X-CUBE 091100v.1.i.5: Strategic Alliances, Sales Skills, and Diversity News for A/E/C and New Media Firms

X-CUBE 091100v.1.i.5

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Marketing Know-how: strategic alliances – necessity is the mother of
business relationships.

Marketing Article: You’re a great business owner, but how good of a
salesperson are you?

Diversity News: Three Diverse Venues

Cyber scene: Events & Factoids

A/E/C 411

Business Events

The Cheat Sheet – What color is your circle of influence? A guide to the
NYC event crowds…

Marketing Know-How: Strategic alliances – necessity is the mother of
business relationships.

Strategic alliances are one of those universal concepts that are just
beautiful…like the spiral or good karma. If you take two businesses with
comparable professional credibility that have different services yet share
the same client base, you have a recipe for a strategic alliance. Here are
some of the benefits and issues of forming a strategic alliance (especially
if you are a small firm):

1.

Value Added Services – Let’s say you are a small engineering firm
doing high-end work for recording and broadcast studios. You could team up
with a design firm and a detail-oriented, interior construction company that
you have worked with in the past. Then present your group to your clients as
a well-oiled, quality-driven, performance-tested team. Clients will
appreciate the one-stop shopping option you have presented to them.

2.

The whole is greater than the sum of parts – Being in the position to
offer an extensive and diverse list of services allows you to package your
self as a larger firm even if you only have a staff of six (counting the
receptionist). The staff and capabilities of your alliances adds to your
professional girth and gives depth to your services.

3.

Increase your client base – If you are a web site producer and you
team up with a web-graphics designer, you can share your client databases
and increase your target audience. If one party of the alliance, has a
smaller database than their partner, they can make it up by providing
additional services to the party with the larger client base.

4.
A written agreement – Start off your alliance clear as a bell by
drafting a terms of agreement and having everyone sign it. Depending on the
type of agreement and how complex it is, you may need to involve a lawyer.

5.

Beware of the «E-word» – Avoid signing anything using the
word «exclusive». You may come across a client who already has a
favorite consultant that provides the same type of services as your
alliance. Remain flexible enough to work as a team or individually.

Sell Block
You’re a great business owner, but how good of a salesperson are you?
Read these tips if you want to improve your less-than-stellar sales skills.
By Kimberly McCall
September 2000

«First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Second prize is a set of steak
knives. Third prize is you’re fired.» These words are from the über-sales
movie Glengarry Glen Ross, as the sales force gets chewed out for
weak performance. But as an entrepreneur, you don’t even get a set of Ginsus
when you lose a sale–you’re just outta luck.

So what do you do when you get a strong lead on a prospect who needs
exactly what you offer? You meet; you present; you bond. You send a proposal
that includes competitive pricing and an implementation plan. Next thing you
know, you’ve lost the account to a competitor, perhaps even a more expensive
provider. What went wrong? Most likely, it’s your sales skills, or lack
thereof.

The good news is, poor sales skills are quite a common–and
fixable–dilemma. Through self-teaching, sales courses, and trial and error,
many entrepreneurs are able to take their sales from tepid to terrific. I
talked to Azriela Jaffe, author of Starting from No: 10 Strategies to
Overcome your Fear of Rejection and Succeed in Business (Dearborn,
$17.95, www.isquare.com/crlink.htm <http://www.isquare.com/crlink.htm>),
to get some tips for turning around sales malaise.

Kimberly McCall: Many talented business owners find themselves
stumped when it comes to sales. They’re great at what they do, but they have
a hard time converting expertise into clients. What’s the first step toward
becoming a successful salesperson?

Azriela Jaffe: Respect your limits, and don’t force yourself to do
the kinds of sales activities that make you shake like a leaf and want to
throw up. Sales come in many different packages. One person can make a
presentation in front of 400 strangers, as long as he doesn’t know anyone in
the room. Another can talk one-to-one in a casual networking environment,
but public speaking is a nightmare for her. Until you build your
self-confidence, select the sales activities that are most natural for you.

McCall: Some people fear being thought of as a
«salesperson» because of the title’s negative connotations. How
can an entrepreneur learn to be a good salesperson without being perceived
as too «sales-y»?

Jaffe: Focus on being a person of service to another. If you don’t
truly believe that you are of service and your focus is entirely on
«making the sale,» you’ll chase your prospects away. Like a dog
can smell fear, a prospect can smell desperation or embarrassment. You’ve
got to believe that the customer will be lucky to buy from you!

McCall: What are the common traits of top salespeople?

Jaffe: They are outstanding listeners, they don’t personalize
rejection, they keep at it for a long time (even when it hurts), they
genuinely care about their customers, and they believe in their products.

McCall: How can you pull yourself out of a sales slump?

Jaffe: Inactivity leads to desperation, which leads to further
withdrawal and fear, thus escalating the cycle. The key is to take action
toward progress in your business every day, whether or not you are in the
mood. You might change the approach or stop doing a certain kind of sales
activity for a while, but don’t allow yourself to stop working on the
business altogether. At the very least, get out of the house and volunteer
your services in the community. Networking can lead to sales, even when you
aren’t looking for them. Also, it’s not always a bad idea to get a part-time
or full-time job when you’ve hit a slump. Sometimes, when you remove the
financial panic, you become much more effective in your business. The job
doesn’t have to be forever–just to get you over the hump.

McCall: What about overcoming the fear that comes along with
making a sales call or presentation?

Jaffe: Take a look at what you are really afraid of. You aren’t
afraid of rejection–there’s no such thing. What can rejection do to you?
You are afraid of the consequences you are telling yourself will occur if
you don’t make the sale. Is it financial disaster? Or making a fool of
yourself? Or letting someone down? Examine the catastrophic thinking that is
leading to your panic. Set your mind straight–it’s rarely going to turn out
as bad as you think.

McCall: Do you have any examples of a businessperson who overcame
his or her fear to become a stellar salesperson?

Jaffe: A guy contacted me for coaching because he was stuck in his
business. He couldn’t pick up the phone because he was terrified of making
cold calls or contacting anyone he knew. He couldn’t handle his fear of
humiliation. This guy had no fear of public speaking. I suggested that he
start giving public seminars instead and that he stop trying to sell
one-to-one. Voila! He had no trouble doing that, his self-confidence
rose, and he started making sales by referrals that came to him after the
seminars.

McCall: Business owners are used to turning to accountants,
lawyers and consultants for advice. When do you know it’s time to seek the
assistance of a sales coach?

Jaffe: When you’ve been procrastinating for weeks or months, and no
matter how many books you buy or what you tell yourself each morning, your
behavior doesn’t change, and you aren’t making any headway. So if you’ve hit
a sales slump, don’t despair; get busy! Hit the books; enroll in a sales
course; perfect your pitch. The keys to sales prowess are knowledge,
practice and a confident attitude. Whether you sell a product or a service,
your bottom line will benefit.

aOnline (http://www.aonline.com) is a destination site that is
the premiere source of news, information and community for Asian Americans. aOnline
produces its own original content, compiled by an editorial team which
oversees an exchange of select news reports, interviews, and lifestyle items
between the site and aMagazine.

HISPANIC Online (http://www.hisp.com), the leading on-line
forum on the Web and America Online for Latinos living in the USA. Twice
recognized as one of the top 50 forums on the world’s largest online
service. HISPANIC Online serves as America Online’s Center of Latino Life. HISPANIC
Online offers chat rooms, message boards and news, events, and issues of
interest to the Latino community based on HISPANIC Magazine, a
monthly for and about Latinos with a national circulation of 250,000.

Indian Country Today (http://www.indiancountry.com) Indian
Country Today is the most widely read and influential Native newspaper in
the world. The goal remains the same — to provide coverage of the stories
and issues that matter to Native Americans from a Native American
perspective.

A.
Want to know how to write an internet marketing plan? Visit this link:

http://www.emarketer.com/how2/articles/20000831_mktplan_ht.html

The Only Way to Build Brand, says Martin Lindstrom (http://www.clickz.com)
is to narrow your target market. «The cost of communicating one to one
is still substantially higher than broadcast advertising. But the
brand-building canvas is shrinking, and the irrefutable need for targeted
promotion is growing. Target messaging is the only way to go if you want to
communicate and build your brand.» waxes Lindstrom.

1. www.BuildItWorldwide.com

2. www.AecWW.com

3. www.AecWorldwide.com

4. www.ArchitectsWorldwide.com

5. www.BuildersWorldwide.com

6. www.ContractorsWorldwide.com

7. www.DesignersWorldwide.com

8. www.EngineersWorldwide.com

9. www.SurveyorsWorldwide.com

10. www.BizWW.com

New York Software Summit 2000–the largest yearly gathering of New
York’s software and Internet development community. The conference will be
held on September 25 at the Brooklyn Marriott and will run 20 tracks of
workshops, two high profile plenary panels, and a luncheon keynote by US
Senator Charles Schumer. Need more info? Visit this very informative web
site: http://www.nysia.org or write: info@nysia.org

SBA to Use New Industry Codes – The U.S. Small Business
Administration has announced that starting October 1, it will begin using
the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes for
establishing and tracking federal small business size standards. Developed
as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), NAICS is a
joint industry classification system coordinated by the United States,
Canada, and Mexico. NAICS will ensure that all three countries identify
industries in a common manner for government procurement and statistical
tracking.

NAICS codes will replace the current U.S. Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) system codes. The SIC code for architecture is 8712.
The new NAICS code will be 541310. Expect to see its use in the Commerce
Business Daily and other federal publications.

Overall, the NAICS consolidated the A/E industries into a single
grouping. The new structure for Architectural, Engineering, and Related
Services is as follows:

5413 Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services

54131 Architectural Services

54132 Landscape Architectural Services

54133 Engineering Services

54134 Drafting Services

54135 Building Inspection Services

54136 Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services

54137 Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services

The use of NAICS, follows closely behind the SBA’s 1999 decision to
implement a $4 million size limitation for architecture/engineering firms to
be designated as a small business. According to the SBA, “Size standards
are used to determine which businesses are eligible for many Federal small
businesses assistance programs, such as SBA’s guaranteed loan programs and
Federal contracts reserved for small, small disadvantaged, 8(a), and HUBZone
businesses.” (From http://www.aiaonline.com)

The Society of Design Administration is having an Annual Membership
drive and New Member Reception on Wednesday, September 20th, 2000 from 6:00
to 8:00 p.m. The event will be held at Butler Rogers Baskett Architects, 475
Tenth Avenue, Floor 5 between 36th and 37th Streets. The SDA mission
statement is: To promote the exchange of ideas and to educate its members in
the related disciplines of design firm administration. Call Ellen Blumenthal
for more information: 212.620.7970

The Society for Marketing Professional Services will be hosting a seminar
titled eMarketing: Welcome to the future! on Wednesday,
September 13th, 2000 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event will be held at Hazen
and Sawyer 498 Seventh Avenue, 11th Floor. This lively discussion will look
at new «e-marketing» strategies and techniques for professional
service firms, utilizing the power of the Internet. Keep in mind that this
seminar is geared toward the A/E/C industry. COST: PRE-REGISTERED: $30 for
Members/$45 for Non-Members AT THE DOOR: $40 for Members/$55 for
Non-Members. For Further Information or To Register: Call the Mary-Ellen
Cocchi at 516.484.1020.

Thinking about becoming a registered architect? Visit this site for
the requirements:

http://www.ncarb.org/stateboards/index.html

A Quote from a Web-Savvy, Brick & Mortor Architect (Borrowed from
www.aiaonline.com)

«I run a residential firm, Fivecat Studio: Architecture, with my
wife and partner, Annmarie McCarthy. Our website, Fivecat.com, not only
assists us in aquiring new work, but is our only source of non-one-on-one
presentation to our prospective clients. We have no printed marketing
materials. The internet, contrary to the beliefs of many (and desires of
some), will become the primary source of marketing for ALL industries…
including Architecture (like it or not). I suggest that you read the book,
«Permission Marketing», by Seth Godin (www.permission.com) or
checkout his latest work at www.ideavirus.com, and see for yourself. As
usual, most architects will wait, fearful of new technology. Wait… and be
late! Get online.» — Mark R. LePage

CMD Group’s North American Construction Forecast Conference
October 24, 2000, 8 am – 5:00 pm, National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW
Washington DC CMD Group’s North American Construction Forecast brings
together leading economist and analyst to provide you with an in-depth
understanding of the key trends that drive the construction industry.
Recognized authorities in their fields focus on the various sectors of the
construction economy – from residential and retail to healthcare and
educational – for thorough discussion and analysis. These experts explore
the underlying conditions that will impact business activity and
opportunities – opportunities for your business.

Scheduled speakers include: U.S. Forecast: Bill Toal, Chief Economist,
Portland Cement Association; Retail/Industrial Forecast: Hugh Kelly, Chief
Economist, Landauer Associates; Office Building Forecast: Ray Torto,
Principal and Managing Director, Torto Wheaton Research; Transportation
Forecast: Bill Buechner, Director of Economic and Regulatory Affairs,
American Road & Transportation Builders Association; Environmental
Remediation Forecast: Timothy Fields, Assistant Administrator for Solid
Waste and Emergency Response, Environmental Protection Agency; Canadian
Forecast: Alex Carrick, Chief Economist, CanaData-CMD Group; and Mexican
Forecast: Cesar Ortega, BIMSA/Mexico-CMD Group.

Conference Cost: Thanks to the sponsors, there is no cost associated with
attending the conference. For further details and to register, please
visit www.nacf.com or contact CMD Group at 800-283-4699.

Catch the Movements opening at The Storefront for Art and Architecture
on Friday, September 15th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. – 97 Kenmare Street at
Lafayette Street. Terrence Riley, the Director of Architecture and Design
for the MOMA, will give an introduction. http://www.storefrontnews.org

Technology Conference, Thursday, September 14^{th, 2000. 8:00 a.m. to
4:00 p.m., Brooklyn Marriott Hotel, Adams Street, Brooklyn, New York. NY
Regional MED Week 2000, New Horizons: The Emerging Minority Marketplace –
Minority Enterprise Development Week (MED Week) is an annual celebration
to honor the contributions of America’s minority entrepreneurs and those
individuals and organizations who actively support minority business
development. MED Week activities are designed to bring together
public/private sector buyers, minority vendors, and minority business
advocates. Exhibits and Computer Give-a-way}

Speakers: Courtland Cox, National Director, US Department of
Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency; Darien Dash, DME Interactive
Holdings, Inc.; Dr. Sheree Wen, Wen Labs, USA; Wendell Niles, President,
Niles Communication Group, Inc.; Richard Hernandez, Vice President,
Purchasepro.com; Vincent Olsen & Allen Haft, Learners World; Special
Performance: Tamara;
Special Guest: Karen P. Gibbs, Fox Five News

Registration Fee is $25 per person. Seating is limited. Please R.S.V.P. to
718-522-4600 Ext. 25. Make all checks payable to New York Regional MED Week
Committee and mail to: The Minority Business Opportunity Center, 175 Remsen
Street, Suite 350, Brooklyn, NY 11201, attention Pat Williams.

The National Alliance of Market Developers, a professional
organization committed to being a catalyst for positive and progressive
change for African-Americans and which focuses on the African-American
consumer market, is reviving its MARKETING MONDAYS program starting on
September 11, 2000 from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm at the MetLife Harlem Financial
Services Center, 203-07 west 125th Street, New York. Participants include
Executives, Entrepreneurs, Marketers, Promotion Professionals. For more
information email Alvin Hartley at trimast@porus.com

The National Society of Hispanic MBAs is hosting the Dale Carnegie
Leadership Workshop. Led by Dale Carnegie and sponsored by the New York
Times this workshop will be held on September 21st at 6:00pm in the New York
Times building. This 2 ½ hour leadership workshop will include a
self-evaluation session for participants which will help them determine
their leadership style. The maximum number of participants is 100; RSVP are
on a first come first serve basis. You can start making reservations by
September 1st. To RSVP please visit our Web site www.nshmba-nyc.org or call
212-439-8054.

For the sober, philosophical group of professional service providers,
hang out with the formal set of cultured architects at the AIA (www.aiany.org).

For the new economy, idea virus-thinking, ultra-smart-yet-earthy-and-cool
crowd, log on to the Fast Company web site (www.fastcompany.com) and
register with the NY Cell list-serve.

For (often-times) free and exciting cyber events, go to anything
sponsored by the NY Downtown Alliance (http://www.downtownny.com/).

For a comprehensive list of sometimes pricey (therefore
«pre-qualified») cyber events subscribe to the calendar (http://www.alleyevent.com/calendar).

Miss wearing a tie? There are always the Crain’s events (http://www.crainsnewyork.com/).

Design Days are fast approaching with NeoCon in close pursuit. Mingle
with the interior designers at their best during the Fall blitz of interiors
conferencing – get the facts at: http://www.merchandisemart.com/neoconeast/

For the Real Estate skinny, get dressed to go to the Russian Tea Room and
visit the Association for Women in Real Estate site (www.arew.org)

Want to reach Hip Hop’s upper echelon? Visit www.soulpurpose.com
Subscribe to the newsletter by sending an email to Andy-Newsletter@SoulPurpose.com
with a SEND ME SOUL subject line. This is Hip Hop meets the Hamptons (and
then some).

Who’s really driving New York’s road show? Find out by attending some of
the events held by the Women’s Transportation Seminar (http://www.wtsnational.org/NY/greater.htm).

If you’re a global cyber-zoid, log on to http://www.thecyberscene.com/,
Courtney Pulitzer’s international internet networking directory. Just in
case you’d like to know when the next dot com mixer in Calcutta will be.

If you have any comments, suggestions, or if you have an event that you
would like us to include in X-CUBE, please email Elizabeth Geary-Archer at
ega@outoftheboxmarketing.net