Business development resources
To build a successful architecture practice, pay close attention to everything the firm does to attract new business and retain existing clients. A strategic approach to marketing and business development enables a firm to allocate resources to support activities that serve the growth of the practice. These resources provide an overview of how architecture firms work and secure work.
Marketing and Business Development Resources
AIA's Architects Handbook of Professional Practice, chapter six includes: Marketing Architectural Services; Developing Marketing Strategy; Public Relations and Communications; Networking and Business Development; and Qualifications, Proposals, and Interviews. The handbook provides a comprehensive overview of business development strategy for an architectural practice.
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Five steps to thrive
Architects have always had an intrinsic value in improving the quality of our lives. Economic trouble won’t diminish this fact, but it does signal the time for architects to demonstrate their relative value to clients and potential clients as they review their future budgets and plans.
Virtual Practice- AIA Trust Guide
Today, a new reality in architectural practice is that most architects are no longer interacting across their workstations. Instead, they are ‘virtually’ sharing ideas and drawings across digital platforms. Nearly every practicing architect engages in some form of “virtual practice” because the pace and practicalities of life demand it—employees travel or relocate, must limit work time for family responsibilities, or want to take on other enterprises as consultants. The virtual architectural practice model is far more flexible than traditional practice—and maybe all but recession—proof since it can grow and shrink with market fluctuations.
COVID-19 Business resources
It is crucial that architects broadly communicate how our holistic, problem-solving, design-thinking skills can assist clients in enduring through this time of COVID-19 and help them emerge more strongly positioned. Architects can and must underscore their value to their clients, across all project types, in the short term during budgetary triage and in the long term as strategic design solutions continue to be seen as good investments. Designing adaptable spaces, selecting healthy materials, advising on the life cycle of a building, or incorporating natural and filtered ventilation are just some of the jobs architects can undertake while the fate of larger jobs is debated. These skills—and more—remain valuable and marketable aspects of the architect’s training and expertise during this current downturn.
Risk management
Whether you’re looking to establish, lead, or wind down your practice, effectively managing risk is an essential part of being a successful architect. AIA is dedicated to helping members proactively and effectively manage risk—integral to your firm’s viability and profitability.
AIA Trust Legal Network
AIA members and their firms can now find qualified A/E Construction Lawyers to help when it’s needed most—in handling a pending claim or another A/E legal matter.
Research for Practice: How to Increase Your Competitive Edge
Research-driven design is in demand, and savvy clients are increasingly interested in this informed approach. This constructive session shows you how to create evidence-based design solutions and prepare your firm to embrace this approach.
Firm Benchmarking Tool
Data in the AIA Firm Benchmarking Tool are drawn from the AIA’s Firm Survey Report, which reflects insights from over 2,300 architecture firms. Going back more than 30 years, the AIA Firm Survey provides the only comprehensive assessment of what is occurring in architecture practices today, including detailed information on firm billings, profits, client retention rates, diversity, sustainability, and other firm aspects.
2030 DDx
Track your firm’s progress to 2030 carbon neutral goals and confidentially compare energy data with the AIA 2030 Design Data Exchange (DDx).
Five tips to build your clientele
An architect and entrepreneur shares advice for how to build and retain client relationships.
How to find clients through social media
The former director of marketing at a small firm explains how social media really can bring in work.
Six steps to finding new clients
The best way to find new work is to master these business development habits.
Three reasons why clients leave, and how to win them back
You're going to lose clients on occasion; here's how to learn from those losses, and even how to bring them back.
Technology and Transformation in Architecture
Integrating architectural services into a more collaborative design and construction process is transforming practice today. And younger architects are leading this transformation. Design creativity and instantaneous communications are two key characteristics of the youngest generation in the architecture profession. Rapid changes in technology provide transformational tools to enhance both creativity and communication.
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