The Monday Morning Building Product Advisor
Issue #137

Steadfast Steve, Part 2

We found ourselves 900 miles away in Wausau, Wisconsin, sitting at a table to review the shop drawings before they were officially submitted.

If you missed last week, here’s a quick recap…

Steadfast Steve spent around 3 years helping our teams solve curtain wall details, often on projects he wasn’t likely to win. When the research campus moved to phase two, he put in a substitution request for the new system he represented. He then took the client and the design team to a job site where we could see the system being installed on one side of the building and finished on the other. We approved it. [Link: Steadfast Steve, Part 1]

That’s where most stories about winning product reps end. The spec gets approved, they win the job, and they celebrate back at the office for 5 minutes.

It’s also where most reps stop their involvement and move on to their next big lead or project.

But Steadfast Steve doesn’t play like that! That rockstar actually got even busier…

The meeting before the submittal

Before the shop drawings went through the formal submittal process, Steve flew the contractor and some of our design team up to the manufacturer’s shop in Wausau, Wisconsin. We sat down with his team and went through the drawings together, informally, with red pens in hand.

[Red pens this time, not bumwad.]

We pointed out the issues we would have found later, and they fixed them before the official package ever reached our desks.

Remember what I said last week about how architects view substitution requests?

Here’s the other side of that…

When we approve a substitution, we’re putting our name on it. The client heard us say yes. If that curtain wall turns into a leaky mess full of change orders, nobody remembers the product rep. They remember the architect who said it’d be fine.

So when shop drawings for a substituted product show up, we get nervous. The formal submittal process doesn’t help. It’s set up for stamping “revise and resubmit” and sending things back. Each round can take a couple of weeks, while the GC keeps calling to ask about their approval.

Steve took most of that off our plate before it started.

And he didn’t stop there…

On that same trip, his team gave us a tour of the aluminum extrusion and anodizing plants. Watching the mullion profiles we’d drawn come out of the extrusion press and seeing how the finish is applied to the metal taught us more than any data sheet could. We flew home trusting both the system and the people behind it.

For a product that had never been installed in our town before, that job went more smoothly than anyone expected.

[Fun side note: On that trip, we were also introduced to “squeaky cheese.” And we learned that, besides being the mecca for curtain wall manufacturers, Wausau also has a lot of ginseng farms. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ]

Anyway! Back on the roller coaster…

Last week, we talked about the chain pulling the roller coaster car up the first hill and the potential energy it stores along the way. Everything after the top depends on that stored energy.

Here’s what happens after that first drop.

The car climbs the next hill using only its momentum, but every inch of track takes away some energy due to friction and air resistance. That’s why the second hill is always lower than the first. Coaster designers can’t change this. Without another chain, the car just can’t get back to where it started.

That’s the product rep who wins a spec and then tries to coast on it.

They land their right hook and think the relationship is at its peak. So they coast into the next project, and the one after that, with each request carrying a little less weight. 18 months later, they wonder why the architect who once loved working with them now takes 3 days to reply to an email.

The win didn’t put them at the top of the hill.

It actually put them back at the bottom. Getting that big win spent the potential energy they’d stored. That’s what happens when you only focus on the hook and the win.

Have you heard the line that “you’re only as good as your last performance”?

It’s true, but only if you stop putting in effort between performances. If you make that mistake, your last performance really is all you’ve got, and it’s already been spent.

Steve put the car back on the chain before it stopped rolling.

Think about what that shop drawing review really was.

It was another jab… A concrete block, not a feather. And he delivered it just when we were most concerned, on the project where we’d taken a risk for him. The same goes for the tours of the extrusion and anodizing plants. He was storing new energy in the middle of spending the old.

Even after the second tower was finished, he was still at our office, helping our teams with their details. Just like before the win, and just like during those 3 years when he had nothing to show for his efforts.

That’s why the saying “only as good as your last performance” never really fit Steve. His last performance was never the only thing he had to offer.

So what does this mean for you this week?

Think about the last spec you won with an architect you’d like to keep working with. Is that project still in the submittal phase, or is it already under construction?

If the shop drawings haven’t been submitted yet, call the architect and offer what Steve did: a quick review before the formal submittal. Most architects I know would agree to that in a heartbeat.

And you don’t need to fly anyone to Wisconsin or wherever your technical team or factory is based. An hour in their conference room with the drawings and the GC’s project manager will do the trick.

If you’re past that stage, find the next “concrete block” on that job. Maybe it’s a site visit when the installer has questions, or fixing a punch list item before anyone even asks.

I’ve put together a checklist you can use to do a pre-submittal shop drawing review with an architect. It includes ideas on what to bring and how to offer your help without making it seem like you’re trying to skip the formal process. Here’s the link: Checklist - Pre-Submittal Shop Drawing Review​

Just like last week, I’d love to hear from you if you try it out.

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That's it for this week!

Here's to building more than just buildings, and see you next week,

Neil "still keeps a red pen in every bag" Sutton
​Architect | Speaker | The Product Rep Coach

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P.S. Do you really want inside an architect's head?

When you’re ready, there are 3 ways you can start working with me:

• Product reps: If you want to be better at connecting with architects, reply, and let's chat.
• Business owners or Team Leaders: You can book an Architect Connections Training for your team. Reply, and I'll send you the details.
• Speaking: If you would like me to present at an upcoming group meeting, get in touch, and let’s talk!

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