How Specialty Contractors Utilize SmartBid
Forming the right team and communicating effectively are essential activities for any successful project. In construction, this can translate to hours on hours of intensive computer work, manually tracking email communications and navigating a variety of different computer applications. Excel, in particular, can be gruesome to use when scrolling through spreadsheets to find particular project data or subcontractor information from, say, six months ago. This is where SmartBid comes into play. Typically thought of as a tool for general contractors, SmartBid construction bid software can provide a competitive advantage and streamline the preconstruction process for any contractor that heads up a project and needs to communicate effectively the whole way through.
When it comes to email communication with other contractors, tracking is key. By tracking I don’t mean just keeping track of emails, but knowing which subs are actually opening messages and viewing project plans, then being able to effectively filter those subs by response type. Also if you spend a majority of your time on the jobsite, you can check your SmartBid email communications from your smartphone via the iOS, Android or Windows mobile app. Most people communicate by phone anyway, so with SmartBid there is an app for that.
Another important factor in communicating is knowing with whom you are communicating. As stated earlier, many contractors utilize large excel files to organize contact information and notes on other subcontractors they’ve partnered with in the past. SmartBid users can import all of this information into their personalized system, then organize by standard or customizable trade codes. Each contractor listed in the database can be rated and reviewed from past projects to provide as much information as possible for future projects. Furthermore, if a company using SmartBid is working on a project outside of their normal region, SmartBid provides access to our SmartInsight and Public Agency databases for increased bid coverage. For companies that don’t typically work as a general contractor, this can be a beneficial source of qualified team members on a project.
Construction professionals leading a project may run into many unique situations when working with another contractor for the first time, and they too need to be able to organize, keep notes on, and qualify their project partners. SmartBid’s prequalification module comes in handy for these situations by providing the standard CD721 form as well as a completely customizable form builder for asking the best qualifying questions for your unique specialty. This way, the specialty contractor can get all of their questions answered easily and review all the information they need to know on a subcontractor.
The more information a contractor, no matter the type, knows in relation to a project, the better. This is why SmartBid also provides all the standard reports needed on a project, as well as a customizable reporting feature to know the metrics on all of their project and bidding data. This way future projects can be improved upon and the best contractors can be selected as team members.
So, whether a construction company acts as a general contractor or specializes in a certain trade, SmartBid can be used as an efficient tool in streamlining a project from start to end.
About the Author:
Howdy! My name is Kyle Love and I have been a business development intern here at JBKnowledge, Inc. since January of 2016. Throughout my time working here I have been fortunate enough to learn a great deal about the construction industry and the recent developments of related technologies. One of my favorite products is the DSC virtual reality headset inspired by Google Cardboard. This device allows users to experience virtual reality features, such as touring one of their BIM models, at a fraction of what a typical headset costs. I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog post, and of course, Thanks and Gig ‘Em!
