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Interview with Sarah Kinard by Clare Kelly, MS, CPSM
FEATURE
Your resource for critical data on the recent past, present-day snapshots, and insight on future trends impacting the A/E/C industries.
This interview with Sarah Kinard, Foundation Trustee and professional researcher for the A/E/C industries shines a light on the SMPS Foundation's recent work.
Established in 1992, The Foundation’s vision is “to catalyze A/E/C business growth through actionable insights that not only inform but inspire.” According to Sarah, “SMPS has always been all about education. The Foundation is an extension of the desire to educate through research and scholarships.”
Demonstrating its role in developing leading A/E/C intelligence, the Foundation released a substantial piece of research this year — the 2024 AEC.BD report. In addition, the Foundation produced a forward-looking narrative on trends from the Foundation Roundtable at Amplify 2024. Let’s dive in and talk with Sarah!
How did you become involved in the foundation?
I am a market researcher for the A/E/C industries. Research is what I do most days, and I love it. Barbara Schuck, a past president of the Society and the Foundation, approached me at a conference where I presented on market research. At the time, she was President of the Foundation. She said, "Sarah, we have an open position for a trustee. I think having somebody who truly understands and conducts research on the Foundation for the first time in our history would be beneficial. Would you consider becoming a trustee?"
Her request resonated with me on a very personal level. I speak at conferences, and I do free webinars because I firmly believe that businesses need to make decisions about their future based on data and research. Their own data. Data that's out there. Data that's curated for them. Research is a huge passion for me — the more businesses that know about and understand the importance of research, the better.
What do you find attractive about the Foundation and want to be part of?
What is exciting to me is that the Foundation's purpose is to help business leaders and marketers understand what's going on in the market and how current events could impact our industries in the future. We also look at things that have recently impacted our industry to see how the dust has settled. The Foundation covers the full scope of research to provide insight into the recent past, the present, and the future.
As a new Trustee, I spent my first year listening a lot. I asked myself where I could provide a valuable perspective and actions for the Foundation, its donors, and SMPS members. I'm happy to see that our industry has shifted in the direction of valuing research. As a Trustee, I'm passionate about contributing to that shift.
Where did the idea for the Amplify 2024 Roundtable come from?
That came out of reflection and innovation. As a Board of Trustees, we spoke about the fact that we've produced valuable and meaningful research for our members without a predictable cadence. We wanted to change that. This year, we stepped back and asked, 'How can we deliver something annually that our members anticipate?'
The Roundtable at Amplify 2024 was our first step. After the call for registration went out, we had a number of people who registered and were thrilled about it. We ended up with a room full of great people at the conference. This confirmed our belief that we needed to set aside a place to have these important conversations.
At the first-ever roundtable, we asked the group to focus not on what's impacting our clients but on what's impacting us as marketers and business developers in the A/E/C industries. Our goal was to get people excited about having an annual conversation about current topics that will affect us for the next one to three years. To provide additional value, we compiled the group's insights and key points into a report that was distributed to members this fall. We plan on repeating this process annually.
Our goal was to get people excited about having an annual conversation about current topics that will affect us for the next one to three years.”
How is this conversation different than previous conversations that might have taken place at Amplify?
The roundtable is about formally coming together and discussing issues and trends. There are lots of sidebar conversations that happen at conferences. Topics will come up in individual presentations, question and answer sessions, or following keynotes, but no one is capturing it, aggregating it, finding themes, validating information, or finding outliers.
As a researcher, what is your take on some of the trends discussed at the Amplify Roundtable?
As an industry researcher, it wasn't surprising at all that workforce was a huge issue. What I was pleased to see on the list was strategy. Going back to my passion for research, the reason why strategy is showing up is because we are having to be a lot more intentional and informed about how we think about our businesses and run our businesses. The rapid pace of change in our industry is causing firms to take a new approach. Gut methods do not work anymore.
Research, of course, is one of the ways to fill the gap between gut methods and strategy. Strategy is what's going to keep you on track. It is the direction we're going, and it applies all the way down to strategy for a pursuit. When you've got a diminishing resource like people, intentional investment in your people's time is critical. Companies are realizing they have to be good stewards of their people.
What’s in the Works for 2025?
In December 2024, to build on what we started with the Roundtable at Amplify 2024, we'll put out our first-ever RFP for what we intend to be an annual research project on emerging trends in marketing and business development for the A/E/C industries. We want a third party to go out there and look at what's happening in our marketplace regarding marketing and business development practices. This opportunity is open to any researcher or business consultant who doesn't sit on the Foundation Board of Trustees.
Is the Foundation the “Think Tank” for SMPS?
One of our visions with the annual emerging trends report is to produce a high-level summary of the key issues that A/E/C marketers and business developers need to consider. This starts to create a road map for the Society on a national, regional, and chapter level. Our goal is to create a direction on educational and thought leadership content. Ultimately, this new approach will help the Foundation become the SMPS think tank around big ideas. Where appropriate, we'll dive deep into specific trends or subtopics.
For those interested - Are there committees within the Foundation that members can become involved with?
Yes, in January, the Foundation will have a volunteers meeting following the call we put out this fall. We've had several people reach out and say that they would like to support the Foundation. We are a volunteer board, and we're working on formalizing ways for members to actively support the Foundation's work. It's taken a little time as we are pivoting our approach to how we deliver value to donors and members.
If you are interested in volunteering with the Foundation, please email foundation@smps.org.
The AEC.BD report contains a wealth of details to help cue
others who may not think about these things every day, as I
do, to recognize industry patterns and similarities occurring in their firms.”
Thinking about recent research produced by the Foundation, what key insights have had the most impact on our industries?
This summer, the Foundation released AEC.BD, an update from a 2015 survey-based research project. The 2024 version is an opportunity to reflect on the past, where we are today, and why.
The 2024 report shows an increase in seller-doers and business developers as market champions. Our 2024 data reflects the ages of many of the firms and the demographics within them. Fifteen years ago, business development was led by rainmakers who tended to be firm founders. Many also happened to be boomers. Obviously, there are firms that were founded before the baby boomer generation. However, the 2024 report is an interesting study of generational leadership, firm age, and how firms evolve.
The 2024 report also reflects how people do business post-pandemic. Zoom and Teams have become indispensable business development tools. Before the pandemic, in-person networking was the most effective marketing and business development tactic in the A/E/C industries.
The AEC.BD report contains a wealth of details to help cue others who may not think about these things every day, as I do, to recognize industry patterns and similarities occurring in their firms. Other valuable aspects of the 2024 report are the role descriptions and demographics around how each role shows up in firms.
The 2024 report demonstrates the high percentage of firms using business developers and seller-doers. This has become part of the culture of professional services in the A/E/C industries because we recognize that it's going to take both to win work.
From what you’ve described, the Foundation took on several key objectives that ultimately produced complimentary research summaries for SMPS members.
Yes, the AEC.BD report is a snapshot in time. The insights that came out of the Amplify Roundtable are forward-looking. I really like that we were conscious of the entire context to understand how the past, present, and future are and will impact A/E/C growth professionals.
AEC.BD Report
The SMPS Foundation partnered with Stambaugh Ness to launch a groundbreaking research publication, AEC.BD, offering critical insights into business development strategies that drive revenue growth and advance the A/E/C industry.
Sarah Kinard is the President-Elect of the Foundation. She was President of SMPS Dallas from 2021-2022. She is the Head Bird at The Flamingo Project, a growth strategy and research consultancy for the professional service industry. Sarah is a strategic visionary and a change agent. She helps firms conquer the next big thing by crafting growth strategies that knit their vision, people, pursuits, and message.
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