Strategies for Increasing Construction Bid Opportunities

With the increase in infrastructure spending means there will be an increase in construction bid opportunities. Which makes now the perfect time to take a look at your bidding process and improve your strategies for winning projects.

Better Construction Bid Opportunities Through Data

The bidding process requires a lot of your resources, whether it’s financial, labor, or time. Bidding smarter is using past bids to improve current and future ones. By breaking down past bids, seeing which ones you won and which ones you lost, you might find a pattern. If you remember the amount of time, the number of people, and deposits or purchases necessary for the ones you lost you will see the true cost of a lost bid.

This information can be used to help you improve your bidding process. If the projects didn’t quite fit your business or were outside the scope of your resources, then you know to watch out for projects like that in the future. If you’ve lost bids because they didn’t have all required information, then you can use that information to better prepare bids. You can ensure that you’re targeting projects you should win.

Crafting the Best Estimate

Probably the easiest way to increase construction bid opportunities is to ensure accurate estimates. It is true that some projects will be awarded to the firm with the lowest estimate. But if the project cost ends up being well over the estimated cost, that might risk your chances of working with the same people again. Your reputation matters. Remembering to include contingency funds and planning for overtime is a good way to ensure a more accurate estimate.

Proofreading Measurements and Bids

An easy way to ensure an accurate estimate is to ensure that you have the most up to date plans. Accurate plans ensure accurate measurements. These accurate measurements are incredibly important in estimating. If your measurements aren’t correct then you run the risk of having incorrect math which won’t win you the bid. Similarly, proofreading your bid proposal can increase your chances. It shows that you’ve taken time and care in preparing the bid, which reflects positively on you and your company. That bump in your reputation can help you increase your construction bid opportunities.

Clarify Everything

You’ve double checked all the math, you’ve created your timeline, and completed the cost estimate. Before you submit read through your proposal for clarity. Think about what the person receiving these estimates will think reading through the costs. Large sum costs can be a red flag to the project owner. Breaking these costs down into individual parts, while tedious, can assuage fears about the cost. This can give you a giant step up on any competition for construction bid opportunities.

Highlight Past Projects

Let your past work speak for you. Mentioning your company’s past work is a good reference for current bids. If you’ve completed a similar project, you can highlight the work you performed. Even if you haven’t completed a similar project, highlighting your skills through past examples can be a major benefit. Past projects show your skill, reliability, and provide references. Great work comes with great references which can lead to more work.

Technology

An easy way to save you time and money on your bid strategies is technology. Whether it’s a digital record of past bidding proposals, estimator software, or a word processor, can give you an advantage. Digital records make finding information easier for estimators. They can take past bids to better sculpt new ones. Estimator software can streamline the estimating and budgeting process. And a word processor helps you write professional looking documents. The simple step of typing up all parts of your proposal can help you win more bids.

Media Attention

Winning projects is important, so is publicizing these wins. Publishing a small blurb on your website about your new project, how current projects are coming, and past projects help build your portfolio. Pitching these wins to local news, trade publications, and other media outlets also help your business gain publicity. This publicity is a great way to garner new projects since reputation is incredibly important in the construction industry. Your public relations or marketing person can always help write pitches, interview content, or other content to help raise your company’s profile.