Making Data-Driven Bid Decisions

Everyone wants to win more bids, but is a lack of data holding you back?

In this webinar, we give you actionable strategies to leverage technology to:

  • Collect project data
  • Improve project bids and estimates
  • Win more work

Presented by:

Amanda Wolfe

Content Marketing Manager

Brian Poage

Construction Support Manager

Brian Poage, Construction Support Manager at Raken and Amanda Wolfe, Content Marketing Manager at STACK, lead a webinar on how to use data to improve estimate accuracy for bids. While introducing this topic, Brain says "we want anyone to uncover data, analyze it properly, and leverage that when we're entering into the bid and pre-construction phase".

This article will summarize some of the key takeaways from this webinar. Read on to learn more about collecting and using data to inform your estimates when bidding on projects.

Common reasons contractors struggle to win more work

The goal to win more work almost always fuels conversations about bidding. But it's important to remember that much of your success depends on the quality of data you have to work with. Unfortunately, many companies are working with a lack of data, or an abundance of irrelevant or inaccurate data.

These main causes for poor bidding performance can be broken down into three categories:

  • Lack of historical data
  • Inaccurate estimates
  • Poor communication
  • This article will summarize some of the key takeaways from this webinar. Read on to learn more about collecting and using data to inform your estimates when bidding on projects.

    How Raken improves data (and bid estimates)

    Thankfully, using a tool to digitally collect data can solve each of the above problems. Raken, a field-first data collection tools, makes it easy to track:

  • Time
  • Manpower
  • Amount of material installed
  • Equipment used
  • Once you have this data, you can compare the actual project versus what you bid. This assessment gives you the knowledge to make more profitable bids in the future.

    Field-focused data collection for accuracy

    No need to worry about collecting inaccurate data either—the right tool can eliminate many of the causes for errors in data. Focus on finding a data-collection tool that's easy to use in the field, since that's where all your data is being created. If you find the right field-focused tool, you'll find that data accuracy improves—along with the amount of data you receive.

    What about communication? Digital data collection can also make it easy to share real-time data between the field and office, improving communication and jobsite visibility.

    Once you collect that data, you can begin to utilize STACK to enhance your estimates.

    Using data for preconstruction takeoff and estimating

    Raken makes it easy to collect and organize data—as well as transfer data to software like STACK. STACK is a preconstruction software with takeoff and estimating tools, which means it can take the data collected by Raken to help you improve estimate accuracy. Historical data can also help you develop a strategy by revealing what projects were most profitable and best suited for your team.

    While Raken gives you the data to make more accurate bids and assessments, you still need to take the time to utilize the data. Utilizing tools like STACK and other integratios for project management, accounting, and storage, will preserve your bandwidth so you can focus on strategy and improving profitability.

    Better analyze and understand production rates

    With more accurate data—and the insights to help you realize opportunities for improvement—you will enhance the quality of your bid. This means your bids are:

  • More accurate
  • Enable prompt and professional communication
  • Competitively priced
  • The bidding process includes first impressions—and having a tool that creates clean proposals can make your company stand out.

    With construction tech, you also improve internal communication throughout the preconstruction process, since going digital streamlines remote collaboration and approvals.

    Ready to get started?

    Schedule a 1-on-1 demo to learn more about Raken and how you can use field-collected data to improve your bids.

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