Getting three quotes for every package
Your team is pricing a tender, or buying a job you have just won. The work is split into packages: groundworks, frame, roofing, windows, M&E, finishes. For each, you need quotes from several subcontractors, based on the same scope and drawings.
Someone writes an email per package with a download link, sends it to a list of subcontractors, and then waits. Some reply that they are too busy. Some say nothing. Some send a quote a day late, with exclusions that make it hard to compare. The team spends the enquiry period on the phone asking who is pricing.
Why enquiries go quiet
- Supplier lists are held in personal contacts, so the right subcontractors are not always asked.
- Nobody knows who opened the package or who is actually pricing.
- Chasing is manual and depends on someone having time.
- Quotes come back in every format with different exclusions.
- There is no record of who priced well, returned on time or was reliable on past jobs.
What the chasing costs
Packages with too few quotes weaken the tender or the buying position. Comparisons take longer because exclusions have to be read and normalised. Estimators spend hours on the phone. And good subcontractors are overlooked because nobody remembered them.
| Stage | What happens now | In the tracker |
|---|---|---|
| Choosing who to ask | Personal contacts | Supplier list by trade and region with past record |
| Sending | Individual emails | Package sent with tracked link |
| Knowing who is pricing | Phone calls | Opened, declined, pricing and returned shown |
| Chasing | When someone remembers | Automatic reminders before the return date |
| Comparing | Reading each quote | Returns lined up with exclusions listed |
The enquiry tracker we build
- Your supplier list is brought into one place with trade, region, approval status and past performance notes.
- For each package, the team picks subcontractors from the list and the tracker sends the enquiry with a link to the scope and documents.
- Subcontractors can mark whether they are pricing or declining with one click, and the tracker records who opened the documents.
- Reminders go to those who have not responded, and the estimator is warned when a package looks short of returns.
- Returned quotes are uploaded or emailed, then read, with prices, exclusions and qualifications extracted for comparison.
- A comparison sheet lines up returns for each package, with exclusions listed so the estimator can normalise them.
- Outcomes, such as who won and who returned on time, are recorded for next time.
Choosing which quote to use, and how to adjust for exclusions, is estimating judgement and stays with your team.
An enquiry period that runs itself
Estimators see every package's status on one screen. Chasing happens without them. Quotes arrive in a comparable form. Over time, the supplier list becomes a record of who is reliable, which helps the next job as much as this one.
When a tender is won, the same record moves straight into buying the job: the quotes used in the tender are already lined up, so the buyer starts from the priced position instead of from a new set of emails.
Is this your enquiry process?
- Subcontract enquiries go out as individual emails.
- You do not know who is pricing until the return date.
- Estimators spend days chasing by phone.
- Quotes arrive with exclusions that make comparison hard.
- There is no shared record of subcontractor performance.