1) WIN STRATEGY REVIEW MEETING
a. Before you jump in and start the process of bidding a new project, you need to evaluate whether a project is worth pursuing. Because everyone is so busy, and it is impossible to get people together to make a Go/No-Go decision, the estimator needs to gather the pertinent information and forward it to senior management. I’ve found that the best vehicle for this is a Win Strategy Form. There are certain items that need to be evaluated, before time and money are expended chasing a bid “opportunity”.
i. How will we win this job?
ii. Who are our competitors?
iii. What are the major trade battles we must win, to win the war?
iv. Our advantage is . . . ? Our disadvantage is . . . ?
1. How do we expand on our advantages, and overcome any disadvantages?
b. Sometimes, the best strategy is to pass.
c. *An example of a Win Strategy Checklist is available for free, by emailing us at info@core-services.org.

2) QUICK INITIAL DOCUMENT REVIEW
a. Too often, the deadline for questions passes before subcontractors even roll out the drawings.
i. Get a jump on your competitors by completing a page-by-page review as soon as possible.
ii. Develop a list of questions for Owner/Arch/Engr, so they know the job is important to your team. There have been many times where an Owner may chose to award to a bidder who is not low, because he demonstrated a better knowledge of the project (asked a lot of questions).
iii. Shake the tree, and make sure subcontractors are looking at it as well. Make sure they know the deadline for questions. They will also come to understand that this project is important to you.

3) WINNING SCHEDULE
a. Owners will often provide schedule information or construction durations for bidders. This should be reviewed for “do-ability”.
b. Develop your own quick schedule, and review it with your team, to validate the Owner’s schedule, or prove it is unrealistic. Many times, it is too conservative. By shortening the duration, you may be able to reduce your overhead costs, and gain a competitive advantage.
c. If an Owner’s schedule is aggressive, you will need to relay this to subcontractors, so they can adjust their manpower estimates to meet the demand. Often times, overtime hours are needed when an aggressive schedule is required to meet the Owner’s milestones. Subcontractor quotes need to reflect these premiums.

4) PROPER SUB COVERAGE
a. Extend Your Reach: Send ITB’s to all of the respective Project Lead Services, such as:
i. Dodge, CDC News, ENR, iSqFt, Reed, Bidclerk, Bluebook, etc. They will add your company to their listings, and distribute to their readership. The result is More Sub Bids, from unsolicited contractors. Most of them are bidding to your competitors, and now to you. The more bids you receive for each trade, the better your chance will be to have the low bids.
ii. Keep in mind, that if you have not pre-qualified a subcontractor, you need to be cautious of their proposal, and complete an intensive review before using their number. This is often difficult to do, when a bid is received in the eleventh hour. If a number is especially low, there is always a good reason for it. Steer clear!
b. Start talking up an upcoming bid to your subcontractors right away. Get them engaged, and excited about jobs you bid. If you don’t get them amped, who will?
c. We all know that our time is precious. But, if you are asking an assistant or receptionist to make calls to develop an interest and find out whether key subcontractors are bidding, you are going to disappointed in the outcome. Ask for help in making follow up calls, or for calls to less important trades, but don’t leave the heavy lifting to others. There is NO excuse for not having bids in any one trade. This task is just as important as knowing the scope of the job.
d. Utilize the new tools on the market for keeping track of subcontractors, distributing documents, sharing files, tracking competitiveness/responsiveness, and prequalifying them. There are dozens of great applications out there that simplify the whole bid communication process. Talk to your subcontractors, to find out which ones they like, and why. If they don’t like what you decide to use, they will be less likely to bid to you.

5) MIX IT UP / BREAK IT UP
a. If you have a habit of awarding work that you win to your favorite subcontractors, you are going to have a difficult time being competitive in the lump sum arena. It is understanding that you want to reward the contractors you feel comfortable with, . . but eventually, the word gets out that you award work only to your favorites. If this is the case, on bid day a few things will happen:
i. Subcontractors that you have been speaking to during the bid period, will not provide a bid on bid day.
ii. Subcontractors WILL provide a bid, but it will not be competitive, and can do more harm than good.
iii. Subcontractors will provide a low bid, but leave out scope to keep their number low. These quotes purposely lack any kind of detail and exclusions.
b. Another result of awarding work to Favorites is, that the Favorites will often increase their profit margins when they bid to you, knowing that they are going to get the work. Eventually, you are unable to be competitive with the same subs who previously helped you get the wins.
c. Subcontractor lists constantly need to refreshed with new blood.
d. Another method for reducing costs is to break up large trade packages into smaller ones. Often times, subcontractors are hiring second tier subcontractors to perform certain parts of their scope. The result is double markup. Some typical trades to separate out for direct bids are:
i. Earthwork: Site concrete, paving, landscaping, piles, utilities
ii. Structural Steel: Miscellaneous Metals, expansion joints
iii. Caulking / Waterproofing
iv. Drywall / Light Ga. Framing / Acoustic Ceilings / ICRA or Temp Partitions
v. HVAC Equipment
vi. Electrical: Lighting / Gear / Generators
e. These are all ways to reduce the cost of your bid.

6) PROTECT YOUR ASSETS
a. When considering a new subcontractor, we will contact a subcontractor’s references. We often will need to contact our competitor GC’s and inquire about a sub’s performance, the quality of their work, ability to meet schedule, closeout, etc. We are amazed at how often contractors will respond with favorable information. If you receive an email or phone call from another GC, asking about one of your subcontractors, DO NOT RESPOND! Quality subcontractors are the key to being competitive and to winning. If you respond favorably, and help the sub to find work with another GC, they can become “busy” and less likely to be hungry for work. They may also choose to bid to the other contractor when their bids conflict with yours. This will not help your cause.
b. One day, you may receive a call from a “vendor”, asking if you can tell him who your “electrical subcontractors” are, so he can send them his “fire alarm quote”. He may actually be a fire alarm vendor. Whether he is or not, do not share the names of any one of your subcontractors with someone who calls on the phone. Be sure to share this rule with your team. I have heard stories about GC’s who are lacking bids in a particular trade. Unscrupulous GC’s will call their competitors, pretending to be a vendor who needs to forward his quote to a specific group of contractors. If you receive such a call (actual vendor or not), ask them to send you their proposal to you, and you will forward it to the appropriate subcontractors. And NEVER, email a vendor subcontractor names, because you trust or recognize a vendor by his valid email. There is nothing to stop a vendor from passing a list along to his favorite GC, who will use this information to out-bid you.
c. DO NOT Publish your list of upcoming bids or your Bid Schedule on your company web page for all to see. This is a big mistake, and many GC’s do this to make it easy for their regular subcontractors to stay informed. There are many of your competitor GC’s who will frequent these web pages, as a resource for jobs they may want to also pursue. You don’t need more competition. Utilize one of the many other solicitation applications for document distribution and communications. There are many low-cost options out there. Drop Box is free.

7) DRIVE THE BUS
a. Know the job better than the subcontractors:
i. Write detailed scopes of work (checklist) for each trade.
ii. Subs like to work with contractors who know the job, and will give better pricing if they have confidence in your understanding of the work. Many contractors today choose to handle all correspondence via email, Bidmail, iSqFt, and through an assistant. This is a big mistake. Make sure you personally speak to your major subcontractors. It will insure that they are bidding, and let them know you are aggressively chasing the job.
iii. Have an ongoing dialogue with the major subcontractors to share understanding of the scope for each trade, and avoid overlaps, and gaps between different trades.
iv. Steer subs to bid the work the way YOU want them to.
v. Distribute simple forms for subs, so they understand how you need them to price the job. If you need things broken out, or have alternates and unit prices, give it to them in a format so they can return it to you that way.
vi. Know the approximate cost of each trade. Develop quick order of magnitude take-offs.
vii. What is the expected total cost of the job? Cost per GSF is available for almost all job types.

8) A WORD ABOUT DISCOUNTING (Cutting)
a. DON’T DO IT! It’s better to negotiate with subcontractors for the major trades, and discuss how you need their help to win the job. You don’t have to make a commitment, unless by doing so, you are able to negotiate a great deal, which will potentially help you win the job.
b. Many subs today, give their best number out on bid day. After you win, you may find out that the subcontractor’s quote that you “discounted”, doesn’t have “room to move”, and will be left holding the bag.If someone else on your staff is making a “deal”, make sure you have the scope nailed down with that sub, before someone else “cuts a deal”.
c. If you want to “Discount”, make the cut below the line, with an understanding that if you win, you will work to improve your final profit by improving your margins during your buy-out. We call this a “Gut Cut”. It should only be applied cautiously. This is what separates the men from the boys! Invariably, subcontractors will miraculously find ways to improve their numbers, after they find out that you have won. Typically, additional bidders will also come out of the woodwork, with lower numbers than you carried on bid day, which will help you improve your bottom line. But, let’s not forget about how to pay for the stuff you missed!    =-/     That’s a topic for another day.

9) CALM BEFORE THE STORM
a. On bid day, get the proper support from your staff. Other estimators, superintendents and project managers can be a great asset, and often enjoy jumping in. I Have never worked on a bid where we had too many hands on bid day. Get a commitment weeks in advance of the job. On a large job, bring them in the day before the bid.
b. Use the day before the bid as your dry-run. Have bids organized and mostly de-scoped on the day before.
i. The bid summary sheet should be filled in with sub bids where possible, and with estimated values, where sub bids have not yet been received.
ii. Confirm that the email is addressed, or bid envelope is complete, and ready to go.
iii. Confirm that the bid delivery person is familiar with the “drill”, and understands their role, and the bid form if they need to fill in any information prior to sealing the bid.

10) WIN OR LOSE . . SWEEP BEHIND YOU
a. A day or two after the bid is submitted, and after the dust has settled, open up the files and organize the bids, to review where things shook out. This is a necessary step to insure you continue to be competitive.
i. Add the names of any new subcontractors to your list of subcontractors. Send new subcontractors a prequalification form.
ii. Update your list of who bid, who did not bid, who was competitive, and who was out in left field.
iii. When they call, give subcontractors feedback, regarding their competitiveness. They will appreciate it, and it helps foster the relationship. Of course, if you are the low bidder, do not share any information regarding bid results, until you are ready to review and negotiate.

SUMMARY

If you use many of the tactics listed here, you will build a better team, both internally and externally, and greatly increase your chances of winning. Eventually, these become habits, and winning work feels like more a skill, and less like luck! For more . . .