The Best Architectural Sales Consultants

Who are the best architectural sales consultants? Let’s start with the difference between an architectural consultant and a specification sales consultant.

An architectural consultant focuses mostly on architects and interior designers. A specification sales consultant will focus on everybody – architects to engineers, interior designers, builders, large construction companies, project managers, estimators and often right through to working with the contractors that are installing their product.

Architectural sales consultants are highly valued for their network of contacts within the architecture and interior design community. Many of my clients over the years have only looked at an architectural sales consultant’s network of WHO they know. The top flight architectural sales consultants know the Who’s Who in a wide range of practices… and they know how to manage a tight specification process too. They also have menu of options to get in the door of most architecture practices.

Having a good network is not enough. I have seen too many candidates over the years tell me how they’ve got a great little black book of architect and interior designer clients. But, when I ask them

“How big is your pipeline?” OR “What percentage of your pipeline converts?”

Too many stare at me blankly. Having lots of contacts in the industry isn’t enough.

One of the many things I’m looking for in an outstanding architectural consultant is the ability to leverage those contacts to obtain specifications. Then converting the specification into their product being installed.

Sometimes, architectural sales consultants are not responsible for the conversion of their pipeline. In this instance, I like to understand how big their pipeline is today and how that compares to when they first started in their role. Every sales role is about impact and revenue generation. Sometimes you are solely responsible for that revenue and are KPI’d against a sales budget. In some cases, like an architectural sales consultant, you are responsible for building a large high-quality pipeline. Your teammates then convert it into invoiced sales. Impact means quality specifications that are likely to convert, not random specifications so you can tick a KPI box.

A high-quality future pipeline is key to a successful architectural sales consultant.

KPI’s may have a budget attached or they may be activity driven. Most architectural consultant roles have a combination of both. The best architectural sales consultants use the following metrics

  • Sales invoiced
  • Pipeline size
  • Number of client meetings per week/month
  • Number of specifications and value of specifications
  • Converted specifications
  • Repeat business
  • New business

Specification and architectural sales is a long game – it is about planting seeds and watering them over the next six, twelve, eighteen months and sometimes up to five years for large scale projects.

The best architectural sales consultants know about projects before they even arrive in BCI or Cordell’s reports. Now that is a great way to leverage your network!

Once you have the specification, then you spend your time defending the specification. Great architectural consultants have lots of follow up reminders in their diary. They are regularly tracking when the next stage of the specification is coming up. They are checking on timelines, who is bidding on the project, who has won the next phase etc.

Specification sales is like a relay race. The architectural sales consultant has the responsibility of making sure their business gets a big head start (obtains the specification). Then they pass the baton to their colleagues (often a builder’s representative or trade representative). Their teammates make sure they are continuing to hold the specification till an order is obtained. Specification sales is like a relay marathon. It is not a sprint; it is not a transactional sale.

The best architectural sales consultants are expert at defending their specifications against being swapped out. Understanding your value proposition is essential. Making sure your clients appreciate the value of your product and your service is just as important. A good defender of specs often knows their competitive advantage and makes sure everyone in their orbit has a full appreciation of their value proposition.

I might add, that great architectural sales consultants are very clear on the value they bring to the process. They are highly valued for making the process as smooth and easy as possible. This is because they have extensive product knowledge and organisation skills.

The best architectural sales consultants have the following

  • Tenacity in chasing specifications and locking them down
  • Persistence in defending their specs
  • Organisation and follow up skills (keeping their specs)
  • Great networking skill set
  • Not afraid to cold call or talk to someone they haven’t met yet
  • Outstanding use of CRM
  • Teamwork and ability to influence their colleagues to follow up and close out their hard won specifications
  • Big ears to listen for new opportunities
  • Outstanding product knowledge

Saunders Lynn and Kerri O’Connor have been specialising in finding and hiring the best architectural sales consults for over 20 years. If you are interested in a new architectural sales consultant role or specification sales position, please get in contact with us. Alternatively, check out our job board for regular updates.

 

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