Geotechnical News December 2010
41
ASFE NEWS
outlook that we do, so we’re all sing-
ing from the same hymnal. Right now,
the tune seems to be out of the Rodney
Dangerfield songbook: “We don’t get
any respect.” To the extent that’s true,
there’s a reason for it: More geoprofes-
sionals need to do better. And they can.
Schoenwolf:
Some don’t need to
improve much to get to the top, and
we need to reach out to client and col-
league groups – the decision-makers
and decision-influencers – so they have
a better understanding of the benefits
they can get from a better service – sav-
ing time and money, for example – and
so they realize that people and firms
are available right now to help them.
They’d be foolish to not want to save
money and save time, and not many of
them are foolish.
Litke
:
Of course, clients will have
to pay more for a better service. Will
clients be willing to do that?
Schoenwolf
:
That’s actually a de-
batable point. If you plug in the average
amount of money that has to be paid,
per project, to resolve the problems
that arise from a cheap, unconcerned
service, the net price for high-quality
service is probably less, not more.
Gaboury:
The issue is value, not
fee. Realistically, most informed cli-
ent representatives would be willing to
pay more to save time and save money.
They know that the real cost is deter-
mined by the outcome. We have hun-
dreds of case histories that demonstrate
how the investment in a high-quality
geoprofessional service saved far, far
more than the cost of the service itself.
Litke:
The cost of the service or the
premium paid for a higher-quality ser-
vice?
Gaboury:
Of course the premium,
but realistically, a $50,000 geoprofes-
sional service could easily save a client
$100,000 or more, and, again, we have
case histories to prove that point.
Litke:
Isn’t ASFE already known
for its case histories?
Schoenwolf:
Yes, but the cases we
have illustrate failures; the kinds of
things that go wrong. They give us the
raw material we need to make umbrel-
las.
Litke:
So by developing cases of
what happens when things go right…
Martin:
…we can encourage more
clients and colleagues to do what it
takes to have things go right and we
can encourage more geoprofessionals
to do what it takes to have things go
right.
Litke
:
So you’ll put the low-per-
forming geoprofessionals out of busi-
ness.
Gaboury:
That’s not our goal at all.
What we want to do is increase the de-
mand for high-quality geoprofessional
services that add real value to a project
and to increase supply by encouraging
and assisting all geoprofessionals to
provide such services. Look: Geopro-
fessionals aren’t stupid. In fact, the ex-
act opposite is true. But far too many
of them receive very little instruction in
how to conduct themselves in business.
Over the years that deficit has been a
major causal factor in the commoditi-
zation and marginalization that affects
the majority of geoprofessionals in var-
ious marketplaces, no matter how good
they are technically.
Litke:
So those are some pretty
daunting marching orders you’ve given
yourselves.
Martin:
True, but ASFE has done it
before. People laughed at us when we
introduced the limitation of liability
concept in 1969. They said, “Do you
really believe you can convince owners
to limit your liability when right now
you’re giving them unlimited liabil-
ity?” We thought we could and we did.
It took a lot of hard work and a lot of
effort, yet today limitation of liability
is a common feature in the contracts of
most design professionals. We’re able
to explain why it’s reasonable; why it
benefits clients and consultants alike.
Schoenwolf:
Our success will ben-
efit other consultants, too, because liti-
gation is like fly paper; everybody gets
stuck in the mess. To the extent that a
project experiences fewer problems,
all parties benefit. Right now, geopro-
fessional problems predominate. All
parties will benefit when that changes,
and all parties are in a position to help
implement that change.
Litke:
But, realistically, some ser-
vices are a commodity.
Martin:
A professional service is
a professional service; it’s not a com-
modity. If you believe otherwise, you’ll
believe anybody can get the same re-
sult so it’s acceptable to find the low-
est-price providers. As in just about
any area of human endeavor, there are
those who are far better at getting the
work than performing it; who like be-
ing selected on what they charge rather
than what they’re capable of providing.
They don’t care if they’re treated like
commodities. That’s exactly how they
treat their clients. If you really believe
that some professional services are a
commodity, that the service is the same
no matter who performs it, retain one
firm to provide the service as a com-
modity and another to provide it with
professionalism held foremost. I guar-
antee you’ll see a huge difference from
start to finish.
Litke:
How much time will ASFE
be willing to spend on this campaign?
Martin:
We’re moving forward in
three-year strategic planning incre-
ments. We’ll spend as much time as it
takes. This is our new purpose; our new
reason for being.
Litke:
Gentlemen, thank you. And
good luck.
