Discussions > Business Issues

How to decline business (6 Comments)

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:51:07 +0000

I'm faced with a bit of a quandary. We're a small firm but have a lot of business at present. I do pretty much all the field work (not counting wetland stuff) and Phase I/Phase II stuff. I routinely pull about 6-10 hours of overtime every week. Add that to the prevailing conditions of fast turnaround times, sharp drop-dead dates for closings, and the rest.

Not to get personal, but I'm going to be on medical leave for a couple weeks in the near future, for some rather major surgery. After that I'll be on light duty for a couple months, and may be working part-time for a while during recovery. During that time our work volume capacity will be pretty limited... some of the work can be reapportioned to the other people here, but there's going to be a big hole.

Any suggestions on how to decline/defer/delay work without alienating the clients so that they don't come back?

Updated Environmental Professional Exploration Survey

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:22:47 +0000

Topic by Suzanne Maloney

Content

In order to get a clear picture and consensus of the perceived barriers to the Environmental Professional industry success a survey was post just before the holidays. This survey is still active and can be found at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BTSZXM5.

You can find the most recent summary of the finding of the survey at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CF64Z4AsbS1N496ImpZvpSXsaX7AyLd_smosaTPSG-0/edit?hl=en_US.

If you have questions you can reach me at suzannemm@nycap.rr.com.

Happy New Year!

Suzanne Maloney

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New Trade Organization for EPs Taking Form (6 Comments)

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:54:26 +0000

Topic by MaxEng

Those commonground members who are also active on LinkedIn may be aware of an initiative to establish a new organization for Environmental Professionals and the firms that employ them. The umbrella motivation seems to be that, although professional engineers have a trade organization (NSPE), their employers have one (ACEC), and professional geologists have one (AIPG), there is no integrated organization that serves the same function for environmental professionals. Motivations mentioned for forming such an organization include the following:

competent practitioners would like marketplace distinction from "fly-by-night" firms, and from unqualified persons who claim to be EPs
EPs would like to have a common voice by which they can obtain a "place at the table" when regulations such as AAI are proposed or revised
continuing education opportunities can be simplified and centralized
common interests of environmental firms can be promoted
the perceived efforts by professional engineer organizations to shut non-engineers out from environmental practice areas can be counterbalanced by an organization of similar stature
the multiplicity of confusing "alphabet-soup" "certifications" of uncertain value and validity can be resolved into one or more, more defensible certifications that would result from objective criteria

This effort was initiated by a couple of eminent environmental attorneys who have observed diminishing quality of environmental reports they see in property transaction and acquisition deals. However, these attorneys (though they will remain available for consultation) do not wish to direct the process of forming such an organization. An experienced trade-organization executive is involved also in the early days of planning, and this person will perhaps remain involved in a similar executive role if the effort reaches critical mass.

I encourage anyone who believes their firm would possibly be interested in membership in such an organization to contact me through the email address listed in my user profile. Thanks!

High Pricing Due to Desperation or Reduced Competition? (4 Comments)

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:54:45 +0000

Topic by FStephenMasek

Has anyone else noticed that some consulting companies are seeking high prices? Sometimes, the "locals" are high enough for us to travel to other states and still undercut them. I've recently spoken with someboby at another consulting company who is finding the same thing. Do you think this is due to reduced competition, or desperation to make money on an occasional project?

Pricing pressure (65 Comments)

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:28:52 +0000

Topic by dcrocker

We took commonground to Seattle's Safeco field this AM w/ our Due Diligence at Dawn forum. There was a really good discussion that originally started here in the community about how cutthroat the industry has gotten. A panelist offered up how important it is to keep your standards up and "not give your services away." Another suggested firms "make a choice w/ your business model to either go by level of service or lowest price, and stick to it."

One discouraged all EPs from playing the price game, noting that "when you downgrade your price, you devalue the Phase I services of everyone in the room."

Check out this "mug shot" from our morning forum. Maybe they'll become like the travelocity gnome and show up all over the world!

Rehberg attack on RRP would kill lead consulting business (8 Comments)

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:21:51 +0000

Topic by FStephenMasek

Consultants need to act immediately to prevent the death of RRP, and with it most of the lead consulting business. Rep. Rehberg's bill has passed the House, and is now in the Senate. What have you done to stop his misguided and misinformed effort to kill RRP over the issue of "test kits?" He is supported by slumlords (I'm a landlord, but not a slumlord) who want to keep ignoring lead and contractors worried about losing business to those who will ignore RRP. Consultants with highly accurate XRFs are readily available, and for all but trivial projects can perform an isnepction for less than the cost of the inaccurate "test kits." We need to encourage EPA to simply delete all references to "test kits" from RRP. Have you contacted your senators to urge them to kill the Rehberg provisions in the appropriateions bill? Have you contacted Rehberg? Have you contacted various organizations supporting his bill to tell them the facts that XRF inspections are readily available, accurate, and less expensive than the "test kits?"

Just in case somebody brings up an old misconception - XRF testing is good enough for OSHA compliance. Nobody really belives that paint found to contain low levels above zero could produce exposures which exceed the PELs. Contractors simply need to do a better job of collecting exposure assessment data.

Contracts, Reliance, Liability and Limitations (4 Comments)

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:42:38 +0000

Topic by Plato

My typical contract for a Phase I ESA includes standard Terms and Conditions, and this contract is signed by the "User".

If I am asked to provide a reliance letter after the report is completed, I require the new User to sign a similar contract with the same standard Terms and Conditions.

However, the initial report may have included other entities that may rely on it including the purchaser and the lender.

Does anyone know of requiring each entity that may rely on the initial Phase I ESA to sign a contract and accept all terms and conditions?

Welcome to the E&O Insurance Discussion (6 Comments)

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:43:24 +0000

Topic by Lauren617

Sometimes mistakes happen; so do lawsuits. Making sure your consulting firm is properly insured can mitigate the potentially catastrophic impacts of litigations. Here is a place where you can talk about E&O insurance and what it means for your business. You can either reply to this post or start your own thread.

Do you know IVI? (2 Comments)

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:46:38 +0000

Topic by R Scott Powell

Has anyone had experience with Inspection & Valuation International, Inc. (IVI)? Their headquarters is out of White Plains, NY, with offices in Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Seattle, and Dallas. What is your general opinion of them? Please send me a message if you do not want to post. Thanks.

FDIC work no cakewalk (5 Comments)

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:33:06 +0000

Topic by dcrocker

wow. I was just talking to an EP managing a portfolio of Phase Is for the FDIC. Pretty shoddy info provided on some of these sites. Said they're lucky if a complete and accurate site address is provided (one was just labeled "vacant property on I-84"). Owner of another is in prison on coke charges (do you have to visit the jail? or can you say the owner wasn't available?), and another denied being the owner. These are tough projects, and price-competitive ones but in a market as tight as this one, firms are nonetheless glad to have the work.