Are you making this common writing mistake that could be costing you clients?
No matter how big or small an architecture firm is or how well-staffed their marketing department, I see the same writing mistakes. I’m not talking about spelling or grammar, but the kind of mistakes and missed opportunities that could genuinely hurt your practice. One, in particular, I see again and again.
I call it The List.
In a lot of practices, The List happens when you don’t know what to say or how to say it. But you know you have to say something. So you just start listing parts of the building or cool features or describing what the building looks like (a task handled quite well by photographs). Or, if you’re writing a firm profile or personal bio, you might list awards or project types you “specialize” in.
As a result, your writing feels tedious. It uses a lot of words but doesn’t really say anything. It doesn’t engage the reader—mostly likely a prospective client— with any information that might be valuable to them — not to mention helpful for your business development.
Consider the following two texts. The first, inspired by an actual text I helped a client revise, uses The List to talk about the interiors of an academic building:
To best serve the community of students and faculty as well as visitors, the new academic building houses classrooms, laboratories, administrative and reception areas, conference spaces, and break out study spaces as well as generous circulation spaces furnished to accommodate impromptu meetings and more flexible semi-public spaces that can be used to host a variety of events. The classroom and conference room interiors features herringbone floors, oak wall panels, crown mouldings, coffered ceilings, and custom lighting elements with integrated controls to accommodate lectures or presentations.
Did you make it through that? Because I barely did and I wrote it. It reads like a grocery list. Two grocery lists, actually — one for spaces; another for materials. The above text is just a series of things separated by commas. Why would a prospect call you after reading it?
Let me rephrase that. Why would your ideal prospect call you? The kind of prospect whose values align with your own, who understands and appreciates your work — and is willing to pay for it. The kind who makes for a strong collaborator and lets you produce your best work. That kind of prospect.
I see this all the time.
Instead of just listing as many features as you can in 200-300 words, you need to choose the most significant features and explain why they’re important.
Each paragraph in your project text should convey a single idea that can’t be captured by a photo or rendering. It needs to communicate your expertise, offer some insight, or show that you understand the kind of problems your reader—again, a POSSIBLE CLIENT— is dealing with. Give them a reason to contact you.
Now, here’s an example of the same text, written to focus on something that mattered to this specific client, and will likely matter to any similar prospective clients:
High-Design Low-Cost Spaces for Learning
Our focus on craftsmanship is on full display in the building's classrooms and conference rooms where herringbone floors, wood paneling, and crown moldings create warm, inviting spaces for the university community. These finishes are high impact but surprisingly low cost. Drawing on our experience in historic preservation and expertise in material technologies, we developed budget-conscious solutions for creating a sophisticated environment using mid-range, durable materials that will last for generations.
See the difference? We focused the paragraph on just the material benefits, saving any talk of flexibility or technology for later in the text. We still include many of the spaces, features, and materials, but we assign them value. We explain the resulting benefits (looks, affordability) and long-term impact (durability) while highlighting our capabilities (experience in historic preservation, expertise in material technology, focus on craftsmanship). In just a few sentences, the reader knows something important about us and how we can help them.
And even if they don’t read the whole thing, they’ll get the message thanks to the new paragraph heading that prominently announces the main takeaway.
Now, in this specific example, we chose to highlight how the architect maximized the budget, but there’s a way to connect every project to a client’s priorities, values, or mission. You just need to ask the right question.
The question isn’t “what really matters to us?”
It’s what really matters to clients like this one?
To connect with prospects, you need to write about what’s important to them. Showcase your skills. Share the impact of your work. If you can’t trace a design element back to something that matters to the client, it’s probably not something you need to write about.
