The Buying Decision Process in the A/E/C Industry – How Marketers Can Influence Buyer Decisions on an Ongoing Basis

In the A/E/C industry, marketers and leadership must follow strict laws and guidelines regarding ethical procurement when dealing with government agencies, however, the buying decision process is an important factor to consider throughout the pursuit lifecycle, from pre-positioning to delivering the finished product.

We know the procurement process for public work starts with the advertisement of the Request for Proposals (RFP) on a public site. This RFP includes clear instructions for submittal/compliance and evaluation criteria. To illustrate, let’s use an example from the City of Orlando. The City is seeking a qualified consultant to provide ongoing landscape architectural services for the downtown area. They release an RFP on their City procurement site and receive five proposals from local firms who are all qualified to perform the work. The City then evaluates the proposals and selects the highest- ranked firm to perform the work. Simple, yes? Actually, the City’s buying decision process started long before the advertisement of the RFP.

The City would have recognized late last year that Downtown Orlando’s landscape and streetscape elements were dated and not aligned with theCity’s 2024 goals to create a cohesive, sustainable environment, provide communal spaces, and increase accessibility for residents and businesses. This was the first step in their buying decision process—Need/ Desire Recognition. This was clear through the external stimuli gained from evaluating the area and recognizing the last time these services were performed, the materials used were not sustainable and were long overdue to be updated. From that Need/Desire Recognition, the City was able to make the decision to advertise an RFP. In advertising that RFP, the City is also beginning Step 2 of the buying decision process, by searching for additional information.

Once all consultant proposals have been submitted and evaluated, the City now needs to determinewhich firm is most qualified to be awarded the contract. In the Need/Desire Formulation stage of the buying process, there are many factors for theCity to consider. They need to employ: 1) Attribute/ Feature Processing—which firm has the most relevant/salient approach to the proposed project?;2) Brand/Model Processing—while reading through each proposal individually, which firm’s submittal resonates the most with the City while meeting the evaluation criteria and specified qualifications? They need to decide where each firm ranks prior to moving on to evaluating other submittals; and 3) Specific vs. Abstract—When comparing consultants’ responses, how do they compare to each other? They likely will all have similar approaches and qualifications – how do they measure up to the needs of the City and the project? Given the very clear evaluation criteria and scoring requirements in these public RFPs, we as A/E/C marketers understand this Specific-level processing is what the City’s Selection Committee will be using to make their decision. They need to consider each proposal individually and compare it against the scoring criteria stated in the RFP—from there, it will be clear which firm has submitted the most qualified response based on the City’s own published criteria. Another type of processing buyers use is abstract comparisons, however, given these submittals are all so similar with clearly stated requirements, that would not be the appropriate method for the Committee to use.

The City has made their selection and awarded a contract so the buying decision process is complete, right? Actually, there is one more step and, in the A/E/C world, this step continues throughout the project life cycle. This is Need/Desire Fulfillment. While this need is initially fulfilled when the City selects the appropriate firm and awards the contract, there is a post-evaluation period that, in this case of an ongoing contract, will continue throughout the duration of the contract. The City will be continuously evaluating the consultant’s performance for the entire contract period, thus influencing their buying decision processes the next time they advertise a similar RFP. If the consultant goes above and beyond, completely transforming the downtown area and exceeding the City’s sustainability goals by 25%, the City will remember this the next time they have work to award. Maybe the consultant’s project team is less experienced than promised, unresponsive, and delivers mediocre work. The City is continually evaluating this, too, and will feel less Need/ Desire Fulfillment with the overall Buying process in this case long after the contract has been awarded.

In the A/E/C industry, this is something we as consultants should be mindful of at all phases of the procurement process. How we performed (or our perceived performance) on our last contract with a specific Client (in this case the City) is going to directly impact their attitudes and behavior towards buying decision processes in the future. While they may still have the strict evaluation criteria they must follow, they may subconsciously disregard our services and qualifications based on past experience.

Therefore, we as marketers need to be cognizant of our existing client relationships and always be looking for ways we can sustain/rebuild them. Do we have a new project team that is better qualified than what we provided on a past contract? We could get ahead of the future buying decision process and present them with this information prior to the Need/Desire Formulation stage to ensure we are fresh in their minds and have preemptively provided them with information about our firm before they even reach the Need/Desire Recognition phase of the buying decision process.

In conclusion, it’s crucial to treat buying decisions as a continuous journey, where the fulfillment, or lack thereof, of clients’ needs and desires can significantly influence future buying decisions.