Foundation Research Results Released: A Primer to Marketing Design-Build Services
This month the SMPS Foundation released the results of a study into marketing design-build services. The study is available free of charge on the SMPS web site.

"Proposing for Design-Build Success: A Primer to Marketing Design-Build Professional Services" is the report prepared by researchers Douglas D. Gransberg, P.E., CCE, Associate Professor of Construction Science, The University of Oklahoma, and Carla Lopez del Puerto, ICC, Cost Estimator/Designer, The Benham Companies. The Foundation provided a $10,000 grant to the team to underwrite the research.

These results were presented at the 2004 SMPS/PSMA National Conference in New York City before the members and media gathered there this month. The full report is available to the public free of charge on the SMPS web site at www.smps.org/foundation/proposing_design-build_success.pdf. The executive summary appears below.

Executive Summary
Because of the increased use of design-build and the proliferation of various best-value award methods, it is both timely and necessary for members of the design and construction industries to be able to determine just how owners make the best-value award decision and, as well as, understand what a marketing professional can do to enhance the organization’s chances of winning a design-build project. This comes primarily in the qualifications and proposal preparation phase of the procurement process.

This study consisted of three main components: a comprehensive literature review, a web-based survey of owners and design/construction professionals, and a RFQ/RFP content analysis. The purpose of the study was to determine the essential elements for effectively marketing design-build professional services through a comparative analysis of the study’s three components.

The analysis of the evaluation criteria in the RFQ/RFP content and the survey results from 257 responses from across 37 states and Canada were combined with the findings in the comprehensive literature review and led to the following conclusions about the design-build project’s best-value award decision:

Schedule: The primary reason owners select design-build project delivery is to compress the delivery schedule.

Price: Based on the survey’s finding that qualifications are more important than price, it can be concluded that owners may be willing to pay more to get a highly qualified team with a strong record of past success.

Qualifications: Owners are using the evaluation of qualifications as a risk management tool, and both design and construction professionals should pay very close attention to both the details of the RFQ and their subsequent submission.

Technical/design approach: Owners are less concerned with the proposed design approach than professional services providers, especially design professionals.

Management plans: Management plans ranked low in the study because owners may assume that, if they award the project to a well-qualified team, it will be able to manage the project successfully.

The study results led the researchers to develop the specific conclusions and recommendations published in the full research report. These were distilled into the following seven essential points a design-builder should know to effectively market its design-build professional services.

1. Unique Solutions: Every owner and every project is unique. Winning design-build proposals offer solutions that are uniquely suited to the owner’s unique design and construction requirements.

2. Cost Control NOT Low Bid: Owners select design-build to establish the project’s total cost (i.e., contractually fix the design and construction budget) before the design is complete.
 
3. Delivery Speed: Accelerating the project delivery schedule is the main reason why owners select design-build.
 
4. Quality by Qualifications: Successful design-build proposals offer a design-build team uniquely qualified to successfully deliver the owner's project and with a strong record of successful past performance to prove their potential.

5. Know How to Win: Evaluating the owner’s evaluation plan and award scheme is essential. Successful design-build proposals are developed against the backdrop of the evaluation criteria and maximize the proposal’s evaluated score by focusing proposal preparation effort on those evaluated criteria most important to the owner.

6. Total Responsiveness: Successful design-build proposals mirror the owner’s RFP format and use the exact same terms used in the RFP to ensure the evaluation panel finds the proposal responsive.
 
7. Build an Edge: Owners are less concerned with the design approach than professional services providers believe they are. However to win, the proposal must somehow differentiate itself from its competitors.

Design-build firms will be able to use the results of the complete study to strengthen their proposal development process to more directly respond to the published requirements of the owner's solicitation documents, thereby raising their success ratio.

The mission of the SMPS Foundation is to promote research and education that advances the body of knowledge of professional services marketing to develop a greater understanding of the role and value of marketing in the architectural, engineering, and construction industry. For additional information, please contact Foundation Liaison Lisa Bowman at 800.292.7677, x230, or e-mail lisa@smps.org. [ return to top ]