← All categories

Architect: Best Referral Sources

Who should be sending you clients, and the rooms they are already sitting in. Tell us where you are and we will send the list.

Get your list

The rooms for architects, the next meeting dates, and who to ask for when you walk in.

Your top referral sources
  1. Commercial Property Manager
  2. Commercial Real Estate Broker
  3. General Contractor
  4. Restaurant / Food Service
  5. Real Estate Investor
See the full answer ↓
Start here

Your one-page action plan

Five partners, what starts the work for each one, and the three rooms to be in. Print it and keep it in the car.

Networking plan: Architect

The five people who should be sending you clients

  1. Commercial Property Manager (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
  2. Commercial Real Estate Broker (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
  3. General Contractor (You send them work)
    Shared trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel
  4. Restaurant / Food Service (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location
  5. Real Estate Investor (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: an investor or operator buys a commercial building

The three rooms to be in

  1. Your city or county chamber of commerce: Your partners are in this room: commercial property managers, commercial real estate brokers, and general contractors.
  2. BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association): Your partners are in this room: commercial property managers and commercial real estate brokers.
  3. NAIOP (Commercial Real Estate Development Association): Your partners are in this room: commercial real estate brokers and real estate investors.

Don't confuse this with networking: AIA (American Institute of Architects) chapter. Learning and supplier access, not referrals.

Or have it emailed to you ↑
The people

Who should be sending you clients

Ranked by what starts the job, not by who sounds close to your trade. When something happens that makes people need architects, who else gets a call that same week?

Match strength is how much of your work starts from the same event as theirs, scored out of 100. Higher means you are more often called into the same job in the same week.

  1. 1 Commercial Property Manager They send you work Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location 80 match strength out of 100
  2. 2 Commercial Real Estate Broker They send you work Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location 73 match strength out of 100
  3. 3 General Contractor You send them work Trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel 66 match strength out of 100
  4. 4 Restaurant / Food Service They send you work Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location 66 match strength out of 100
  5. 5 Real Estate Investor They send you work Trigger: an investor or operator buys a commercial building 66 match strength out of 100
  6. 6 Facility Manager They send you work Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location 65 match strength out of 100
  7. 7 Community Association Manager (HOA / Condo) Two-way Trigger: a homeowner decides to remodel 64 match strength out of 100
  8. 8 IT Services / Managed IT Two-way Trigger: a business signs a lease or opens a location 63 match strength out of 100
  9. 9 Hard Money / Private Lender They send you work Trigger: an investor or operator buys a commercial building 63 match strength out of 100
  10. 10 Business Banker Two-way Trigger: an investor or operator buys a commercial building 62 match strength out of 100

Knowing the names is half of it. We will send the list with what to say to each one. Send me my list ↑

The rooms

Where those people actually are

Ranked by how many of your best partners are in the room, and how much work each one can send you. Give someone nine choices and they pick none, so we have marked the one to start with.

  1. 1 Your city or county chamber of commerce Your pick Your partners are in this room: commercial property managers, commercial real estate brokers, and general contractors. Chamber of commerce · Monthly · Under $500/yr · ~4 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  2. 2 BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) Your partners are in this room: commercial property managers and commercial real estate brokers. Your partners' association · Monthly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~4 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  3. 3 NAIOP (Commercial Real Estate Development Association) Your partners are in this room: commercial real estate brokers and real estate investors. Your partners' association · Monthly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~4 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  4. 4 LinkedIn groups & local B2B communities Your partners are in this room: commercial real estate brokers, real estate investors, and facility managers. Online community · Always on · Free · ~3 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  5. 5 Software & platform user groups Your partners are in this room: facility managers and IT and managed service providers. Vendor & supply chain · Quarterly · Free · ~2 hrs/month
  6. 6 BNI One seat per category, so your competitors are excluded by rule and the seats around you are the partners above. Structured referral group · Weekly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~8 hrs/month · One seat per category Chapter finder →
  7. 7 LeTip International One seat per category, so your competitors are excluded by rule and the seats around you are the partners above. Structured referral group · Weekly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~7 hrs/month · One seat per category Chapter finder →
  8. 8 Network In Action One seat per category, so your competitors are excluded by rule and the seats around you are the partners above. Structured referral group · Monthly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~3 hrs/month · One seat per category Chapter finder →
The competitor trap

AIA (American Institute of Architects) chapter

Most architects join this room first. It is also the one most likely to be the wrong pick. Everyone in it does what you do. Join it for the training, the licenses, and the ties to manufacturers. Do not join it for referrals, and do not join it instead of the rooms above.

Let us be straight with you. For architects, a weekly referral group is not the best pick. Your partners gather in professional groups instead, so spend your time there. We would rather say that than sell you a seat you do not need.

These rooms meet on real dates. We will send you the next ones for your area. Send me the dates ↑

Your seat

Is your seat open?

Prime Time takes one Architect per chapter. Put a South Florida ZIP into the form above and we will show you which seats are open.

Add your ZIP code in the form above to see which seats are open. Go to the form ↑

Want this as a list you can act on?

Send it to yourself: the partners above, the rooms ranked for architects, and the next meeting dates for your area.

Send me my list