Next to your own staff, your clients are the most important assets to your business. Often, A&E firms find themselves dependent on a small number of clients for the bulk of their business.

In fact, the average A&E firm has 37% of its revenue tied up in just three clients. Losing a top client can be a huge blow to any firm, as we all know. Yet, according to the Deltek Clarity A&E Industry Report, finding enough time to nurture client relationships is a top business development challenge.

So, how can you be sure your client management hits the mark – and offers you opportunity to expand your client base?

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The process of setting and meeting goals is the engine that drives all project-based businesses, and AEC firms are no different. But setting goals can be difficult – and it can be easy to lose energy and focus with even the most clear and actionable of goals.

Within the AEC industry, firms often set themselves up to fail by setting goals that are unrealistic or vague. You may have a goal, but no actionable plan to make it happen. Or, you may have created a goal that simply isn’t feasible.

So, how do you know what goals are realistic? In a word: benchmarking.

Turn to a trusted resource like the Deltek Clarity Report, compiled from responses to the Annual Deltek A&E Clarity Survey, to help benchmark your firm against the competition and drill down on key performance indicators (KPIs). For example, thanks to Deltek’s 2015 Clarity Report, we know that the average win rate is 47.6% and high-performing AEC firms are reaching 50%. Metrics such as these will help you determine what average firms are doing, what high-performing firms are doing and where you measure up.

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