“I hate selling”

The problem with trying to learn sales and marketing as an introverted architect is that it requires you to sell. "I just want to do great design - not sell".  

What if you could learn to win projects without selling?

What if you could learn to become a top notch project winner just by knowing 9 stories?

Wouldn't that be refreshing!

A live training unlike any other.  

A TRUE-TO-LIFE STORY:

Confessions of a Dream Project Winning Hired Gun

I am on a Zoom coaching call with John, an architect based in L.A.

I ask him my usual opening questions to get a feel for where his business is.

It goes something like this...

“Out of 10, how good of a designer are you?” After a bit of chat and me telling him to set modesty aside, he gives me an 8.

Fair enough.

“Out of 10, how good are the projects you’ve won in the past 12 months?” Again, I get a bit of 'they vary', 'yeah, I know, but average them out for me,' and he gives me a 5.

“Out of 10, how good would you say your income is compared to the top earners in your market, if 10 was the top?”

After an uncomfortable silence, he gives me a 4.

These numbers are NOT uncommon.

- Design ability: 8/10

- Project quality: 5/10

- Income: 4/10

“Why are your project quality and income at 4 and 5 when your ability is at an 8/10 level?”

“I don’t know,” he replies.

I do.

“Where do you want your income and projects to be after 12 months of working with me?”

“8, I guess.”

That's the correct answer, by the way.

This is the part where I need to deliver a dose of tough love. At the start of many of my coaching calls, I ask for permission to be blunt, not rude but super direct. I am not as patient as coaches are meant to be, so I ask, “Is it okay to tell you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear?”

By the way, that's a hell of a question and one more architects should ask.

Incidentally, no one has ever replied, “No Richard, please just tell me what I WANT to hear, I love being stuck in my own delusion.” Lol

Okay, now I have permission, it's tough love time...

I explain that a good designer ends up with mediocre projects and income for ONE reason. It’s because their ability to win good projects is at a 4/10. As a project-winning hired gun for 12 years, I can tell you that when your university lecturer said, ‘doing great work is your best marketing’... he was lying, or more likely highly naive, which is why he was a lecturer and not working on world-class projects.

You don’t have to be the best architect to win the dream project. Architect selection never comes down to a portfolio shootout. There are so many other factors, like rapport, third-party endorsement, and emotions, which play a far bigger part.

Anyway… is it okay to tell YOU what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear?

You still need to learn how to win the really good projects. You are probably great at design but terrible at attracting enough of the right inquiries. You are probably terrible at commanding the fees you deserve. You do too much free work to win projects.

You are probably okay at converting the many referrals you get but terrible at getting enough quality referrals so you can say “No” to the 50% that don’t have projects or budgets at the level you want.

If you are ready to fix this, then click the button below and sign up for a 90-minute session where I’ll teach you my 9-step system by telling you stories like this one.

Stories go inside your brain faster and get retained longer.

Richard

P.S. One of the secrets to winning better projects is telling better stories. ‘Whoever tells the best story wins’ is infinitely better advice than ‘your work should speak for itself’.

P.P.S. If you like working smarter, not harder, to grow your project-winning muscle, then clear your calendar now and get ready, things are about to change.

Click the button and join us.