MARKET INTELLIGENCE & STRATEGY
A clearer basis for deciding where to invest, whom to pursue, and how to position your firm.
SMAT connects your capabilities with owner priorities, market demand, and competitive conditions—then translates the findings into a practical plan for growth.
Talk about your growth prioritiesTHE SIGNALS THAT SHAPE YOUR NEXT MOVE
Priorities & selection criteria
Capital plans & procurement
Positioning & market presence
Capabilities & relationships
Priority markets · Target clients · A reason to choose you
INTERNAL & EXTERNAL MARKETING AUDITS
Compare how your firm sees itself with how clients and the market experience it.
Review your capabilities, market priorities, marketing materials, pursuit practices, resources, and leadership alignment.
Use independent client interviews and market research to understand perceptions, selection priorities, competitive alternatives, and opportunities.
A clearer picture of the gaps between your intended position and the market’s perception—and priorities for strengthening relationships, sharpening positioning, and improving the growth effort.
FROM ANALYSIS TO PROJECT AWARD
Each step connects the evidence to a decision your leadership team can act on.
Start with internal and external marketing audits: capabilities, practices, client perceptions, resources, and growth objectives.
Outcome: a clear starting positionExamine owner plans, project activity, procurement, competitors, regional conditions, and client feedback.
Outcome: a grounded market pictureCompare demand with your strengths, capacity, geographic reach, and potential teaming relationships.
Outcome: prioritized opportunitiesSelect target markets and accounts. Shape a value proposition around the needs of the owners you want to serve.
Outcome: a focused growth planConnect outreach, qualifications, partnerships, and pursuits to the plan. Review progress and adjust as intelligence evolves.
Outcome: an active pursuit effortTHE TOOLS BEHIND THE STRATEGY
The tool follows the question. SMAT selects the analysis that helps resolve your specific growth decision.
Compare markets and locations through owner investment, project timing, competitive intensity, access to clients, and your firm’s resources.
Regional analysis supports branch-office decisions, market entry, and a more focused target-account list.
Which markets deserve investment—and what needs to be in place before you enter?
A MARKET-FIT FRAMEWORK
Compare the evidence before choosing the market.
A SWOT analysis brings internal capabilities and external conditions into one view. Client feedback helps test how your firm’s strengths are perceived.
The findings guide positioning, investment, teaming, and the issues to address before pursuing new work.
What can you build on, what needs attention, and where can you create an advantage?
INTERNAL CAPABILITIES + EXTERNAL CONDITIONS
Proven expertise
Client relationships
Capacity gaps
Limited market recognition
Emerging owner needs
New geographic markets
Established competitors
Procurement barriers
Illustrative considerations; each analysis is specific to the firm.
Portfolio analysis, including a growth-share framework, compares service lines and market sectors with their growth potential and your firm’s competitive position.
It helps leadership distinguish established work from emerging opportunities that require investment or a stronger foothold.
Where should your firm build, invest selectively, sustain its position, or reassess its effort?
GROWTH-SHARE LENS
Strong position
Growing market
Developing position
Growing market
Strong position
Slower-growth market
Limited position
Slower-growth market
A decision framework, not a ranking of your firm’s current services.
A balanced scorecard connects financial goals with clients, resources, and operating processes. It turns a strategy into priorities leadership can review over time.
Measures are selected with your team so progress reflects the business you want to build.
Is the growth effort advancing—and can your firm support the work it is pursuing?
FOUR CONNECTED PERSPECTIVES
Revenue goals
Investment priorities
Retention & relationships
Target-account progress
People & capacity
Capability development
Pursuit discipline
Delivery efficiency
Align the measures with your firm’s objectives.
HOW THE INTELLIGENCE IS GATHERED
A useful market picture combines published evidence with informed conversations.
Owner capital plans, budgets, procurement notices, project announcements, economic indicators, and competitors’ public portfolios.
Client feedback and conversations with owners, facilities leaders, design professionals, and potential partners—supported by SMAT’s Northeast network.
Compare sources, examine their dates and assumptions, and identify what is confirmed, what is emerging, and what needs further investigation.
PUTTING THE PROCESS TO WORK
Before choosing a location, establish the market case.
Clarify the owners and sectors you want to serve, your geographic reach, and the resources available to support a new office.
Review project pipelines, competitors, client access, potential partners, and delivery capacity across candidate regions.
Translate the location decision into target accounts, positioning, relationship development, and a phased market-entry plan.
YOUR NEXT GROWTH DECISION