P r a c t i c e
Attaining A/E/C Market Prominence Research reveals successful strategies for long-term competitive edge By Joe M. Powell
Achieving a position of market prominence is undoubtedly the holy grail of business performance. It’s actually a more powerful experience than managing to dominate a market for a period of time. Market dominance is typically an exciting, albeit brief, experience usually demanding a hefty modicum of chance. Market prominence, on the other hand, connotes an imposing position that endures. It isn’t luck. It can’t be achieved by commercializing the latest fad. You don’t get there by simply being in the right place at the right time. It belongs solely to those companies that consistently and repetitively do the right things, and it can be made to last for generations. I share this conclusion having researched A/E/C market competitiveness at the Rice University Building Institute, an interdisciplinary collaboration of academic, industry, and community leaders. Here, we have been looking at the critical issues facing the industries responsible for designing, constructing, and managing the built environment. We have been interested in the observable fact of market prominence in the A/E/C industry for quite some time, and over the past four years, we have translated our general interest into a specific learning opportunity.
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the characteristics we measured to identify market leaders: Name recognition – Ask the major participants in any market segment and they tend to repetitively mention the same names. Expertise recognition – Market leaders are invariably successful at attaching, in the minds of major repetitive buyers, qualities associated with advanced expertise and performance, whether or not the expertise actually exists. Premium pricing – Buyers honestly believe they’re going to get more value from market leaders and are typically willing to pay for it. Preferential competitive treatment – In a competitive sales arena, clients often allow market leaders to skip the qualifications stage of the competition and go directly to the short list. Prestige among employees – Survey professionals in any defined market and ask them about the best places to work. You will find a high correlation between market prominence and desirable work environments. As a result of this research, we have developed a dozen strategies A/E/C firms can look to for increasing their competiveness now and into the future. (See sidebar: “12 Strategies for Increased Competitiveness”). Of these 12 tactics, we’ll take a closer look at three—establishing customer intimacy, using persistent branding, and capturing category ownership.
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