Modern Contractor Solutions February 2025 - 20

management solution
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Winning Ways
Y
how to win more bids
By George Hedley
our company can work hard bidding
on lots of construction projects and
then rely on being the lowest-price
contractor to win contracts. Or, you can use
a more effective approach and decide to set
yourself apart from the competition. Face it:
Most construction companies are not much
different from their competitors in what they
offer-the minimum required by the plans
and specifications, plus good service, on-time
completion, and quality workmanship. When
this is the case, every bidder becomes a
commodity and gets selected based on low
price. This is a tough way to make a profit
when there are too many competitors on
almost every job.
ESTIMATORS ARE NOT
PRO PRICERS
One of the biggest goals of all construction
estimators is to win profitable jobs. Most
estimators think they're paid to price work
accurately. And therefore, the more they bid,
the more jobs they'll win. But you know this
doesn't work, especially if you bid on jobs
against too many low-priced competitors. The
key is to look for ways to improve your winning
percentage by selecting the right projects to
bid on and focus on ways to entice customers
to award you more of their work against
fewer competitors.
Looking for jobs with a high barrier to
entry is one way to get on shorter bid lists.
The tougher it is to qualify to get on bid lists,
the fewer the competitors. For example, to
be selected by a utility company or a major
corporation to work on one of their projects
requires filling out multiple pages of forms,
having a qualified training and safety program
in place per their standards, and providing
security and drug-testing protocols. This extra
20
FEBRUARY 2025
effort puts you on a short list of a few prequalified
professional competitors. Certain
branches of the government and military
select contractors based on performance
and price equally. To qualify to get on their
approved bidder list takes extreme effort,
paperwork, technical qualifications, and
presentation skills. To be placed on the short
list of approved contractors in some school
districts for " lease-lease back " or designbuild
contracts requires you to present a
project plan to the school board. A complete
and winning presentation must include
a power-point slide show of how you will
operate, team highlights, aerial photos, and a
convincing script.
Companies who rely solely on being the
low bid to win work are leaving many missed
opportunities behind. If you figure your
sales job is done when you email or deliver
bids and proposals to potential customers,
you are losing out on winning more highmargin
contracts. Customers really don't buy
numbers on a piece of paper unless the price
is significantly lower than other bidders, or
there are no differentiating factors clearly
evident between competitors. When prices are
about the same, customers make decisions on
who to hire based on what sets them apart or
what they offer to do for them.
PRESENT IN PERSON AND
FOLLOW UP
You can't just present what your company
will do on a standardized bid form listing
out your terms, exclusions, inclusions, and
qualifications. It must be done in person by
someone responsible for selling and closing
the deal. If that person is you or the estimator
in your company, they need to be trained
in how to develop customer relationships,
build trust, sell confidence, overcome price
objections, negotiate, and present. They must
be taught they're in " show business, " and how
the bid is presented is often more important
than price. Another key to winning more work
is to aggressively follow-up bids and proposals
in person. Ask for the contract, tell them why
they should hire your company, offer valueadded
options, and ask for the order again
and again.
IMPROVE YOUR BID-HIT-WIN RATIO
One of my subcontractors built a relationship
with me by leaving something behind when
he visits our office. By making it a point to
ask personal questions, he got to know me
better and what I like to do in my spare time.
Last week, he was at the office working with
a project manager and on his way out he
dropped off a bottle of Sonoma pinot noir on
www.mcsmag.com
http://www.mcsmag.com
Modern Contractor Solutions February 2025

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