By Paola Moya
Moya Design Partners is a multidisciplinary boutique studio producing creative work in the fields of architecture, interiors, and visual design. Our portfolio is as diverse as our innovative team. We serve clients ranging from MGM Resorts to nonprofit organizations, business improvement districts, universities, entertainment, sports arenas, theaters, private developers, and charitable foundations. www.moyadesignpartners.com
How does your firm define its business development strategy(s)?
Moya Design Partners (MOYA) defines business development strategy as relationship-building, cultivating interest, and delivering quality of work. The best way to obtain new clients is through introductions from peers, current clients, and company contacts. The cycle for cultivating interest is extensive and can take years, so building relationships and providing clients with added value is important to set up a winning strategy. Emotional intelligence is a crucial factor. For existing clients, it’s not enough to deliver our work on time. We check periodically to understand how we are delivering our services. At informal meetings, we check on how the team is doing, and we use a client survey at major milestones to seek ways we can improve.
MOYA offers an array of design services from architecture to interiors to graphics and exhibits, so we work with clients in a variety of mediums to bring their visions to life. These one-stop services complement the overall look and feel of an architectural project. We provide turnkey solutions, so when clients arrive in their new space, everything has been thought out, from the architecture and interiors to branding and even the interior décor.
To complement our private sector business development strategy, MOYA invests resources to pursue RFP competitions and public submissions. We partner with developers to submit responses to multifamily, museum, education, recreation, and office space projects. Our team not only provides architectural services, we fully engage our visual design team to tell a story that can capture the essence of a project. We engage the community through contemporary technology to help them learn more about a project. Our communications strategies for projects have included branding, logo and even full project websites. For all public RFPs, we work closely with the agencies to understand their upcoming needs and future pursuits. This allows us to set up a strategy in advance and form a team of professionals that are best suited to meet the project’s goals.
What are some of the techniques that you use to implement that strategy?
We want to tell others the story of what we do. Our PR and in-house communications team sets up a yearly and monthly strategy on how to accomplish that. We create a list of current clients and strategize how we can better serve them. We periodically look at our potential clients and establish one-to-one meetings. We maintain our website with current and past project information and keep our social media platforms up to date. Internally, we find ways for upper management to improve their leadership styles by enrolling in local leadership programs, where relationships often translate into projects. Each team member is encouraged to do networking, not just for the company but to build their own brand and grow their relationships.
What does a strong client relationship feel like and how can one be strengthened?
A strong client relationship is when you are able to establish and develop a sincere relationship, and you always deliver your work under the highest ethical standards. We are always working with diverse people with different interests and goals. I try to meet with my clients for lunch or dinner and catch up with them informally with no agenda other than to check in with them. After each meeting, I look for ways to help them in a field that is either related to the project or to something they care about. Caring about your clients must be genuine, and you must invest the time to nurture it. Communication is key when it comes to managing your client’s project. Depending on the generation and your client’s style, some prefer a text, some a call, and some a physical meeting. You have to quickly establish which method of communication works best for them, so that a project runs smoothly.
Staying in touch with people you meet and putting in an effort—just like you would do for a friendship—is important for any business relationship, especially a client. Building trust with a potential client is essential because they will rely on you to deliver an excellent product that achieves their goals. At MOYA, we build trust by being reliable, thoughtful, helpful and purposeful in our interactions, whether they are virtual (like email exchanges) or in person. If we can offer something without being asked, then it goes a long way. I often introduce people to each other, which benefits both parties looking for a service. Including our contacts in our circle allows for genuine and organic business growth.
Explain how the firm has achieved a “market breakthrough”.
I am a Latina owner of an architecture firm. That is a rare thing to see in a predominantly male business sector and even more so as a minority. At Moya Design Partners, we market ourselves as competitive, diverse, and agile. We love to compete with and against bigger firms. When I started MOYA in 2017, I wanted us to be client focused, deliver our work with perfectionist execution, and create partnerships with both small and larger firms. Most importantly, I wanted the team to be able to work in a thriving environment where they could dictate when and how they work. We are open to partnerships and embrace our diversity. There are more and more clients with diverse backgrounds. We find ourselves leading large projects or else working under the leadership of larger firms. Our love for design in all platforms and cultures has made each of our products compelling, complete, and thorough.
In the ever-changing marketplace, how does one maintain competitive focus?
Moya Design Partners has diversified its portfolio to offer clients a variety of design services in different mediums. This allows clients to use MOYA for a wide range of design projects—like a one-stop shop—and diversifies our project stream with many simultaneous project lifecycles. Our team’s diversity helps us connect with people. Whether immigrants, people with accents, multigenerational, architects, engineers, or business owners, we have a way to connect with others that is authentic and sincere. Architects can have big egos, especially when teaming with other architecture firms, and, as we often are teamed with larger firms, that is the one thing we don’t bring to the table. Our focus as a team is to deliver good work. We like working with other firms. We always offer multiple ways to support our business partners and for them to complement our work.
Strategic partnerships could be the strategy that wins a client, how does that happen?
Having a flexible mentality in business has allowed us to work on diverse commissions that we never thought we would work on. For instance, we partnered with a smaller local contractor which allowed us to work on a civic project in Washington, DC. We have been able to partner with larger firms where we work under them or vice versa, and we have been able to support our partners with projects that need mixed-used architecture, interiors and branding. Currently, we’re working with OMA on a visual design project for the Convention Center in Washington DC; we’ve partnered with Beyer Bender Belle for an interiors project on a historic building in Loudoun County, VA; and we’re working with Perkins Eastman on a mixed-use development and interiors project in Washington, DC. The support of MOYA’s partnerships has been a market breakthrough. We can easily develop partnerships in architecture, interiors, and visual design, and we continually strategize for future pursuits.
I am an emerging professional / seasoned technical staff / never leave my desk, how can I impact business development?
You can impact business development by making the most of in-person meetings and networking tools like LinkedIn to formalize and strengthen connections with vendors, collaborators, and clients. Ensure your interactions are helpful and professional. You never know where a referral will come from… it could be a vendor that refers you to a new client because you’re great to work with!
What is the role of outside activities, relationships, etc. in generating opportunities and new business?
Community and industry activities can always lead to new interactions and connections, which can lead to new business. Put yourself out there and attend professional trainings, networking events and industry conferences. These not only help you develop your skills, they also help you connect with new people. Master your elevator pitch, follow up with new connections, cultivate your relationships and see your efforts open up new doors.
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Paola Moya is CEO and creative director of Moya Design Partners, a boutique architecture, interiors, and visual design firm. Wherever possible, she volunteers/pursues projects that address homelessness, domestic violence, and empowering women on a local level.
You can reach Paola at paola@moyadesignpartners.com or 202.816.6692 MOYA.
(Return to the cover of the 2019 PM Digest: Developing business)