What If …Your “Winning” Bid is Quietly Bleeding Margin Before a Shovel Ever Hits Dirt?
Too many sharp estimators in heavy civil and asphalt leave real money behind—because practical and powerful analytics best practices stay buried under time, spreadsheets, and habit.
We can all turn our bid & job histories into a formidable edge.
That’s why I’m launching 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐄𝐝𝐠𝐞 LinkedIn post series – short 𝐧𝐨-𝐁𝐒 posts that deliver practical ways to 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 with analytics best practices.
𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥?
(Not just winning the job… but making money when reality arrives.)
Most rely on gut + static Excel.
The Best? They 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤.
𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞: 𝐏𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟏𝟐–𝟐𝟒 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐬.
𝐒𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐥 into the same 9 core KPI Ratios (Markup, Operational Cost, Material Cost, Equipment Cost, Labor Cost, Subcontract Cost, Labor Markup, Manhour Labor rate, Cost per Manhour)
𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐝 against those historical averages.
In seconds you see fat, lean, and where margin has lived before.
𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐮𝐩: Run the same KPI’s against your budget vs actuals on jobs you won. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 “𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧” 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 “𝐰𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭.”
Who’s already running this 9-KPI check on every bid?