Louis Pasteur famously stated that "Chance favors only the prepared mind." When it comes to strategic marketing planning, how prepared is your mind? Understanding current and future trends is critical to developing strategy and setting direction for your firm.

A marketing guru and peers weigh in on whether "freebies" win clients or drain profits—or whether there's a better approach for all concerned.

The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and SMPS Foundation recently undertook a major research initiative to determine how A/E/C firms are handling business development - particularly when it comes to staffing the position between dedicated business developers and seller-doers.

In today's competitive marketplace, A/E/C firms often view their competition as the similar firm across town. Yet the new reality in business is that supply chains increasingly compete against supply chains. A/E/C firms that understand this and work to positively impact their clients' supply chains will gain a competitive edge.

Many firms in the design and construction industry are beginning to realize the importance of brand in differentiating their firm; however, too many A/E/C firms fail to understand what a brand really is.

Human resources and marketing go together like peanut butter and chocolate – and savvy A/E/C firms have already taken advantage of their unique, complementary skill sets to create a better work environment.

Creating effective marketing plans for A/E/C firms entails far more than just setting goals and employing hope as a strategy.

Marketing planning is about far more than just defining target markets and determining advertising buys - it is also about creating realistic sales goals and determining who is accountable for business development.

Marketing planning is critical to the success of A/E/C firms, but far too few companies take the time to develop an effective, actionable plan.