Landscaping contractors are often invited to submit their bids for commercial landscaping maintenance projects. All too often, contractors are overly excited with this opportunity that they fail to totally fathom what they are being requested to propose. This article addresses three key points that can help landscaping contractors have their bids emerge as successful and finally be awarded the contract for the landscaping maintenance project.
Concentrate on fact finding
Once you obtain a request for proposal, your subsequent task is to take part in a fact finding assignment to ascertain what exactly the landscaping client is looking for. Optimistically, you will be requested to go for a site walk with the respective client. In the event that no site walk is arranged, take it upon yourself to contact the client and arrange for a meeting. Before the actual date of the meeting, take time to go through the specifications as well as the site in order to have the client shed further light on questions or issues you might have. Portray to the client that you have dedicated your precious time to familiarise yourself with the property and that you are keen on trying to rectify whatever needs they might have.
Correctly perform a site assessment
Many contractors still perform the drive-by and estimate at measurements and plant material counts. This is a recipe for failure. Due to recent technological advancements, you can use computer-run programs to take some of the site measurements. Nonetheless, you still have to visit the site in person to make certain that what you saw on the workstation actually depicts the site. Additionally, there's need also to assess the property to establish the extent of difficulty that may necessitate extra man-hours to your normal production rates. The time invested in performing an accurate site assessment will pay outstanding dividends if you manage to win the project contract or if you happen to rebid a similar project in the near future.
Know your numbers
In order to propose an accurate bid, you need to be acquainted with your production rates, labor costs, equipment expenses and overhead. These expenses ought to be reviewed regularly to make sure that they mirror the present economic conditionals, together with your firm's economic forecast. Sometimes, contractors become scared even though they have full knowledge of their expenses and production rates and start flaunting numbers from nowhere. This is indeed a risky practice. The justification given by contractors is that the landscaping client will never pay out the funds related to the proposed costs, overhead as well as profit desires. However, the truth is that your numbers seldom lie.
