Why the contractor who follows up on every construction bid wins more of them
You spend days on a bid, send it, and then wait. The contractor who calls back finds out what the owner is thinking. An AI Employee can make sure that call always happens.
5 minute read
Following up on a construction bid tells you where you stand, lets you answer questions before the owner decides, and shows you care about the job. An AI Employee can track every bid you send, draft the follow ups on time and flag replies for your team to handle.
- Most bids get sent and then forgotten until the award shows up.
- A follow up can catch a question or a scope mix up before the owner decides.
- Few contractors even track how many bids they win.
- An AI Employee keeps a list of open bids and drafts follow ups on the dates you pick.
- Your team handles any reply about price, scope or dates.
What happens to a bid after you send it?
You know the drill. Your estimator spends a week on a bid for a school addition in Barrie. It goes out at 1:55 on closing day. Then everyone moves on to the next one.
Two months later you hear the job went to someone else. Nobody knows why. Maybe you were high. Maybe the owner had a question about your schedule and nobody asked you.
That silence costs more than people think. Every bid takes hours of estimating time. If you never learn why you lost, the next bid is built on the same guesses.
A bid you never follow up on is a bid you never learn from.
How many bids does a contractor usually win?
Fewer than most owners would like. A long standing rule in the industry is that public hard bid work should not run worse than about 10 bids for every win. On private work, contractors aim for about four bids per win or better. Those are rules of thumb, not promises.
Here is the part that stands out. In one survey of 2,000 general contractors, subs and design builders, only 6% knew their bid hit ratio and tracked it. ENR reported that in 2010. If you do not know your number, you cannot tell if follow up is helping.
So the first step is simple. Keep a list of every bid, the date it closed, and what happened. That list is also where a follow up starts.
Why does following up win more work?
On private work, the owner or their project manager is often comparing bids that do not match. One bidder left out the site servicing. Another priced a different window. A short call lets you clear that up before they pick.
A follow up also catches the questions nobody asked out loud. Can you start in March? Is your price good if they drop the second floor washroom? You only hear those if you are in touch.
Follow upPublic tenders have stricter rules. In many cases you cannot change your price after closing, and you should only contact the person named in the tender. Even then, asking for the results and a debrief is fair. That is how you learn what to change next time.
- Confirm the bid arrived and the right person has it.
- Offer to walk through your scope and what you included.
- Ask when they plan to decide, and put that date on your list.
- If you lose, ask for the results and what made the difference.
Why does nobody have time to follow up?
Nobody on your team is against following up. It just keeps losing to more urgent work. The estimator is on the next bid. The owner is on site. The office manager is chasing invoices.
Follow up also needs a memory. Someone has to know that the Barrie bid closed on the 12th, the PM said they would decide in three weeks, and it is now week four. That lives in someone's head or in an inbox, and it slips.
Let AI do the busy work. Your team still makes the calls that win the job.
How does an AI Employee do the follow up?
An AI Employee is AI set up to work inside your email, calendar and spreadsheets. For bid follow up, it reads the bids you send and keeps a list of each one. It knows the job, the owner contact, the closing date and the next step.
On the dates you set, it drafts a short follow up from your email. You can check every draft at first. Once the wording is right, you can let the routine notes go out on their own.
When someone writes back, it sorts the reply. A thank you goes on the list. A question about price, scope or the start date goes straight to a person on your team. It never changes a price or makes a promise for you.
| Task | By hand | With an AI Employee |
|---|---|---|
| Keep a list of open bids | A spreadsheet someone updates when they remember. | Updated each time a bid goes out from your email. |
| First follow up | Sent if the estimator has a free minute. | Drafted a few days after closing, in your words. |
| Decision date | Lives in someone's head. | Saved on the list, with a reminder set. |
| Reply with a question | Sits in an inbox until someone sees it. | Flagged to the right person the same day. |
| Win or loss | Often never written down. | Recorded, so you can see your hit rate. |
What should the follow up say?
Keep it short and useful. Nobody wants a note that just says checking in. Each message should give the owner a reason to reply.
Here is a simple order that works for most private bids. Change the timing to fit how long the owner said they need.
- 01AI drafts
- The AI Employee writes each follow up from your bid details and your past emails, on the dates you set.
- 02You approve
- You check the wording at first. Later, you can let routine notes go out without a check.
- 03People reply
- Anything about price, scope, dates or a debrief goes to your estimator or owner to answer.
- Two days after closing: confirm they got the bid and offer to walk through it.
- One week later: point out one thing you included that others may have left out.
- On the decision date: ask if they need anything else from you to decide.
- After the award: say thanks either way, and ask what made the difference.
Where should you start?
Start with the bids you already have out. Pull the last ten from your sent mail and put them on one list. Mark which ones nobody has called. That list alone is worth an afternoon.
If you need more bids worth chasing, the free Bids and Grants Report picks 10 open public bids that fit your trade and area, plus grants you may get, and emails them to you.
VeebarTech is a Toronto company that sets up AI Employees for contractors. See who does the chasing and how it fits with your team.
Keep doing it by hand
Choose this when You send a few bids a month and someone always calls back.
A shared list with closing and decision dates may be all you need. Check it every Monday.
Add an AI Employee
Choose this when Bids go out every week and follow ups keep slipping.
Let it keep the list and draft the notes. Your team only steps in when a reply needs a person.
Find more bids first
Choose this when You have time to chase but not enough bids worth chasing.
Start with a list of open public bids that fit your work, then decide which ones to price.
Questions owners ask
Is it okay to follow up on a public tender?
Usually you can ask for the results after closing, and many buyers offer a debrief. Before closing, most tenders say to contact only the named person, in writing. Read the tender rules. You cannot change your price after closing, so the follow up is about learning, not selling.
How soon should I follow up after a bid closes?
On private work, two or three days is a good first touch. That gives the owner time to open the bids but not to decide. Then follow the date they gave you. If they did not give one, ask for it in that first note.
Will owners know an AI wrote the follow up?
The note comes from your email, signed by your estimator or owner, in your words. You approve the wording first. When the owner replies, a real person on your team answers. That is the part that builds trust anyway.
Can the AI Employee answer questions about our price?
No. We set it up so any reply about price, scope, dates or terms goes to a person. It can tell the owner your estimator will call back today. It does not make promises for your company.
What if we use a bid platform for our tenders?
Many bid invites and results come in by email anyway, so that is where the AI Employee starts. If your platform lets us connect, we can check that too. We would look at what you use before we set anything up.