News from Nevada By Design

Most of the time, when you walk into a fast food place, you know what you want to eat and you place your order with only a quick scan of the menu board. But, no matter how efficiently and positively you place your order, the person behind the counter has been taught to always offer you something extra. We all know that as up-selling and it is very common in the food industry.

Often times up-selling is disguised under the pretence that seller is trying to give you a better deal or save you money even though you might be spending more. "Would like to have the meal deal for just $1 more; you receive a larger order of fries and a gigantic soft drink in the price?"

You expect certain types of businesses to up-sell their products it is part of the game like going to the electronics store to purchase a 32" TV for the bedroom and walking out with a 48" digital flat screen from some no-name-manufacturer at nearly the same price as the well known brand but without the warranty. The only problem you have is how to make your new 48" bargain fit into the TV armoire's 36" opening. There is an old saying that "you get what you pay for." When it comes to hiring consulting engineers, I have paraphrased that saying to be..."You get what you ask for!"

Craig Galati, (a local architect friend who writes a blog for the publication In Business Las Vegas,

http://blogs.inbusinesslasvegas.com/TheHeartOfBusiness/ ) recently commented that "Clients don't always see the whole you. Many clients hire a professional for a specific task or service. In doing so, they evaluate the professional based on experience, technical ability and approach to solving their problem." He goes on to talk about how often times "...the client has self-diagnosed his problem and is looking for a consultant to provide his expertise to implement his strategy to solve it."

I underlined the word his (meaning client), above because it has long baffled me as to why someone would go as far as to hire an expert and then proceed to tell them how to do their job. You would not walk into a doctor's office and tell him how to diagnose and treat an illness. Why then would you tell your design professional how to do their job? We are often asked to give a proposal for civil engineering services and after comparing our price against a competitor's proposal the client will tell us that our services are too expensive. When we point out that our services include items A through F, they respond by telling us that they did not ask for D, E and F. Some might think that we are trying the ole' game of up-selling, but in reality we are obligated by the engineer licensing board to provide competent and complete engineering services; that includes meeting all of the entitlement conditions and obtaining the proper permits. Most importantly we must deliver a project that is constructible.

Our proposal process involves analyzing the project (which includes walking the site to identify drainage and utility issues), and then based upon our expertise, combined with past experience in dealing with government agencies, defining the scope of services needed for the project and placing a price based upon the number of hours needed to complete the tasks. Because we take the time to understand the project we don't just propose on the obvious. But instead, we think beyond the property boundary and identify issues such as the light pole that will have to be moved because as it currently stands in the middle of the proposed driveway, or a bus turnout that will be required, and even full width road improvements that must be made to accommodate a drainage culvert.

Mr. Galati, in his blog, also talks about how "Noted management professor Edgar H. Schein defines this as the "Expertise Model" where the client purchases an expertise from a consultant. In this case, expertise rules the day. Not that the client doesn't care about your personality, fit for your organization or your level of care, but they usually view these through a problem-solving paradigm or viewpoint. That is why initially the client relationship feels contractual."

I think that the problem might lie in the fact that much of what civil engineers do is invisible to the average person. They don't realize the art involved (and how much money can be saved during construction), in creating a grading plan that takes advantage of the terrain and does not require extensive cuts or the import of fill material. Instead, the civil engineering process is seen as an evil necessity and a process that in everyone's opinion takes way too long due to the bureaucratic processes.

We at NBD feel that it is our responsibility to give each and every client quality engineering. We don't believe in up-selling or proposing a lower price only to make it up in change orders. Just honest engineering at a fair price!

Now, would you like a handshake with that?