Top 3 Characteristics of Successful Bids

Beyond trying to get work, a bid is a way for you to persuade the firm issuing the solicitation to work with your company. In an ideal scenario, you’ll take the time to customize the bid for the soliciting firm and take the opportunity to prove that you clearly understand the job. There are many bid management software tools available. But why should you invest in new software when you can use something you already have on your desktop: Bluebeam Revu.

When you want to develop consistent, accurate bids, Bluebeam Revu can be your best tool for the job.

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Are you interested in using Bluebeam Revu to gain a competitive advantage? Check out “Secrets and Shortcuts: 8 Tips for Better Use of Bluebeam,” and “Collaborating on the Go with Bluebeam.” You’ll discover ways to streamline your workflow and improve your productivity.

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Revu has three features that enable you to develop successful bids:

1. It enables you to get accurate takeoff quantities. Revu has calibration features that can ensure scale and measurements on drawings are correct. In addition, if current costs are added to Revu, the software can even give you a cost estimate instantly on the entire job or sheet by sheet.
2. It can be customized to suit your team’s workflow and keep takeoffs consistent from person to person and solicitation to solicitation if desired.  
3. It can handle, manipulate, search, and make changes to large quantities of PDFs easily – changes like adding title blocks, seals, numbers, and other customization. Revu can also enable you to work with smart PDFs.

In addition, specifying that your staff should use Revu when developing the bid package standardizes the process and eliminates the tendency for estimators to “wing it” when putting together the bid. When standardized, it also avails the process to a wider range of personnel who don’t necessarily need to be specialists. 

Beyond the dollars and cents of a bid, the bid package can generate short-term and long-term interest in your company. There are times when it’s not the low bid that wins the work, but the contractor that presents a reasonable bid and is deemed to be the most qualified.

Customizing your bid package can exhibit your confidence that you can deliver the best possible job to the project owner. Employing Revu as your bid development software is a good use of your existing investments in your software assets, your staff, your data, and your reputation.

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You can try Bluebeam Revu eXtreme for yourself with a full working version on a 30-day free trial. If you find that eXtreme has too much horsepower for your team, you can test drive Revu Standard or Revu CAD. Take the opportunity to see firsthand how Revu enables increased collaboration and will help you get more done in less time. When it’s time to convert that 30-day trial to a subscription or perpetual license, contact Applied Software and talk to a Bluebeam expert about your firm’s specific needs.

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