Respect is earned, not invoiced. Perhaps I rub elbows with too many regular folks. I think this attitude many of us tend to have about getting the maximum fee per project often leads to earning the least per hour and worst of all it drives us into a corner, isolating us to a very small pool of clientele that can afford such a materialistically affirming fee. My experience dealing with wealthy clients vs. middle income earners is that the wealthy who pay the higher fees tend to get their money's worth out of you. When your fee includes every service under the sun to go Frank Lloyd Fascist on the project, you find yourself giving a little discount for extra services to get the higher total fee, thus automatically driving down your dollars earned per hour.
I applaud anyone who can keep a full work load of high paying, nearly limitless budget projects, but we can't all be doing this and at the same time have a serious curiosity as to why we Architects are NOT all over the HGTV shows, why we are NOT the first one an average person thinks about when considering a new home, and why we are NOT designing at least 80% of the buildings in this country. There are 10 houses being built for each commercial building and we are barely custom designing a small fraction of the houses being built. The overwhelming majority of houses come from catalogues and this gives us the potential for 1 job per 100+ houses built from that one catalogue design. Catalogue designs are a reality and there will always be a need for this, but our attitudes tend to drive people in masses to catalogues. Our profession needs an attitude adjustment!
If you only want to do business with clients with household incomes over $250k per year (top 2%), then perhaps these people respect higher fees more. If you want the average American to respect Architects, then you have to work for them! Average American household incomes are around $50k per year and these people don't pay ANYONE in the building industry for a 1 hour sales pitch just to get the job. No agent, no builder, no lawn care guy, no roofer, no tradesman of any sort charges someone just to sell their services. We are our own worst enemy. When we isolate ourselves in such a bubble from 98% of America do we have to wonder why we get such little respect? Just drive around anywhere USA and look at all the crappy cookie cutter, builder boxes and tell me that looks like respect! Browse the MLS listings in your area and tell me that looks like respect! For 98% of Americans, Architects are like Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster. Some believe we exist, but they've never seen one of us in the wild. Maybe some of us need to stop trying so hard to be excellent and find ways to insert ourselves into everyday American lives. It's far easier to achieve good results from nearly limitless budgets, but achieving good results on the type of budget most Americans can afford is a very difficult design problem, but a design problem none the less. In my opinion, this is the ultimate design problem that separates us from our egos and relevance, so are you up to the test?
A good Architect should be able to custom design a speculative house and have it sell on the open market for top dollar, very quickly. That's valuable to the majority of America, not designing an unobtainably expensive house so specific for a single person's needs that it is only functional and desirable as long as that one person occupies the house. The only value for a house like that is to take a pretty picture and maybe get a cover story on a magazine mostly viewed by your piers, not regular folks. These are the houses that take a long time to sell once that owner is gone and they don't always sell for the cost of construction. In exchange for that cover story that lasted a month and some pretty pictures we create an unintended reputation that lasts more than a lifetime. I know it stings, but this is what most people think of Architects and stereotypes exist for a reason.
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Eric Rawlings AIA
Owner
Rawlings Design, Inc.
Decatur GA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-06-2013 11:25
From: Allen E Neyman
Subject: What would I have done.
I concur strongly, that "free anything" is never valued. Maybe I am materialistic, but the things I have paid dearly for are most dear to me.... Your fees should be as high as possible, automatically teaches respect. My happiest clients are not the ones who paid the least. How your advice be valued if it is free? Human nature demands appreciation for the things committed, and there's no commitment like cash, blood, or one's word.
I am not picking a fight with pro bono mavens by any of this - that is worthwhile approach for different circumstances.
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Allen E Neyman
Rockville, MD
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-05-2013 08:15
From: Rand Soellner
Subject: What would I have done.
That's a very professional way to do it, Ann. Nothing wrong with that at all. I normally request payment in advance, if I am expected to go somewhere.
I typically do not charge for the first meeting, as long as they come to my location. However, I have learned, during 40 years of doing this that going to the client's site, stomping around and mumbling things like: "Oh we can do a nice one here," and, "Oh look at the great view!" or "Here's where your garage and living room could go," might excite the client and make them feel good, but really won't do much to get you the job. I won't do this without being paid anymore.
Interestingly enough, charging for a site visit analysis HAS resulted in me getting the job. People value what you do according to what they pay you. I don't mind going overboard in what I do for them in that Site Analysis Study, as long as I am paid something. View Systems, privacy/public exposures, solar angles, prevailing wind, septic (huge issues there), well, driveway orientations, topography influences on foundation costs, buildable area and the like.
I think many Architects think that they have to ingratiate themselves to potential clients by doing all sorts of things up front for free. All that does is condition a client into thinking that all Architects will do this and undermines our professional standing in the profession at large. We are, or at least Should, be running businesses here, along with practicing an art. There is no shame in earning a living and being asked to be paid for the services we render. Service with a smile? Absolutely. Service for free? Not wise.
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Rand Soellner AIA
Architect/Owner/Principal
Home Architects
Cashiers NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-04-2013 12:37
From: Ann Dunning
Subject: What would I have done.
I have an email file that I send when someone asks me to meet with me, I have a "statement" letter that list my expertise and tells how I charge-hourly to a %. Then I add that the first meeting will take about 2 hours and I will charge the client for 1 hour (I hour for you and one hour for me) due at the end of the meeting.
That way I feel I have been paid for gas and 1/2 my time and most times a client has a check or cash waiting for me. If someone wastes my time, I have explained that I am supposed to be paid and I send an invoice when I get back to the office. Occassionally after receiving that email, the person decides that we should not meet and I have not wasted more time.
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Ann Dunning AIA
President
Ann M. Dunning, AIA, Inc.
Chagrin Falls OH
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