Engineering Management Institute

Networking/Client Relations

Leveraging Social Media to Boost Your Personal Engineering Brand

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This is a guest blog by Nick Heim, P.E.

Social MediaCivil engineers bring a diverse set of viewpoints, skills, and knowledge to the table.

Because of the impact our work has on society, there are many benefits to sharing our expertise outside of our day-to-day work – for our professional colleagues, our clients, and the general public.

Today, I would like to give some tips on how you can build your personal brand as a civil engineer using social media.

1. Establish a Niche

Social media is a tool that, to this point, has not been utilized very heavily by engineering professionals. I have heard and seen several reasons for this.

One way I have gotten past my personal reservations about the use of social media is by talking about topics that I feel that I can speak confidently about, or have something to share that others would find valuable.

social media

Some niches that I have seen executed successfully by Civil Engineering professionals:

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Make New Friends, but Keep the Old; One Is Silver and the Other Gold

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Make New Friends, but Keep the Old is a blog post by Pamela A. Scott

New FriendsIf you were, are, or knew a Girl Scout, you’ve heard this tune. It is a classic in Girl Scouts. And it fits with today’s blog.

When I work with younger engineers, we invariably talk about business development and networking. And we should. Business development and networking are critical to a company’s success. And to your career path.

Senior engineers know this. They know they have to develop conversational skills, scope out prospects at networking events, and build relationships that bring in business.

Younger engineers know they have to develop those skills, but they have a vague notion of how or why to do that.

Before I give you ideas to work with, check out this true example of how networking today can lead to business now and years down the road.

Networking pays off long-term

I spent years as an associate member of the ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies). I served on committees, presented workshops at conferences and PDH days, and got to meet lots of people.

At a monthly ACEC luncheon, Noah Smith, an exec with an AEC company, sat down next to me. “Pam, I know who you are,” Noah said. “We’ve talked here and there, but I don’t know what you do. Would you enlighten me?”

“Sure, Noah. Let me tell you how I helped a client this morning.” I took a few minutes to do that. (Emphasis on a “few minutes,” not an elevator pitch.)

Noah handed me two business cards and said, “Call me in the morning. I’ve got someone for you to work with.”

I followed up the next day. That luncheon led to me coaching a director for three years. And that led to me working with that director when he went off to start his own business as a CEO years later. So far, that simple conversation with Noah has led to other contacts and thousands of dollars in work with awesome people.

Networking is more important than you think. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

What I hear from younger engineers

This is what I’m told: “I don’t really have a role at our project meetings. Our senior engineer is going to talk with their senior architect and other senior people involved in the job. There’s no way for me to add something to the discussion.”

  1. Be a sponge. Watch, listen, and learn. Watch how the senior professionals are interacting. Notice their body language. Listen to what they’re saying and how they’re saying it. Are they treating each other with respect or is there some friction, even hostility in the room? Be a sponge and soak up as much info as you can get simply by being in the room. It’s called on-the-job training. It involves skills in listening, note-taking, and reading body language.
  2. Who are the other younger staff in the room? Do you know them? Should you? Networking is about building relationships. Is there a benefit to you getting to know your peers? You bet. Like you, those younger staff members will one day be senior projects managers or principals. Ten years from now you will no longer be the young kid in the room. You’ll have a role to play in projects meetings. People will want to talk with you because you have the experience and knowledge needed for the meeting.
  3. “Who do you know who needs to know me?” I asked an ACEC exec that question. She introduced me to the woman who became my very first coaching client and life-long friend.
  4. Who do you know that you can introduce others to? As humans we naturally reciprocate when somebody does or says something nice to us. Build your network of contacts so that you can respond when somebody asks, “Who do you know who could help me with this?”
  5. People don’t forget you if you’re interesting. When you go to a networking event, look for ways to meet people, especially if the event has interesting activities off-site. Get to know your peers and potential clients as people.

I recently heard from a CEO I met on a deep-sea fishing trip sponsored by the Georgia chapter of ACEC 20 years ago. I remember watching his little kids having fun on the boat. Anytime he and I have talked since then, I ask about his kids. Twenty years later.

Then there’s my buddy David. We became friends through ACEC. He invited me to be the opening speaker on communications for the chapter’s Future Leaders program. I did that for seven years and met wonderful people. And David also introduced me to his boss, who brought me in for workshops with her executive team.

I hope you get my point in this blog. “Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold.”

Listen to the Girl Scout song: Make New Friends
Be a Pro at Networking Activities
Mind Your Manners at Networking Events
Communicate Effectively While Networking

About the Author

give feedbackPamela A. Scott is an executive coach and founder of MentorLoft, a coaching firm that works with CEOs and execs to prepare their Next Gen leaders to run their company. Pamela specializes in coaching engineers and CEOs of professional service firms. For more information, visit www.mentorloft.com.

We would love to hear any questions you might have or stories you might share on your networking strategies and the things you do to make new friends.

Please leave your comments, feedback or questions in the section below.

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To your success,

Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP

3 Ways Engineers Can Provide Stellar Client Service

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This is a guest post by Tiffani Teachey

client service

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~ Maya Angelou

As an engineer, providing excellent client service is essential for your career. When clients are happy, they are more likely to recommend your services to others and continue working with you. But what does it mean to provide stellar client service? Delivering stellar client service is essential for all professionals, especially engineers. Engineers have the technical expertise and knowledge to solve complex problems and provide valuable solutions for their clients. By following these three tips, engineers can deliver outstanding client service that will exceed client expectations. Keep reading to learn more!

Engineers can provide stellar client service through the following tips:

  1. Respond quickly to client inquiries
  2. Clearly communicate project updates and timelines
  3. Offer suggestions for how clients can improve their product or service

1. Respond Quickly to Client Inquiries

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Embrace the Power of Networking to Unlock Opportunities and Insights

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This is a guest post by Jeff Perry, MBA

Networking

“Networking is not about just connecting people. It’s about connecting people with people, people with ideas, and people with opportunities.” ~ Michele Jennae

Networking and its validity or importance is written and talked about extensively — but what do you actually do about it?

While I am a proponent of networking both inside and outside your organization, this article will be mostly focused on networking with those you don’t work with currently. You need to look outside and learn from people who are in different companies, roles, and environments from you.

Networking

Doing so will expand your insights, understanding, and opportunities beyond what you can do if you are only creating connections inside your current organization.

Networking on the Outside

Let’s look at a few reasons why establishing your network outside of your organization can be helpful. Reasons include, but are not limited to:

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The Importance and Benefits of Getting Involved in Your Community

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This is a guest blog by Jon Savage

Getting Involved

Volunteer work and philanthropic efforts have been an integral part of Pennoni’s core values since 1966. And even prior to joining the firm in 2005, I’ve always valued the importance of them in both business and personal life.

“Getting Involved” With Your Community

“Getting involved” with your community is straightforward, and fun in many ways, but also involves your day-to-day routines, church, children, and other activities. My interests include improving local conditions and applying my expertise to my volunteer efforts. Most importantly, I’ve always had a sense of giving back to individuals and organizations that have helped me. I believe, in my heart of hearts, that’s really the best message I can relay to folks who do want to get involved in their communities.

getting involved

At the beginning of my career, after receiving my degree from Penn State and attempting to apply the expertise I had learned gaining a geography degree, I thought it might be useful to apply my planning skills to my local community where I grew up. As it turned out, there was a need on the local planning board for someone of my capabilities, even though I had just graduated with limited planning experience. While my tenure on the local planning board was about a year in length, I did learn many insights into local politics, and was able to contribute to objectives that the board was attempting to carry out and other areas of concern.

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Building Your Personal Brand as a Problem Solver: The Right Message at the Right Time

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This is a guest blog by Carl Friesen

problem solverBeing recognized as a problem solver in your organization, profession, or industry can bring big rewards. These include distinguishing yourself from people who just focus on performing a task. As a result, you can earn more respect from the people you work with. You have more control over the work you do, who you do it for, and how much you’re paid.

But to gain that reputation as a problem solver, you’ll need to gain buy-in for your proposed solutions from the people you work with. To do that, you need to communicate your ideas in terms understandable to those you need to convince. This applies whether you’re trying to “sell” your idea to one person — your supervisor — or convince thousands by writing an article for a national publication.

problem solver

Just like living beings, ideas have a lifespan, and to get buy-in you need to work with that fact.

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Personal Brand: What Is It and Why Is It Important?

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This is a guest post by Gabe Lett, FSMPS, CPSM, LPC

A personal brand is the perception a person has of you. Rather than the overall perception of a company, a personal brand is specific to you as an employee of your company. The reason for the elevation of personal branding has to do with the digital capabilities of social media and the ease of building a personal business network that spans geographies. The better you establish your personal brand, the more opportunities you bring to your company.

What Ingredients Make a Personal Brand?

A brand is simply the total experience people have when interacting with a company. What people feel and experience when they interact with a product or service makes its brand. Therefore, a personal brand is made from:

  1. Interaction with you personally
  2. Experience of you personally
  3. The emotion elicited when interacting with you and experiencing you personally

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5 Steps to Building and Maintaining Client Relationships

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This is a guest post by Zane Pucylowski , P.E.

Client Relationships

Customers want to work with engineers who provide excellent service by respecting their time and needs. However, manufacturing challenges, constant innovations, and changes to the industry can be a barrier to excellent customer service. Without great customer service and relationship building, new innovations and investments may never happen. Keeping a steady pipeline of existing clients will be beneficial to your firm. Existing clients keep your project board full and can recommend your firm to new clientele. However, closing on a new lead can take time, so it helps your firm to re-engage with existing clients. As the President and Principal Engineer at Phoenix Engineering and Consulting, I have seen the importance of maintaining solid client relationships. Here are five ways we work with clients to make sure we keep these relationships strong. 

1. Maintain an Open Mind 

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Three Situations Where Customers Are Not Always Right

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This is a guest post by Nader Mowlaee

CustomersYou must have heard this phrase before: “The customer is always right.” And chances are you have assumed that it applies to everyone and every business. However, based on my experience, there are three situations where this is not the case. In this article, I would like to share those situations with you so you won’t be negatively affected by misplaced beliefs or false expectations.

The idea or purpose behind this saying is to improve the quality of service we offer to everyone, whether they are purchasing products or services from us (external customers) or working on the same team as us (internal customers). However, over the last few years, I’ve seen many cases where internal and external customers have quoted this phrase to bend the truth a bit or break a rule. Here are three situations where the idea of,  “the customer is always right,” is wrong.

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Engineers Can Provide Stellar Client Service

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This is a guest blog by Tiffani Teachey

Provide Stellar Client ServiceStellar client service is the key to retaining clients. As an engineer, one might not think client service would be in an engineer’s wheelhouse, but it’s often one of the most effective ways to retain clients. Stellar client service is the key to your business and company’s success. It is a way to provide a competitive edge in the industry and help grow one’s company. The benefits of stellar client service outweigh the costs, as they will gain loyal customers who will come back for more! Below are three ways engineers can use their skill set and knowledge base to provide stellar client service:

Solving the Client’s Problems and Providing Solutions

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