For any construction based business, the dreaded quote not only is time-consuming, but you need to have the confidence that the figures you give are going to be accurate enough to complete the job on-time and within budget.

Estimating is an area that really quick wins can be made within a business. The faster you can be, the more jobs you can have access to in your pipeline. With the right processes in place, you can be efficiently churning out accurate quotes, whilst your competitors are getting bogged down in the detail.

Estimating is made for Computers, that is when they are done most accurately. Why not let the computer do all of the calculations for you. Simply set it up so it will work consistently and quickly every time. Don’t fall into the trap of starting again each time. This time compounds and bleeds money within your organisation.

Let me put a scenario in front of you:

There are 2 Homebuilders we know and both build 400 Homes a year. One has 4 Estimators and the other one has 8 Estimators. In addition, the one with 4 estimators guarantees a sales prospect a fully costed quote within 5 working days while the other one normally takes 3 weeks.

Let’s break that down. It takes the company with MORE estimators TRIPLE the time to deliver the estimate, meanwhile the company harnessing technology is delivering more estimates and has more potential prospects in its pipeline.

This is a classic example of how small changes can yield big efficiency gains. For the business above, they were able to yield a greater result with 4 less estimators on their books.

Estimating isn’t just a matter of having a shiny piece of technology in your business, it’s about integrating all of the processes within your business so there is one clear and accurate set of data can be relied on.

It’s about a full business integration of data. It may sound like a hefty task, but it is ultimately how you future proof your business and allow technology to take on the task of generating more profit for your business.

Why do a job yourself when a computer can do it better and a lot faster and cheaper?