Architecture, Engineering, and Project Offices
In architecture, engineering, and project offices, a job goes through multiple stages from the first client meeting through exploration and needs analysis, from proposal to design and technical execution, and from revisions to delivery and billing.
XtraCRM combines CRM, sales, project, task, document, work planning, and finance features to enable managing customer relations and project operations from the same center.
How does the process generally work in the industry?
The process usually starts with a new project or consultancy request from a client. The type, scope, location, approximate size, target delivery date, and budget of the job are determined.
If necessary, exploration or preliminary evaluation is planned. Based on the collected information, the service scope, project phases, deliverables, and pricing model are defined and a proposal is prepared.
When the proposal is accepted, the contract and project record are created. The project is divided into phases and tasks; responsible team members, consultants, and delivery dates are assigned.
The prepared work is reviewed internally and approved by the client. After revisions are completed, final files are delivered; billing, collection, and if applicable, implementation tracking are carried out.
How is XtraCRM adapted to your office's way of working?
Every architecture and engineering office has different services, project phases, and delivery methods. In XtraCRM, custom fields, sales processes, project tasks, and workflows can be configured according to your company’s working order.
You can structure your sales process with stages such as “New Request, Preliminary Meeting, Exploration Planned, Needs Analysis, Proposal Being Prepared, Proposal Presented, Revision, Contract, and Won.”
You can track your project process with the stages “Project Opening, Concept, Preliminary Project, Implementation Project, Internal Control, Customer Approval, Revision, Final Delivery, and Closed.”
You can define separate fields and processes for different service types such as architectural project, interior architecture, static, mechanical, electrical, mapping, consultancy, or implementation control.
Project-specific fields you can use
Project and contract number
Customer and project owner
Project type and scope of services
Project location
Land or application area
Total square meters
Building or project class
Project manager
Project team
Sub-consultants
Contract start and end date
Planned delivery date
Project phase
Completion rate
Offer and contract value
Billing method
Revision right or scope
Permit and approval status
Currency used
Project-specific notes
Sheet, discipline, block, floor, neighborhood, or technical standard information used by your office can also be added as custom fields.
Manage customer requests and sales opportunities
Project requests received via phone, email, website, referral, or competition can be linked to customer records in the CRM.
The scope of the request, expected delivery date, approximate budget, decision time, and relevant contacts can be recorded. New opportunities can be assigned to the related project manager or sales representative.
Initial meetings, discovery, preliminary evaluation, and proposal preparation tasks can be planned. Reminders can be set for opportunities with no activity over a long period.
Reasons for losses in unsuccessful bids, such as price, duration, scope, technical qualifications, or competitor preference, can be recorded.
Record discovery and needs analysis
Dates, locations, and responsible persons can be set for discovery or customer meetings. Notes, measurements, photos, and customer expectations from the meeting can be added to the opportunity or project record.
You can create custom forms suited to your office’s workflow for needs analysis. Usage purpose, number of users, design expectations, technical requirements, and priorities can be collected with standard fields.
Tasks can be created to request missing information or documents from the customer. This ensures that all necessary information is verified before proceeding to the proposal and project phases.
Track proposal and contract processes
Service scope, project phases, deliverables, duration, and fee details can be defined on the proposal. Additional services and out-of-scope work can be listed separately.
Preparation, review, presentation, revision, and approval stages of the proposal can be monitored. Proposals exceeding a certain amount or discount rate can be directed for managerial approval.
Approved proposals can be linked with sales orders or project records. Signed contracts and annexes can be stored in document management.
Divide projects into phases and tasks
Each project can be divided into main phases according to your company's workflow. Tasks to be done can be defined under each phase.
The following information can be tracked in tasks:
Task or work item
Associated project and phase
Responsible employee or team
Start and delivery date
Priority
Status of the work
Completion rate
Controller
Description and checklist
Files and documents
Customer approval
Next step
Interconnected tasks can be listed to identify jobs that cannot start before previous work is completed. Upcoming and delayed tasks can be viewed on a project basis.
Manage interdisciplinary coordination
Architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, and other project disciplines can be tracked as separate task groups or project phases.
For each discipline, a responsible person, delivery date, control status, and expected information can be defined. Tasks waiting for data or approval from another team can be recorded.
This way, dependencies between disciplines and delays caused by waiting can be more easily identified.
Collect documents and drawings in the project record
Drawings, reports, calculations, contracts, meeting minutes, visuals, and customer documents can be stored under the relevant project.
Documents can be specified with custom fields indicating which project, discipline, or phase they belong to. Files requiring review or approval can be directed to the relevant people.
Access to documents can be limited based on team members’ roles. This prevents project files from being tied to personal folders or messaging applications.
Organize revision processes
Revision requests from customers, consultants, or control teams can be created as separate records or tasks. The request’s description, date received, related discipline, and responsible person can be logged.
You can organize your revision process into stages such as “New Request, Under Review, Within Scope, Awaiting Additional Fee, Being Implemented, Under Control, and Completed.”
The time and cost impact of revisions can be recorded. Out-of-scope changes can be linked to new proposals or additional work opportunities.
It can be tracked with explanations and documents which files or delivery sets include the completed revision.
Track meeting decisions and customer approvals
Meetings with customers, consultants, and project teams can be recorded as activities or tasks. Participants, decisions made, responsible parties, and target dates can be kept in the meeting record.
Each decision can be converted into a related project task. This way, work left in meeting minutes is prevented from being forgotten.
For stages requiring customer approval, the approval status and date can be recorded. Tasks awaiting approval can be viewed collectively.
Evaluate working times and team capacity
By assigning tasks to team members, project-based workload and delivery deadlines can be tracked.
You can create custom fields for estimated and actual working times according to your office's working method. This allows evaluating which project or phase has taken more time than planned.
Upcoming deliveries and heavy tasks assigned to the same person can be seen, enabling healthier team planning.
XtraCRM is not a resource optimization engine specialized in this usage; it allows you to track project tasks, responsible persons, dates, and work information in a common framework.
Manage subcontractor and supplier processes
Consultants, engineering firms, visualization teams, or other suppliers involved in the project can be managed as company records.
Contact information, responsible persons, associated projects, proposals, contracts, and deliveries can be kept in the same company history.
Files and works expected from the consultant can be created as tasks. Delivery dates and control results can be linked to the project record.
Monitor project expenses and profitability
External services, travel, printing, samples, consultancy, and other expenses related to the project can be linked to the relevant project or cost center.
Categories, amounts, currencies, suppliers, documents, and approval statuses can be tracked in expenses. Expenses requiring approval can be directed according to your company's authorization scheme.
By evaluating project expenses together with the proposal or contract amount, the project's financial status can be monitored. Working time costs can be added with custom fields according to the company's own calculation method.
Track invoicing and collection stages
Projects can be invoiced as prepayment, periodic, milestone-based, or delivery-based. An invoicing plan can be defined with custom fields according to your company's model.
When stages such as concept delivery, implementation project, or final delivery are completed, an invoice task can be assigned to the finance team.
Invoice dates, due dates, and collection status can be tracked through financial records. Follow-up tasks can be created for the responsible customer contact for overdue payments.
Manage additional work and scope changes
New requests arising during the project can be recorded as scope changes. The request description, affected project phase, estimated duration, and cost impact can be evaluated.
Additional proposals can be prepared for tasks outside the scope. The workflow can be set up so that the relevant work will not start without the customer's approval.
Approved additional tasks can be linked to project duties and financial processes. This prevents verbal requests from being added to the project uncontrollably.
Standardize delivery and acceptance processes
Checks to be done before project or phase delivery can be tracked with a task list. File formats, sheet lists, reports, and other delivery documents can be verified.
Delivery date, delivered files, delivery method, and customer approval can be recorded. Missing or corrective tasks can be assigned as new tasks to the relevant persons.
After the final delivery, a project closure check can be conducted; open tasks, missing documents, invoices, and collections can be reviewed.
Determine authorities according to task distribution
Different access rights can be defined for project managers, architects, engineers, technical teams, finance, and managers.
Employees can only view the tasks they are responsible for and the project information they are authorized to see. Financial records or management reports can only be accessible to relevant roles.
Document, task, proposal, and expense operations can be restricted according to your company's authority structure.
Create a measurable structure for management
On management dashboards, new project opportunities, pending proposals, ongoing projects, upcoming deliveries, delayed tasks, works awaiting customer approval, and open revisions can be tracked.
The following information can be evaluated based on customer, project, service type, discipline, project manager, or period:
Incoming project requests
Conversion rate of proposals to contracts
Phases of ongoing projects
Upcoming and delayed deliveries
Teams' tasks and workloads
Works awaiting customer approval
Open and completed revisions
Subconsultant deliveries
Project expenses
Billing and collection status
Additional work and scope changes
Pending tasks at project closure
XtraCRM does not force your office into a fixed project model. You can structure customer records, quotations, project stages, tasks, custom fields, documents, and financial processes according to your working system, making the entire process from the initial customer request to the final project delivery and billing more organized, measurable, and trackable.