of sectors.
Katie [00:01:41]:
Higher education, healthcare, aviation, commercial, industrial, you name it, Jaden probably built it. And beyond that, beyond her daily role. I want to celebrate you a little bit Lee, because you’ve really shaped the way many AEC marketers, including myself, have approached pipeline management, their pursuit, strategy, business alignment because of your involvement and your commitment to your craft and to your profession. And you’ve been involved in SMPs locally, nationally and you’ve always been a great mentor sharing your insights, whether it’s at events or on podcasts like this with myself or just one on one. So I want to take the opportunity to thank you for paying it forward and I’m super excited to have you with us today. So thank you so much for carving time out and coming on today’s episode.
Lee Jarboe [00:02:29]:
Thank you Katie. I’m super excited to be here and love all the work that smarter G’s does and that you do and I look forward to our discussion. So thank you.
Katie [00:02:37]:
Without further ado, let’s kind of dig into it. And Lee, one of the things I love when I talk to you is kind of this duality perspective that you Always bring to things. Because I know while you’ve been in business development for a while, you did start out on the marketing side and you’ve seen the industry from so many different angles. Working with small firms, with regional firms, now with this mega blue chip contractor. And it’s always impressed me about your ability to keep your teams focused and focused, not on like just hitting the deadlines, but actually winning the work. Finding ways to get in with client organizations, really establishing relationships person to person across organizations. And I think that’s really where I want to start today’s conversation. We’ve been in this industry a long time.
Katie [00:03:27]:
I think all of our listeners would agree that AEC, even in 2025 remains to be a relationship driven business. We have long sales cycles, we’re making decisions by committee. So I want to talk first about how do you help your teams kind of stay elevated, stay strategic and not just get tactical when you kind of start chasing work. Talk to us a little bit about that and how you’ve led that discussion within your organizations.
Lee Jarboe [00:03:55]:
Yeah, you know, it’s interesting and I’ve seen the evolution over, over the 20 years I’ve been in this business. But strategy, you know, is really kind of based on knowing where you’re headed and how you’re going to get there. And you kind of have to have that big 30,000 foot level look. And then when you get down to knowing where your business is headed, it’s all about sales. Right? Sales is a leading indicator. And so managing sales pipeline is key. Especially when, you know, like us, we have multiple offices, multiple markets that we’re in. And so having to focus on our data and it being accurate so that we can make strategic decisions is very important.
Lee Jarboe [00:04:39]:
Knowing what is in your pipeline, when that pursuit is going to be won because that is when resources are going to be needed, revenue is going to start to generate. And so knowing all of that information, while it may change, it still allows you to strategically choose the best pursuits for your business as a whole. Sometimes you may choose not to pursue an opportunity because when you look across the region, you can see that resources maybe are better aligned or one opportunity versus another. Just keeping that communication open so everybody is on the same page so that once we do go a pursuit, the tactics of chasing and winning take over and we’re all in.
Katie [00:05:26]:
I think that’s so very smart. You know, a lot of times I feel like firms are just searching procurement registries for RFPs to chase. And what I’m hearing from you is you really have to start Planting that strategy seed a little bit earlier. You need to know where the market is heading. You need to know what opportunities might be coming out and being able to prioritize which ones are going to be the best fit for your organization. Whether it’s alignment with the client goals, maybe it’s timing for resource capacity or other things. And then you hit the topic really, really nicely of sales being that leading indicator. You know that it’s going to take a minute to kind of position.
Katie [00:06:11]:
A lot of these buying organizations have fairly form procurement cycles where things have to be advertised. There might be a step one, step two, or even a step three process in those procurements. And then sometimes you might get quote unquote awarded a job, but actually being able to bill against that job might be months later. And so really understanding the data within your pipeline is going to give you the insight to know what to chase, when it’s coming down, when it might be advertised, when it might be awarded. But ultimately when you’re going to be able to start putting, putting people in those hours against the project, that’s going to keep everybody busy. And so I love that you started to bring in the story of allowing the data to tell that story. And it’s not perfect math here, right? This is all projections in the world of sales. And sometimes the timelines drop back, sometimes they come forward, you know, sometimes the scope of work grows or shrinks.
Katie [00:07:10]:
And just being able to be flexible and really leaning into your organization and your business strategy and knowing which of those pursuits are going to be best aligned for long term growth with your organization, I think that that’s really, really smart. I want to talk a little bit more, I think Lee, about this idea of being strategic when it comes to pursuit management. Whether it’s a small job, which I think is completely subjective, depending on your firm and the services you provide, it may be a $500,000 job or maybe it’s a $5 million job that you consider to be small, or maybe it’s always mega projects and you firm only does mega projects. But talk a little bit about being strategic with that pursuit management. And by golly, when do you decide to no go something? What does that really look like? And how do you, how do you have the restraint to say, hey, you know what, these two opportunities are coming online at the same time and we really can’t do them both, so we’re going to chase this one and not that one. Like how do you really facilitate those conversations internally and know which ones are going to be more fruitful yeah.
Lee Jarboe [00:08:18]:
You know, it’s interesting, I think that over the course of time, firms have learned that they need to study their clients and understand kind of the why behind each one and their market mix. We’re a $2 billion region, an $8 billion company, but we have projects that range from all sizes and all different types of market. But we also can’t be all things to all people. We really do need to know who and why we want to work with specific clients. Right. I think that diverse mix is key because I remember back in 08 and 09 with the financial crisis and living through that when private work was completely gone. It was kind of like the benefit of being diverse allowed you to maybe to lean into some different markets that you are already in and then rely a little bit more. I know on public work, for example.
Lee Jarboe [00:09:16]:
We did that, my previous firm, during that time period, because we were able to keep our teams busy and employed, but we were already in those markets. I think what I’ve seen is a lot of firms are very narrow focused and they decide too late that they want to kind of break into a new market. They spend a lot of time, sales and marketing time and money, but they don’t really ever see the return on that investment. My advice is always manage your pipeline data by knowing what percentage of each market you’re in and what you want to be in so that you can kind of do that long term planning. Right. Understanding kind of these metrics allow you to make those strategic decisions we were talking about and turn down, you know, the work that maybe doesn’t meet the firm or the client’s goals. For example, I think that several years we were looking at breaking into the aviation market. And so we had a plan and a strategy to do that.
Lee Jarboe [00:10:12]:
And eventually in Atlanta, we became about 24% of our market mix was aviation. Aviation has great public and private clients, depending on work for the city of Atlanta, work for airlines, and things like that. Well, knowing this data, you know, we were able to then analyze our other markets and determine where do the rest of our 76% of work to come from. We build in commercial, we build in healthcare, education, industrial data centers. So there becomes a go, no go pursuit alignment with how much work each of these markets have in their pipeline. And then we can understand and monitor how want that market mix to stack up.
Katie [00:10:57]:
Yeah, and I think you’re right. You know, back in, in 08, you did see a lot of firms that primarily were stacked to service private clients try to get into public. And there’s a big learning curve with that.
Lee Jarboe [00:11:08]:
Right.
Katie [00:11:09]:
The, the procurement’s a little bit different, the funding is different. A lot of it is, is complex, you know, multi tier buying organizations, sometimes including elected officials that have never bought professional services before.
Lee Jarboe [00:11:22]:
Right.
Katie [00:11:22]:
So that’s fun. But then I see firms that, you know, kind of dipped their toe in it and then the private market came back, which was really good, but then they abandoned public again. And we know, you know, once you kind of break in, it’s really good to kind of stay there if your plan is to diversify your client mix. Because it’s really hard to be in and out, in and out, in and out. And a lot of times what I hear from owners, especially the public sector owners that kind of get their feelings hurt, right. You know, when they can’t get the attention that they want, when the private sectors are hot, but then everybody comes crawling back when nobody’s building office and mixed use and housing anymore. And so they, they want to feel like people want to work with them all the time. And they really do reward those firms that, that stick it out and go the relationship route and really understand how the projects are coming and realize that they are routine buyers.
Katie [00:12:18]:
Like you mentioned, aviation is, is a huge buyer of services annually, over and over and over again. And so my advice to listeners is when you’re looking at diversifying and you’re going to make a play to break into a market, make sure you give yourself enough time to truly vet your effectiveness. You know, you might not get the first one out of the gate. You might have to interview in front of a client two or three or four times before they give you the first project opportunity. But give it enough time to determine whether or not that client type, if you’re going into a new market or even that client organization is going to be a good fit for your firm long Paul, before you got to see.
Lee Jarboe [00:12:57]:
The return on that investment.
Katie [00:12:59]:
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Leigh, there’s something I wanted to ask you a little bit about. You know, you’ve seen a big change and you started mentioning that going back pre oa, you know, post Covid, all the different things. What do you feel is a little bit different today with firms like, is it more difficult to stand out? Do you perceive things to be more competitive or more business friendly? What are some things that you’ve experienced over the years and that you’re kind of seeing now in your role?
Lee Jarboe [00:13:31]:
There’s probably a lot more on the strategic front end of things. We also mentioned that relationships are so super important in, in our business. And the business developer will never go away. Right. But we have adjusted to the marketing, become a lot more proactive. Especially in this last probably five years. I’ve seen, you know, I know y’ all talk a lot about account based marketing and strategically how do you position on the front end? You know, when I first started it was like, oh, the BD person goes and creates a relationship with somebody and they get an rfp and marketing would react, respond to the rfp. Right.
Lee Jarboe [00:14:18]:
And that was kind of the game. Now the technology has advanced so much and marketing can really be proactive in marketing can create brand awareness and reputation through this account based marketing where we can educate potential customers before a business development person walks in the door. Right. Like marketing can plant the seeds of who we are, what we do, how we do it, and they kind of develop that warm relationship or the perception of the firm before the business developer has even talked to the client. So I think about how customized our society is becoming. Right. My Starbucks app notes, my favorite order, my favorite location. I think kind of the future of strategic positioning for firms.
Lee Jarboe [00:15:03]:
Everybody’s going to want this customization. That’s what the future generation is looking for. They’re going to Google you before they ever do business with you and they’re going to kind of understand who you are. So help them understand who you are. Firms that can get on board with proactive marketing are definitely going to be ahead of the game.
Katie [00:15:25]:
So let’s play that philosophy out if you’re game for it. So you’re in business development, you’re out and about meeting with a prospective new client who’s been doing their own research. Like how helpful is that for you to start the conversation from them having general understanding of who your firm is and your capabilities versus starting from scratch with. Hi, I’m Lee and I work with J.D. dunn, a construction firm. Like how does that change your, I guess your toolkit as a business developer with marketing kind of leading the charge and helping with that front end positioning?
Lee Jarboe [00:16:01]:
Yeah. You know, I think that it helps the conversation to go deeper sooner, if that makes sense. Yeah. Because I really don’t have to spend my time educating them on who we are. You know, I may do kind of a little refresh of, of what we do, but they already have an understanding and so then we can really get into a deeper conversation sooner around what is your work plan? What are your issues? What are the challenges that you’re facing, whether that be with a site or with financing or there’s a number of issues that we can help clients with. And if you can get to that meat of the conversation sooner, that that’s really where the magic happens.
Katie [00:16:40]:
Yeah. You know, I always hear from the seller doers in our space, how much their clients, you know, these buying entities really want to start talking shop and talk specifically about their projects, kind of like from first date. And so it’s really helpful when you know, their brand and their reputation has kind of helped them get to the table and they don’t have to get over all of those, like, qualification conversation pieces first. And they can really just start talking about what it is that they know and love and kind of start building that trust early from that very, very early conversation. I hear that a lot from the technical teams. It’s like, it makes my job as an engineer a lot easier when I can just talk about what I know.
Lee Jarboe [00:17:26]:
Right. Yeah.
Katie [00:17:27]:
Okay. I want to use your experience and expertise kind of straddling the sales and marketing line a little bit and give our listeners some helpful tips. So in your opinion, like, what would be something for our marketers that are listening to be able to do, Whether it’s just asking a simple question of their business development team or seller doers that will enable them to be a little bit more proactive, a little bit more strategic, versus just sitting around waiting for that rfp. What a good thing for them to do as a feedback loop or something.
Lee Jarboe [00:18:00]:
Yeah. I think all business development marketing folks really need to understand the business side of our business. I mean, obviously, I understand we build buildings, but how do we make money? How does the business function is super important because the only way that you can be included at the table when you’re talking about strategic growth and you know, how you can help impact, that is when you understand the business side of things. I’ve seen a lot of marketers get frustrated with their operations partners. They don’t respect me. They’re. They’re, you know, they don’t respond in a timely manner or they don’t. They don’t want to go to any events.
Lee Jarboe [00:18:44]:
They just like to be at their desk doing their work or on the job site. Right. I get it. It’s frustrating. I’ve been there. But really, if you think about the business side of our business. Right. It’s about being billable.
Katie [00:18:56]:
Yeah.
Lee Jarboe [00:18:57]:
And, you know, our operations folks want to be as billable as they can. So you think 40 hours a week of being billable and all the things we’re asking them to do is kind of above and beyond. Right. In addition to that billable time. If they understand that and they think about that, then they should say, okay, how can I make things easier for my operations partner? What can I take off their plate? Or how can I free up their time so that they can get the work done? I’ve always said marketing and business development are disciplines, right? Just like architecture, just like mechanical engineering. It’s a discipline that you’re the expert at. And so when our operations person didn’t major in marketing, you know, no one’s going to ask a marketing professional to design a mechanical system for a building, but we want our operations folks to do marketing. And so as the professional and as the discipline of marketing and business development, we should make it easier for our operations.
Lee Jarboe [00:20:00]:
You know, when we approach our work kind of with a helping attitude, then I think you’ll see that they will trust and respect and kind of come back to marketing and business development because you’re teaching them your discipline just as much as I hope you try to understand their discipline and their side of the business. Yeah, it kind of breaks down the silos, right?
Katie [00:20:24]:
Like, absolutely. I think that’s great advice of knowing the business and then just recognizing your internal clients, the billable team. I mean, they’re the reason the marketing team gets a paycheck, right? We don’t have them. We don’t have anything to sell. And it is very much a partnership and approaching it.
Lee Jarboe [00:20:43]:
And if we don’t sell, they don’t have anything to do. So it takes all of us, right?
Katie [00:20:47]:
Yeah. It’s a team effort. But approaching it from a mindset of, you know, they’re my internal customers. How can I make them more successful? How can I be more proactive? There’s a lot of tools today. I just think back when I had my first job, you know, right out of college, and I was given a proposal and it was a BSL4 lab. Like, I didn’t know what that meant, you know, And I was sitting here trying to figure out how I’m going to tell this story. Fast forward to today, and so many marketers have CRM databases and text libraries and proposal libraries and proposal automation and AI and different things at their disposal that can empower them to be more educated, to come to the table with solutions for their technical team, to make it easy for them to say yes to a project pursuit, you know, approach narrative or, you know, whatever else those other deliverables may be. But I do think it takes a lot of leadership from someone like yourself at encouraging that type of culture and customer service.
Katie [00:21:50]:
Kind of mindset, especially the younger marketers that are just now trying to figure out what all these acronyms mean in our world. You know, it’s a big learning curve.
Lee Jarboe [00:21:59]:
Well, and you know, to your point, it’s, you know, it takes time to kind of get up to speed and know I can pull out of the back of my head now that I’ve been, you know, here for 10 years, a long list of projects that would be perfect for this rfp. Right. But some of the younger marketers were trying to figure that out. We’ll use the tools that you have and at least come to the table with something that shows you put in, you know, an effort. You’re not just coming to take notes and to kind of copy and paste. Right. Like that’s the old school. Oh, you’re just a copy and paste.
Lee Jarboe [00:22:32]:
Well, you can be a strategic partner. Right. You can dig into the data that your company has and you know, it might not be the right and perfect answer, but it’s a starting place. It makes it easier for your operations folks to say, oh, those are great options. Here’s a few more that I thought of and really collaborate and show that you are adding value versus just, oh, I’m here to take notes on what you want me to do. Right. Yeah.
Katie [00:23:01]:
It’s not a restaurant, it’s not a marketing restaurant. And they’re here to place an order.
Lee Jarboe [00:23:05]:
Exactly.
Katie [00:23:06]:
So there’s a lot more to be shared. Okay, I want to stay kind of on this topic because I think we’re starting to talk to some real things. I hear a lot with our clients. This idea of wanting their marketing teams to be more proactive and recognize that the internal teams, I mean, all day, they’re always understaffed from a capacity standpoint. Their clients are calling and they’re trying to solve all these problems. And then nobody went to school for architecture and engineering to be a marketer. And so you’re asking them to write something for the first time and they’re staring at a blank page. So what are some things that firms could do, in your opinion, that really do support this kind of cross functional alignment between marketing, the business development team and operations? Because we all like our silos, we like our disciplines.
Katie [00:24:00]:
I think that’s a great analogy. But how do you really build about more of that cross functional team? That’s all one firm kind of all charting the same way.
Lee Jarboe [00:24:10]:
I say communication is probably the biggest thing that everybody says. Like when we talk about building a project, when there’s buy in from the Owner, the architect, the contractor. And everybody is on that same page and understands the why the projects tend to go much smoother. Right. Versus everybody has their corner and they don’t come out of it. I think it’s the same when it comes to marketing and business development alignment. One of the things is making sure that you have a seat at the table and, and whether it’s the marketing coordinator at the beginning of the conversation, understanding why we go or no go to pursuit. You know, sometimes we pursue things with new clients that we know we might not win, but we are trying to build that relationship and get in the door.
Lee Jarboe [00:25:02]:
But if we just say, hey, fill out this rfp and they’re like, well, this is pointless. We’re never going to win. We don’t have a relationship with the client, you know, and they’re just like, in their mind they’ve created this whole story because he never included, included them early in the discussion to say, hey, this is our long game strategy. Right. And why we’re doing this is so that we can continue to build the relationship and have additional conversations and show them, you know, who we are. And I think when a marketing professional understands the why, they are much more bought into to doing the process. And that goes with just big picture, you know, strategic firm growth goals as well. When you have your marketing and business development professionals at the table during the strategic growth, where’s the firm headed as a whole? What are the financial goals? Client experience is huge now, right? What are the client experience goals? That way everybody can kind of understand that why and bring to the table their knowledge and their expertise.
Lee Jarboe [00:26:07]:
Expertise to help us all grow. And I mean, obviously the theme continues. Katie, we are a team sport. Yes.
Katie [00:26:15]:
And I think you gave a really good example. You know, I, I really do sympathize with the marketer that gets thrown in rfp. And you look at it and you’re like, we have never done this before. Like, what am I gonna show? This is a complete waste. And, and you don’t have the background. Right. You don’t understand, hey, there’s a bigger play here. And you feel like this is just a waste of your time and you’ve been hoping that, hey, I’ve got two weeks before a proposal is due.
Katie [00:26:42]:
I was going to catch up and get ahead on things that people are always barking out, like, why can’t marketing be more proactive? But here you are faced with this proposal that you feel like you have no business chasing. But, and I’ve been on the receiving end of being involved in that front end and saying, hey, as a firm, we really want to break into this new market. This is what we’re thinking, how our story translates. This is where we see the market heading. We understand it’s going to take a few at bats before we really get an opportunity. That really helped me as the marketer feel like my time was being valued, but it also set me up to be more successful so that as I was pulling the materials in, I knew how to frame my person’s resume, who had never built healthcare to make it feel like he at least knows what to do in that space because he’s worked in critical facilities before. Like, it just helped me feel more capable and not like it was just a waste of time. And I’ve kind of started to use that as part of our standard, like kickoff conversations.
Katie [00:27:46]:
Even when I know that, hey, this is an ongoing client or whatever. I like to ask my operations team, you know, my business developer, what is the purpose of this particular pursuit response? Is it ultimately to win the project? Cool. But is it to introduce our new proprietary technology? Is it to position our next wave of leadership? Is, you know, hey, they’re now taking over as the px. We want to make sure they can trust John just as much as they did Jerry before. Because this is a transition phase, you know, whatever it might be. I always learn something in that conversation. And I think AAC marketers, we need to always have that curious mindset to know that we don’t always know everything and there’s always something new to learn. And just by incorporating a few what might be seemingly obvious questions in your kickoff discussions, you might actually learn a lot and you might actually start to be able to pick up on some of the business goals of your organization, of why you pursue certain client organizations or project types or.
Lee Jarboe [00:28:47]:
Well, and I mean, on the flip side of that, Katie too, why. Why you turn down opportunities, right?
Katie [00:28:54]:
Absolutely.
Lee Jarboe [00:28:55]:
I think that, that that’s another important discussion. You know, how do you make sure sales and clients and I mean, I’m a BD person at heart, right. So I do not want to turn down opportunities. I’m like, sell it all, win it all. That, that’s the goal. But you know, going back to that communication theme, it’s like we really have to be strategic for us and for the client and especially around the construction side and I think the architecture and engineering side as well. Timing is a big component our industry. What, 30% hit rate on a good day.
Lee Jarboe [00:29:31]:
Right. So we kind of always pursue more than we’ll Win. But when you start talking about turning down an opportunity, especially if you’ve been talking to a client for a while and then all of a sudden the timing doesn’t work, you thought you had a team available and then you won something else and that your resources have shifted. And I think I go back to. That’s why managing your pipeline data is so important. They don’t change on a daily basis, but, you know, monthly, depending on the client. I have learned after 20 years that, you know, when I asked him, when do you plan to start construction? Right. Because that’s when I know I have a team available.
Lee Jarboe [00:30:14]:
The client will give me a date, and the next time I talk to him, it’ll change, and the next time it changes. That is the nature of our industry. So just making sure that we all kind of are on that same page. Right. And having that constant monitoring, because when we do have to turn it down, that’s a tough conversation. And so having the understanding of why is important on that side of the coin as well.
Katie [00:30:40]:
Well, and I know some firms, I’ve witnessed it, you know, they’re so in tune with their data lead, and, you know, they’ve done the client relationship so well that sometimes they’re at the table and they can actually influence the timing of projects around their availability.
Lee Jarboe [00:30:57]:
Absolutely.
Katie [00:30:58]:
But they can only do that if they have the information at hand.
Lee Jarboe [00:31:01]:
Good point.
Katie [00:31:02]:
Before we wrap up today, I want to talk a little bit about some of your personal achievements and some of the Alphabet soup that gets to follow your name because you are a fellow in smps and you have done a lot for that organization. And I know you’ve learned a lot at being able to be a positive influence in AAC marketing. So what have you learned that you feel like has enabled you to provide the level of influence that you do within your organization that you could tell our listeners of other AEC marketers today?
Lee Jarboe [00:31:41]:
I owe, I think, my career to SMPs. I came from outside the industry and fell into it, as many of us have. It was my education tool again, for my discipline. Right. For my discipline of marketing, my discipline of business development, just like a mechanical engineer or an architect. And one of the biggest things that being a fellow has allowed me to do is we have a Great forum across SCPs where we can go online and talk about different topics, get advice, offer advice, gain perspective from industry peers across the country. So we’re all trying to kind of make our firms the best. And so knowledge is power.
Lee Jarboe [00:32:22]:
Right. But I think the biggest things that I’ve gained as I’ve grown in my career. I mentioned it before, the understanding the business side of things. Right. Understanding the financials, how your firm makes money. But even as you grow as a leader, I mean, I’ve had to learn, you know, some HR knowledge. Right. How.
Lee Jarboe [00:32:41]:
How do you lead people? How do you grow people? And so it becomes a great place for that, encompassing not just the business development, marketing side of it, but firmwide leader knowledge.
Katie [00:32:54]:
Yeah. Managing a deadline and managing people. Two different skill sets.
Lee Jarboe [00:32:57]:
Yes.
Katie [00:32:59]:
You know, definitely warrant some training, for sure. And some. Some peer groups. On how have you handled this? Have you ever faced this particular situation? A lot of times I find that I get more out of other members than I do the formal membership itself. Because you have that community there with you where you don’t feel like, even if you’re a marketing team of one, you feel like you’re not alone.
Lee Jarboe [00:33:22]:
Right. You’re in it together, and that’s valuable.
Katie [00:33:26]:
Yeah. Okay. Leigh, this has been really, really great. The theme of this year’s season on the podcast is really about making an impact. So I want to ask you this lasting question. Over the course of career, you have made so much impact, but what do you think AEC firms should stop doing if they want to make a bigger impact in the future? So these are things to stop doing.
Lee Jarboe [00:33:54]:
I think we touched on it earlier. Stop the silos, right? I mean, just break it down. Know that everybody brings value to growing the firm. It’s not. I mean, obviously we have to have the doing the operations side. The operators don’t have to do it all themselves. Include marketing and business development leaders in that strategic conversation. I guarantee their contributions will be valuable.
Lee Jarboe [00:34:21]:
So break down the silence.
Katie [00:34:23]:
I like it. And then for our marketers that are listening, what is one thing that they can do every day to make an impact within their organization?
Lee Jarboe [00:34:31]:
I say go the extra mile. Anybody that knows me knows that my life book is called Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. The Napoleon Hill. He spent a good 20 years of his life studying all of the most successful people of the industrial age, I think Andrew Carnegie, Rockefeller forward, and to find kind of what were their similar character traits. And so in Think and Grow Rich, he talks about these 17 principles of success. And I think the easiest one to really latch onto is just go the extra mile. You know, make it easier for your operations person. Do that little something extra, and it’ll go a long way.
Katie [00:35:17]:
Okay, so speaking of something extra, I don’t know how you fit this in, but why don’t you tell us a little bit about Spike Studio. I know that’s a board that you have poured your heart and soul into, and it really is about teeing up and inspiring the next generation. So tell us how you’re going the extra mile there.
Lee Jarboe [00:35:36]:
It’s definitely a passion project of mine. I have been involved with Spike Studio as long as I’ve been involved in the AEC industry. And I felt like it’s even more important today than when we started it because, you know, we’re in a talent war, right? Not, not just with each other’s firms to get the best employees, but with all industries trying to inspire kids that want to come into aec. You know, don’t go into computer programming and, you know, the movies or whatever it is. We’re competing with all industries to inspire that next generation. And so kids said that get education. Education changes lives. I always say.
Lee Jarboe [00:36:16]:
I thought there was like five jobs in the world, right? And then I get out in the world and I was like, oh my gosh, I had no idea that I could be a business developer in the construction business, right? So, you know, exposing kids to the variety of opportunities, I mean, we are a very high tech industry. I don’t know how well we are showing that. Right. And so being able to be involved with Spike Studio, who offers a camp during the summer, we’re in partnership with Georgia Tech and bring these high school kids in. They do a design project, they get the project on Monday and by Friday they’re, you know, doing a presentation in front of industry professionals. It really gets them excited about what’s. What is the future possibility within this industry. And that’s kind of the mission of Spike Studio.
Lee Jarboe [00:37:06]:
Get more kids into our business. And that’s why, you know, I’ve been involved for so long, because I want them to understand we impact lives in the AEC industry and they can be a part of it. It’s exciting.
Katie [00:37:20]:
That is super exciting. So any listeners that want to get involved in that, make sure you look up Spike Studios, find ways that you can help support that organization or at least just learn more about it. And Lee, this has been so great. Thank you again for making time today. I always appreciate your perspective on how to make real impact in your career, in the organization, in pursuits that you’re chasing. And this is exactly what we want to bring to the conversation on the show. Thank you everyone for listening and tuning in. And until next time, keep up with your smart marketing teams.
Katie [00:37:55]:
We appreciate it.
Katie [00:37:58]:
AEC Marketing for Principals is presented by Smartigies the AEC growth consulting firm that has been developing smart business strategies for design and construction firms since 2008. The show is hosted by me, Katie Cash, Senior VP at Smartigees. I would love to hear from you.
Katie [00:38:16]:
If you have a question, a guest.
Katie [00:38:18]:
Request, or a topic request for a future episode, send an email or a voice memo to podcastmartigies.com and if you’re looking for for past episodes, be sure to visit our podcast page@smarter g.com podcast. We hope you’ll tell your friends and colleagues about our show, and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on future episodes. Thanks for listening.