Did you lose them as quickly as you won them?
There is a critical 72-hour window where most AEC firms struggle after winning a project. It is the internal handoff process.
If not handled well, the client could be second guessing their decision to hire your firm.
There's a critical 72-hour window after your company is awarded a project. Your project pursuit team may respond back to the client saying, "Hey, we're excited! Thanks so much." But then from that moment to the 72 hours later, where does the kickoff land? How does that client know that you are actually eager to work with them.
There are some things that your company can do to make sure that the client isn't second guessing their decision to hire your company and we're going to walk through what some of those tweaks could be if you're not currently doing them.
Hopefully the project manager for your new project is part of the project pursuit team. If they're not (I also understand project managers are very busy and they're on multiple projects), what you can do is have your internal process, it may be your BD leader or maybe one of the directors or principals at your firm, sends an email to that project manager within two hours of the project win to say, "We won the project. Make sure it's on your radar."
You also want to send an email to the client introducing who that project manager is. Let's say, for this example, Sarah is going to be reaching out to you within the next day or so, and they're going to schedule a kickoff call.
You reiterate in the email to the client what the next step should be after the project is awarded.
Then you want to have an internal call. So it could be your BD lead and your project manager Sarah. In this example, they're going to have an internal 15-minute conversation and the things that are going to be part of that internal conversation include:
The client's top three concerns and priorities for this project.
What won the project and what were your company's differentiators.
Relationship dynamics and decision makers from the client side.
Any verbal commitments made during that project pursuit.
Any budget sensitivities.
This information gives your project manager the tools and information to make a world of difference whenever they actually perform the kickoff call with the client. It is important that you don't rely on email to share this info with your project managers. You can follow up with an email, which is always good, but don't simply rely on email.
Then at about the 12 to 24-hour mark, Sarah's going to follow up with an email to the client that says she's glad to be working with them and she's going to reference this specifics, from the proposal. She will also propose dates and times for the kickoff meeting, sharing her direct contact info, and then also confirming next steps so that the client's fully aware and everything's documented.
In the next 48 to 72 hours, you want to confirm when that kickoff call is going to happen. It doesn't have to happen in 72 hours of the win, but you want to be able to move forward and confirm it, get it on the schedule for the people that need to be there. You want to go ahead and set up your project portal, folders, and workspaces, so that as you're putting files in the right spot for your company.
You should also do a deliverable timeline so that the client is aware and expectations are set.
Again, doing these things is going to help your client feel confident that they selected the right company that's going to put their needs and their priorities first, and making sure that open communication is set from the start.