Over the years, many architects have told me some version of the same story: “I used to think that if I designed nice buildings, potential clients would see them, call me up, and give me a new project.”
If only winning work were that easy.
Unfortunately, great buildings don’t always announce themselves. And even when projects do attract attention, the people who admire them aren’t necessarily the people who will hire you to design the next one.
But here’s the good news: Even if you never send out a press release or contact a potential client, you’ll probably still get projects. The bad news is that they may not be the clients or projects that you want.
Are You Visible to Clients?
Let’s say your firm is doing compelling work but is feeling a bit under the radar. Your competitors are winning awards, getting interviewed by potential clients and the press, and showing up in every other issue of ARCHITECT. Meanwhile, you’re wondering why no one is paying attention to your firm.
So, you decide that you need public relations.
Maybe you want to build your reputation in a particular building type or market. Perhaps you’re looking for third-party credibility, because a magazine article that describes you as talented, smart, and better looking carries a lot more weight than if you are saying great things about yourself on your website. Or maybe you’re simply tired of watching your competitors be where you want to be.
And most important, you want more work. Who doesn’t?
These are all legitimate reasons to invest in PR. But if your primary goal is to fill your pipeline, you may need something else, and that something is business development.
The distinction between PR and BD is greater—and matters more—than most architects realize.
PR Isn’t a Pipeline
Public relations and business development are closely related, but they’re not interchangeable. Both can help your firm win work, but they approach the problem from different directions.
PR helps your firm build the kind of reputation that makes potential clients want to know you. BD builds the relationships that turn interest into opportunities for new work.
In other words, PR helps clients find you. A feature about your latest building introduces your work to people you want to know or have not been able to reach. Awards establish credibility. Op-eds and thought leadership pieces position your people as subject matter experts. Over time, these efforts make your firm recognizable, sought-after, and respected.
Business development is more deliberate. It’s how you identify prospective clients, track opportunities, cultivate relationships, and make sure your firm is top of mind when a project comes along.
A good PR placement could motivate a facilities director to visit your website and send you an RFQ. A strong BD program means that you’ve already targeted that client, know the institution’s capital plans, and have developed a professional relationship way before the project has been publicly announced.
PR is a Turtle, BD is a Hare
Both PR and BD can help firms win work, but they operate on different timelines and measure success differently. PR opens doors for you; BD helps you walk through them.
PR is a long-term investment in reputation, like a savings account but with better photography. The more media coverage, awards, and speaking engagements you get, the better the chance that members of the selection committee recognize your name when they see your proposal. Even so, building that kind of visibility, especially in a new market or sector, can take at least a year.
BD is about generating opportunities more directly. Meetings and networking lead to shortlists, proposals and, ultimately, commissions. By actively pursuing leads, you can probably set up a meeting with a potential client as early as next month, although landing a project and signing a contract could take much longer.
The smartest firms do both. A cold call becomes warmer when the person you’re contacting is already familiar with your firm. And that award or interview becomes more valuable when your partners share it with the decision makers they’re trying to reach.
But here comes the reality check. The trouble begins when a firm pays for PR and expects the immediate results of a BD program—or invests in BD without a long-term plan for building its reputation. The productivity guru David Allen put it in three words: “Purpose defines success.”
So, get clear about your goals from the start.
Are You Famous to the Wrong People?
Whether you have success in PR depends on how you win work. The most essential question you need to ask is: Who needs to know about your firm? It’s rarely as obvious as you expect.
You can collect hundreds of awards, appear in prestigious design publications, and be the envy of your competitors without generating a single meaningful lead. That doesn’t mean your outreach program has failed. It may mean you’re reaching the wrong audiences or pursuing the wrong targets.
Your firm shouldn’t simply try to get noticed. You need to get noticed by the people who hire you for the projects you want.
For example, if you pursue public-sector work, you’re responding to RFQs and RFPs, chasing long-term contracts, competing for shortlists, and interviewing with government agencies. A glowing review in an architecture magazine might make your partners feel terrific. But it won’t necessarily reach the agency responsible for selecting an architect to design a new elementary school.
When the accolades fail to generate new business, the partners look at the PR invoice and conclude that PR doesn’t work. But perhaps the problem isn’t the PR program. It’s the strategy.
An article in an education trade publication, a story in the local business journal, or a national award can establish your firm’s credibility with the school’s selection committee. And a targeted BD program can identify upcoming projects, cultivate relationships with facilities departments, and position your firm for opportunities well before an RFQ hits the street.
On the other hand, if you design custom houses, much of your business probably comes through referrals. A satisfied client recommends you to a friend. Your lawyer knows someone planning a renovation. A dinner-party conversation turns into a meeting about a new house. That’s how you conduct BD.
PR gives those referrals an extra boost. When someone hears your name and looks you up, well-placed articles, interviews, and awards validate your work. Suddenly, you’re not just an architect someone recommended. You’ve got street cred.
But what if you want to move into a different market? Say you’ve just completed a spectacular private house, but your ambition is to design hospitals. A major publicity campaign around that house will probably attract more residential clients, not healthcare commissions.
Be Targeted Not Timid
Your PR strategy needs to reflect where you want to go, not simply where you’ve been. That’s why getting clear about your goals is the first thing we do with every firm we work with. We start with four questions: What do you do? How do you do it? For whom do you do it? And what value do you bring?
If everyone on your team can answer those questions consistently in five minutes, that’s great. More often, we hear as many answers as there are partners, while the firm’s website tries to communicate every ambition at once and ends up confusing everyone, including the clients it hopes to attract.
One of my favorite signs was over a shoe store that proclaimed, in enormous block letters, “WE ARE PROBABLY THE LOWEST PRICED IN THE CITY.”
Probably!
Now there’s a business afraid to make a declarative statement. Architecture firms can be just as reluctant to define themselves, hoping to appeal to everyone rather than risk turning away a potential client. But you can’t build a reputation—or a project pipeline—on “probably.” You need to be clear about who you are, what you offer, and why someone should hire you.
Which brings us back to where we started. Great buildings don’t announce themselves and, on their own, they won’t necessarily guarantee new commissions. But PR will help the right people discover your firm, and BD gives them a reason to work with you. The smartest firms understand that distinction and use both to their advantage.
Now go make some noise.
