Engineering & Architecture
Engineering and architecture firm CRM, from go/no-go to kickoff
Design work is won or lost long before the drawings start. Senitix CRM keeps each pursuit on one deal: the dated go/no-go call, the client's selection committee with their roles, the disciplines and phases in scope, and every fee proposal version with its valid-until date. When the client signs, the project manager starts from the scope that was actually accepted.
Built for structural, civil, geotechnical and MEP engineering firms, multidisciplinary A/E firms and architecture practices in the United States, whether the client is a public agency, a developer or a family building a home.
One deal per pursuit, in a design firm's own terms
A design firm sets the deal up as the pursuit: client type, market sector, selection method, the disciplines requested, the design phases in scope and the submission deadline as fields, beside the client's contacts and every fee proposal version. An example pipeline runs from the first RFQ to kickoff with a go/no-go stage near the start, each stage showing its key fields and what the principals agree must be true before a pursuit moves on. Drawings, models and calculations stay in the design software the firm already uses.
In Senitix CRM
What Senitix CRM solves for engineering and architecture firms
Make the go/no-go a dated decision on the record
A firm sets up go/no-go as its own stage, with guidance text and up to five key fields the principals agree to fill before a pursuit moves on: the decision, the principal who made it, the date and the reason. The stage shows what the firm agreed and never stops a deal from moving. A no-go closes as lost with a reason from the firm’s own list, so the work the firm declined is counted along with the work it chased.
- Client type, market sector, selection method and submission deadline filled in as fields when the RFQ or RFP arrives
- A separate pipeline for public qualifications-based pursuits, where the fee is negotiated only after the firm is ranked first, and another for private work
- Win rate and no-go counts by market sector, client and principal in charge, on reports delivered on a schedule
Know who sits on the selection committee
The client is an account and its people are contacts, each linked to the pursuit with a role: the facilities director who scores the submissions, the owner’s project manager who reads the technical approach, the executive who signs the agreement. Calls, meetings, notes and connected email run down one timeline, so the principal preparing for the interview reads what the rest of the team has already heard.
- Contact roles on the deal such as decision maker, evaluator, technical buyer and executive sponsor, with a public agency's departments under one parent account
- Gmail, Microsoft Outlook or IMAP mailboxes and Google or Microsoft calendars connected, each thread linked to its contact, account or deal
- Senitix AI summarizes a long thread with the client before the interview and drafts a reply, and nothing is sent until a person confirms it
Version every fee proposal, with its assumptions attached
Each revision of a fee proposal is a new numbered version on the same deal, priced line by line from the firm’s services and rates, with its assumptions and exclusions written into the terms and a valid-until date. A version presented to the client and still unanswered after that date turns Expired on its own, and a discounted fee can go to named approvers before it leaves the firm.
- Each discipline or design phase entered as a product in the catalog, with the firm's rates in a price book and every version sent as a PDF from the firm's own template
- Fee type (lump sum, hourly with a not-to-exceed, or a percentage of construction cost) on the deal, with the multiplier and labor cost visible only to principals through field permissions
- The client's RFP, the qualifications package and the signed proposal attached to the deal, in folders that keep each file's versions
Start the project from the scope the client accepted
When the client accepts a version, it continues into a contract record with its lines carried over and the signed agreement with the client attached, so the project manager starts from the scope that was sold. An automation on the won stage opens a dated kickoff task for the project manager, and the next phase or the next building for the same client becomes its own deal on that account.
- The accepted version, its assumptions and exclusions, and the client's contacts handed over on one record; signatures are collected outside Senitix
- A kickoff task with a named owner and a notification to the project team, created by an automation when a pursuit is won
- A deal type of new business or existing business, so a report separates repeat clients from new ones
An example pursuit pipeline for a design firm
The stages an engineering or architecture firm might set up in Senitix CRM, from the first RFQ or inquiry to the project kickoff. Each stage carries guidance the firm writes for itself and up to five key fields.
Example stages
- RFQ or inquiry received
- Go/no-go
- Shortlist and interview
- Fee proposal presented
- Fee negotiation
- Won and kicked off
Guidance on each stage
- RFQ or inquiry received The client, the source (an RFQ, an RFP, a repeat client or a referral) and the submission deadline are on the deal, and one principal owns the pursuit.
- Go/no-go The decision, the principal who made it and the date are recorded against the firm's criteria: fit, relationship, staff availability, likely fee and competition. A no-go closes as lost with its reason.
- Shortlist and interview The qualifications package is attached, the selection committee is on the deal with their roles, and the interview is a dated activity with an owner.
- Fee proposal presented The disciplines and phases in scope are filled in, a fee proposal version is marked Presented with a valid-until date, and a dated follow-up has an owner.
- Fee negotiation Every change to scope or fee is a new version, and what changed is written in that version's notes.
- Won and kicked off The client accepted a specific version, the signed agreement is on a contract record, and the project manager has a dated kickoff task with the accepted scope.
An example, not a template: your firm sets up its own stages, and nothing arrives configured. A stage shows guidance and key fields but never stops a deal from moving. A firm that skips interviews on private work removes that stage, and open deals keep their history.
Customer story Structural and civil engineering design
İntaç İnşaat carries an engineering request from go/no-go to kickoff on one deal
İntaç İnşaat is an Istanbul engineering design firm. Although “inşaat” is Turkish for construction, its services page lists engineering design and analysis only. Its story describes how the go/no-go, the disciplines in scope, each fee proposal version and the handoff to the project lead are set up on one deal, and it publishes no results.
Read the İntaç İnşaat storyFAQ
Engineering and architecture CRM questions
What is an engineering firm CRM?
An engineering firm CRM is a customer relationship management system set up for how design work is won: clients as accounts, their selection committee as contacts with roles, each pursuit as a deal with a dated go/no-go, the disciplines and phases in scope as fields, and every fee proposal kept as a version. This page shows how an engineering or architecture firm sets Senitix CRM up for that work: the fields, an example pipeline and the reports.
Do architecture and engineering firms need a CRM?
Yes, once the firm wins work through RFQs, RFPs, interviews and repeat clients. A CRM lets the principals make a dated go/no-go call on each pursuit, keep the client’s selection committee on the deal with their roles, version every fee proposal and see win rates by market sector and client. Project accounting, resource planning and the design work itself stay in the firm’s own project and design software; the CRM holds the pursuit and the relationship around it.
What is the best CRM for an architecture firm?
The one whose records match how the practice decides which work to chase. Look for a go/no-go stage that carries a date and a name, contact roles for the people who choose the architect, fee proposals kept as versions with their assumptions, and reports that split wins by market sector and by new versus repeat clients. A studio that designs homes for families needs the same pursuit record with fewer stages. In Senitix CRM the practice sets each of those up itself, as fields, stages, contact roles, versions and reports.
How should an A/E firm run a go/no-go decision?
Run it as a stage, early, before anyone writes a page. The principals agree on a short list of criteria, such as fit with the firm’s market sectors, the relationship with the client, staff availability, the likely fee and the known competition, and write them into the stage’s guidance. The decision, the deciding principal and the date become key fields on the deal, and a no-go closes as lost with a reason, so the firm can report what it declined and why. Our guide to go/no-go decisions for services proposals has a scoring checklist to use at that stage.
How does a CRM handle qualifications-based selection?
Under qualifications-based selection, which federal agencies use for architecture and engineering services and many states use for public work, the owner ranks firms on qualifications first and negotiates the fee with the top-ranked firm. A firm can set up a separate pipeline for those pursuits, with stages for the statement of qualifications or SF 330, the shortlist, the interview and the fee negotiation, while private work goes straight to a fee proposal in its own pipeline.
How do you keep fee proposal versions and their assumptions?
Keep each revision as a new version of the quote on the same deal instead of a new spreadsheet. In Senitix CRM a version carries its lines, the assumptions and exclusions in its terms and a valid-until date; a presented version still unanswered after that date turns Expired on its own, and the version marked Accepted is the one the project manager starts from. Plan details are on the pricing page.
Does a CRM replace project accounting or design software?
No. Senitix CRM holds the commercial side: the client relationship, the pursuit, the go/no-go, the fee proposal versions and the signed agreement. Project accounting, time and expense, resource planning, and the drawings, models and calculations stay in the tools built for them, and there is no packaged connector to those tools today. Records move in and out as CSV or Excel files, and outgoing webhooks are coming soon.
Which reports should an engineering or architecture firm track?
Start with win rate by market sector, by client and by principal in charge, the pursuits declined at go/no-go and their reasons, how long pursuits sit in each stage, fee proposals that expired without an answer, and pursuits with no next activity. Then split new clients from repeat clients. Each report reads the fields and stages the firm set up, respects each user’s permissions and can be delivered on a schedule. Our guide to calculating sales win rate covers the arithmetic.
Put your next go/no-go on the record
Start free today, or talk to us about shaping the pursuit fields, the go/no-go stage and the fee proposal around the disciplines your firm practices.
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