Q. How did you determine that formula?
About 10 or 12 years
ago, we sent two people
out on the road to call on
only new clients. The
amount of time they spent with
it versus the payoff — it wasn’t
very good. We found that if we
were totally pursuing a bunch
of new opportunities, we didn’t
do a good job of taking care of
our existing clients.
It takes a lot more time to
develop a new relationship
than it does to maintain an
existing one. We’ve delivered projects for our existing clients
in the past, and we have an
emotional bank account with
them.
[That means] doing what you
say you’re going to do. The values in our company are honesty, professionalism, consideration, dedication and accountability. That’s how we define it
to our employees. We have a
constancy of purpose.
Q. What one thing can prevent a company from growing?
A company won’t grow if the
leadership doesn’t see growth
as a priority. If you want to
maintain the status quo, that certainly can be deflating for the
employees — and even the
clients — to see that.
You need to be profitable
enough to continue to invest in
technology. You can’t fall behind
in that regard. In providing good
equipment for our personnel —
the proper software and the
training that goes along with it
— they know that the company
will make that investment for
them to do their job well. If they
look around and see that our
competitors have better equipment and better resources, that
can be deflating.
Q. How do you avoid the
status quo and keep moving
forward?
We’re in our fourth generation
of owners, and we’ve all viewed
it as our duty to have the company be better when we depart
than when we started. We view
it as being good stewards to this
business. We do our part for a
period of time, and then we
hand it over to others and let
them do the same thing.
When I came in as an owner
in my mid-30s, the transition
plan for when I retire — as far
as the cost and the time frame
— was already agreed upon, so
there will be no surprises later.
A person has a window of
opportunity to do some good;
it’s not forever. In our particular
practice, we can continue our
employment with the company,
but we step aside as principals
at age 62.
It does give a sense of urgency,
but we’re also structured where
no one’s going to control the
destiny of the company. There’s
a buffer between what’s best
for the individual and what’s
best for the company.
HOW TO REACH: Butler, Fairman & Seufert Inc., (317) 713-4615 or www.bfsengr.com
