Building A Creative Powerhouse with Bryon McCartney | 036
Jon chats with Brian McCartney, CEO of ArchMark Branding and Marketing for Architects. Bryon, who has founded five successful creative service firms, shares strategies for transforming architectural practices into creative powerhouses. They discuss the importance of strategic planning, the misconception about sales in architecture, and the benefits of community involvement for solo architects. Bryon also shares his personal and professional experiences, including his passion for photography and his journey in the business world.
Today's Guest...
Bryon McCartney is CEO at Archmark (* pronounced Ark-Mark) Branding and Marketing for Architects and a certified coach through Donald Miller’s Business Made Simple program. Bryon has helped 3,000+ architects increase their firm’s visibility and influence so they can win better projects. Bryon has travelled around the world and calls himself an ”Archi-Geek.” He has been featured on ArchDaily, ArchiBiz, Business of Architecture, Entrearchitect, Zweig Group, and many others.
Episode Highlights...
00:00 Introduction
01:50 Brian McCartney's Journey into Photography
04:35 Founding and Managing Creative Firms
10:05 Approaching New Ideas and Opportunities
17:25 Sales Strategies for Architects
22:50 The Importance of Strategic Planning
26:51 Client Success Stories
27:24 The Importance of Strategic Planning
28:01 Writing Effective Business Plans
29:21 Building Trust with Clients
29:51 Common Mistakes in Proposal Processes
32:14 Revamping the Sales Process
36:46 The Value of Community for Architects
39:55 Final Thoughts and Takeaways
43:08 Favorite Travel Destinations
45:27 Connecting on Social Media
46:56 Closing Remarks
Key Takeaways...
Importance of Trust in Client Relationships: Instead of sending proposals and hoping for a response, it's more effective to engage in a process that involves multiple interactions to build a rapport and understanding.
Sales as Solutions: Architects should shift their perspective on sales. Instead of viewing it as a sleazy necessity, they should see it as an opportunity to provide solutions to clients' problems. Effective sales strategies focus on the clients' needs and how the service can meet those needs, rather than just the design aspect.
Strategic Planning: Running a business without a plan leads to reactive management. Strategic planning helps set clear goals and benchmarks, giving a business purpose and direction. This process should be simple, systematic, and regularly revisited for continued success.
Methodical Approach to Opportunities: Adopt a careful approach when considering new ideas or trends. Use the framework of Decide, Act, Learn, and Repeat to ensure that opportunities are thoroughly evaluated, implemented correctly, and adjusted based on outcomes.
Community and Support: Being part of a community provides invaluable support. It offers a wealth of shared knowledge and resources that can help solve problems and foster a sense of belonging, particularly important for solo architects or small firms.
Clarity and Communication: Ensure that all client-facing materials – from websites to proposals – clearly communicate how your work solves clients’ problems. This clarity builds trust and facilitates better client relationships.
Lifecycle of Client Interaction: From project inquiries to retention, understanding and optimizing each stage of the client's journey is essential for sustained business success. This includes ensuring client satisfaction to encourage repeat business and referrals.
Learning from Other Fields: Gaining insights from fields outside of architecture can offer new perspectives and solutions. Design involves understanding psychology, sociology, nature, and technology, so a broad perspective can enhance architectural creativity and business approaches.
Value of Practical Tools: Tools and frameworks such as the Vision Traction Organizer from the Entrepreneurial Operating System can simplify strategic planning and ensure focus on business drivers that matter.
Personal Growth and Business Success: Strategic planning and structured approaches can not only enhance business success but also positively impact personal well-being, as evidenced by clients who have achieved personal goals like weight loss through disciplined planning.
Use Professional Networks: Use professional networks effectively, with platforms like LinkedIn offering valuable opportunities for connection and learning within the architecture community.
Links Mentioned In The Episode...
👇Get your (free) Architecture Firm Website Health Report here…
https://www.archmark.co/free-architecture-firm-website-audit
Bryon’s Website > https://www.archmark.co
Connect with Bryon on LinkedIn > https://www.linkedin.com/in/brilliantbryon
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https://architecturebusinessclub.com/blueprint
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👇 Follow or Connect with Jon on LinkedIn at...
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In The Next Episode...
Next time Jon talks about in-person events and networking.
00:00 - Introduction
01:50 - Brian McCartney's Journey into Photography
04:35 - Founding and Managing Creative Firms
10:05 - Approaching New Ideas and Opportunities
17:25 - Sales Strategies for Architects
22:50 - The Importance of Strategic Planning
26:51 - Client Success Stories
27:24 - The Importance of Strategic Planning
28:01 - Writing Effective Business Plans
29:21 - Building Trust with Clients
29:51 - Common Mistakes in Proposal Processes
32:14 - Revamping the Sales Process
36:46 - The Value of Community for Architects
39:55 - Final Thoughts and Takeaways
43:08 - Favorite Travel Destinations
45:27 - Connecting on Social Media
46:56 - Closing Remarks
Jon Clayton:
What unique strategies can help you turn your architectural
Jon Clayton:
firm into a creative powerhouse with a long line of happy clients.
Jon Clayton:
I'm joined by Brian McCartney who shares what he's learned from founding
Jon Clayton:
five successful creative firms.
Jon Clayton:
In this episode of architecture business club, the weekly podcast for solo
Jon Clayton:
and small firm architecture practice owners, just like you who want to build
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a profitable future proof architecture business that fits around their life.
Jon Clayton:
I'm the host, John Clayton.
Jon Clayton:
And if you want a business in architecture that gives you more freedom,
Jon Clayton:
flexibility, and fulfillment, and go to architecture, business club.com
Jon Clayton:
forward slash blueprint and download the architecture business blueprint.
Jon Clayton:
It's the step-by-step formula to freedom for architects, architectural
Jon Clayton:
technologists and architecture designers.
Jon Clayton:
And it's absolutely free as a gift from me.
Jon Clayton:
Now let's dig into Brian's story.
Jon Clayton:
Brian McCartney is CEO at ArcMark Branding and Marketing for Architects
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and a certified coach through Donald Miller's Business Made Simple program.
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Brian has helped over 3, 000 architects increase their firm's visibility and
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influence so they can win better projects.
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Brian has traveled around the world and calls himself an ArciGeek.
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He has been featured in ArcDaily, ARCIbiz, Business of Architecture, Entree
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Architects, Svibe Group, and many others.
Jon Clayton:
You can speak to Brian directly by booking a free clarity call at arcmark.
Jon Clayton:
co and I will drop a link in the show notes.
Jon Clayton:
Brian, welcome to Architecture Business Club.
Bryon McCartney:
John, it's great
Bryon McCartney:
to
Bryon McCartney:
be here.
Bryon McCartney:
Thanks for inviting me.
Jon Clayton:
Oh, you're very welcome.
Jon Clayton:
It's a pleasure to have you here on the show.
Jon Clayton:
Brian, I know that you're, uh, aside from everything you do in the world
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of architecture and marketing, you're also a very passionate photographer.
Jon Clayton:
Could you tell me a little bit about that pastime?
Bryon McCartney:
Yeah.
Bryon McCartney:
In 2000, uh, had the opportunity to move to Switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
My wife
Bryon McCartney:
and I moved to Switzerland and around about that time
Bryon McCartney:
I had bought a digital camera.
Bryon McCartney:
It was my first digital camera.
Bryon McCartney:
And so I started taking a lot
Bryon McCartney:
photography, a lot of photographs as we were traveling around Europe, around
Bryon McCartney:
Switzerland, getting, getting to see the, you know, all the different countries.
Bryon McCartney:
And then all the Alps and all the, all the countryside in
Bryon McCartney:
Switzerland taking tons of photos.
Bryon McCartney:
And I actually started a small website around that time just
Bryon McCartney:
to share photos with family and
Bryon McCartney:
friends.
Bryon McCartney:
And I think it was about a year into it or so one of my wife's, uh, former work
Bryon McCartney:
colleagues, it was like, wow, Brian's taking great photos.
Bryon McCartney:
Has he ever thought about doing
Bryon McCartney:
that professionally?
Bryon McCartney:
And I.
Bryon McCartney:
And it's funny because when I worked in Chicago, um, early in
Bryon McCartney:
my career, I was kind of known as the compositing guy.
Bryon McCartney:
I had started working in, in Photoshop very early on.
Bryon McCartney:
And so knew a lot about how to work with digital images.
Bryon McCartney:
And
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so kind of use that information and knowledge.
Bryon McCartney:
And then having worked with a lot of,
Bryon McCartney:
A lot of photographers on set, I learned about lighting as well.
Bryon McCartney:
I ended up going professional with photography for quite some time.
Bryon McCartney:
One of the agencies that my wife and I founded was based around
Bryon McCartney:
storytelling, uh, visual storytelling.
Bryon McCartney:
And so photography and video played big role in that.
Bryon McCartney:
And, uh, I also won a lot of awards and yeah, it was,
Bryon McCartney:
it was, it was a lot of fun.
Bryon McCartney:
I really enjoyed taking, taking images, creating images.
Jon Clayton:
Oh, that's amazing.
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I, I really do appreciate a good photo.
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I was, uh, a little bit of an amateur photographer a few years ago of my
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with my DSLR camera, and I, enjoy
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going and looking at a few photography exhibitions if I'm in like
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London or somewhere.
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But that's about as far as it extends for me at the moment.
Jon Clayton:
My photography seems to be mainly on my smartphone.
Bryon McCartney:
Yeah, that's, to be honest, that's my number
Bryon McCartney:
one camera these days I always
Bryon McCartney:
just say the best cameras, the one you have with you and the one that you use all
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the time.
Bryon McCartney:
I ended up taking a lot more photos these days with my care, my, my,
Bryon McCartney:
my phone and my actual cameras.
Jon Clayton:
absolutely.
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Yeah, that's it.
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If you've got your, the decent phone camera, most of them are pretty
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decent and you've got it with you.
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It's.
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To be doing photography and using that rather than having something sat in
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the cupboard that's gathering dust.
Jon Clayton:
We're not going to talk about photography though for the whole episode as much as
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we probably, we probably could.
Jon Clayton:
We are going to talk about some of the key things that you have learned
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over the years from founding and managing five successful creative
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service firms so that architects can learn from what you've already
Jon Clayton:
figured out through those experiences.
Jon Clayton:
To begin with, could you just give me a brief introduction to those five firms?
Bryon McCartney:
Yeah.
Bryon McCartney:
Yeah.
Bryon McCartney:
So I, I started my entrepreneurial, uh, career.
Bryon McCartney:
I think it it was in my late twenties or so, probably about 28 or so.
Bryon McCartney:
When I first started, uh, basically freelancing, I
Bryon McCartney:
started out as a freelancer.
Bryon McCartney:
I was in Chicago.
Bryon McCartney:
It was the late nineties.
Bryon McCartney:
Websites were just starting to, you know, take off.
Bryon McCartney:
I was still doing a lot of print work at that time, but
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I was also doing digital work.
Bryon McCartney:
And so i, uh, ended up becoming a full time, pretty much full time.
Bryon McCartney:
We, we called it permalance back then, right?
Bryon McCartney:
It was like, I was a freelancer.
Bryon McCartney:
I didn't
Bryon McCartney:
get the benefits, but I had the, the, had the capability
Bryon McCartney:
to kind of call off whenever
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I wanted.
Bryon McCartney:
And, uh, I got paid better than most of the salary employees
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because I didn't have the benefits.
Bryon McCartney:
but, um, I worked at Unilever.
Bryon McCartney:
That was, that was my
Bryon McCartney:
main client.
Bryon McCartney:
I also worked for Leo Burnett advertising on, uh, campaigns for United.
Bryon McCartney:
I also had direct clients like the university of Illinois at
Bryon McCartney:
Chicago, both their business school and their medical schools.
Bryon McCartney:
I did a lot of publication work for them.
Bryon McCartney:
With Unilever, that's where I really got my start in.
Bryon McCartney:
Web, design and online branding.
Bryon McCartney:
It was working with brands like, uh, Calvin Klein, Lipton
Bryon McCartney:
foods, swab, personal care.
Bryon McCartney:
If you're familiar with the Unilever, you know, that's, it's the house of brands.
Bryon McCartney:
There's tons of different products and,
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and and brands within that.
Bryon McCartney:
So we, our team at unilever, I was the creative director
Bryon McCartney:
for, uh, we set the initial strategies for a lot of these brands online.
Bryon McCartney:
So we did the initial testing.
Bryon McCartney:
And then if, you know, if things were successful, it would go online.
Bryon McCartney:
Obviously get funded and go to a, you know, go to DDB Needham or J.
Bryon McCartney:
Walter Thompson or somebody like that.
Bryon McCartney:
But it was a lot of fun.
Bryon McCartney:
We got to do a lot of experimentation from
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there.
Bryon McCartney:
I had the opportunity to go to Switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
As I mentioned, um, my wife through her, her.
Bryon McCartney:
Company.
Bryon McCartney:
They wanted to start a headquarters in Switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
We weren't married at the time, so I had to go find my own job.
Bryon McCartney:
I ended up becoming the CEO and creative director for, uh,
Bryon McCartney:
For weird VRTs interactive.
Bryon McCartney:
So vR to interactive
Bryon McCartney:
was based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
They were a large uh, advertising group
Bryon McCartney:
And I, I worked with them.
Bryon McCartney:
Uh, you I was an employee there, uh,
Bryon McCartney:
for a few years, and then we, um, we decided to merge with another firm.
Bryon McCartney:
And so we created, we founded and created this new entity called Asai.
Bryon McCartney:
And,
Bryon McCartney:
uh, at the time, I believe we were the largest digital
Bryon McCartney:
marketing firm in switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
We worked with General Motors, uh, Clarient, Roche, Nestle,
Bryon McCartney:
Knorr, uh, many others.
Bryon McCartney:
So then in 2006 I'd left I'd left a side.
Bryon McCartney:
I, uh, was starting to work on my own again.
Bryon McCartney:
I started a little freelance studio,
Bryon McCartney:
uh, in, in Switzerland.
Bryon McCartney:
And then in 2006, I got really busy.
Bryon McCartney:
I
Bryon McCartney:
landed a huge client and my wife who had been working with her for 19 years,
Bryon McCartney:
she said to me, you know, I said, I said, Hey, I need to hire somebody.
Bryon McCartney:
I need an assistant or somebody to help me, you know, do invoicing and all this.
Bryon McCartney:
My wife said to me, well, what would this person do?
Bryon McCartney:
How
Bryon McCartney:
much would they get paid?
Bryon McCartney:
You know?
Bryon McCartney:
Well, we ended up founding our first agency together and that
Bryon McCartney:
was called image engineers.
Bryon McCartney:
That was in 2006 and we worked with, uh, a lot of global manufacturing companies like
Bryon McCartney:
Alstom and, um, uh, Sultzer, Zolke, uh, many others.
Bryon McCartney:
After we moved back to the U
Bryon McCartney:
S in 2012, we founded, uh, be brilliant.
Bryon McCartney:
That was a marketing agency in
Bryon McCartney:
Fort myers, florida, that was really built around the needs
Bryon McCartney:
of small businesses, small local
Bryon McCartney:
businesses.
Bryon McCartney:
Then we started ArcMark.
Bryon McCartney:
That was 2016.
Bryon McCartney:
We had worked with a business coach and he had said to us, you know, Hey, you
Bryon McCartney:
need to, uh, you need to focus on a niche.
Bryon McCartney:
And we had recently worked with an architect and
Bryon McCartney:
we really liked the experience of working with that architect.
Bryon McCartney:
So we decided to, uh, go
Bryon McCartney:
all in.
Bryon McCartney:
We joined a local AIA, uh, chapter, started, uh, networking with them.
Bryon McCartney:
Architects and kind of the rest is history from that.
Bryon McCartney:
So that's, that's the five
Bryon McCartney:
that, uh, know, when our pre interview, I was, I was trying to think about
Bryon McCartney:
it and I actually, there was actually two other companies that we founded.
Bryon McCartney:
So there was a viewfinder center, which is a digital kind and education,
Bryon McCartney:
kind of like an education excursion.
Bryon McCartney:
Company, uh, that we sold off in 2012.
Bryon McCartney:
And then, uh, currently, I'm in the process of launching
Bryon McCartney:
a new coaching business.
Bryon McCartney:
So since I became a donald Miller certified, uh, business coach with
Bryon McCartney:
the business made simple program, I'm launching a new program to capitalize
Bryon McCartney:
on that.
Bryon McCartney:
So, yeah, I've a few arms in the fire over the years.
Bryon McCartney:
so busy boy here.
Jon Clayton:
So Brian, can you tell me.
Jon Clayton:
How do you approach taking action on new ideas or opportunities?
Jon Clayton:
Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
I
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mean
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I'll be honest
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with you
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John,
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you know,
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like 10 years ago,
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um,
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I
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had a completely
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different thought process
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or approach
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to things.
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I
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was,
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to
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be honest, I was very reactive.
Jon Clayton:
Right.
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And.
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I
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think at
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that time probably frustrated
Jon Clayton:
my team
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immensely.
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I was
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constantly
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changing course, constantly
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reacting to ideas or,
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uh,
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you
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know, things
Jon Clayton:
that I maybe saw in
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the
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news
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or, uh, things happening inside,
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outside of my business.
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You
Jon Clayton:
know, a new
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trend
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would come
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along and I'd be like,
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Oh, you know, something
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new
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and shiny.
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We got to, we got
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to stop and we got
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to change
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course.
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Like
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there's a
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new thing we got
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to
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take advantage of.
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Shiny object syndrome,
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Oh Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
Yeah.
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I
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was, and I, I still
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suffer from
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that a
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bit, but,
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it
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would, it would happen over
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and over again, you
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know, and
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to be honest, I
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look back on
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that and
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I realized I was
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just
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probably
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immature.
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I was probably insecure.
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you know?
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Uh,
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as
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well,
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it
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was just grabbing
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at
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anything
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I could to
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be kind of
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competitive.
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Right.
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You know, and I, I think, I
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think
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I've grown a
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lot
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since
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then.
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I, I,
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I
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I
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I now
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take A much more
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measured
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and I would say
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probably
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mature
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approach to new ideas
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and
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opportunities.
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I think,
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yeah,
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I
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think,
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it's really
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important.
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anyone,
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anybody
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running
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a business,
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I
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have
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learned
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that being reactive to
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things,
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uh,
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you know, chasing
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trends, technology
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tools,
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and I hope it transformed
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my
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business.
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And so I
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think
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that's a clear
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sign that you don't have a plan.
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You're just kind of
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winging it.
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And so when it comes to new ideas, I've adopted a simple approach
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and
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you know, this was shared to
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be me by
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one of
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my coaches,
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Brad
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Martineau.
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He's with six division,
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a
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great guy,
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super
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super
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smart.
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And he, he actually, he sells these hats.
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This
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is D
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A
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L R decide, act, learn, repeat.
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And so what that means
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is.
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You know, first you have to
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be decisive.
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You
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have to make
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a decision.
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Is this worth
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my time?
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More
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importantly, is it
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worth
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me getting distracted from my
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priorities?
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Right.
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What's
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really important
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in my business?
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You know,
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is this
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something that's going
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to take
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me off track?
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Is it going to
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be disruptive to
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me,
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my
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team?
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You know, I
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want
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as few
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disruptions as
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possible
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these days,
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right?
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I'm not getting
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younger.
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I'm not
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this.
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You know, super multi tasker that I
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used to
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think I was
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uh,
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even though I was
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probably running around
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with my
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head
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cut off.
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I want
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things
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to be structured.
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I want
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things,
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I want to be
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predictable in my
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business.
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and so
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so let's say we do find
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something like, I don't
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know, a
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new tool, new
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technology.
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Right.
Jon Clayton:
Let's say it passes that first test
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like that.
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That first hurdle.
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Yes, we've made a
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decision.
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We're
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going to go
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forward.
Jon Clayton:
So the next thing you do
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is you need
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to take
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action.
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You need to
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act.
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You
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need
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to
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figure out.
Jon Clayton:
Okay, well, how
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am
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I making time for this
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thing?
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or
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Or, how am I
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giving
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my
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team time for this
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thing?
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How am I, what
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energy and effort
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am I
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going to
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use to focus on
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this
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so
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that we can create some implementation
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around
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it?
Jon Clayton:
So
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it's not just a thing that
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distracted us
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and then
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
kind of
Jon Clayton:
put it on a shelf.
Jon Clayton:
How
Jon Clayton:
are
Jon Clayton:
we actually
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
take
Jon Clayton:
action?
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
that may
Jon Clayton:
mean dedicating resources, going through training.
Jon Clayton:
We don't
Jon Clayton:
want
Jon Clayton:
this to just be
Jon Clayton:
an endless
Jon Clayton:
thing.
Jon Clayton:
We want to
Jon Clayton:
put some parameters
Jon Clayton:
around
Jon Clayton:
it.
Jon Clayton:
Like,
Jon Clayton:
Hey, we're
Jon Clayton:
going to spend two
Jon Clayton:
weeks.
Jon Clayton:
We're
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
spend a month.
Jon Clayton:
We're going to
Jon Clayton:
spend six months, whatever that timeframe is.
Jon Clayton:
We need to decide.
Jon Clayton:
Once
Jon Clayton:
we've
Jon Clayton:
decided that
Jon Clayton:
we're
Jon Clayton:
going
Jon Clayton:
to take action,
Jon Clayton:
we need to
Jon Clayton:
put some
Jon Clayton:
parameters around the
Jon Clayton:
action and we
Jon Clayton:
need to be able to figure
Jon Clayton:
out within
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
certain amount of
Jon Clayton:
time
Jon Clayton:
is,
Jon Clayton:
are
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
be
Jon Clayton:
able
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
implement this
Jon Clayton:
successfully?
Jon Clayton:
Right?
Jon Clayton:
The next thing you got
Jon Clayton:
to do
Jon Clayton:
is
Jon Clayton:
you have
Jon Clayton:
to learn.
Jon Clayton:
So let's say we
Jon Clayton:
did implement that.
Jon Clayton:
Let's say
Jon Clayton:
it
Jon Clayton:
was,
Jon Clayton:
it failed
Jon Clayton:
or
Jon Clayton:
it was a
Jon Clayton:
success.
Jon Clayton:
Now
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
got to
Jon Clayton:
take some
Jon Clayton:
time
Jon Clayton:
and,
Jon Clayton:
and.
Jon Clayton:
and,
Jon Clayton:
this
Jon Clayton:
isn't just
Jon Clayton:
a fleeting thing.
Jon Clayton:
Like we
Jon Clayton:
actually have to analyze,
Jon Clayton:
like, what did we do?
Jon Clayton:
What worked?
Jon Clayton:
What
Jon Clayton:
didn't
Jon Clayton:
work?
Jon Clayton:
We
Jon Clayton:
got to break
Jon Clayton:
that down.
Jon Clayton:
We have to
Jon Clayton:
learn from what we
Jon Clayton:
did.
Jon Clayton:
Uh,
Jon Clayton:
if
Jon Clayton:
we failed, why did
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
fail?
Jon Clayton:
was there something,
Jon Clayton:
some small
Jon Clayton:
change,
Jon Clayton:
some,
Jon Clayton:
something
Jon Clayton:
that
Jon Clayton:
we could
Jon Clayton:
have
Jon Clayton:
tweaked to
Jon Clayton:
make it
Jon Clayton:
a success?
Jon Clayton:
If it was successful,
Jon Clayton:
Okay.
Jon Clayton:
What can we do to make it more
Jon Clayton:
successful?
Jon Clayton:
We did one
Jon Clayton:
round
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
implementation.
Jon Clayton:
What are we doing the
Jon Clayton:
second time
Jon Clayton:
around?
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
that's
Jon Clayton:
where we
Jon Clayton:
get to the R
Jon Clayton:
repeat,
Jon Clayton:
right?
Jon Clayton:
We have to
Jon Clayton:
repeat, but
Jon Clayton:
we don't,
Jon Clayton:
we're not
Jon Clayton:
just going
Jon Clayton:
to blindly
Jon Clayton:
repeat
Jon Clayton:
and do
Jon Clayton:
the same thing.
Jon Clayton:
we did
Jon Clayton:
before.
Jon Clayton:
We want to
Jon Clayton:
improve
Jon Clayton:
the
Jon Clayton:
process.
Jon Clayton:
Now
Jon Clayton:
we want
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
improve what we
Jon Clayton:
did.
Jon Clayton:
So,
Jon Clayton:
That structure I think is really helpful
Jon Clayton:
in just
Jon Clayton:
getting more value out of these distractions.
Jon Clayton:
You know we all
Jon Clayton:
have them.
Jon Clayton:
They're all
Jon Clayton:
there.
Jon Clayton:
For architects, it
Jon Clayton:
might be like,
Jon Clayton:
Oh, Hey, we're a
Jon Clayton:
residential company,
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
know,
Jon Clayton:
and, and we
Jon Clayton:
focus on
Jon Clayton:
this, but then,
Jon Clayton:
Oh,
Jon Clayton:
one of
Jon Clayton:
our clients
Jon Clayton:
works at Microsoft and now they
Jon Clayton:
want
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
help.
Jon Clayton:
Have
Jon Clayton:
us do
Jon Clayton:
a, you know, a
Jon Clayton:
retreat
Jon Clayton:
center
Jon Clayton:
for their
Jon Clayton:
executives.
Jon Clayton:
Okay,
Jon Clayton:
well, we've never done a
Jon Clayton:
retreat.
Jon Clayton:
So,
Jon Clayton:
you know,
Jon Clayton:
that's a
Jon Clayton:
distraction.
Jon Clayton:
How are
Jon Clayton:
we evaluating
Jon Clayton:
that?
Jon Clayton:
What are we
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
learn
Jon Clayton:
from it?
Jon Clayton:
Are we going to
Jon Clayton:
repeat it?
Jon Clayton:
Those are all important things that we have
Jon Clayton:
to consider
Jon Clayton:
in that
Jon Clayton:
process.
Jon Clayton:
So
Jon Clayton:
that's yeah, that's where I'm at these days.
Jon Clayton:
I love that you've, you've found a very methodical approach to this because
Jon Clayton:
I think particularly, Um, people that are architects and firm owners, people
Jon Clayton:
that work in creative industries often have an abundance of ideas and
Jon Clayton:
we just don't have the, you know, we have a finite amount of resources.
Jon Clayton:
To follow up these ideas.
Jon Clayton:
So having something like what you've described where it's a bit more strategic,
Jon Clayton:
there's a system, there's alignment with the overall goals and objectives
Jon Clayton:
of the business before we just go and pursue the next shiny new thing.
Jon Clayton:
I can definitely relate to that because.
Jon Clayton:
I know myself that in the past, I've been so distracted by ideas and new things.
Jon Clayton:
And, um, so it's a
Jon Clayton:
really helpful structure that you've shared.
Jon Clayton:
a photographer,
Jon Clayton:
it
Jon Clayton:
was horrible,
Jon Clayton:
right?
Jon Clayton:
Because,
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
know, every year
Jon Clayton:
and a
Jon Clayton:
half
Jon Clayton:
they come
Jon Clayton:
out
Jon Clayton:
with a
Jon Clayton:
new
Jon Clayton:
camera and, you
Jon Clayton:
know, it's
Jon Clayton:
got all these new features and you're, you know,
Jon Clayton:
it's,
Jon Clayton:
it's a,
Jon Clayton:
you know,
Jon Clayton:
it can be
Jon Clayton:
a,
Jon Clayton:
you know, month
Jon Clayton:
to,
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
know, three months to six
Jon Clayton:
month process, Just learning how to use a new camera
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
integrating
Jon Clayton:
it
Jon Clayton:
into a workflow
Jon Clayton:
as a,
Jon Clayton:
as a
Jon Clayton:
professional, at least, you
Jon Clayton:
know, um, Deciding
Jon Clayton:
what you're
Jon Clayton:
going
Jon Clayton:
to use
Jon Clayton:
from that,
Jon Clayton:
you know,
Jon Clayton:
what new features are
Jon Clayton:
important to you.
Jon Clayton:
What, what, What, how is this
Jon Clayton:
going
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
help you do your job
Jon Clayton:
better?
Jon Clayton:
Uh, those
Jon Clayton:
are important
Jon Clayton:
considerations.
Jon Clayton:
It's not
Jon Clayton:
just a toy.
Jon Clayton:
It's
Jon Clayton:
like,
Jon Clayton:
it's like,
Jon Clayton:
it's a tool
Jon Clayton:
that you
Jon Clayton:
have
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
use.
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
yet, you know, the more you can.
Jon Clayton:
master that tool, the better you
Jon Clayton:
are as a photographer.
Jon Clayton:
And, and
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
think a lot of people
Jon Clayton:
approach
Jon Clayton:
things,
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
lot of creative
Jon Clayton:
people
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
have all these
Jon Clayton:
ideas.
Jon Clayton:
We have all
Jon Clayton:
these things that we want to
Jon Clayton:
do,
Jon Clayton:
but
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
can't
Jon Clayton:
do them
Jon Clayton:
all.
Jon Clayton:
We have to make decisions.
Jon Clayton:
We have to act on
Jon Clayton:
those
Jon Clayton:
decisions.
Jon Clayton:
We have
Jon Clayton:
to learn from
Jon Clayton:
them.
Jon Clayton:
And then
Jon Clayton:
we have to figure out if we're going to
Jon Clayton:
repeat them.
Jon Clayton:
And that's,
Jon Clayton:
that's,
Jon Clayton:
that's
Jon Clayton:
a great way to kind of think of
Jon Clayton:
it.
Jon Clayton:
Let's, let's have a little talk about sales.
Jon Clayton:
I'd love to know what your thoughts are on what
Jon Clayton:
architects get right and what they
Jon Clayton:
get wrong when it.
Jon Clayton:
comes to sales.
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
know, sales
Jon Clayton:
is a really funny word.
Jon Clayton:
in the world
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
architecture.
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
think,
Jon Clayton:
I think
Jon Clayton:
architects
Jon Clayton:
have gone
Jon Clayton:
out
Jon Clayton:
of their
Jon Clayton:
way
Jon Clayton:
to kind of
Jon Clayton:
remove
Jon Clayton:
it from
Jon Clayton:
their vocabulary.
Jon Clayton:
You don't hear
Jon Clayton:
a lot about
Jon Clayton:
sales
Jon Clayton:
in the profession.
Jon Clayton:
I think they
Jon Clayton:
they, even.
Jon Clayton:
You know,
Jon Clayton:
they've
Jon Clayton:
come up
Jon Clayton:
with some other
Jon Clayton:
words
Jon Clayton:
like qualification
Jon Clayton:
or,
Jon Clayton:
you know, business
Jon Clayton:
development, uh, one of My
Jon Clayton:
favorites, it's
Jon Clayton:
like, okay, nobody really can explain that
Jon Clayton:
to me.
Jon Clayton:
You got
Jon Clayton:
contract
Jon Clayton:
negotiation,
Jon Clayton:
uh, customer
Jon Clayton:
success processes, uh,
Jon Clayton:
shortlisting,
Jon Clayton:
you got
Jon Clayton:
seller
Jon Clayton:
doers, right?
Jon Clayton:
You know, you got all these
Jon Clayton:
different
Jon Clayton:
Terms
Jon Clayton:
that,
Jon Clayton:
you know, Try
Jon Clayton:
to soften the
Jon Clayton:
idea
Jon Clayton:
that we're
Jon Clayton:
actually
Jon Clayton:
selling.
Jon Clayton:
But at
Jon Clayton:
the
Jon Clayton:
end of the day,
Jon Clayton:
that's
Jon Clayton:
exactly
Jon Clayton:
what you're
Jon Clayton:
doing.
Jon Clayton:
You're selling
Jon Clayton:
your services in
Jon Clayton:
exchange for,
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
that's, you know, it is
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
sales
Jon Clayton:
process
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
it's
Jon Clayton:
some power,
Jon Clayton:
you know, at some
Jon Clayton:
point, I guess the profession
Jon Clayton:
decided that, you know, sales is smarmy, you know,
Jon Clayton:
it's
Jon Clayton:
like, you
Jon Clayton:
know,
Jon Clayton:
they're thinking that you use car guys And
Jon Clayton:
whatever.
Jon Clayton:
I think you know a lot
Jon Clayton:
of professionals kind of
Jon Clayton:
share
Jon Clayton:
this opinion
Jon Clayton:
that this idea of
Jon Clayton:
sales is kind of icky,
Jon Clayton:
Right.
Jon Clayton:
And, you know, when
Jon Clayton:
they
Jon Clayton:
think of sales, they think of somebody, you
Jon Clayton:
know,
Jon Clayton:
like that use car salesman, So they're performing wallet surgery, right?
Jon Clayton:
They're trying
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
get the most
Jon Clayton:
out of,
Jon Clayton:
out of the
Jon Clayton:
customer as they
Jon Clayton:
can,
Jon Clayton:
And that's.
Jon Clayton:
This
Jon Clayton:
is where I think our our, our views on
Jon Clayton:
sales have to change.
Jon Clayton:
Sales
Jon Clayton:
is not about extracting the most money
Jon Clayton:
out
Jon Clayton:
of the client.
Jon Clayton:
It's
Jon Clayton:
about
Jon Clayton:
creating
Jon Clayton:
solutions for
Jon Clayton:
them, right?
Jon Clayton:
You are
Jon Clayton:
not, you're not selling a
Jon Clayton:
product as
Jon Clayton:
an
Jon Clayton:
architect.
Jon Clayton:
You're
Jon Clayton:
selling
Jon Clayton:
a solution.
Jon Clayton:
You're selling,
Jon Clayton:
um, a new, a
Jon Clayton:
new
Jon Clayton:
workspace
Jon Clayton:
That's
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
energize your
Jon Clayton:
employees
Jon Clayton:
is
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
make them
Jon Clayton:
proud,
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
make them
Jon Clayton:
more
Jon Clayton:
productive.
Jon Clayton:
It's about
Jon Clayton:
providing value for
Jon Clayton:
your clients.
Jon Clayton:
That's what sales is.
Jon Clayton:
What's that problem that
Jon Clayton:
you're going to
Jon Clayton:
solve
Jon Clayton:
for them?
Jon Clayton:
That's what you're
Jon Clayton:
selling.
Jon Clayton:
I think a lot of
Jon Clayton:
architects
Jon Clayton:
struggle with
Jon Clayton:
sales because they
Jon Clayton:
are convinced that clients
Jon Clayton:
are coming
Jon Clayton:
to them
Jon Clayton:
for design.
Jon Clayton:
They
Jon Clayton:
don't, that's not what they're
Jon Clayton:
coming
Jon Clayton:
to for.
Jon Clayton:
Mr.
Jon Clayton:
And Mrs.
Jon Clayton:
Jones
Jon Clayton:
do
Jon Clayton:
not wake
Jon Clayton:
up
Jon Clayton:
one
Jon Clayton:
day and look at
Jon Clayton:
each other
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
say, honey.
Jon Clayton:
We need to hire an
Jon Clayton:
architect
Jon Clayton:
to redesign
Jon Clayton:
our
Jon Clayton:
house to
Jon Clayton:
make it the
Jon Clayton:
most
Jon Clayton:
spectacular home in the
Jon Clayton:
neighborhood.
Jon Clayton:
That's not what they're, that's not what, like,
Jon Clayton:
design is not the first thing that
Jon Clayton:
comes to
Jon Clayton:
their
Jon Clayton:
mind.
Jon Clayton:
I mean, there may be some people
Jon Clayton:
that do,
Jon Clayton:
but that's
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
be the
Jon Clayton:
oddball.
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
know, 90
Jon Clayton:
percent of
Jon Clayton:
your clients,
Jon Clayton:
they
Jon Clayton:
are much more focused
Jon Clayton:
on You know, how, how do we need
Jon Clayton:
to change
Jon Clayton:
this home to
Jon Clayton:
fit our
Jon Clayton:
lifestyle?
Jon Clayton:
The,
Jon Clayton:
our lifestyles
Jon Clayton:
changed.
Jon Clayton:
We're doing
Jon Clayton:
different things.
Jon Clayton:
We're doing more entertaining.
Jon Clayton:
We want our grandkids to come
Jon Clayton:
visit.
Jon Clayton:
We need to
Jon Clayton:
redesign
Jon Clayton:
our home to
Jon Clayton:
fit
Jon Clayton:
our needs.
Jon Clayton:
It's
Jon Clayton:
about
Jon Clayton:
solutions.
Jon Clayton:
And if you can't,
Jon Clayton:
if
Jon Clayton:
you can't,
Jon Clayton:
connect your
Jon Clayton:
sales
Jon Clayton:
process to
Jon Clayton:
solutions,
Jon Clayton:
then all you're competing
Jon Clayton:
on is price.
Jon Clayton:
And that's where you don't
Jon Clayton:
want to
Jon Clayton:
be as
Jon Clayton:
an
Jon Clayton:
architect.
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
don't want to be a
Jon Clayton:
commodity.
Jon Clayton:
You want to be a problem
Jon Clayton:
solver.
Jon Clayton:
That's
Jon Clayton:
what you were trained
Jon Clayton:
to do.
Jon Clayton:
That's what
Jon Clayton:
you need
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
sell.
Jon Clayton:
So yeah, that's
Jon Clayton:
that's my
Jon Clayton:
view on
Jon Clayton:
that.
Jon Clayton:
But
Jon Clayton:
I, mean,
Jon Clayton:
I couldn't agree more.
Jon Clayton:
I think if we can Encourage people to move away from this idea
Jon Clayton:
that sales is something really sleazy and it's a dirty word.
Jon Clayton:
It isn't.
Jon Clayton:
It's like if
Jon Clayton:
you don't
Jon Clayton:
get sales like you don't
Jon Clayton:
have a business and actually like rewiring your brain, you mentioned there about it's
Jon Clayton:
about solutions.
Jon Clayton:
And I think that if we can think of it that we are, you're
Jon Clayton:
helping them, you're helping them solve a problem in their lives.
Jon Clayton:
If we think about it that way and okay, some money changes
Jon Clayton:
hands and there's or, or.
Jon Clayton:
Yeah, we're in
Jon Clayton:
their
Jon Clayton:
business, right?
Jon Clayton:
Like I have
Jon Clayton:
a, I have
Jon Clayton:
a client
Jon Clayton:
in
Jon Clayton:
Sarasota,
Jon Clayton:
uh, here in Florida
Jon Clayton:
And,
Jon Clayton:
uh, you know,
Jon Clayton:
he
Jon Clayton:
helped his
Jon Clayton:
client redesign this restaurant.
Jon Clayton:
It's an outdoor restaurant.
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
know,
Jon Clayton:
it's on the coast in Florida.
Jon Clayton:
They were able to triple their liquor
Jon Clayton:
sales
Jon Clayton:
because
Jon Clayton:
they could seat
Jon Clayton:
more people
Jon Clayton:
in
Jon Clayton:
the
Jon Clayton:
bar
Jon Clayton:
because they
Jon Clayton:
had indoor
Jon Clayton:
outdoor
Jon Clayton:
seating.
Jon Clayton:
They
Jon Clayton:
increased the capacity of
Jon Clayton:
their kitchens
Jon Clayton:
so they
Jon Clayton:
could serve
Jon Clayton:
more
Jon Clayton:
tables
Jon Clayton:
at
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
time and completely, uh, uh,
Jon Clayton:
their business.
Jon Clayton:
I think, I dunno, I know, the liquor sales
Jon Clayton:
tripled.
Jon Clayton:
I think the overall revenue more than
Jon Clayton:
doubled, uh,
Jon Clayton:
just because
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
that, just
Jon Clayton:
because of this architect thinking
Jon Clayton:
about
Jon Clayton:
like, okay,
Jon Clayton:
how do we
Jon Clayton:
solve
Jon Clayton:
these problems?
Jon Clayton:
How do we get more people?
Jon Clayton:
How do we get more
Jon Clayton:
butts in seat?
Jon Clayton:
How do we get more
Jon Clayton:
people ordering
Jon Clayton:
drinks?
Jon Clayton:
Right?
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
that
Jon Clayton:
type
Jon Clayton:
of thinking,
Jon Clayton:
I mean,
Jon Clayton:
I think
Jon Clayton:
clients really
Jon Clayton:
appreciate that.
Jon Clayton:
that's
Jon Clayton:
that's where you're
Jon Clayton:
you're looking beyond
Jon Clayton:
like, okay,
Jon Clayton:
yeah,
Jon Clayton:
we're
Jon Clayton:
going
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
redesign
Jon Clayton:
this.
Jon Clayton:
But the design
Jon Clayton:
has
Jon Clayton:
to be
Jon Clayton:
the solution.
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
know, it's,
Jon Clayton:
it's the
Jon Clayton:
solution
Jon Clayton:
to that
Jon Clayton:
client's
Jon Clayton:
problem.
Jon Clayton:
that's, what
Jon Clayton:
we need to focus on.
Jon Clayton:
If you,
Jon Clayton:
you won't have a problem selling that.
Jon Clayton:
I think if they can if architects can communicate that value, if they've got
Jon Clayton:
projects that they've done, like you've described to be able to communicate
Jon Clayton:
that and quantify that as part of that sales process, it's going to be so much
Jon Clayton:
easier to get sales and to be able to charge more for the services that you.
Jon Clayton:
offer.
Jon Clayton:
can we talk a little bit about strategic planning?
Jon Clayton:
You know, what role has strategic planning played in the growth
Jon Clayton:
of your creative service firms?
Jon Clayton:
Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
You know, I
Jon Clayton:
was talking earlier about being
Jon Clayton:
reactive and strategic planning
Jon Clayton:
is really,
Jon Clayton:
since we've
Jon Clayton:
started
Jon Clayton:
doing
Jon Clayton:
strategic planning,
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
think we
Jon Clayton:
started
Jon Clayton:
doing strategic planning about eight years ago.
Jon Clayton:
Even though I've been
Jon Clayton:
running
Jon Clayton:
businesses for a long
Jon Clayton:
time
Jon Clayton:
since, you know, like 1998,
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
only
Jon Clayton:
discovered
Jon Clayton:
strategic
Jon Clayton:
planning in the context of how
Jon Clayton:
it can
Jon Clayton:
help my business
Jon Clayton:
about,
Jon Clayton:
um, About eight
Jon Clayton:
years
Jon Clayton:
ago, you know, before that,
Jon Clayton:
I,
Jon Clayton:
you know,
Jon Clayton:
we had done
Jon Clayton:
business plans
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
things like
Jon Clayton:
that.
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
You do
Jon Clayton:
it, you
Jon Clayton:
put it on
Jon Clayton:
a shelf
Jon Clayton:
and then
Jon Clayton:
it's
Jon Clayton:
like
Jon Clayton:
it sits
Jon Clayton:
there and
Jon Clayton:
stares at
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
you're, you know, you know, you
Jon Clayton:
need to look at
Jon Clayton:
it
Jon Clayton:
every
Jon Clayton:
now
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
then, but it's not
Jon Clayton:
something that's
Jon Clayton:
in your face.
Jon Clayton:
But,
Jon Clayton:
I started working
Jon Clayton:
with
Jon Clayton:
this coach.
Jon Clayton:
his
Jon Clayton:
name's Brent
Jon Clayton:
Weaver.
Jon Clayton:
He's with
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
company
Jon Clayton:
called you gurus.
Jon Clayton:
and,
Jon Clayton:
um,
Jon Clayton:
he
Jon Clayton:
introduced
Jon Clayton:
us to strategic
Jon Clayton:
planning, uh,
Jon Clayton:
and,
Jon Clayton:
you know, in the
Jon Clayton:
process, I think what happened is we went from
Jon Clayton:
being
Jon Clayton:
this
Jon Clayton:
reactionary kind of
Jon Clayton:
business to being
Jon Clayton:
this
Jon Clayton:
business
Jon Clayton:
with
Jon Clayton:
purpose and determination.
Jon Clayton:
Remember.
Jon Clayton:
Don't forget to download the architecture business, blueprint the
Jon Clayton:
step by step formula to freedom for architects, architecture, technologists,
Jon Clayton:
and architecture designers.
Jon Clayton:
You can grab the blueprint without any charge@architecturebusinessclub.com
Jon Clayton:
forward slash blueprint.
Jon Clayton:
And if you enjoy this episode, then please leave a five star review or
Jon Clayton:
rating wherever you listen to podcasts.
Jon Clayton:
Now, back to the show.
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
know, by, by clarifying
Jon Clayton:
our goals, by
Jon Clayton:
setting,
Jon Clayton:
you know, benchmarks for where we
Jon Clayton:
wanted
Jon Clayton:
to be
Jon Clayton:
in 90
Jon Clayton:
days, in a year,
Jon Clayton:
in three years, in 10
Jon Clayton:
years,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
it gave us
Jon Clayton:
a sense of
Jon Clayton:
purpose and identity
Jon Clayton:
as well.
Jon Clayton:
Like we,
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
now
Jon Clayton:
feel it
Jon Clayton:
felt
Jon Clayton:
like, Oh, wait a minute.
Jon Clayton:
Hey,
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
know,
Jon Clayton:
if we're
Jon Clayton:
going to,
Jon Clayton:
if we're going to accomplish
Jon Clayton:
these goals, what does that say about
Jon Clayton:
us as a business?
Jon Clayton:
Right.
Jon Clayton:
And, and,
Jon Clayton:
and, and, and,
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
as
Jon Clayton:
a result
Jon Clayton:
over the
Jon Clayton:
last
Jon Clayton:
eight years,
Jon Clayton:
we've been way more
Jon Clayton:
successful too,
Jon Clayton:
way more
Jon Clayton:
consistent,
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
think that,
Jon Clayton:
You know, I think a lot of
Jon Clayton:
people struggle
Jon Clayton:
with
Jon Clayton:
strategic planning because they see it as
Jon Clayton:
this like
Jon Clayton:
complex,
Jon Clayton:
boring
Jon Clayton:
process.
Jon Clayton:
you know,
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
got to
Jon Clayton:
get
Jon Clayton:
every,
Jon Clayton:
all the, everybody together.
Jon Clayton:
We
Jon Clayton:
gotta, you
Jon Clayton:
know,
Jon Clayton:
hash out all
Jon Clayton:
our ideas.
Jon Clayton:
and.
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
know,
Jon Clayton:
my wife
Jon Clayton:
and I, we do our
Jon Clayton:
strategic planning
Jon Clayton:
every 90 days.
Jon Clayton:
It
Jon Clayton:
takes us
Jon Clayton:
1 to 2 hours
Jon Clayton:
max.
Jon Clayton:
We, We, we, we, follow a
Jon Clayton:
system.
Jon Clayton:
It's
Jon Clayton:
anybody
Jon Clayton:
can look
Jon Clayton:
this up.
Jon Clayton:
It's based on
Jon Clayton:
the entrepreneur.
Jon Clayton:
entrepreneur operating
Jon Clayton:
system.
Jon Clayton:
There's a
Jon Clayton:
book out there
Jon Clayton:
called traction by Gino
Jon Clayton:
Wichman.
Jon Clayton:
If you go to their website,
Jon Clayton:
you'll
Jon Clayton:
find
Jon Clayton:
it's called the vision traction
Jon Clayton:
organizer.
Jon Clayton:
It's a It's
Jon Clayton:
a framework for doing
Jon Clayton:
your strategic
Jon Clayton:
planning.
Jon Clayton:
It's fantastic.
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
instead of
Jon Clayton:
like taking in all these considerations, what it allows
Jon Clayton:
you to do
Jon Clayton:
is focus
Jon Clayton:
on
Jon Clayton:
the
Jon Clayton:
drivers
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
your
Jon Clayton:
business.
Jon Clayton:
Now we've identified for architects,
Jon Clayton:
there's.
Jon Clayton:
Basically five
Jon Clayton:
key
Jon Clayton:
drivers.
Jon Clayton:
There's
Jon Clayton:
there's
Jon Clayton:
project inquiries,
Jon Clayton:
there's nurturing prospects, there's,
Jon Clayton:
uh, there's the
Jon Clayton:
contract
Jon Clayton:
and and, and proposal stage.
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
know, how do we
Jon Clayton:
sell, how do,
Jon Clayton:
how are
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
converting them
Jon Clayton:
into a
Jon Clayton:
client?
Jon Clayton:
Then there's the
Jon Clayton:
delivery
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
the project.
Jon Clayton:
And finally,
Jon Clayton:
there's the
Jon Clayton:
retention, the, the,
Jon Clayton:
you know, are we getting
Jon Clayton:
them
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
give us
Jon Clayton:
a referral?
Jon Clayton:
Are they coming back for another,
Jon Clayton:
uh, project?
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
have
Jon Clayton:
done this
Jon Clayton:
planning.
Jon Clayton:
I, you know,
Jon Clayton:
I,
Jon Clayton:
I think, you know, that I'm,
Jon Clayton:
I'm,
Jon Clayton:
I'm kind of embedded in the entre
Jon Clayton:
architect
Jon Clayton:
tech community with
Jon Clayton:
Mark LePage and his community.
Jon Clayton:
I'm
Jon Clayton:
a I'm a coach within
Jon Clayton:
that, uh, within that,
Jon Clayton:
community.
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
we've
Jon Clayton:
done this planning, uh,
Jon Clayton:
session with that community.
Jon Clayton:
And, you know,
Jon Clayton:
we've had, I've
Jon Clayton:
had people come to me later
Jon Clayton:
and say,
Jon Clayton:
Oh my
Jon Clayton:
God, this
Jon Clayton:
is
Jon Clayton:
amazing.
Jon Clayton:
I,
Jon Clayton:
I,
Jon Clayton:
you know,
Jon Clayton:
uh, one of
Jon Clayton:
them
Jon Clayton:
was a client of
Jon Clayton:
ours.
Jon Clayton:
He, so,
Jon Clayton:
so
Jon Clayton:
just
Jon Clayton:
to give you an example,
Jon Clayton:
he,
Jon Clayton:
ever since he
Jon Clayton:
started
Jon Clayton:
implementing this, he has
Jon Clayton:
hit
Jon Clayton:
his resume revenue goals
Jon Clayton:
every
Jon Clayton:
quarter.
Jon Clayton:
Uh, he lost 60
Jon Clayton:
pounds because he applied
Jon Clayton:
it to
Jon Clayton:
his personal life.
Jon Clayton:
How great is that?
Jon Clayton:
Right?
Jon Clayton:
Like he, he
Jon Clayton:
said, you
Jon Clayton:
know, I
Jon Clayton:
need to
Jon Clayton:
be
Jon Clayton:
healthier.
Jon Clayton:
I'm going to create
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
strategic plan
Jon Clayton:
for my
Jon Clayton:
health.
Jon Clayton:
And he's seen a
Jon Clayton:
lot
Jon Clayton:
of success.
Jon Clayton:
So, you know, I
Jon Clayton:
think I think we
Jon Clayton:
have to
Jon Clayton:
remove this idea
Jon Clayton:
that strategic planning
Jon Clayton:
is
Jon Clayton:
this like cumbersome, uh, You know.
Jon Clayton:
Complicated process and look at it as something
Jon Clayton:
that we
Jon Clayton:
have to
Jon Clayton:
do as a routine,
Jon Clayton:
as
Jon Clayton:
a.
Jon Clayton:
It's just something
Jon Clayton:
that's
Jon Clayton:
a responsible
Jon Clayton:
part of
Jon Clayton:
running a business.
Jon Clayton:
Right.
Jon Clayton:
And,
Jon Clayton:
and doing That in a systematic way
Jon Clayton:
So that
Jon Clayton:
we,
Jon Clayton:
we can find, we
Jon Clayton:
can gradually
Jon Clayton:
tune
Jon Clayton:
our business over time for
Jon Clayton:
the
Jon Clayton:
success that
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
want And have that purpose and determination in the process.
Jon Clayton:
Yeah,
Jon Clayton:
agree more.
Jon Clayton:
I did a podcast episode recently about writing business plans.
Jon Clayton:
And, um, one of the takeaways from that was that, um, the first time I wrote
Jon Clayton:
a business plan, it was this really long, lengthy document that sat in a
Jon Clayton:
drawer and gathered dust for many years.
Jon Clayton:
And, upon reflection, it was, you know, not the best way to go about
Jon Clayton:
business, whereas really, you know, that, that's Document, whatever you
Jon Clayton:
want to call it where you set out those, um, your vision and your mission and
Jon Clayton:
your objectives, that, that should be something that's actively reviewed
Jon Clayton:
throughout the course of your business.
Jon Clayton:
That
Jon Clayton:
you're, you're actually, you know, monitoring your, your, success,
Jon Clayton:
working towards those goals.
Jon Clayton:
So yeah, very,
Jon Clayton:
very important.
Jon Clayton:
Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
I think, I think the more clarity
Jon Clayton:
you can
Jon Clayton:
have
Jon Clayton:
around what's important, what the
Jon Clayton:
priorities
Jon Clayton:
are for your
Jon Clayton:
business around your, you
Jon Clayton:
know, around your purpose, your plan,
Jon Clayton:
you know, I think, you know, the more
Jon Clayton:
success you're
Jon Clayton:
going to be able
Jon Clayton:
to create,
Jon Clayton:
you know, it's like, like I
Jon Clayton:
said before,
Jon Clayton:
instead of
Jon Clayton:
being
Jon Clayton:
reactive, instead of
Jon Clayton:
dealing
Jon Clayton:
with all these
Jon Clayton:
distractions,
Jon Clayton:
what, what are you able
Jon Clayton:
to focus on?
Jon Clayton:
What
Jon Clayton:
is the one thing
Jon Clayton:
that
Jon Clayton:
you're going
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
move, do to
Jon Clayton:
move your business forward
Jon Clayton:
over the
Jon Clayton:
next
Jon Clayton:
90 days, a year, whatever, whatever
Jon Clayton:
timeframe,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
you decide,
Jon Clayton:
uh, how, how are
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
know, creating a
Jon Clayton:
plan for that is really important in business if you want to succeed.
Jon Clayton:
How do you build trust with clients?
Jon Clayton:
this.
Jon Clayton:
is a great
Jon Clayton:
question.
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
it relates to
Jon Clayton:
what I, what I,
Jon Clayton:
what is a bit of a soap box issue for
Jon Clayton:
me.
Jon Clayton:
I have, a
Jon Clayton:
big
Jon Clayton:
pet
Jon Clayton:
peeve.
Jon Clayton:
Uh, so a lot
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
architects will
Jon Clayton:
complain.
Jon Clayton:
I see
Jon Clayton:
it online
Jon Clayton:
in
Jon Clayton:
forums.
Jon Clayton:
I see it,
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
know, they, they tell me this when we
Jon Clayton:
talk.
Jon Clayton:
They
Jon Clayton:
complain that they,
Jon Clayton:
they
Jon Clayton:
sent a
Jon Clayton:
proposal
Jon Clayton:
and never heard back from the
Jon Clayton:
prospect.
Jon Clayton:
And this is a
Jon Clayton:
pet peeve because
Jon Clayton:
sending a
Jon Clayton:
proposal and
Jon Clayton:
waiting for a
Jon Clayton:
response is probably one of
Jon Clayton:
the
Jon Clayton:
biggest
Jon Clayton:
mistakes
Jon Clayton:
you can
Jon Clayton:
make.
Jon Clayton:
And everybody
Jon Clayton:
does it.
Jon Clayton:
Everybody.
Jon Clayton:
You're just setting your process up for failure
Jon Clayton:
in
Jon Clayton:
sales.
Jon Clayton:
Uh, trust
Jon Clayton:
is the
Jon Clayton:
most important
Jon Clayton:
currency you
Jon Clayton:
have, and
Jon Clayton:
you have
Jon Clayton:
to build
Jon Clayton:
that
Jon Clayton:
trust.
Jon Clayton:
It's not something
Jon Clayton:
that comes
Jon Clayton:
because somebody visited
Jon Clayton:
your website or somebody
Jon Clayton:
got a referral
Jon Clayton:
from
Jon Clayton:
you.
Jon Clayton:
You have to build that
Jon Clayton:
trust.
Jon Clayton:
So when you
Jon Clayton:
send
Jon Clayton:
them a
Jon Clayton:
proposal
Jon Clayton:
and give them
Jon Clayton:
time,
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
know, you're,
Jon Clayton:
you're telling yourself, well, I'm just
Jon Clayton:
being
Jon Clayton:
polite and I'm
Jon Clayton:
not,
Jon Clayton:
I'm taking
Jon Clayton:
the pressure off
Jon Clayton:
and whatever.
Jon Clayton:
However, that
Jon Clayton:
client
Jon Clayton:
still
Jon Clayton:
has questions.
Jon Clayton:
They still
Jon Clayton:
have concerns and
Jon Clayton:
now
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
left
Jon Clayton:
them on their
Jon Clayton:
own
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
kind
Jon Clayton:
of figure it out
Jon Clayton:
on
Jon Clayton:
their, uh, by themselves.
Jon Clayton:
So
Jon Clayton:
years
Jon Clayton:
ago,
Jon Clayton:
Kelly and I,
Jon Clayton:
we had the same
Jon Clayton:
problem.
Jon Clayton:
My wife, Kelly and I, we
Jon Clayton:
had the
Jon Clayton:
same problem in
Jon Clayton:
our business.
Jon Clayton:
We were sending proposals
Jon Clayton:
and people were ghosting
Jon Clayton:
us
Jon Clayton:
crickets,
Jon Clayton:
no
Jon Clayton:
response.
Jon Clayton:
Right.
Jon Clayton:
It was
Jon Clayton:
like, Oh, let's just send another
Jon Clayton:
proposal
Jon Clayton:
into the
Jon Clayton:
black
Jon Clayton:
hole of, you know, of nothingness.
Jon Clayton:
Right.
Jon Clayton:
And.
Jon Clayton:
We
Jon Clayton:
went
Jon Clayton:
through a
Jon Clayton:
similar process.
Jon Clayton:
You know,
Jon Clayton:
they,
Jon Clayton:
they,
Jon Clayton:
would contact us, say, Hey,
Jon Clayton:
we're
Jon Clayton:
interested
Jon Clayton:
in doing a
Jon Clayton:
project,
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
website, a
Jon Clayton:
logo,
Jon Clayton:
whatever,
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
know,
Jon Clayton:
they
Jon Clayton:
would come into our office or we would go
Jon Clayton:
to them,
Jon Clayton:
we'd
Jon Clayton:
have a nice long meeting,
Jon Clayton:
maybe
Jon Clayton:
maybe
Jon Clayton:
an hour,
Jon Clayton:
maybe
Jon Clayton:
two hours, we collect all this information
Jon Clayton:
and then.
Jon Clayton:
the
Jon Clayton:
expectation
Jon Clayton:
was that we
Jon Clayton:
were
Jon Clayton:
going to go
Jon Clayton:
away.
Jon Clayton:
We were going
Jon Clayton:
to create a
Jon Clayton:
proposal
Jon Clayton:
and then we were going to send
Jon Clayton:
it to them.
Jon Clayton:
Right.
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
we did this
Jon Clayton:
over and over
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
nine times out
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
10,
Jon Clayton:
nothing, nothing, zero zip
Jon Clayton:
zilch crickets, no response.
Jon Clayton:
Right.
Jon Clayton:
And we knew
Jon Clayton:
that, you know,
Jon Clayton:
here's the problem.
Jon Clayton:
All they knew about
Jon Clayton:
us.
Jon Clayton:
We
Jon Clayton:
had
Jon Clayton:
met met together
Jon Clayton:
for, we had a
Jon Clayton:
meeting,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
inundated
Jon Clayton:
with
Jon Clayton:
questions.
Jon Clayton:
Maybe there
Jon Clayton:
were a few
Jon Clayton:
calls or emails
Jon Clayton:
afterwards, but they didn't know
Jon Clayton:
us.
Jon Clayton:
we were,
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
as a result, we ended up
Jon Clayton:
starting to ride this cashflow
Jon Clayton:
roller
Jon Clayton:
coaster, Right.
Jon Clayton:
It
Jon Clayton:
was like,
Jon Clayton:
Getting us, you know,
Jon Clayton:
like
Jon Clayton:
doing, trying to, trying to,
Jon Clayton:
get
Jon Clayton:
to more
Jon Clayton:
people to get more opportunities to send them proposals that we weren't
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
hear
Jon Clayton:
back
Jon Clayton:
on.
Jon Clayton:
right.
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
hoping
Jon Clayton:
that
Jon Clayton:
one out of
Jon Clayton:
10 of those
Jon Clayton:
was
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
land
Jon Clayton:
and we were going to get a
Jon Clayton:
job.
Jon Clayton:
And so we had to change things.
Jon Clayton:
We ended
Jon Clayton:
up, um,
Jon Clayton:
this business
Jon Clayton:
coach that I
Jon Clayton:
mentioned,
Jon Clayton:
Brent
Jon Clayton:
Weaver.
Jon Clayton:
Uh, had a
Jon Clayton:
bootcamp on how to revise
Jon Clayton:
your sales process, and
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
loved
Jon Clayton:
it.
Jon Clayton:
It was,
Jon Clayton:
it was amazing.
Jon Clayton:
It completely transformed how we
Jon Clayton:
approach prospecting
Jon Clayton:
sales
Jon Clayton:
and onboarding.
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
since then we've developed a much more, a
Jon Clayton:
much
Jon Clayton:
improved process where we
Jon Clayton:
take people through
Jon Clayton:
clear
Jon Clayton:
steps.
Jon Clayton:
In our process, like
Jon Clayton:
if you
Jon Clayton:
want
Jon Clayton:
to be a
Jon Clayton:
client
Jon Clayton:
with ours, there's
Jon Clayton:
there's
Jon Clayton:
actually three
Jon Clayton:
or four steps.
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
got to go through
Jon Clayton:
just
Jon Clayton:
so that we can get to the
Jon Clayton:
point
Jon Clayton:
of, hey, let's
Jon Clayton:
have a
Jon Clayton:
discussion about
Jon Clayton:
actually
Jon Clayton:
working together because we
Jon Clayton:
want
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
educate you.
Jon Clayton:
We want
Jon Clayton:
it.
Jon Clayton:
We want you to
Jon Clayton:
know how we're
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
work.
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
at the
Jon Clayton:
same
Jon Clayton:
time, we're
Jon Clayton:
using those
Jon Clayton:
opportunities.
Jon Clayton:
to collect more information, to give them more
Jon Clayton:
opportunity to ask
Jon Clayton:
questions
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
also to build that trust.
Jon Clayton:
What what Brent
Jon Clayton:
taught
Jon Clayton:
us
Jon Clayton:
in that,
Jon Clayton:
uh, bootcamp was that trust equals interactions over
Jon Clayton:
time.
Jon Clayton:
And so what
Jon Clayton:
that What that means is that in
Jon Clayton:
our process,
Jon Clayton:
we have,
Jon Clayton:
we have more
Jon Clayton:
steps.
Jon Clayton:
They're
Jon Clayton:
typically shorter
Jon Clayton:
steps.
Jon Clayton:
They're, They're
Jon Clayton:
they're
Jon Clayton:
compartmentalized.
Jon Clayton:
They're designed,
Jon Clayton:
each
Jon Clayton:
step
Jon Clayton:
is designed
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
produce
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
certain result or,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
give
Jon Clayton:
us certain information.
Jon Clayton:
And the way we
Jon Clayton:
position that
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
clients is
Jon Clayton:
like,
Jon Clayton:
you know,
Jon Clayton:
Hey, we have a
Jon Clayton:
process for how we work.
Jon Clayton:
Clients love that.
Jon Clayton:
Oh, you
Jon Clayton:
have a
Jon Clayton:
process, right?
Jon Clayton:
Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
If they
Jon Clayton:
ask us for a
Jon Clayton:
proposal, we say, no, we don't do
Jon Clayton:
that.
Jon Clayton:
That's, that's not how we work.
Jon Clayton:
We're
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
go
Jon Clayton:
through
Jon Clayton:
our process
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
the value for them is
Jon Clayton:
that they're going
Jon Clayton:
to get a much
Jon Clayton:
more
Jon Clayton:
complete, much
Jon Clayton:
more valuable.
Jon Clayton:
Uh,
Jon Clayton:
outcome from us.
Jon Clayton:
and so at the end of the
Jon Clayton:
day, we're, we're taking them through this process.
Jon Clayton:
Giving them the opportunity to
Jon Clayton:
ask
Jon Clayton:
those
Jon Clayton:
questions, to address their
Jon Clayton:
concerns
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
for
Jon Clayton:
them
Jon Clayton:
to get
Jon Clayton:
to know us
Jon Clayton:
better.
Jon Clayton:
Each
Jon Clayton:
of those
Jon Clayton:
interactions, we have, we have a
Jon Clayton:
little bit of report building.
Jon Clayton:
We have a little
Jon Clayton:
bit, you know, tell
Jon Clayton:
us a
Jon Clayton:
little
Jon Clayton:
bit more about
Jon Clayton:
how
Jon Clayton:
you got started
Jon Clayton:
and so
Jon Clayton:
forth.
Jon Clayton:
We're
Jon Clayton:
getting
Jon Clayton:
to know
Jon Clayton:
each other and that is
Jon Clayton:
getting them to
Jon Clayton:
be more comfortable.
Jon Clayton:
It's
Jon Clayton:
getting
Jon Clayton:
them
Jon Clayton:
to understand who we are
Jon Clayton:
and how we
Jon Clayton:
work and our
Jon Clayton:
approach to things.
Jon Clayton:
And So, yeah,
Jon Clayton:
that's how we
Jon Clayton:
approach
Jon Clayton:
building trust.
Jon Clayton:
And,
Jon Clayton:
A
Jon Clayton:
lot
Jon Clayton:
of people,
Jon Clayton:
when they
Jon Clayton:
hear this, they go,
Jon Clayton:
well, God, that sounds
Jon Clayton:
like a lot more
Jon Clayton:
time than just sending a proposal.
Jon Clayton:
And yes, it,
Jon Clayton:
there is a
Jon Clayton:
bit of
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
time
Jon Clayton:
add
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
that,
Jon Clayton:
but nine
Jon Clayton:
times out
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
10, those clients, those
Jon Clayton:
those
Jon Clayton:
people are
Jon Clayton:
becoming
Jon Clayton:
clients.
Jon Clayton:
So that
Jon Clayton:
extra work
Jon Clayton:
gets extra volume and
Jon Clayton:
extra money
Jon Clayton:
in
Jon Clayton:
our
Jon Clayton:
pockets.
Jon Clayton:
And that's,
Jon Clayton:
that's,
Jon Clayton:
that's,
Jon Clayton:
that's
Jon Clayton:
time.
Jon Clayton:
Well, we're well, we're spending in my opinion,
Jon Clayton:
Yeah, It's much better to have less inquiries and
Jon Clayton:
a higher
Jon Clayton:
conversion rate than just like sending out loads of proposals and it's
Jon Clayton:
crickets.
Jon Clayton:
So, I,
Jon Clayton:
I think
Jon Clayton:
about,
Jon Clayton:
you know, I had a
Jon Clayton:
client,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
that
Jon Clayton:
we worked with from
Jon Clayton:
South
Jon Clayton:
Africa and he
Jon Clayton:
was
Jon Clayton:
very concerned about Instagram When we
Jon Clayton:
first
Jon Clayton:
met
Jon Clayton:
him,
Jon Clayton:
you know, we
Jon Clayton:
want to
Jon Clayton:
be
Jon Clayton:
on
Jon Clayton:
Instagram.
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
I said,
Jon Clayton:
well, tell
Jon Clayton:
me why
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
want to
Jon Clayton:
be on Instagram.
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
he
Jon Clayton:
said,
Jon Clayton:
well, one
Jon Clayton:
of our competitors, they have
Jon Clayton:
like 200,
Jon Clayton:
000
Jon Clayton:
followers
Jon Clayton:
on
Jon Clayton:
Instagram.
Jon Clayton:
And I was like, wow,
Jon Clayton:
that's impressive.
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
I said,
Jon Clayton:
um,
Jon Clayton:
I said, how
Jon Clayton:
many do you
Jon Clayton:
have?
Jon Clayton:
And they said, well, we have
Jon Clayton:
a hundred.
Jon Clayton:
And I
Jon Clayton:
said, I'll,
Jon Clayton:
I'll tell you right now.
Jon Clayton:
I said, I would rather
Jon Clayton:
have a hundred,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
raving
Jon Clayton:
fans on Instagram
Jon Clayton:
than
Jon Clayton:
200, 000 followers.
Jon Clayton:
Because
Jon Clayton:
you're most
Jon Clayton:
more likely
Jon Clayton:
to get
Jon Clayton:
clients out of
Jon Clayton:
a group
Jon Clayton:
of people
Jon Clayton:
who are
Jon Clayton:
really invested and really
Jon Clayton:
really
Jon Clayton:
interested in what
Jon Clayton:
you're
Jon Clayton:
doing.
Jon Clayton:
Then you
Jon Clayton:
are 200,
Jon Clayton:
000 people
Jon Clayton:
that are following you
Jon Clayton:
because they're, you know, uh, their aunts,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
uh, best
Jon Clayton:
friends, uh,
Jon Clayton:
you know, niece
Jon Clayton:
is
Jon Clayton:
following them.
Jon Clayton:
Right.
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
know, it's
Jon Clayton:
like 200,
Jon Clayton:
000
Jon Clayton:
people is
Jon Clayton:
great,
Jon Clayton:
but you have
Jon Clayton:
to find
Jon Clayton:
the people
Jon Clayton:
who are
Jon Clayton:
really.
Jon Clayton:
Going to
Jon Clayton:
engage
Jon Clayton:
with you.
Jon Clayton:
That's always
Jon Clayton:
going to be
Jon Clayton:
that's that's going to
Jon Clayton:
trump
Jon Clayton:
anything you can do
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
know with a mass following
Jon Clayton:
right?
Jon Clayton:
So
Jon Clayton:
that's that's the way I
Jon Clayton:
look
Jon Clayton:
at
Jon Clayton:
it.
Jon Clayton:
while we're on the subject of people, um, I mean, Being a solo architect or,
Jon Clayton:
or, particularly if you work at home, it
Jon Clayton:
can be lonely.
Jon Clayton:
It can be lonely going and running a business.
Jon Clayton:
So, I mean, what are the benefits we can gain from, Joining a community
Jon Clayton:
of like minded professionals.
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
know
Jon Clayton:
Here's the one thing I would say
Jon Clayton:
for any Solo architects out there
Jon Clayton:
or anybody
Jon Clayton:
running or
Jon Clayton:
your
Jon Clayton:
partner maybe
Jon Clayton:
of a
Jon Clayton:
small firm
Jon Clayton:
Here's a simple
Jon Clayton:
fact.
Jon Clayton:
We live in a
Jon Clayton:
complicated
Jon Clayton:
world.
Jon Clayton:
We live
Jon Clayton:
in a busy, noisy world, right?
Jon Clayton:
the the, the
Jon Clayton:
unfortunate
Jon Clayton:
thing
Jon Clayton:
is that
Jon Clayton:
most architects have
Jon Clayton:
not
Jon Clayton:
been given the skills
Jon Clayton:
And education
Jon Clayton:
they
Jon Clayton:
need.
Jon Clayton:
To know
Jon Clayton:
how
Jon Clayton:
to run a business effectively.
Jon Clayton:
So what I'm going to say, and this might, this might,
Jon Clayton:
offend some architects out there
Jon Clayton:
who
Jon Clayton:
think
Jon Clayton:
they can do it all on
Jon Clayton:
their
Jon Clayton:
own,
Jon Clayton:
but you can't, you
Jon Clayton:
can't do
Jon Clayton:
everything on your own.
Jon Clayton:
You cannot
Jon Clayton:
solve
Jon Clayton:
every
Jon Clayton:
problem
Jon Clayton:
on your own.
Jon Clayton:
I know you've all been trained
Jon Clayton:
as
Jon Clayton:
problem solvers
Jon Clayton:
and that's what you do.
Jon Clayton:
You know,
Jon Clayton:
unless you've been to business
Jon Clayton:
school, unless you have a lot
Jon Clayton:
of experience running a
Jon Clayton:
firm,
Jon Clayton:
you know,
Jon Clayton:
there
Jon Clayton:
are going to be problems
Jon Clayton:
that you're going to need help with.
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
joining a
Jon Clayton:
community,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
I'm a big
Jon Clayton:
fan of Entra
Jon Clayton:
Architect.
Jon Clayton:
I'm a member of
Jon Clayton:
that community.
Jon Clayton:
I'm one of the only non
Jon Clayton:
architect,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
I'm one
Jon Clayton:
of the
Jon Clayton:
few
Jon Clayton:
non architect members of
Jon Clayton:
that community.
Jon Clayton:
My wife
Jon Clayton:
is
Jon Clayton:
another one
Jon Clayton:
and there's a few other, uh, there's
Jon Clayton:
maybe
Jon Clayton:
three or four
Jon Clayton:
others.
Jon Clayton:
As a non
Jon Clayton:
architect, I
Jon Clayton:
look in
Jon Clayton:
that community
Jon Clayton:
a lot.
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
see the discussions that are
Jon Clayton:
happening.
Jon Clayton:
And what I
Jon Clayton:
see is I see a lot
Jon Clayton:
of people
Jon Clayton:
sharing information.
Jon Clayton:
If you're an
Jon Clayton:
architect and you feel lonely,
Jon Clayton:
um, it's on
Jon Clayton:
you because there
Jon Clayton:
are tons of
Jon Clayton:
architects out
Jon Clayton:
there who are willing
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
share.
Jon Clayton:
What,
Jon Clayton:
they,
Jon Clayton:
what has
Jon Clayton:
worked
Jon Clayton:
for
Jon Clayton:
them,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
and, and contribute to
Jon Clayton:
a community.
Jon Clayton:
And so I, I, implore
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
to find a community like that.
Jon Clayton:
Join a
Jon Clayton:
mastermind
Jon Clayton:
group,
Jon Clayton:
uh, get
Jon Clayton:
involved
Jon Clayton:
in, you know, there's
Jon Clayton:
Jon Clayton:
groups out there.
Jon Clayton:
Not all of
Jon Clayton:
them are great, but
Jon Clayton:
some
Jon Clayton:
of them
Jon Clayton:
are really good.
Jon Clayton:
Like entre architect's Facebook group is excellent.
Jon Clayton:
They have great discussions.
Jon Clayton:
Uh, people
Jon Clayton:
helping each
Jon Clayton:
other solve problems,
Jon Clayton:
even
Jon Clayton:
like down to
Jon Clayton:
the level of
Jon Clayton:
like,
Jon Clayton:
you know, what do
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
need to
Jon Clayton:
know about code
Jon Clayton:
and, you know,
Jon Clayton:
things
Jon Clayton:
like that.
Jon Clayton:
But
Jon Clayton:
also
Jon Clayton:
questions about business and how do I, how do
Jon Clayton:
I do things more,
Jon Clayton:
effectively?
Jon Clayton:
So be willing to expand
Jon Clayton:
your knowledge, be willing
Jon Clayton:
to learn
Jon Clayton:
from others.
Jon Clayton:
And I think
Jon Clayton:
joining a community
Jon Clayton:
is, is, an excellent
Jon Clayton:
way
Jon Clayton:
to do that.
Jon Clayton:
I love, I love being part of communities.
Jon Clayton:
I'm, um, I'm a part of a number of different groups, you know, online
Jon Clayton:
And sort of in person elements as
Jon Clayton:
well.
Jon Clayton:
And it's so valuable for sharing ideas.
Jon Clayton:
Watch this space for the architecture business club community coming soon.
Jon Clayton:
There you go.
Jon Clayton:
Nice plug.
Jon Clayton:
Get a little plug.
Jon Clayton:
in that, um, this has been so valuable, Brian.
Jon Clayton:
I'm so glad that you, um, found some time in your calendar to come and share
Jon Clayton:
some of your expertise on the show.
Jon Clayton:
What's the main thing that you would like people to take
Jon Clayton:
away from this conversation?
Jon Clayton:
I think it's
Jon Clayton:
just,
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
know,
Jon Clayton:
we talked about being part of a community, but I
Jon Clayton:
think
Jon Clayton:
be
Jon Clayton:
willing
Jon Clayton:
to look outside your profession for answers and inspiration.
Jon Clayton:
I'm not an architect, but I do have a design education.
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
went to school for graphic design and.
Jon Clayton:
What I have learned over the years
Jon Clayton:
is that, you know, being a good
Jon Clayton:
designer isn't solely about
Jon Clayton:
sitting in
Jon Clayton:
front of your desk, doing design iterations
Jon Clayton:
all day,
Jon Clayton:
that
Jon Clayton:
does
Jon Clayton:
not
Jon Clayton:
make you
Jon Clayton:
a good designer
Jon Clayton:
design
Jon Clayton:
is about psychology.
Jon Clayton:
It's about
Jon Clayton:
sociology.
Jon Clayton:
It's about understanding nature
Jon Clayton:
and mechanics.
Jon Clayton:
It's about
Jon Clayton:
art
Jon Clayton:
and science,
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
you can't get
Jon Clayton:
seduced
Jon Clayton:
by, especially if you're an owner,
Jon Clayton:
don't
Jon Clayton:
get
Jon Clayton:
seduced by the
Jon Clayton:
activity
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
design
Jon Clayton:
design is a thought process.
Jon Clayton:
What
Jon Clayton:
you do
Jon Clayton:
with
Jon Clayton:
your hand is part of it,
Jon Clayton:
but
Jon Clayton:
it's the bigger stuff happens
Jon Clayton:
here,
Jon Clayton:
uh, in the, in your head.
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
know, it's a thought
Jon Clayton:
process.
Jon Clayton:
Uh,
Jon Clayton:
and at
Jon Clayton:
its core,
Bryon McCartney:
it
Jon Clayton:
has to be
Jon Clayton:
about
Jon Clayton:
the needs
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
humanity
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
nature,
Jon Clayton:
right?
Jon Clayton:
that
Jon Clayton:
that
Jon Clayton:
is what
Jon Clayton:
we
Jon Clayton:
have to
Jon Clayton:
be
Jon Clayton:
about.
Jon Clayton:
So
Jon Clayton:
you can't just sit here
Jon Clayton:
and think, like, hey, oh,
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
can
Jon Clayton:
do
Jon Clayton:
another, you
Jon Clayton:
know,
Jon Clayton:
Uh, study.
Jon Clayton:
I can do another
Jon Clayton:
master plan, right?
Jon Clayton:
It's not, you have to interact
Jon Clayton:
with people.
Jon Clayton:
You have to talk
Jon Clayton:
to people.
Jon Clayton:
What are their
Jon Clayton:
needs?
Jon Clayton:
What What, do they
Jon Clayton:
want?
Jon Clayton:
That's
Jon Clayton:
the
Jon Clayton:
most
Jon Clayton:
important thing you
Jon Clayton:
should remember as a firm
Jon Clayton:
owner is that
Jon Clayton:
at the
Jon Clayton:
end
Jon Clayton:
of the day, your
Jon Clayton:
success the
Jon Clayton:
success of
Jon Clayton:
your firm,
Jon Clayton:
it relies on people,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
whether that's
Jon Clayton:
employees, whether
Jon Clayton:
whether it's
Jon Clayton:
clients, whether
Jon Clayton:
it's
Jon Clayton:
colleagues,
Jon Clayton:
whether it's
Jon Clayton:
the
Jon Clayton:
building
Jon Clayton:
department, you
Jon Clayton:
have to
Jon Clayton:
Relies
Jon Clayton:
on
Jon Clayton:
people.
Jon Clayton:
You have to
Jon Clayton:
be successful
Jon Clayton:
in
Jon Clayton:
working with people and building
Jon Clayton:
relationships.
Jon Clayton:
and you have to make it clear how
Jon Clayton:
you're helping
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
serving people.
Jon Clayton:
If
Jon Clayton:
that
Jon Clayton:
doesn't
Jon Clayton:
come through in your website, your
Jon Clayton:
proposals, your presentations,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
know, you know, are
Jon Clayton:
you.
Jon Clayton:
are
Jon Clayton:
you putting design first?
Jon Clayton:
Are you
Jon Clayton:
putting your
Jon Clayton:
clients
Jon Clayton:
first?
Jon Clayton:
Right.
Jon Clayton:
And if you don't
Jon Clayton:
know, if
Jon Clayton:
you don't
Jon Clayton:
know,
Jon Clayton:
like if
Jon Clayton:
you're looking at your website and
Jon Clayton:
you're
Jon Clayton:
going, well, yeah, I don't know.
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
don't know
Jon Clayton:
what
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
do with
Jon Clayton:
it.
Jon Clayton:
That's, that's when you need
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
talk
Jon Clayton:
to somebody
Jon Clayton:
like me,
Jon Clayton:
or,
Jon Clayton:
you know, I
Jon Clayton:
think you've had
Jon Clayton:
Nikita on your program.
Jon Clayton:
She's also great.
Jon Clayton:
there's there's some of us out here that really understand
Jon Clayton:
architects
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
we're here to
Jon Clayton:
help
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
think through
Jon Clayton:
these
Jon Clayton:
things and help you relate what you
Jon Clayton:
do.
Jon Clayton:
too.
Jon Clayton:
The value of
Jon Clayton:
what
Jon Clayton:
you do to the
Jon Clayton:
problems
Jon Clayton:
of the
Jon Clayton:
people that you're trying to
Jon Clayton:
help.
Jon Clayton:
And
Jon Clayton:
yeah,
Jon Clayton:
that's
Jon Clayton:
that's my kind
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
parting
Jon Clayton:
shot.
Jon Clayton:
This has been awesome, Brian.
Jon Clayton:
Thanks so much.
Jon Clayton:
Was there anything else you wanted to say that we haven't covered?
Jon Clayton:
No,
Jon Clayton:
I would just remind people, like we said
Jon Clayton:
at the,
Jon Clayton:
I think
Jon Clayton:
you said in the beginning,
Jon Clayton:
like, if you want
Jon Clayton:
to, you
Jon Clayton:
know, if
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
want to
Jon Clayton:
talk, if you want to
Jon Clayton:
have a
Jon Clayton:
conversation with me, I invite you
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
do so just go to our website,
Jon Clayton:
arcmark.
Jon Clayton:
co not.
Jon Clayton:
com.
Jon Clayton:
co A R
Jon Clayton:
C
Jon Clayton:
H.
Jon Clayton:
mar.
Jon Clayton:
co.
Jon Clayton:
We
Jon Clayton:
have a button
Jon Clayton:
at
Jon Clayton:
the top.
Jon Clayton:
It says start here.
Jon Clayton:
You
Jon Clayton:
can schedule a clarity call with
Jon Clayton:
me and we can talk about some of these things
Jon Clayton:
and see how we can
Jon Clayton:
help you.
Jon Clayton:
That's awesome.
Jon Clayton:
There's one last thing I wanted to ask you and it's nothing about the topic
Jon Clayton:
But I love to travel and discover new places I was just wondering if you could
Jon Clayton:
just tell me about one of your favorite places and what you love about it
Jon Clayton:
Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
would
Jon Clayton:
say
Jon Clayton:
if you
Jon Clayton:
ever get the chance, uh,
Jon Clayton:
visit,
Jon Clayton:
uh, visit the Val d'Orcia.
Jon Clayton:
In southern Tuscany,
Jon Clayton:
I've done several,
Jon Clayton:
uh, photography workshops in that region.
Jon Clayton:
It's a
Jon Clayton:
fantastic region.
Jon Clayton:
There's a village
Jon Clayton:
called San Quirico Dorcha.
Jon Clayton:
It's in
Jon Clayton:
the, It's it's along the highway
Jon Clayton:
that leads to
Jon Clayton:
Siena and ultimately down
Jon Clayton:
to, uh,
Jon Clayton:
uh, Chiveta, Chivita, uh, and then to
Jon Clayton:
Rome,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
uh, beautiful countryside, rolling
Jon Clayton:
hills.
Jon Clayton:
There's a little village,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
just south
Jon Clayton:
of, uh, San
Jon Clayton:
Quirco.
Jon Clayton:
And, uh, there's a wonderful
Jon Clayton:
winemaker there
Jon Clayton:
Uh, it's called Sante Marie, uh, his name's Franco.
Jon Clayton:
Uh,
Jon Clayton:
I, he can't speak a
Jon Clayton:
word
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
English, but
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
could sit there and listen to him all day.
Jon Clayton:
He just
Jon Clayton:
talks about
Jon Clayton:
wine
Jon Clayton:
and nature and everything.
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
it's
Jon Clayton:
just a wonderful
Jon Clayton:
experience.
Jon Clayton:
Um,
Jon Clayton:
wonderful
Jon Clayton:
cheese
Jon Clayton:
makers around that region.
Jon Clayton:
Uh, wonderful.
Jon Clayton:
If you
Jon Clayton:
like, if you like, uh,
Jon Clayton:
Keanu
Jon Clayton:
beef,
Jon Clayton:
uh, which I do, uh, it's the
Jon Clayton:
only red meat
Jon Clayton:
that I really
Jon Clayton:
like
Jon Clayton:
anymore.
Jon Clayton:
Uh, it's wonderful.
Jon Clayton:
Uh, yeah, it's just a great,
Jon Clayton:
great
Jon Clayton:
place
Jon Clayton:
to go and
Jon Clayton:
relax
Jon Clayton:
and get get in touch
Jon Clayton:
with,
Jon Clayton:
I think, uh, you know, kind of
Jon Clayton:
like
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
more basic
Jon Clayton:
way
Jon Clayton:
of
Jon Clayton:
life.
Jon Clayton:
And, uh, yeah, I love
Jon Clayton:
it there.
Bryon McCartney:
love
Bryon McCartney:
it there.
Jon Clayton:
Sounds wonderful, and I'm matching a little bit of a health
Jon Clayton:
kick this week But now I'm just
Jon Clayton:
dreaming of like cheese and wine Now You've mentioned it.
Jon Clayton:
So
Jon Clayton:
Well,
Jon Clayton:
the lovely
Jon Clayton:
thing about
Jon Clayton:
going to
Jon Clayton:
some place
Jon Clayton:
like Southern Tuscany
Jon Clayton:
is that
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
tend
Jon Clayton:
to do
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
lot of
Jon Clayton:
walking.
Jon Clayton:
Uh, there's a
Jon Clayton:
lot of hills.
Jon Clayton:
Uh,
Jon Clayton:
you go to multiple Chiano
Jon Clayton:
or, um,
Jon Clayton:
um, um, Montalcino, but they're Hilltown.
Jon Clayton:
So you
Jon Clayton:
got to
Jon Clayton:
walk
Jon Clayton:
up and
Jon Clayton:
down.
Jon Clayton:
If
Jon Clayton:
you want
Jon Clayton:
to.
Jon Clayton:
Get places.
Jon Clayton:
So you
Jon Clayton:
get a
Jon Clayton:
little exercise
Jon Clayton:
in, then you
Jon Clayton:
stop off
Jon Clayton:
for some homemade positive, you know, known as homemade pasta.
Jon Clayton:
And, uh,
Jon Clayton:
uh, yeah,
Jon Clayton:
it's
Jon Clayton:
wonderful.
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
love it
Jon Clayton:
there.
Jon Clayton:
Uh,
Jon Clayton:
the summertime is a great place.
Jon Clayton:
Great time to be there.
Jon Clayton:
Right.
Jon Clayton:
Like right,
Jon Clayton:
right
Jon Clayton:
around now
Jon Clayton:
is
Jon Clayton:
the ideal
Jon Clayton:
time to be
Jon Clayton:
there.
Jon Clayton:
It's
Jon Clayton:
wonderful.
Jon Clayton:
Sounds amazing.
Jon Clayton:
Brian, where's the, the best place online?
Jon Clayton:
Like, is there a particular social media platform that you hang out on most?
Jon Clayton:
Yeah, please.
Jon Clayton:
Um, Hey,
Jon Clayton:
if you're
Jon Clayton:
listening
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
this still,
Jon Clayton:
if you're,
Jon Clayton:
if you've
Jon Clayton:
made it
Jon Clayton:
this
Jon Clayton:
far,
Jon Clayton:
uh, connect with
Jon Clayton:
me on
Jon Clayton:
LinkedIn, don't just
Jon Clayton:
send me a
Jon Clayton:
friend, friend,
Jon Clayton:
requests.
Jon Clayton:
Those
Jon Clayton:
just
Jon Clayton:
say, send me a
Jon Clayton:
note
Jon Clayton:
with
Jon Clayton:
your, your connection.
Jon Clayton:
Say, Hey, I heard you
Jon Clayton:
on John's
Jon Clayton:
podcast.
Jon Clayton:
Um,
Jon Clayton:
just yeah.
Jon Clayton:
Connect
Jon Clayton:
with me
Jon Clayton:
there.
Jon Clayton:
I love
Jon Clayton:
connecting with people on LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:
I
Jon Clayton:
think of all the
Jon Clayton:
social media
Jon Clayton:
platforms,
Jon Clayton:
Uh, LinkedIn
Jon Clayton:
is
Jon Clayton:
the one that
Jon Clayton:
where
Jon Clayton:
most
Jon Clayton:
architects
Jon Clayton:
should
Jon Clayton:
be.
Jon Clayton:
Uh, I
Jon Clayton:
know a
Jon Clayton:
lot of
Jon Clayton:
people think,
Jon Clayton:
you
Jon Clayton:
know, Instagram's great.
Jon Clayton:
It's great if you want to
Jon Clayton:
show off your portfolio, but if you
Jon Clayton:
want to, if you want
Jon Clayton:
to see some
Jon Clayton:
great discussions
Jon Clayton:
about,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
architecture,
Jon Clayton:
about running
Jon Clayton:
a
Jon Clayton:
business, uh, as an architect,
Jon Clayton:
uh,
Jon Clayton:
LinkedIn, there's some great
Jon Clayton:
great
Jon Clayton:
influencers
Jon Clayton:
on
Jon Clayton:
that, on
Jon Clayton:
that platform.
Jon Clayton:
And,
Jon Clayton:
uh, I won't call myself one of 'em, I
Jon Clayton:
don't post often enough, but I do
Jon Clayton:
like
Jon Clayton:
to
Jon Clayton:
comment
Jon Clayton:
on other people's
Jon Clayton:
content.
Jon Clayton:
So,
Jon Clayton:
um, people like
Jon Clayton:
Nikita,
Jon Clayton:
uh, Ty, Tyler, Simla,
Jon Clayton:
Um, uh, uh, Jake Rudin from out of
Jon Clayton:
architecture.
Jon Clayton:
Yeah.
Jon Clayton:
There's some wonderful
Jon Clayton:
people on there
Jon Clayton:
and
Jon Clayton:
they're,
Jon Clayton:
they're creating
Jon Clayton:
great
Jon Clayton:
content
Jon Clayton:
and, uh, I appreciate all of them.
Jon Clayton:
There's a great
Jon Clayton:
community on there for architects for sure.
Jon Clayton:
I love LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:
It's my favorite platform too.
Jon Clayton:
So, um, yeah, this has been awesome.
Jon Clayton:
So thanks again, Brian.
Jon Clayton:
We'll catch up soon.
Jon Clayton:
Awesome.
Jon Clayton:
Thanks,
Jon Clayton:
John.
Jon Clayton:
Next time I'll be talking about in-person events and networking.
Jon Clayton:
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of architecture business club.
Jon Clayton:
If you liked this episode, think other people might enjoy it.
Jon Clayton:
Or just want to show your support for the show.
Jon Clayton:
Then please leave a glowing five-star review or rating wherever you listen
Jon Clayton:
to podcasts, it would mean so much to me and makes it easier for new
Jon Clayton:
listeners to discover the show.
Jon Clayton:
And if you haven't already done, so don't forget to hit the subscribe button.
Jon Clayton:
So you never miss another episode.
Jon Clayton:
If you want to connect with me, you can do that on most social media
Jon Clayton:
platforms, just search for at Mr.
Jon Clayton:
John Clayton.
Jon Clayton:
The best place to connect with me online, though is on LinkedIn.
Jon Clayton:
You can find a link to my profile in the show notes.
Jon Clayton:
Remember.
Jon Clayton:
Running your architecture business.
Jon Clayton:
Doesn't have to be hard and you don't need to do it alone.
Jon Clayton:
This is architecture business club.
