Preliminary site massing options are part of the Discovery Consultation offered by Lethbridge-based 010110 Architecture.
Alberta architect Spencer Court, MRAIC, principal of 010110 Architecture + Urbanism, had had enough. Enough free site visits and design sketches, of prospects who ?pick his brains? and then evaporate. ?We?ll think about it and get back to you,? they say. But then Court adopted the Low Commitment Consultation (LCC) strategy. ?So far I?ve landed three large residential projects with the strategy,? says Court, who finds the approach useful for ?eating the elephant one bite at a time.?
The LCC strategy was developed by architect marketing coach Richard Petrie, in response to complaints he heard from architects around the world about how the sales process often halts when potential clients receive a proposal. ?Clients stall,? says Petrie, ?because they lack all the information they need to make an informed decision early in the process. They are afraid of making a mistake. Committing to move ahead with a contract for architectural services is a huge decision with a lot of inherent risk for a client.?
The typical proposal process asks too much of a potential client, too fast, he says. ?It?s like a man proposing marriage to a woman on the first date. You wouldn?t move this fast in a relationship. Yet when it comes to selling architecture, architects throw everything they know about human relationships out the window and go for the full Monty.?
Petrie originally ...