Site Visit Best Practices: 3 Critical Questions to Ask

You’ve completed an intensive RFI, you’ve survived hundreds of cuts made by the site selection consultant and your community has been chosen for an actual, in-person, “boots on the ground” site visit. Congratulations! Now what?

For some communities or those new to economic development, it is not always obvious what a site visit entails or the proactive steps you can take to ensure you and your community are prepared to showcase your best assets and leave a lasting impression.

There can be a lot of pressure associated with a site visit – sometimes you are given just 30 minutes to 1 hour to make a lasting impression on the client and hope something you say or show them will stick out among the dozens of sites/communities they may be visiting across the US.

Although not everything is within our control (travel delays, bad weather, cancellations, etc.), I’ve found through hosting hundreds of companies and site selection consultants, there are some steps you can take in the planning process to allow a more strategic and efficient approach to the site visit.

3 Critical Questions to Ask:

From the moment you hear confirmation of a site visit, you should be asking these critical questions to the consultant or the lead project manager to prepare for the site visit:

 1.     Who is attending?

Sounds obvious right? Oftentimes the consultant or project manager will provide the number of individuals attending so you can plan accordingly, and while important logistically, is not the most critical and useful information to you. The most useful information to you as the economic developer will be the titles of the associated attendees.

The titles of those in attendance should greatly impact the planning of your visit, who you invite and your presentation/talking points. Let’s consider the following examples:  

• Are the representatives mostly engineering and real-estate focused? Then you should be prepared to answer, in detail, questions on site readiness, utilities, and capacities of the site. This likely means inviting your Town’s engineering specialist and your natural gas and energy providers to be present during the visit or “on-call” if a question arises. Consider that the client has taken the time to travel from across the country (or world in some cases) to assess your site. Try not to waste their time with too many “we’ll get back to you on that” responses, especially if having the appropriate point of contact on-site could avoid this altogether.

• Are you hosting the CEO? A member of the Board? This is a great opportunity to showcase other CEOs/company leads who have had a great experience operating their business in your community. In an ideal scenario, you can suggest building in time for peer-to-peer conversations via visits to existing employers in the community; however, timing constraints can be a real issue so, featuring quotes from local CEOs throughout your presentation, having a professional video compiled highlighting local CEOs, or a list of several CEO contacts as a leave-behind are great alternatives. In addition, be prepared to spend some additional time talking through major quality of life aspects of your community & region, proactively answering questions around topics like executive housing, housing options for employees, job opportunities for trailing spouses, school systems, entertainment and more.

• Are you hosting a mix of executives (HR, Engineering, Real Estate, ESG, etc.)? Congratulations, this is the most difficult and exciting mix of representatives to have on a visit. It likely means you are on a much shorter list of down-selected locations and your expansive knowledge of the assets of your community and region can finally be put on display! This mix of representatives will have very different points of interest and questions they are looking to answer in their site selection process. Do the best you can to anticipate questions that might get asked and incorporate portions of the agenda that would touch on each attendees area of interest. In addition, addressing the prepared agenda/topics with the client team from the very beginning of the visit can be helpful in setting expectations and keeping conversations on track.

2.     What are the project’s key drivers?

Most projects will include high-level details on what is determining their location decisions in the initial project request or RFI; however, the more insights you can get into their location criteria, the more competitive you can be throughout the process. Are they anxious to have access to specific talent or an available site that can meet the client’s expedited timeline? Pose the question to the consultant or project manager to gain as much insight as you can. If talent is their key driver for example, then ensure you’re anticipating all forms of questions that might arise and include that in your presentation or talking points. For example: population, growth trends, education of population, diversity of population, workforce programs, university partners, etc. Consider also inviting specific workforce partners if appropriate – their presence alone can display a strong sense of partnership.

If the client is hyper-focused on finding a market that can expedite their facility needs then, focus on aspects that showcase a business-friendly operating environment, examples of past expansions that have been successful in the community/region and your community’s process of partnering with the company to meet their needs.

Knowing these key drivers will help ensure you are picking and choosing the right information to highlight. Be mindful of information overload and remember you are one of dozens of sites/communities they may be seeing in a short window of time. Identify your key points and drive those home for the client.

 3.     What is causing their relocation or expansion?

 Understanding existing challenges or pain points with the company’s current location can be a harder question to get answered but the goal is to understand where the client is coming from and help them feel at ease in your community. Companies will inevitably face challenges in every market they operate in – how your community anticipates and responds to these challenges in partnership with the company is what will stand out among the rest. If hiring a skilled workforce is a challenge, show examples of new programs that have been implemented across the state in response to a company or industry’s struggles. If they have challenges with local government, work to involve higher ranking officials in the visit to show they are accessible and supportive of economic development. Understanding a topic like this (before, during or after a site visit) can help set expectations and leave the client feeling supported and informed.

Site visits represent crucial opportunities for economic developers to showcase their communities to potential investors. By asking the right questions, understanding the client's needs, and addressing their concerns, you can maximize the impact of every interaction.

At KH Consulting Services, LLC, we specialize in helping economic developers like you navigate these critical stages, ensuring that every interaction leaves a lasting impression. Reach out to learn additional ways to elevate your site visit strategies and drive success for your community.