Higher fees start with smarter sales – here’s how

I recently conducted a poll on LinkedIn to assess what architects’ biggest worry was for 2025. A total of 177 people voted, and the results were stark:

• Low fees – 49%
• Incoming/changing regulations – 12%
• Securing new work – 34%
• Diversity/inclusion – 5%

A combined total of 83% of respondents were worried about low fees and winning new work.

Much has been written recently about our industry’s struggle with low fees and stagnant salaries. Some voices in the profession are encouraging young talent to go into roles in adjacent sectors, such as development management.

But I have an alternative view. We can fix the problem of low fees – and therefore low wages – ourselves if we focus on our sales process. I know this sounds like a massive simplification, but hear me out…

Our sales process is where we start communicating our value to our clients. Conversely, if it is done badly, it is where we allow the erosion of our value to occur.

If our marketing and sales system is firing on all cylinders, then it is creating multiple potential projects. We are then able to pick and choose between projects, which makes our negotiation position much stronger, and therefore fee proposals higher.

Undercutting seems to be the perennial problem of our industry, but if we use the marketing, nurturing, and sales process to demonstrate how we are uniquely qualified for a project, then we can justify why the client should pay more than they would for another proposal.

There are only two ways to make more money in architecture – charge more or spend less

This may sound fanciful, but I was recently advising a client on a project where they asked me to get three quotes for planning consultants, and then chose to go with the most expensive. Why? Because they were the most likely to get them planning consent.

So if we can use our sales process to tease out the clients’ pain point, and then demonstrate how we can solve it, our additional fee ceases to be a significant factor.

So how do we do this?

The first crucial thing is to actually write or draw out a systemised, repeatable process that explains how you are going to grab the attention of your ideal clients and then lead them towards you until they appoint you for a project. If it’s written down, it’s much more likely to happen, and you can share it with your team so that they can use it with their contacts to create more leads.

Here is my five-step, repeatable sales process. The reason I am sharing it is because I believe that if architects are better at demonstrating our value (sales) we can ALL raise our fees. So, use it if you want, or tell me I’m totally wrong – I don’t mind which. But let’s have a debate about the so-called dirty word of sales, and let’s have it out in the open.

1. Lead generation/targeting

This is the top of the funnel – it’s how you first catch a client’s eye.

To catch the right people’s attention, it is crucial that you first define your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile), then work out where they are.

It doesn’t matter if you are targeting high-net-worth homeowners or end-user educational clients – you need to focus your lead generation efforts where your ICP spends time. Work out where they are and what you can do to get their attention.

2. Nurture

Knowing where they are and getting their attention is a start, but there is still a long way to go to secure them as a client.

According to research by Google, in the digital age the average consumer takes seven hours, over 11 interactions across four platforms, before committing to a purchase. And that’s for consumer products like headphones. Imagine what it’s like if a client is committing to tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds in fees for an architect. Our fees are big-ticket sales, so it makes sense that we have to put the hours in to win every one.

Rather than having to speak to a potential client for seven hours in 11 different places, we have built assets that allow our potential clients to engage in our thought process without us. Our practice has over 50 hours of podcast content on Spotify, as well as video, blog, and LinkedIn content.

Alongside digital, we have regular in-person events that potential clients can attend, which demonstrate our credibility, and also agreements with ‘hunting partners’ – fellow consultants who gently guide clients towards us.

Build your nurture ecosystem so that it leads clients towards you from multiple angles.

3. Discovery

The aim of the first two steps is to get face-to-face with the potential client.

Once you are sitting with them, the temptation is to get out a portfolio and start talking about all the amazing work you’ve done. Resist this urge. If you are in a nice restaurant or bar with your laptop out, you’ve done something wrong.

The first meeting should be about establishing a connection and listening. If you spend more time listening than talking, you will learn what the potential client’s pain points are – which you can solve in the next stage.

4. Pitch

You’ve listened and learned. You know where the pain points are.

Set up a follow-on meeting (this one can be virtual) after the initial lunch, beer, wine, or coffee to tell them about your business. This is where you can get your presentation out. Tailor your case studies to be relevant to the pain points you unearthed.

If you find you have nothing in your portfolio that is relevant to them- in terms of sector, location, or scale- you probably don’t have a realistic shot at working with them. Save the time and focus on another ICP that is more within reach.

A good pitch rams home why you are uniquely qualified to solve the problems identified during discovery. By the end, you should be asking: Is there a project ready for us to work on?

5. Proposal

If steps 1 to 4 have gone well, the result of the pitch meeting is that the potential client will ask you to look at a project for them.

If you have done everything correctly, you will have built trust, demonstrated your unique ability and competency, and as a result, you may even be bidding solo – the ideal scenario. You should have positioned yourself as such an obvious choice for the project that your fee proposal is the only one they really need to consider.

Whether you are bidding against another practice or not, the most important part of the proposal is clarity – establishing the brief, timescales, and a clear set of deliverables. It’s no good getting to ‘yes’ from a client for a figure that isn’t tied to specific outcomes within a fixed time period.

There are only two ways to make more money in architecture – charge more or spend less.

I’m a firm believer in charging more. The way we do this is by having an abundance of leads to pick and choose from. If we focus on lead generation, we will be in this position. If we focus on a repeatable, predictable, and systemised sales process, we will be more profitable on each job and, in turn, able to spend more on wages.

And as a bonus? We’ll deliver better projects for our clients and build a more beautiful world for people to enjoy.

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