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Value You Can Feel: How The Primestone Group’s Core Values Shape the Client Experience
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When Values Impart Value: How Culture Creates a Competitive Edge at Lowe Engineers
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By Michele Raftery, FSMPS, CPSM and Fawn Radmanich, FSMPS, CPSM
FEATURE
How do you capture meaningful insight in an industry that’s constantly in motion?
For A/E/C marketers and business developers, that’s not just a philosophical question—it’s a practical one. As client expectations evolve, technologies accelerate, and talent structures shift, knowing what to pay attention to and what to let go has never been more critical.
And let’s face it: the pace of change isn’t slowing down.
Insight doesn’t mean certainty. It means tuning into signals before they harden into trends and then grow as best practices. It means asking better questions. And it means showing up, not just as storytellers but as pattern recognizers, connectors, and strategic advisors.
To support that shift, how can we get in front of the trends by utilizing the SMPS Foundation’s research? With two additional research initiatives underway, the SMPS Foundation insights aim to capture the conversations already reshaping our work and our value as a springboard for what comes next.
Two Research Tracks, One Urgent Question
In partnership with FMI, the Foundation is leading an annual study to uncover the emerging trends most likely to reshape marketing and business development strategy in the built environment. With survey responses and in-depth interviews already gathered, this research is surfacing early themes that are provocative, timely, and, in many cases, overdue.
At the same time, the Foundation is also working with Client Savvy to dig deeper into the state of Client Experience (CX) in A/E/C firms—how it’s defined, how it’s measured, and how marketing and operations can align around it to differentiate, retain clients, and drive growth.
Together, these efforts represent two sides of the same “insights” coin: how we evolve what we do internally to better respond to what’s changing externally.
What We’re Hearing So Far
While the full research findings will be released later this summer, the most compelling signals we’ve heard so far haven’t been conclusions—they’ve been questions.
Across interviews and survey responses, patterns are starting to surface. So is a sense of uncertainty around how to act on them.
As one interviewee put it:
“The questions we’re asking today aren’t the ones we were asking even two years ago.”
Firms are feeling the pressure to adapt—but also the strain of ambiguity. With so much data and so many new tools, many professionals are wondering what actually matters most.
“It’s not that we don’t have data. It’s knowing what story to tell with it,” another participant reflected.
Even the language of strategy feels less certain.
“Everyone’s talking about being more strategic, but no one agrees on what that actually means.”
These conversations have sparked a core set of questions we’re continuing to explore:
How are firms turning client-centered intentions into measurable practices?
What happens to differentiation when content is no longer the barrier?
How are new roles, tools, and expectations reshaping teams and decision-making?
What does relevance look like in the face of AI, economic pressure, and generational change?
And how do marketing and BD leaders stay focused when everything is changing at once?
What’s Next
The SMPS Foundation will publish the full findings from both research initiatives this summer at Amplify A/E/C. But this moment isn’t about waiting; it’s about paying attention. We are listening—to the signals, the uncertainties, and the possibilities.
Insight isn’t static. It’s active. It’s reflective. And it’s one of the most valuable things a marketer can offer.
So, what signals are you seeing? What questions are surfacing in your clients, your teams, and your role? We’ll keep asking the questions and gathering new insights. And we look forward to sharing what we’re learning.
The signals are there. It’s up to us to respond with clarity, curiosity, and purpose.
What to Watch For
The SMPS Foundation will continue listening, learning, and exploring the evolving landscape of A/E/C marketing and business development through programs that meet professionals where they are—regionally, locally, and virtually.
On the Horizon from the SMPS Foundation:
- Research initiatives: Emerging Trends in A/E/C Marketing and BD and Client Experience (CX) in A/E/C Industry – Launching at Amplify A|E|C 2025
- Regional “Insights” Roundtables – Hosted at regional and chapter levels for local application
- Webinars and Chapter Programs – Brought to your market virtually for broader access
About the SMPS Foundation
The SMPS Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established by the Society for Marketing Professional Services to advocate for, educate, and elevate marketing and business development professionals in the A/E/C industries through research and thought leadership. Is mission is to discover, in a scholarly and scientific manner, the trends, challenges, and opportunities facing the A/E/C industry and to develop and disseminate knowledge that advances the profession of marketing professional services.
The research referenced in this article can be accessed at smps.org/Foundation:
AEC.BD: Building Business Development Success in a Post-Pandemic World
Developed in collaboration with Stambaugh Ness
Building Resilience: A/E/C’s Path Beyond 2025
Developed in collaboration with Carla Johnson, RE: Think Lab
Whether it’s adding a little extra to your annual membership or making a planned multi-year gift, we invite you to help us create a lasting impact and continue delivering A/E/C Intelligence™. Support your Foundation today.
Michele Raftery, FSMPS, CPSM, WELL AP, is a Principal and Partner at 4240 Architecture. She wears many hats—leading everything from project pursuits and business strategy to research, office management, and HR. She’s also hands-on with visioning and analytics for key projects. Currently serving as President of the SMPS Foundation, Michele is passionate about the Foundation’s mission to deliver game-changing insights and intelligence that help growth professionals and leaders navigate trends, embrace change, and thrive in an ever-evolving, competitive marketplace.
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Fawn Radmanich, FSMPS, CPSM, is a Strategic Pursuit Leader for Stantec’s Water Strategic Pursuits Team with 25 years in the A/E/C industry. A Fellow of the Society for Marketing Professional Services and an SMPS Foundation Board Trustee, Fawn is a published author and speaker known for her forward-looking approach to leveraging innovation and strategy to drive success in an evolving marketplace.
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