I’m sitting here in the airport, just having returned my National rental car. As I pulled up in the return line, I witnessed a young lady unloading her car and working to keep track of two young children. She began removing bags from the trunk and kept removing bags. The attendant promptly arrived at her car, checked her out and moved to the next car. When he got to me, I asked “Don’t you guys have some type of cart or something to assist that young lady?” He said, “there are rental carts over by the wall.” Glancing toward the wall some 100 yards away, I said “Way over there?” He promptly moved on to the next car. I saw this as opportunity missed. He could have easily asked for some assistance from another attendant and assisted getting her two kids and five bags to the counter. Everyone returning their cars (National customers and others) would have witnessed a display of going the extra mile for the client. Instead, he focused on “Not My Job!” If nothing else, National should have carts near the car return area.
In short, LOOK for opportunities to go the extra mile for your client. We’ve said time and again, the small things count. I promise, they’ll notice and they’ll tell others. Can you imagine how this young mother would have told her husband and friends about the extra service she got? That’s what Word of Mouth Marketing is all about. If they have nothing to talk about, they won’t!

And yes, I did help her carry her bags to the check-in counter. Boy Scout Slogan “Do a good deed daily.”
Just do it!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

~ Mark Twain

Dallas pointed this out to me today and I thought it might be a valuable resource for you all.  Go to http://maps.live.com/ , enter your (or any) address, then click Birds Eye View.  Pretty cool, huh?

Let me start with a quote for you to ponder. From The Engineer: “I’m an engineer. That means I solve problems. Not problems like what is beauty; because that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of philosophy. I solve practical problems.”

That’s right. We typically solve practical problems and try not to deal with the conundrum of philosophy (as engineers). As engineers, we’re taught and trained (and often have an innate ability) to be problem solvers. Remember The Knack? But that’s the thing, most ALL engineers are taught to be problem solvers and most do a reasonably good job of it.

Now, ponder for a minute the entertainment industry. If you’re not working right now, chances are you’re being entertained in some form. You might be sitting home watching TV (entertainment) or listening to the radio (entertainment) or surfing the net (entertainment). Or, you might be getting ready to go to the movies (entertainment) or a sporting event (entertainment) or playing a video game (entertainment) or a myriad of other entertainment options. Think about it. In our county, the non-essential entertainment industry is worth trillions of dollars. We’re not talking the essentials for life - water, food, shelter. We’re talking non-essential discretionary spending. We spend money on entertainment because it makes us happy. We enjoy it.

So, if entertainment is SO important to us, wouldn’t you think folks would more readily select the transaction (consultant) that solves their problem AND is more entertaining? I’m not talking about doing a juggling act with flaming torches while delivering a report to your client. But the small things. Having an entertaining conversation about non-business issues with your client. Take your client to lunch when you’re not expecting to get something from them. Call your client to pass along some industry news.
Be entertaining and fun to work with and your value to your client will go up.

We welcomed in the new year in ’08 by starting our seventh office. This one is in Tupelo, Mississippi. As we embark on our seventh office, I reflect on how Aquaterra grows. Maybe you didn’t know this, but since our re-emergence as Aquaterra, LLC in 2001, we have tripled in size. That is a lot of growth for six years.

Our growth comes from one of three areas. Lets look at them.
Growth Area No 1 - Internal, Organic Growth
The most obvious means of growth is adding staff and typical work load at an existing office. We have enjoyed an ever-increasing positive reputation, and, with dedication to the client’s needs, we have had excellent growth in our established offices and in the practice areas that we are known for.

Growth Area No. 2 - Expanded Services
In the 1980’s and 90’s the geotechnical profession expanded into the environmental profession because of concerns about groundwater and subsurface soils contamination. Aquaterra has grown tremendously within this environmental arena. We have even moved that environmental arena further into natural resources environmental. For example, we provide advice regarding wetlands delineation and permitting, stormwater controls, stream mitigation, as well as cultural resources. We have moved our environmental services into indoor air quality issues such as mold, lead and asbestos issues. We have also developed a full-service capability for solid waste and industrial landfills. We provide all aspects of permitting, design and construction monitoring. These are just a few areas where Aquaterra has grown by expanding our professional capabilities out into related aspects of our work, as our clientele needed expanded capabilities.

Growth Area No. 3 - Geographic Expansion
Aquaterra, LLC started as a firm with offices in Baton Rouge, LA; Chattanooga, TN and Jackson, MS. As we began to serve clients with geographically diverse interests, we moved into Atlanta, Mobile and Nashville. Now, we have new opportunities in Tupelo, MS, and we seize this growth opportunity to plant our Number Seven office there.

The Tupelo area has been a very good business area for Aquaterra for years. Recent industrial growth associated with the auto manufacturing industry has created significant new engineering opportunities. We have worked hard to serve our client’s needs there, and now we believe that their needs will be best served with a local Aquaterra presence.

Our office in Tupelo will be championed by Mr. David Coleman, P.E. David and I have worked together for over a decade, and he is the reason that we can be successful in Tupelo. David has amassed a great deal of experience in this geologic setting, and he is the man that our Tupelo clients look to when they need the right answers for their geotechnical questions. David will work with our existing environmental staff in the “mother” office of Jackson to develop our environmental practice there.

Let me leave this subject with two things to consider with respect to this rapid growth pace for Aquaterra.

Thing No. 1: Planning

Our growth is not happenstance. We plan our growth, and we have developed a growth matrix that has incorporated the three growth areas mentioned above. This most recent geographic growth is a part of Aquaterra’s long-term strategy consistent with our vision to become the preeminent earth science and engineering company in the Southeast.
Thing No 2: Clients

Notice a key word in the three growth areas that I discussed previously. That word is “client”. THE common aspect of growth of our business is response to our clients’ needs. Since the means of our existence is to serve our clients, the means of our growth is to increase our ability to serve our clients.