Full Sail Partners Blog | Stephany Socha

This article kicks off our five-part “Get Ready for 2026!” series—each week we’ll explore a key area of your business that helps set the stage for a successful year ahead. First up: Pipeline and Revenue Forecasting.

As the year winds down, many firms are knee-deep in planning for 2026—forecasting revenue, setting sales goals, and building business development strategies. But before you finalize next year’s plan, take a step back and ask yourself:

Do you have full visibility into your firm’s pipeline—or are you relying on guesswork?

A healthy pipeline is more than a list of upcoming opportunities. It’s your firm’s early warning system, strategic compass, and most reliable indicator of future success. Without it, even the most carefully crafted plans can unravel when reality doesn’t align with expectations.

Why Pipeline Visibility Matters

Pipeline visibility empowers leaders with clarity to make confident, data-driven decisions. It reveals where opportunities originate, which markets are gaining momentum, and how today’s efforts will drive tomorrow’s revenue.

Too often, firms operate with only partial visibility—tracking wins and backlog while overlooking opportunities still in motion. This narrow view turns forecasting into guesswork, triggering last-minute scrambles and stretching teams beyond capacity.

By consistently tracking opportunities through every stage of the pursuit process, your team can spot patterns that reveal:

• Which clients or sectors are most profitable
• Where proposals tend to stall or get lost
• How marketing and business development efforts impact the bottom line

These insights shift your firm from reactive to proactive—empowering smarter go/no-go decisions and enabling you to allocate resources where they’ll drive the greatest impact.

The Real Cost of Pursuing Work

Every proposal carries a cost—time, effort, and focus. Without understanding that cost, it’s nearly impossible to evaluate whether the return is worth the investment.

Tracking the cost of winning work brings those hidden expenses to light. For example, if your proposal team is stretched thin or technical staff are pulled away from billable projects for low-probability pursuits, your profitability suffers long before the contract is ever signed.

By understanding these metrics, firms can prioritize high-value opportunities, protect billable hours, and ensure teams are focused where it matters most. It’s not about chasing every project—it’s about chasing the right ones.

Turning Data into Direction

Once your pipeline data is consistent and reliable, it becomes one of the most powerful tools in your business strategy. Within Deltek Vantagepoint, firms can visualize pipeline stages, track win rates, and forecast revenue with precision—no spreadsheets required.

Imagine being able to answer questions like:

• What is our projected revenue for the next two quarters?
• Which markets are performing above expectations?
• Do we have enough resources to deliver upcoming work?

With clear visibility into what’s ahead, your team can adjust course early—before potential issues become costly roadblocks.

From Insight to Action

Pipeline visibility isn’t just about metrics; it’s about momentum. When marketing, operations, and finance teams share the same data, collaboration improves and strategic decisions become faster and more effective.

As you plan for 2026, take a moment to evaluate your pipeline. Is it accurate? Is it up to date? Most importantly, is it helping your leadership team make smarter business decisions?

A clear pipeline gives you the confidence to plan with purpose—and the foresight to keep your firm moving in the right direction.

Need Help Building a Reliable Pipeline in Deltek Vantagepoint?

Your pipeline is only as good as the data behind it. If you’re struggling to track opportunities, forecast revenue, or make confident decisions from your Deltek Vantagepoint CRM, our experts can help.

The Full Sail Partners CRM consulting team specializes in setting up, customizing, and optimizing Vantagepoint to transform pipeline data into actionable insights that drive growth.

Click the image below to get started.

As someone who has worked with Deltek Vantagepoint for years, I can confidently say that it’s a powerhouse for project-based firms. But what really takes its functionality to the next level? It's seamless integration with Microsoft Office, particularly Outlook and Teams. These integrations don’t just make your life easier—they make your work more efficient, more connected, and ultimately, more valuable.

If you’re not already using the Vantagepoint Connect Add-in for Outlook or leveraging the Teams integration within Vantagepoint, let me introduce you to the game-changers that will revolutionize how you manage projects, communications, and collaboration.

Vantagepoint Connect: Outlook Add-in

Turning Your Inbox into an Extension of Vantagepoint

We all live in our inboxes, so why not make Outlook work smarter? With the Vantagepoint Connect Add-in for Outlook, your CRM and project management tools are just a click away—right inside your email.

Key Features That Save You Time and Effort:

• Easily Add Contacts and Firms
  Got an email from a new potential client? Instead of manually entering their information into Vantagepoint, just open the Vantagepoint Connect pane inside Outlook and instantly create a new Contact or Firm record.
• Log Emails as Activities
  Ever had an important client conversation get lost in the email abyss? With just one click, you can log emails directly into Vantagepoint as an Activity, keeping a clear record of communications tied to the right firm, project, or marketing campaign.
• Schedule Meetings Without the Back-and-Forth
  The built-in Scheduling Assistant lets you send availability links, propose meeting times, and even create Teams meetings—right from Outlook. No more endless email chains trying to find a time that works.
• Search Your Vantagepoint Database from Outlook
  Need to check if someone is already in your system? The search bar inside the Vantagepoint Connect pane lets you pull up records for Contacts, Firms, Projects, and Activities without ever leaving your email.
  
  

Why This Matters:

Instead of bouncing between applications, you can perform essential CRM tasks directly in Outlook. The result? A faster, more connected workflow that ensures your data stays up to date with minimal effort.

Microsoft Teams + Vantagepoint: Instant Collaboration, Right Where You Need It

Bridging the Gap Between Project Data and Real-Time Communication

We all know that great projects are built on effective communication. With Microsoft Teams integration inside Vantagepoint, staying connected with your team has never been easier. Instead of switching between platforms or hunting for contact info, you can start a Teams chat directly from within Vantagepoint—right where you are already working.

How It Works:

• See Who Is in the Same Record as You
  If other users are currently in the same record in Vantagepoint—whether it is a project, contact, or another hub—you will see their presence via a small chat bubble next to their name (see screenshot below).
• Instantly Start a Teams Chat
  Need to ask a quick question or clarify project details? Simply hover over the chat bubble and initiate a one-on-one Microsoft Teams chat directly from Vantagepoint. No need to search for their name in Teams or leave your workflow.
• Seamless Setup
  If your firm has enabled the Microsoft Teams Chat option in Settings » General » Communications, you can immediately start chatting with team members without leaving Vantagepoint.

Why This Matters:

When working on projects, timing is everything. Instead of sending an email and waiting hours for a reply, you can now ping a teammate in Teams and get an answer instantly. This eliminates communication delays, reduces email clutter, and keeps teams aligned in real-time.

With the Teams Chat integration, Vantagepoint is no longer just your project management system—it’s your real-time collaboration hub.

Why These Integrations Are a Must for Any Vantagepoint User

Whether you are a BD professional, a project manager, or a marketing leader, these integrations provide three major benefits:

1. Time Savings: No more duplicate data entry or switching between multiple applications.
2. Better Collaboration: Keep teams aligned with real-time access to shared information.
3. Stronger Data Integrity: Ensure that all interactions and project updates are automatically captured inside Vantagepoint.

By integrating the tools, you already use every day—Outlook and Teams—Deltek Vantagepoint becomes even more powerful. It’s about working smarter, not harder.

Take Your Vantagepoint Experience to the Next Level

With Microsoft Outlook and Teams integrations, Deltek Vantagepoint isn’t just a project management system—it’s a powerhouse for seamless collaboration, streamlined workflows, and smarter communication. If you’re not taking full advantage of these tools yet, now is the perfect time to get started!

Want to see the Outlook integration in action? Watch my mini-demo, to see how Vantagepoint Connect can help you work smarter—right inside Outlook. Click below to watch today!