7 Reasons AEC Firms Choose Deltek Vantagepoint CRM for Growth

Relationships are everything in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. Winning work often depends on more than just a strong proposal—it depends on trust, history, and timely engagement with clients, teaming partners, and consultants. However, managing those relationships effectively across multiple pursuits, projects, and offices can be challenging.

That’s where a purpose-built CRM like Deltek Vantagepoint CRM can make a difference.

Unlike generic CRM tools, Deltek Vantagepoint CRM is designed specifically for project-based firms, offering a more integrated and efficient way to manage business development, marketing, and client engagement. Plus, it provides unparalleled visibility into your entire project lifecycle—from initial pursuit to final close-out.

Here’s how AEC firms are leveraging the platform to align teams better and drive sustainable growth:

1. A CRM Built for Project-Based Firms

Vantagepoint CRM is tailored to how AEC firms operate and understands the complex web of client relationships, project teams, and pursuits that define the business. It’s built to track the full pursuit lifecycle, including early marketing touchpoints, potential opportunities, client information, and project close-out in one platform. This centralization allows for clearer insight into resource needs and project team utilization.

Firms can better anticipate revenue, allocate resources, and proactively manage workload balances with forecasting tools and backlog tracking. This deeper visibility empowers project managers to make necessary adjustments to ensure on-time and on-budget success.

2. Navigating Pursuits More Strategically

According to the annual Deltek Clarity Architecture & Engineering Industry Study, 49% of firms cite increasing competition as a top business development challenge.

Often, both the Marketing and Project teams are simultaneously juggling multiple opportunities and proposals at different stages of the pipeline. Vantagepoint CRM’s real-time view of the opportunity pipeline allows teams to prioritize pursuits more effectively using historical win/loss data and go/no-go tools, helping focus efforts on the pursuits most likely to convert. Furthermore, features like Document Automation streamline proposal creation by incorporating real-time project data into your templates, saving you valuable time.

Pre-configured interactive dashboards offer actionable insights into pipeline health and performance, improving decision-making at every stage.

3. Unifying Marketing, Business Development & Project Teams

Cross-team collaboration is often a hurdle, with many AEC firms noting that coordination between business development and operations is a top challenge.

One of the biggest strengths of Vantagepoint CRM is how seamlessly it integrates with Deltek’s broader project lifecycle platform. Data isn’t siloed. Once a pursuit is awarded, all associated data, contacts, notes, and activity history flow into the project record. This connection improves collaboration between BD, marketing, and project teams, creating a more unified and positive client experience.

4. Enhance Client Relationships

More than half the firms surveyed in the Deltek Clarity Study identified finding time to nurture client relationships as their top business challenge.
Connecting with clients and contacts when it matters most is a critical element of successful nurturing. Deltek Vantagepoint CRM provides a holistic view of interactions with every client and contact, including project involvement, interaction history, and communications.

AI-enabled features, such as Ask Dela and Client Smart Summaries, allow you to quickly find and summarize key information. Coupled with activity tracking and integrations for Outlook and Gmail, teams can proactively nurture relationships, set reminders for follow-ups, and log communications efficiently. These integrated tools make your business development efforts more targeted, efficient, and straightforward.

5. Improve Forecasting & Strategic Planning

Having a clear picture of future work and revenue is essential for AEC firms, but can also be elusive. In one single system, Deltek Vantagepoint CRM aligns opportunity data with resource planning and financials, allowing for more accurate forecasting.

Leadership teams can explore “what if” scenarios, such as winning a large contract or losing a key client, to understand how those changes would impact staffing, budgets, and timelines. By bringing all planning tools into one system, Vantagepoint helps ensure that short-term decisions (like staffing or pursuit prioritization) support long-term business goals. The result is a more agile firm that makes decisions with greater confidence.

6. Mobile Access for Teams on the Go

In the AEC industry, project teams are often in the field meeting with clients, conducting site visits, or attending industry events. The Vantagepoint Touch CRM mobile app ensures that everyone on your team, from principals to project managers, can access important CRM data anytime and anywhere. Log touchpoints, capture contact notes, and access active project data in real-time for up-to-date and actionable data.

7. Strengthen Team Collaboration and Accountability

Visibility breeds accountability. With Deltek Vantagepoint CRM, firms can track pursuits, set goals, monitor KPIs, and run reports to gain visibility on how each team member, department, or office is performing.

With customizable dashboards, you can empower leadership to make more informed, more strategic decisions. You can even add Deltek Clarity benchmarks to your dashboards to compare your KPIs against industry standards. Vantagepoint CRM aligns the team around shared data and goals to foster a culture of transparency, collaboration, and continuous growth.

Next Steps

For firms already using Deltek Vantagepoint for project and financial management, the CRM add-on offers a natural next step, enhancing your ability to win work and deliver work through improved communication, forecasting, and relationship management.

If your team manages pursuits outside of your ERP or struggles with disconnected systems, exploring what Vantagepoint CRM offers could be a meaningful step toward greater efficiency and growth.

Is Vantagepoint CRM right for your firm? We’d be happy to walk through your current processes and share ideas.