A couple of years ago, I had the bright idea that I was going to get away cheap on Valentine’s Day by surprising my wife with a cat that I had adopted from the local animal shelter.  The plan seemed to work: she was happy and I had only spent a total of $33.50 ($30 for the cat and $3.50 for a card). The next day, however, the plan quickly unraveled. I was on my way home from work when I received the frantic call from my wife. She was crying and deeply distraught. “She’s Dying! There’s blood everywhere!” she managed to get out between sobs. It turns out that the Valentine’s Day cat had jumped into the kennel with our two large dogs and was now in a state of mangled comatose on our bathroom counter. Feeling awful of course, I spent the rest of the drive home trying to figure out how to best put a cat out of its misery in a humane manner. When I arrived home, the cat wasn’t as near death as I had assumed, although she was clearly not in good shape. At my wife’s insistence, I wrapped the cat in a towel and promptly headed out the door to find a veterinary clinic that kept late hours. There was to be no such luck. The only place open was called The Animal Emergency Hospital, which I translated to mean “Kiss your paycheck goodbye.” Several hours and $1,000 later, I emerged with my wife’s Valentine’s Day present still intact.

Lesson learned: Buy jewelry.

We all make mistakes. Fortunately, we as intelligent thinking humans have the ability to learn from our mistakes and use the lessons learned to propel us to future success. While it is always painful to go through the process of dealing with our mistakes, it is that pain that makes the strongest impression on our subconscious and ultimately helps us make better decisions.

Some people equate making mistakes with failure. As a result, they play it safe, avoiding risk and rarely moving outside their comfort zone. Their fear of failure limits their growth potential and prevents them from learning many of life’s lessons that only come through making plenty of mistakes. While they may avoid some of the pain that mistakes inevitably bring, they tend to lead boring, unfulfilled lives and fall miserably short of their full potential.

So making mistakes is actually a good thing - as long as we see them as opportunities to learn and grow. I made a big one last week when I inadvertently hit ‘Reply All’ on an email response to a client that I intended to be private. I’ll admit that it was difficult to see the benefit of this mistake as I endured the awkwardness of explaining myself to the list of unintended recipients. In hindsight, however, I have learned a valuable lesson in email etiquette and thinking twice before hitting the send button.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and make more mistakes!

As I sit in my garage writing this, the thousand-dollar cat is doing her best to get my attention. Which reminds me - I have an anniversary coming up. Better head to the jewelry store soon.

Anytime I hear someone refer to civil engineering as a “noble profession,” it’s usually in the context of a discussion on the lousy salaries that most civil engineer’s earn relative to the other engineering disciplines. This weekend, I was reading the Annual Salary Survey in the latest issue of CE News, in which the Editor referred to civil engineering as, you guessed it, a noble profession. Why do we do this to ourselves? I’m referring, of course, to the practice of contriving important-sounding names to cover up the fact that we have let our profession slip into borderline commodity status while we stand on the sidelines and watch. We call it a noble profession to keep us from having to admit that civil engineers in general are under-appreciated, underpaid, and underutilized in our respective industries. What’s so noble about that?

Despite how it sounds, this is not a gripe session about how engineers need to start demanding higher salaries from their employers and higher fees from their clients. On the contrary, I believe that the market dictates such things based on the value that we bring to the table. In fact, many engineers are probably overpaid relative to the value of their contributions. What does concern me is the complacency that seems to permeate our practice. As a field grounded in the practical application of scientific principles, we have lost focus on the important role that creativity and innovation can play in our advancement, both personally and as a profession.

As innovative contributions wane, so does the value of our services. Think about it: when the product or service that I offer is no better or worse than the guy down the street, what compelling reason would you have to buy from me apart from price? So naturally, I cut my fees, freeze or reduce the salaries of my staff, and then read about the lousy pay of my peers in next month’s trade magazine. The best way to break free of this cycle is to step back and take a fresh view of how I do what I do. “The way we’ve always done it” doesn’t cut it anymore. It’s time to get out of the rut and start thinking creatively.

This is the part where I give you a 5-step plan on how to “think outside the box,” right? Well, that would sort of defeat the purpose. You will need to figure this out on your own - to get creative about getting creative and do what works best for you.

I will leave you with one piece of advice: keep an open mind and stop shutting out new ideas simply because they don’t conform with your traditional notions of how things should work. Several months ago, I was presented with a new design software application that I felt posed a serious threat to the integrity of an engineer’s independent judgement. Though my inclination was to reject this new technology outright, I spent the next several months looking at it from every angle, intrigued by the potential it had to add tremendous value to the design process. This week, my firm made a sizable investment in this revolutionary technology that the vast majority of my competitors have run away from. Already, the opportunities are lining up.

Let’s restore some dignity to this noble profession and start seeking innovative ways to offer more creative and value-driven services to our clients. And while you’re at it, toss the salary survey in the trash.

I finally caved. After months of resisting, I gave in last week and started “Tweeting.” If I thought the pressure to join twitter was strong, it’s nothing compared to the resistance movement that has emerged by those who are dead-set against using it. Usually citing a lack of time for such nonsense, many of these individuals are convinced that being on Twitter means that you suddenly start making announcements to the world whenever you’re going to the bathroom.

I must admit, I had some of the same reservations myself about using Twitter. At first glance, it’s difficult to imagine a compelling business reason for randomly sending out short text messages to a group of individuals who have chosen to follow you because they have some bizarre interest in what you have to say. Note the term “business reason.” It’s easy to see how such a tool could be popular among teens and other individuals with nothing but time on their hands to exchange jokes and share the latest gossip. Frankly, I’ve got better things to do and there are some aspects of my personal life which are…um…personal. This is the reason I have never jumped on the MySpace bandwagon. But, are social networking tools such as Twitter and LinkedIn actually good for business? I would argue that they are indeed and anyone responsible for getting and keeping customers should have a strategy for using the social networks for business development and professional relationship management.

Does maintaining a presence on the social networks require a dedicated effort and a certain amount of your precious time? Absolutely, but what activity that’s worth doing doesn’t require your attention? It’s amazing how many people create a LinkedIn profile and just sit back expecting others to seek them out - talk about a waste of time. While maintaining an active presence does require some effort, it’s not as time consuming as one might think. I typically spend about 15 minutes each day managing my profile, adding connections, and checking the status of my network on LinkedIn. I look at who is doing what and communicate with my connections as appropriate using the online messaging tools. LinkedIn has become my number one source of leverage for organizing and staying in touch with my professional network. The time invested has paid off exponentially as my online network has grown.

Similarly, I’m finding that Twitter doesn’t require as much time as I thought it would. By linking my Twitter account to my Blackberry, I can check on my friends and send out “tweets” from just about anywhere - waiting for the train, sitting at a stop light, or (dare I say) in the restroom (you know you do it!). Like LinkedIn, the key to success with Twitter is being an active participant in the game, not just sitting on the sidelines. It doesn’t take much time, but it does require regular attention.

Business people who are active on the online social networks are great people to know. They’re great to know because they get it. They understand the importance of maintaining professional relationships and staying in front of their contacts. They understand that helping others and sharing information ensures that their network is there for them when they need help. Consequently, their network of valuable contacts is usually substantial. These super connectors recognize that tools such as LinkedIn and Twitter provide leverage to help them succeed. Therefore, in order to connect with them, you need to be an active participant yourself.

It’s difficult to comprehend the power of online social networking without experiencing it firsthand. I have been loosely acquainted with a commercial real estate broker for several years. It has only been in recent months that we have become connected online - watching each other’s updates, exchanging brief messages, and sharing access to our individual networks. Last week, we finally met in person for the first time in a long time and it was as if we were the best of friends. The conversation was natural and free-flowing; there was no need for small talk or “catching up.” Our online activities served to bridge the relationship gap and strengthen an otherwise weak connection.

Participation in online social networking has become essential for anyone wanting to get the most out of their business development efforts. Need a little help getting started? Let’s connect at http://www.linkedin.com/in/ajwhitaker or you can follow me at http://twitter.com/ajwhitaker.

There is a running joke in my family that originated from one of my mom’s shopping excursions. When she returned home, my dad proceeded to grill her on how much she had spent on a particular purse. My mom’s response was classic: “They were practically giving it away!” she exclaimed. Now, every time my wife comes home with goods in hand, “practically giving it away” seems to be the going rate of just about everything.

When purchasing something, be it goods or services, everyone likes to feel that they got a good deal. In professional circles, we prefer the term “value” but it means the same thing - that the customer walked away with the sense of getting more than their money’s worth. Of course, getting something for free is the ultimate deal - theoretically resulting in an infinite return on investment for the customer. In addition, customers who get something for free tend to feel an obligation to either buy something or refer other potential customers. Believe it or not, Costco doesn’t just give away free food samples because they like you. It’s actually good for business. So, our dilemma becomes how do we instill in our clients the sense that we are practically giving our services away without driving ourselves out of business in the process?

As funny as it sounds, there are actually many effective strategies for giving away your services. The key to remember is that nothing is ever really free. You want to ensure that you’re getting something in return, either directly or indirectly, before you take the plunge. For example, Ware Malcomb has been giving away “free site planning” for years. No contracts to sign. No deposits needed. The client walks away from the process with a professional site plan that they can use however they wish. Why would anyone simply give these services away? Because it has been one of the most effective marketing strategies for the company hands down. Think about it: Get in on the project early, build a relationship with the client, add value that the client feels obligated to repay - it all adds up to brilliant marketing! As an added bonus, the company logo is plastered to the title block of every site plan. These documents will potentially be circulating for years to come. Free indeed!

Here is one more example to demonstrate the power of this concept. I have this friend - let’s say his name is John (because it is) - who called me yesterday and said he had just come from a meeting with a prestigious client. John was sitting in the client’s spacious conference room, when the client asked him, “Would you happen to know a good aerial survey firm that could create a nice wall map for our conference room?”

Without hesitation, John replied, “Sure, you’re looking at him. Not only that, but I’ll throw in the labor for free.”

Suspicious, the client asked, “So what’s the catch?”

“The catch is that I’m going to put a big fat logo for my company on your wall map for everyone who comes into this conference room to see.”

After contemplating this, the client said, “Yeah, ok. I can live with that.”

I’m eager to see the business that John passively drums up with that wall map. Sure, he’ll probably need to pay someone for the aerial data; but heck, these days I hear they’re practically giving it away.

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It seems like no matter who you talk to these days, negativity abounds. Not that there is nothing to complain about, but a negative attitude tends to stifle creativity, innovation, and perseverance - the very things that are essential for surviving this slump. As engineers, our goal should be to develop a counterbalance to the doomsday hype by focusing our attention on the benefits of a recession rather than the problems. Benefits? Sure, why not? Here is a list to get you started:

• No employee problems. That is, assuming you still have employees. I was cleaning out some old work files recently and found a stack of notes, reports, and forms dealing with employee performance issues from years past. There was everything from excessive tardiness to surfing the Internet. Just being reminded of these incidents made my blood pressure rise. Funny thing is, when people are highly motivated just to have a job, employee performance problems disappear. Furthermore, recruiting is no longer the problem that it once was.
• Great subconsultant fees. If you do happen to find yourself a little short staffed, affordable help is just a phone call away. I am blown away by some of the subconsultant fees that have crossed my desk lately. Increased competition, reduced overhead, and a low backlog have lead to lower fees. Good stuff - as long as you’re not a subconsultant.
• Plenty of office space available. Okay, maybe this is pushing it; but, I remember a time not too long ago when double decker cubicles weren’t out of the question. Those who link their success to the size of their office should have no problem finding some Class A office space at a great price right now.
• No fighting for available CAD licenses. Hey, it’s the little things. Now, if we could just get AutoDesk to buy back all those extra seats…
• Fast plan checks. Last week, I heard of a City that is turning plan checks around in three days. Inconceivable! I guess another benefit of a recession is that even those in the public sector are reminded that job security is not always a given. The level of customer service at the public agencies is definitely on the rise.
• Your big competitors suddenly don’t seem so big.Probably because they aren’t! In this economy and the next, one thing is certain - success will not necessarily follow those companies with the largest payroll. Your ability to skillfully market the value of your services to clients and deliver on your promises will directly affect your success rate in this business. This rings true no matter the size of your company.

And you thought there wasn’t a bright side! Got more to add to the list? Post them as a comment or send them to aj@engipreneur.com.

There are a ton of organizations, clubs, groups, societies, and associations out there competing for your membership. Choosing which ones in which to invest your time and money is an important strategic decision that should not be taken lightly. Participation in the right organization can yield tremendous results. Participation in the wrong one can distract from your focus and consume your valuable time.

There are only three compelling business reasons to join any organization: Access to potential leads or clients, opportunity to enhance your presence in a certain field or industry, and the furtherance of your profession. Of course, there may be non-business reasons for joining a club, such as hobbies or charitible causes, but we’ll leave these for another discussion. In order for you to get the most out of your membership, you need to determine which organizations provide a real business value and which are a waste of time.

For several years, I was an active member of CELSOC/ACEC, an organization focused on the business of engineering. As president of one of the local chapters, I was able to make a positive contribution to the club, the community, and the profession. At the same time, the benefits to my professional reputation in the marketplace were tremendous. The American Society of Civil Engineers is another great organization. However, after being a member of ASCE for 12 years, I recently decided to discontinue my membership. When I took a close look, I found that my membership was providing limited value for me and my particular field of practice. The group tends to be focused on structural engineering and transportation (i.e. the sexy side of civil engineering) and very limited focus on land development or the business of engineering. I concluded that there are other organizations from which I recieve more value for my investment of time.

In the current market, where money is tight and business development is paramount, I seldom attend any club meeting where there is little chance of interacting with potential clients. Right now, association dollars are marketing dollars. A regular coaching client of mine retails water gardening: ponds, pumps, koi fish, fish food, aquatic plants, etc. He was recently asked if he would serve as the local koi club’s Vice President. He was reluctant at first - too many other things on his plate. “Are you nuts?” I asked him. Such an opportunity gave him direct exposure to his target customer. Don’t miss a chance to get in front of prospects. Holding an office within your prospect’s industry group gives you instant credibility and recognition as a doer.

Finally, don’t join an organization unless you are going to actively participate in it. Being in a club just for the sake of being in a club is ridiculous. I know a guy who has been a member of ASCE going on something like 40 years, yet I have never seen him at a monthly meeting. What’s the point? Treat your membership in an organization as you would any other business investment -first, evaluate the ROI. Then, if you decide to invest, commit yourself to it and give it the attention that it deserves.

“We’ll lose money if we have to. We just need the work.”

This statement was made to one of my architectural colleagues recently by an engineer clammoring to win a small project for which our client was insisting that we get another outside bid. As an engineer surrounded by architects, I sometimes have the opportunity to review the proposals of other engineers who don’t necessarily know that my firm has engineering in-house. A few things came as a shock to me with this particular guy’s proposal. First of all, his fee was incredibly low - almost half of what I had proposed for a similar scope of work. Next was his attitude; it reflected that he was willing to do just about anything - even lose money - just to get the work. Finally (and the most surprising thing of all), this guy was a Vice President for one of the most well-known, well-respected engineering firms in Southern California. Two years ago, this company was known for charging a premium for their services, which they regularly did. Now, they aparently were willing to lose money in order to win a project; a sign of the times I suppose.

A similar event occurred to a friend of mine who was trying to land a project with a municipal client with whom he supposedly had a good relationship. He was competing against a firm that the client openly admitted was not nearly as qualified to do the work. When the competing firm’s fee came in at 30 percent less than my friend’s, the client’s reservations quickly diminished and the other firm got the job.

Under normal circumstances, 30-40 percent of prospective clients will choose an engineer solely on the basis of price (these also tend to be the most difficult clients to work for). In an economic recession, however, price tends to become a much stronger deciding factor as more clients face pressure to cut costs and bid-out their consultants. In response, an increasing number of engineers seem more than willing to drop their fees to land the work, even if it means forfeited profits. Thus a downward spiral ensues that diminishes the value of our services accross the board. So, what do you do when a client bids you out and demands that you lower your fees? 

• Get something in return. Don’t arbitrarily cut your previously stated fee without a corresponding reduction in scope or some other concession from your client. Doing so sends a message to your client that is guranteed to come back and haunt you. First, it tells them that you’re a liar since your previously stated best fee wasn’t really your best fee. Second, it tells them that they would have been stupid to not ask you for a reduction.
• Provide upfront value. Getting your hooks into a project before it even becomes a project is one of the best ways to ensure yourself a position on the team. Do some free upfront legwork or research that makes your client’s life easier. It’s always difficult and costly to switch engineers. Get in early.
• Ask to review your competitor’s proposal. It never hurts to ask and you would be surprised how often a client is willing to do this. Many times, a client will only look at the bottom line. They are more than happy to let you wade through the fine print and find critical omissions or overly restrictive language in your competitor’s proposal that will end up costing more in the long run.
• Win the relationship, even if you lose the job. Don’t pout or whine if you end up losing a job based on fee. You’re probably better off anyway. Focus on maintaining a professional relationship with the client. You never know when they will call again - maybe to fix what your low-ball competitor screwed up.

I currently host the Engipreneur Group on LinkedIn, which is specifically intended to target those in the “business of engineering.” The group is meant to serve as place to post project opportunities, share ideas, and link up with other entrepreneurial engineers. The question recently came up of whether or not the Engipreneur Group would permit public sector engineers to join and participate. It’s a fair question since government employees are technically not “in business” per se. This lead me to consider an even bigger question: Can the entrepreneurial qualities that make a good private sector engineer apply to those in the public sector as well? I believe that the answer is yes (and public sector employees will always be welcome to participate in the Engipreneur community).

In the last couple of years, I have witnessed a handful of coleagues move out of private engineering practice into the perceived safety net of public works. In nearly every case, the feedback I recieved from them after a few weeks on the job was basically the same. Here are a some quotes:

“It’s definitely a slower pace.”

“They keep telling me to slow down, to go back and check my work again, like I’m making others look bad.”

“Everyone seems content to just put in their 8 hours.”

“I don’t know what this one guy is even supposed to be doing; He just walks around all day talking to people.”

“Budgets and schedules don’t seem to matter. It’s more about politics and just putting in your time.”

“They joke that I probably won’t work so hard after my 90-day probation period.”

I always find such statements troubling, to say the least. It almost seems that the principles of good business have no place in the government sector. Don’t get me wrong - there are many hard working government employees out there; But, it seems that they tend to be the exception, rather than the rule.

My first exposure to this phenomenon occurred in college when I was working as a Student Assistant Surveyor for the State of California, Department of Water Resources. There was an old timer named Lou who had worked for the State for his entire 40 year career. Lou would usually manage our field crew when we would travel to San Bernardino during the Summer months. Every day at 1:30, Lou would take off his hat, wipe the sweat off his head, look around, and declare to the crew,”Heat waves are getting pretty bad. We’d better tear it down and head back to the hotel to download the data cards.” Even with my limited experience, I recognized that heat waves had little effect on the laser guided instruments we were using. I also recognized that it only took about 3 minutes for Lou to download the data cards back in his hotel room. But this guy had learned how to work the system, and I didn’t complain because I could usually squeeze in a round of golf before it got dark.

Such blatant examples of government waste bother me a lot more today. I thought of Lou last week when I filed my State income tax return and was notified that the State of California would not be issuing refunds pending resolution of the current budget fiasco. Hmmm. Makes me think that we need some entrepreneurs in government to shake things up. If you’re a government employee who happened to stumble upon the Engipreneur Blog, please don’t fall into the complacency trap of your peers. Innovation, efficiency, and financial responsibility should have a prominent position on both the private and public sectors. Don’t let the curse of the government employee bog you down!

I recently decided to browse the web sites of my major competitors in a particular geographic market. What I observed was both troubling and exciting. It was troubling in the sense that the vast majority of the web sites were so poorly designed that a potential client would likely leave the page in disgust before thinking of hiring these bozos. It was exciting for the exact same reason - these are my competitors after all.

In the information age, your web page is probably the most important advertising tool for your company. Yet, it’s amazing to see firms spending hundreds of dollars each month on phone book advertizing while dedicating zero resources to their web presence. I can’t even remember the last time I used a phone book for something other than a plant stand. Do you think your target clients are any different?

It’s time to start taking a serious look at the message that your web page is sending to your potential customers. If the message goes something like, “I’m an ignorant buffoon who has no grasp of technology, marketing, or the important role that the Internet plays in promoting my business,” maybe you need to reconsider your web strategy. Start by putting yourself in the client’s shoes. As a visitor to a web site, what is important? Here is a list of key considerations:

• Pages must be fast loading. If a visitor is waiting around more than 20 seconds for your fancy Flash animations to load up, they’re outta here!
• It must be easy to navigate. You want potential clients to be able to find the information they are looking for. Distracting graphics, confusing menus, and poor layouts don’t help in this regard.
• Make it look professional. Even if your teenage nephew built the site in a couple of days, you don’t necessarily want it to look that way. People can spot an amateur site a mile away. Some dead giveaways include pixelized graphics, hard-to-read text, and stupid animated gif images.
• Cut the crap. There’s nothing worse than a lengthy dissertation of clichés disguised as a professional business website. No one wants to read paragraph upon paragraph about how your firm offers “innovative solutions” and “outstanding service.” Keep it concise and focus on those qualities that set your firm apart from your competitors who are using the same overused jargon on their web sites.
• Present a clear call to action. What are you selling and how do I sign up? You want customers, not just visitors. Capture the contact information of those checking out your site. Invite them to sign up for your newsletter, fill out a quote request, or click a big button that says ‘Have someone contact me.’
• Add value. This is a tough one and very few professional service businesses do it effectively. What do people gain by visiting your site? Maybe your site has an online forum where visitors can post comments, questions, and feedback. Maybe they can download a free white paper on a particular topic. There are endless possibilities. Be creative and change things up periodically.

Don’t cut corners on your business web site. The technology is now such that anyone with a browser can build a web site, but most people have no clue how to really market their business on the web. Hire a professional developer with a proven track record for success. Check out their other work and tell them what you want. If you choose to do it yourself, don’t start from scratch. Purchase a nice template from www.templatemonster.com and practice using Adobe Dreamweaver to customize it and make edits. Whatever approach you decide, don’t fall into the trap of so many firms whose stagnant web presence does more harm than good for the image of the business. These guys are better off sticking to the phone book.

I just spent two excruciating days fighting with software that is supposed to make me more productive. I have been a loyal AutoCAD user for nearly 20 years, but this week, so help me, I almost swore it off completely. About 5 years ago, the people at Autodesk decided they were going to help bring civil engineers into the 21st century by launching Civil 3D, a model-based design environment that would replace the clunky, albeit stable, Land Desktop application that had become the industry standard for production drafting and design. Despite my tech junkie inclinations, I held off on making the switch until recent months, when rumblings about Autodesk no longer supporting the older products began to circulate.

One of the major inhibitors to making the switch to Civil 3D was the need to invest significant upfront effort to generate numerous customized ”styles” that permit a user to implement standards for their particular organization. Don’t like your contour labels to have the contour lines running through them? Better create a custom style for that! It’s almost as if the software developers were afraid to hinder our freedom of limitless choices by providing a few of the most commonly accepted industry standard styles as a starting point. As a result, they have created a product that is impossible to start using right out of the box, or even six months down the road. It would be like Microsoft releasing the newest version of Word, only without any of those pesky preloaded fonts. If they followed Autodesk’s example, you would be provided with some sophisticated dialog boxes with a dizzying array of options for creating every aspect of your fonts from scratch. And you would need to hire or designate an individual to act as full-time Font Manager to not only create the fonts, but to police the rest of the team to ensure that no one screwed the fonts up or attempted to create a font without sharing it with the rest of the company. Silly? Absolutely - and it’s the reason that the Civil 3D transition program of so many engineering companies has imploded before even leaving the launch pad.

Fortunately, some smart people at US CAD, our local Autodesk retailer, came up with the bright idea of creating a collection of styles on CD-ROM that suits the needs of most civil engineering projects. The cost was nominal when compared with the hours of staff time that would have been spent creating these things from scratch. My original intent was to use the US CAD styles as a starting point and have our CAD Manager tweak them as needed to better suit our needs. Well, he got laid off in November so I’ve decided that the styles we have work just fine. In fact, our Civil 3D transition efforts were put on hold for the most part when we shrunk the group down to its core and started devoting every second of spare time to business development.

Anyway, back to the story… Last week, I was presented with an opportunity to score some major points with a potential client by running some preliminary earthwork volumes on a project site for which we had prepared a couple of site plans. It was the perfect job for the new grading design features of Civil 3D. I had gone through enough training with the software to feel comfortable with the required process and I figured that the whole exercise should take about 6 hours. 18 hours later, I was ready to blow a gasket.

Of course, the problems didn’t begin until I was so far along in the project that turning back wasn’t an option. In the middle of creating a simple grading object, the program crashed. A fluke, I thought. So, I tried again - crash. After about 5 restarts and a couple of file audits, I was able to move ahead slightly, only to have the program crash yet again. This process continued late into the night and the better part of the next day. I finally got the answers I needed, but the effort and frustration that it took to get there was absurd.

Before the die-hard Civil 3D devotees start critiquing my flawed workflows and poor file management practices, I should point out that I don’t have this problem with other high-end software applications. Adobe Flash, for example, while requiring a very disciplined workflow, does not arbitrarily crash on me in the middle of an operation if I happen to miss a step; it just doesn’t give me the results I want.

What are the lessons we can learn from Civil 3D?

• If you’re going to charge a premium for your product or service (Civil 3D sells for $7,500+ per seat), make sure you deliver on your promises.
• Don’t take customer loyalty for granted; your competition would love their business (and there’s always hand drafting).
• Don’t use your customers as guinea pigs… and if you do, at least give them a discount.
• Finally, if it ain’t broke…