Construction · free · about 4 minutes
Get the Estimate Out and Followed Up: The 8-Check Bid Desk Scorecard for Contractors Nationwide
The GC asked Tuesday. Your number left the office Friday. Someone else's landed Wednesday and got the takeoff meeting, and the job went with it. That is margin walking out of an estimator's week, and it happens to contractors who are good at the work.
The Construction Bid Follow-Up Scorecard is a free, self-scoring checklist of eight checks for general contractors and specialty subs nationwide, run remotely across the United States by Rodgers Intelligence Group, based in Denver, Colorado. Mike Rodgers wrote the checks and answers every question himself. Each check is a written rule: it says what in place looks like and gives a stated fix when the check fails.
Your answers never leave this page. The scorecard runs in your browser. Nothing is stored, nothing is sent, and there is no email field. Demonstration, not a client result.
The 8-check scorecard
Answer each check. Your result updates as you go. If a check is missing or partial, its fix appears underneath. The result is a finished document you keep: a score, a verdict and a fix list, and the eight checks on this page are the written rulebook behind it.
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Check 1
Every bid request lands in one place
In place Inbox, voicemail, text and portal invitations all get logged to one bid list the day they arrive, with due date and delivery format.
If it fails Pick one queue (a shared inbox or a bid log sheet) and route everything else to it. 10 minutes to set up, then tell your GCs where to send the next one. (about 10 minutes)
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Check 2
Drawings, specs and addenda are attached at capture
In place The request is stored with the current drawing set and every addendum, each one dated, so nobody estimates an old rev.
If it fails Make the log entry fail-closed: no takeoff starts until the file count is written down. Add a 'docs received' column today. (about 10 minutes)
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Check 3
Go / no-go is decided inside 4 hours
In place There is a written reason for passing on any bid, not a shrug. Bid calendar beats gut.
If it fails Set a 4-hour decision timer on every new request. If you cannot staff it, decline fast and tell the GC why - declining cleanly keeps you on the next invite list. (about 15 minutes)
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Check 4
The takeoff has one owner and one due date
In place Named estimator, named date, visible to the office. 'We' means nobody.
If it fails Assign the next three bids out loud with names and dates on one whiteboard or one sheet. Nothing else changes this week. (about 10 minutes)
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Check 5
A second set of eyes reviews before send
In place Someone who did not run the takeoff checks scope gaps, alternates and unit prices before the number goes out.
If it fails Trade reviews with a peer estimator on the next two bids. It costs an hour and catches the missing scope line that costs the job's margin. (about 60 minutes)
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Check 6
The number goes out inside your stated turnaround
In place You send inside the turnaround you actually promised the GC, and you tell them early if it slips.
If it fails Write your real turnaround on the bid log and send only what fits. A 3-day number that arrives in 3 days beats a 3-day number arriving Friday. (about 5 minutes)
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Check 7
Follow-up is scheduled at send, not 'sometime next week'
In place Day-3 and day-7 touches are on the calendar when the estimate leaves, so no bid goes quiet by accident.
If it fails Put two follow-up holds on the calendar at the moment you hit send on the next bid. Same day, 2 minutes of typing. (about 2 minutes)
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Check 8
Win / loss reason gets recorded
In place You know why the last five went the way they did, so the next bid is sharper.
If it fails Add one line to the bid log when a job is awarded: who won and the price gap you heard about. Patterns show up in a month. (about 2 minutes)
Fix these, in this order:
What your score means
- 8 of 8: Your bid desk is faster than most you compete with. The next gain is not speed, it is margin: price the work you win deliberately.
- 6-7 of 8: You are losing bids to timing, not to price. Fix the two failing checks this week; both are calendar edits.
- 5 or fewer: Requests are dying in transit. Fix checks 1-3 before taking on another estimating hire.
What the current process costs
Nobody sends a bill for the current process, which is why it survives. The work lands on the estimator or the office administrator keeping the bid log, and the eight fixes above carry their own minutes. Add the minutes for the checks that failed on your scorecard and multiply by what an hour of that time costs you. The answer is your own number for one bid cycle, and you are the only person who can compute it.
Hold that number against the routes on this page. Fixing the checks yourself costs the minutes printed on each fix. The RIG One-Workflow Review is a $3,500 fixed fee, with a written readout within ten business days after required access, and the readout is yours to use with any vendor or internally. Fewer than three failing checks says the fix list is the right route; three or more says the workflow is worth a written look.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Construction Bid Follow-Up Scorecard?
It is a free, self-scoring checklist of eight checks for general contractors and specialty subs nationwide. Each check states what in place looks like and gives a plain-language fix with a minutes estimate when it fails. You finish with a score, a verdict and a fix list.
How long does it take?
About four minutes. You answer each check as in place, partial or missing, and the score and verdict update as you go.
Where do my answers go?
Nowhere. The scorecard runs in your browser: nothing is stored or sent and there is no email field. Your result appears on the page and stays with you.
What happens after the score, and what does the next step cost?
Fixing the checks yourself costs nothing beyond the minutes each fix carries, and the free 12-check Client Intake Test Kit needs no email. If three or more checks fail, the RIG One-Workflow Review is a $3,500 fixed fee with a written readout within ten business days after required access; it is not a retainer, and details are at rodgersintelligence.com/workflow-review.
More questions, answered directly
What does my score mean?
The score counts the checks that are in place. The verdict under it says whether the workflow or the effort is the problem, and the fix list names the failing checks in the order to take them.
Do I have to buy anything to use this scorecard?
No. The scorecard is free and the answers stay in your browser, and the free 12-check Client Intake Test Kit needs no email. The One-Workflow Review is a $3,500 fixed fee, with a written readout within ten business days after required access, for the case where the workflow is the problem rather than the effort.
We already turn estimates around fast. Is this scorecard still for us?
Speed is one of the eight checks. The rest cover the desk around the estimate, where a fast estimator can still lose the bid.
Who is behind this scorecard?
Rodgers Intelligence Group, based in Denver, Colorado. Mike Rodgers wrote the eight checks and answers every copied summary sent through rodgersintelligence.com/contact himself. The checks are written rules; nothing on this page is a client outcome.
The next step
1. Fix it yourself (right for most readers)
Every failing check above carries its own fix and a minutes estimate. Three of the eight checks are calendar or template edits you can make this week.
2. Free, ungated kit
The 12-check Client Intake Test Kit covers the whole intake surface, not just this one workflow: rodgersintelligence.com/client-intake-test-kit. No email required.
3. Priced next step, with its cost
If three or more checks fail, the honest read is that the workflow, not your effort, is the problem. The RIG One-Workflow Review is a $3,500 fixed fee, with a written readout within ten business days after required access. It is not a retainer, and you do not need an automation build for the review to be worth the fee. The readout is yours to use with any vendor or internally, and it is not credited against the build price. Details: rodgersintelligence.com/workflow-review.
When not to book it: fewer than three failing checks, no authority to change the workflow, or a project already covering this process. In those cases, fix the checks yourself and re-run this scorecard afterwards.
4. Talk to a human
Send your copied summary through rodgersintelligence.com/contact and you will get a reply from Mike Rodgers, not an autoresponder.