By Lynn Porter, Daily Journal of Commerce

Architecture, engineering and construction firms get rid of or at least scale back their marketing departments in an economic downturn.

“What I am seeing is there's a lot of firms that have no marketing or just one marketeer,” said Carla Thompson, director of marketing & business development for MulvannyG2 Architecture.

Wrong move, she said.

Even though few developers are building, “We should be using this time to position ourselves even stronger so that when the market comes back, we're there,” she said.

The Society for Marketing Professional Services teaches firms and individuals marketing and business development best practices, said Thompson, senior adviser to the board of directors of the Seattle chapter of SMPS and an SMPS fellow.

Additionally, the organization offers insight into market sectors and the competition, said Christopher Imbeau, SMPS Seattle chapter president and marketing manager for general contractor Rafn Co.

For instance, a January event included a debrief from U.S. Navy acquisitions staff about good — and not so good — proposals recently submitted to gain federal work and strategies from local marketing experts to get on the shortlist and win those projects, said Imbeau. Upcoming programs focus on how to interview for projects and how to do market research.

SMPS also holds roundtables in Seattle and outlying areas for industry peers to talk about issues that affect their work. The groups are small enough so all can participate, “but large enough that there is a body of knowledge,” Imbeau said.

Additionally, it offers a program that certifies people as professional services marketeers, and has a job board, newsletter and events calendar at smpsseattle.org, he said.

It costs $355 a year to join, plus a one-time $50 initiation fee.

Thompson said fronting that cost may not be easy for individuals, especially in this economic climate, but “That's beauty of our organization, you don't have to be a member” to attend most of the events, network and take advantage of the job bank.

Events are announced through an online mailing list. To get on it, email Seattle.SMPS@gmail.com.

Imbeau said SMPS helped him as the only marketeer in a relatively small civil engineering firm in Monroe. It gave him a chance to talk with peers and learn about broad-reaching industry topics. “All of a sudden I am much more than a single person in a little engineering office. I have all these resources at my disposal and it's a huge advantage to the firm.”

Imbeau said he feels comfortable calling other SMPS members across the country about local market intelligence. “Just being a fellow member in the association is enough to open a door.”

SMPS members have access to a database of more than 5,500 members, said Thompson.

“It makes you part of this club,” she said. “It's a community. We help each other.”

Members exchange job leads, resumes and strategy — “how did you get past this, how do you do that,” she said. And some share projects leads when they aren't competing.

Following the economic downturns early in the 1980s and 1990s, people used SMPS to build back their networks, she said, “and I think the same thing is happening now.”