Cultivate Relationships That Lead to Work:

According to Leathers, “I’ve been in the Building Design & Construction industry for 35 years and have dedicated my 30-year international consulting practice to helping professionals learn how to claim the role of trusted advisor with clients, enabling them to be proactive in building business. Year after year, I engage with firms who are stuck on the Request for Proposal (RFP) hamster wheel who lack a clear sense of how to strategically grow their businesses. That’s what this book is designed to address.

Through consulting, conducting workshops, and offering content online, I’ve tried to fill the gap the architectural profession ignores in its educational process: the business side of architecture, and in particular, how to clarify position, create strategy, claim marketplace and market space, and cultivate relationships that lead to work. By writing this book—the essence of what I teach—I’m hoping to help professionals learn to drive their firms with authenticity, integrity, and purpose.

This book walks through the process of how to become a deliberately run firm that has vision, direction, positioning, smart communications, and excellent client development skills. It is designed to inspire thought, empower action, and effect change by providing practical ideas that readers can implement immediately.

In section one, Envision, architects and designers responsible for running their firms and bringing in revenue will benefit by defining their idea practice and creating strategies to build it. Section two, Clarify, focuses on positioning and differentiating your firm. Section three, Communicate, shows you how to pivot your marketing from firm-centric to client-centric and claim your expertise. Section four, Cultivate, is about how to nurture trusting relationships, understand buyer psychology, and build client relationships across the Client Relationship Continuum^TM from pre-engagement, to engagement, and post-engagement. You’ll also learn the arc of an initial client development meeting so you’ll be comfortable convening with prospective and existing clients.

Anyone who is struggling with how to build their professional services business will benefit by reading this book. May it bring you wisdom, insight, and prosperity.”