Look, it’s no secret that the construction industry is traditionally male dominated. While there’s been strides of change, a reduction of the gender pay gap from 16% to 7% (as per latest figures), there’s still a way to go. This International Women’s Day serves as a powerful reminder of the strides we’ve made towards gender equality and the work that still lies ahead. In the construction industry, historically dominated by men, the journey towards inclusivity and diversity is tough. At EstimateOne, we’re committed to not just discussing inclusion, but actively embodying it, as highlighted by Zaiga Finnis, our Chief Customer and Commercial Officer:

“In my journey navigating the construction industry from interior designer to my current role at E1, I’ve seen first-hand the importance of supportive workplace communities that empower women. Building networks, seeking mentors and career sponsors, and staying updated on industry activities are crucial for career progression.

It’s vital to offer professional development, mentoring, and opportunities to foster inclusivity for all. With 50% of our senior leadership team and executives being women, we’re not just talking about inclusion, we’re living it.”

Zaiga’s experience stresses the importance of creating environments where women can thrive. At EstimateOne, we understand that empowering women goes beyond hiring; it’s about nurturing their growth, ensuring they have access to the same opportunities as their male counterparts, and recognising their contributions to our industry’s innovation and success.

Let’s use this International Women’s Day to celebrate the achievements of women in construction while acknowledging the road ahead. Together, we can challenge stereotypes, fight bias, and broaden perceptions. Join us in building a construction industry where everyone, regardless of gender, can construct a successful and fulfilling career.

Hey there, commercial construction suppliers! Ready to supercharge your lead game?

In just 60 seconds, we’ll be showing you how to connect with your next subcontractor lead using EstimateOne’s new Subbie Connect feature. 

Gain the upper hand with early buyer access, reach key commercial buyers on tendering projects, and redefine the way you connect with subcontractors for your business.

Let’s dive into two key tools designed to redefine your subcontractor acquisition strategy:

1. Identify and connect with tendering subcontractors

Select from thousands of projects on the EstimateOne noticeboard. Instantly, you’ll see how many subcontractors match your trade, that are showing interest or quoting on the project. But that’s not all! Select a project you’re interested in to unlock a full list of the tendering subcontractors. Dive into detailed company and contact information in a snap and establish new opportunities to build relationships and win more work.

Now, here’s the real game-changer!

2. Promote your products to subcontractors on pre-award projects

Introducing the ‘Share and Connect’ tool. Actively promote your products to tendering subcontractors, marking your involvement in the project that you’re the go-to for specified or equivalent products on. Offer your expertise as a specified supplier or provide an equivalent product for the job. Subcontractors will see your info while browsing projects, making direct connections a breeze. Plus, you’ll know exactly who’s checking out your profile, giving you the power to reach out first.

Subbie Connect – the future of subcontractor lead generation is here! Don’t miss out on this opportunity to leap into untapped channels.

The construction industry is fast-paced and often uncertain, so having the right tools and resources at your fingertips can make all the difference in successfully managing projects. ForestOne, Australia’s largest independent distributor of sustainable plywood, timber and decorative surface materials, implemented EstimateOne in 2015.

Ken Coleman, Manager of ForestOne’s decorative and specification team in NSW/ACT, shares his insights and experiences with the platform, and chats about how EstimateOne helps his team with project tracking. The introduction of the new Subbie Connect feature is a significant step forward for distributors, such as ForestOne. They can now reach tendering subbies directly and provide quotes before being asked for them plus, they can share their company profile with new customers. The user-friendly interface and intuitive design ensure they can navigate the platform effortlessly and easily customise notifications and preferences. There is complete visibility across Ken’s team, so they can see at a glance what’s been actioned and where their focus needs to be.

As an EstimateOne Pro+ customer, ForestOne can not only access drawings, schedules, construction dates and key contacts, but can also access all valuable features and benefits, such as the Keyword Speci-finder, Directories, and Insights. EstimateOne remains ForestOne’s go-to platform for providing up-to-date information on their commercial projects across Australia.

To learn more about EstimateOne’s Pro+ subscription that’s tailored for suppliers, schedule a demo with our team. During the demo, we’ll showcase real-time project data customised to your business.

Calling all commercial construction suppliers!

Are you in search of untapped opportunities and new leads? Well, your search ends here! Subbie Connect is an exclusive EstimateOne tool enabling you to identify, connect, and promote your business to subcontractors who are actively tendering on pre-award commercial construction projects.

Connect with key commercial buyers, uncover new opportunities to showcase your product, and set up a solid, long-term project pipeline with subcontractors all over Australia. It’s your ticket to staying in the loop!

🔥 Watch our video below on connecting with your next subcontractor lead in under 60 seconds.

🔑 Early buyer access: Instantly identify and connect with tendering subcontractors on projects that match your trade. Bypass builders for pre-award subcontractor information and leap ahead of the competition.

💪 Proactive promotion, leads come to you: Let tendering subcontractors know you’re the go-to for specified or equivalent products on projects. Watch as new leads come to you!

🌱 Cultivate growth opportunities: Expand your network, open doors to new projects, and access untapped sales channels like never before. 

📈 Real-time, reliable data: No scraping, no guesswork. Our data is directly sourced from active subcontractors who are ‘interested’ or quoting’ on projects. It’s reliable, it’s instant and there’s nothing else like it.

Pre-award, subcontractor access

– Instantly connect with tendering subcontractors, tailored to your trade, based on their ‘interested’ or ‘quoting’ statuses on projects

– Review subcontractor company profiles to select partners who align with your product needs

– Access essential contact information to initiate connections and foster partnerships

Proactively promote your products

– Show subcontractors that you are a specified supplier, or can offer an equivalent product for open tenders

– Monitor subcontractors who have engaged with your contact details on projects

– Bring in more inbound leads and create a reliable pipeline of work

Jump in early, secure a unique competitive edge, and boost your connections with subcontractors today! 
Find out more

In the ever-competitive world of construction, finding new leads and winning contracts has been a long standing challenge. It’s like drinking from the same old well of builders and consultants over and over again. But what if we told you there’s a fresh, exciting way to spice up your lead game? Enter EstimateOne.

The challenge: searching for new leads

For ages, suppliers have been stuck in a loop, relying heavily on builders and consultants for leads. It’s like a never-ending merry-go-round, and let’s be honest, it can get a bit dull. Introducing subcontractors, our new lead heroes.

Subcontractors: the hidden gem

Subcontractors hold the key to new leads. They’re often the main commercial buyers, and they’ve got the inside scoop on juicy project opportunities, but sourcing reliable information about their activities is a real headache. We’re talking endless phone calls to builders and endless lists to scour. It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack, and nobody’s got time for that.

Introducing ‘Subbie Connect’: the game-changer

Hold onto your hard hats because we have a game-changer up its sleeve – Subbie Supplier Connections. This nifty feature is your fast track to knowing which subcontractors are bidding on which projects. No more manual data entry or data scraping nonsense.

The new way you could be doing things

1. Early bird gets the worm

With EstimateOne, you can swoop in early and find out who the big players are before a project is even awarded. That means you can start building those relationships and show off your goods. And guess what? Teaming up with subcontractors at this stage can help them offer killer prices to builders, giving you a leg up in snagging those deals.

2. Supplier’s new lead channel

EstimateOne goes beyond subbie supplier connections though; suppliers can also list their interest in a project. Subbies can then see the available options, creating a new inbound lead channel for suppliers. It’s like a whole new playground for suppliers, subcontractors get more options, and builders get better quotes. It’s a win for everyone involved.

In a world where nabbing contracts can feel like a never-ending game of cat and mouse, we’re here to shake things up. So, if you’re tired of the same old processes when it comes to leads, check out our new Subbie Connect offering.

It’s official, EstimateOne now integrates with Procore!

With EstimateOne’s new Procore integration, you can now leverage EstimateOne for post-award tendering to improve quote coverage and speed up letting, without having to double handle documents.

By syncing your latest construction set documents directly from your Procore account you can now create a single process for pre and post-award pricing for your business and your subbies.

By syncing with Procore, leverage EstimateOne to:

Keen to learn more about streamlining your post-award process with Procore?

Book a demo with our team by completing the form below or give us a buzz on 1300 705 035 or email support@estimateone.com

Leveraging data and insights to fine-tune your strategy and budgeting for 2023

With the end of the year fast approaching, many of us are undergoing strategy and budget planning initiatives for 2023. But, when it comes to assessing historical sales data and market trends, this can often be an arduous process, with limited access to the right information (especially on your competitors!). 

This year at EstimateOne, we’ve made a big push to bring more of our rich industry data into the platform. By providing a 360 degree view of your business across the market for your sales and marketing teams, to better analyse past performance, identify emerging trends to help shape your business’ strategy and gain a unique competitive advantage.

Leading the way with data

Our new specification & market insights product aggregates the latest specification trends of the brands and products across Australia, by state, by construction category, and most importantly, by the consultant responsible for these specifications. 

As Australia’s largest database of specification data, our platform combs through our public tender noticeboard, collecting on average 12,000+ projects with an estimated construction value of over $80b annually. That’s a whole lot of data!

On-demand insights are then made accessible to your business within the EstimateOne platform via a suite of easy-to-interpret visual insights, enabling your organisation to:

> better understand your position in the market relative to your competitors

> discover specification trends

> identify high growth opportunities

> access key consultants responsible for these specifications 

> manage your sales forecasting on key construction stage projects (scheduled to commence over the next 6-12 months)

In this article, we explore three ways specification and market Insights can help support your business with sales budgets and strategy for the year to come. 

1. Getting to know your market share

Using EstimateOne’s specification insights, you can quickly gauge a view of the percentage of times you and your competitors’ brands were specified in the market. This can be assessed at a national, state and category level.

When assessing your market share, look for opportunities to grow your brand. For instance, if you have a 75% market share in your home state, you may prioritise resourcing in other states where your market share isn’t as strong.

For others, the underlying growth strategy is simply to know how many projects are in the market that specify their products and hold onto these specifications. For instance, most clients we speak with believe that around 20% of the projects that specify their products or brand could be flipped by competitors.

They tell us that if their staff aren’t engaged with tracking and guiding projects, there is a higher chance of their products being flipped out. Thus, they create a simple defensive strategy – to hold projects that have their specification. This alone can result in a significant increase in sales revenue, by reducing sales leakage and converting more upstream specifications into sales.

2. Focus on construction sectors seeing growth

The construction industry is full of peaks and troughs. For instance, Tarric Booker of News.com.au writes,  “dwelling approvals have fallen 29% as of the latest data for June this year”. At face value, this sounds like a grim outlook for the near future of residential construction. The compounding impact of fewer projects in the market with the same number of suppliers on these projects then creates a highly competitive market, where more players are quoting on a smaller number of projects.

With that said, EstimateOne market insights analysis demonstrates over the past 12 months; there has been a 13% increase in the volume and a 53% increase in the valueof projects in the Education sector across the nation. Some states see upwards of a 30% increase in the volume of education projects! Using these insights, Suppliers can pivot their business to focusing on the project sectors seeing the strongest need for their products and services.

3. Knowing which architects you need to protect and which architects you need to grow

Of the 4,400+ architects recorded over the last three years across EstimateOne projects, the top 20 percentile was responsible for 63% of all projects. This demonstrates that your team shouldn’t be expected to engage and influence 4,400 architects to gain specifications. Just focusing on the 880 architects winning all the work would yield the strongest result for your business. 

Our consultant insights can help your team understand who the architects are that are winning work and, most importantly, the brands and products they’re specifying. If you’re investing in bringing new resources into your team, our consultant insights can help point these new recruits towards the architect’s winning work in the market or architects working in key growth sectors, giving you a better chance of influencing future specifications.  

A complimentary defensive strategy is to understand the architects also specifying your brands, and ensure you’re developing strategies to retain and enrich these relationships.

The budgeting season and the new year are fast approaching, are you best positioned for success?

The construction industry has seen a decade of unprecedented growth. Suppliers have had a fortunate seller’s position in the market where having staff and stock at hand to process orders has been the biggest concern. 

As the market begins to slow, now more than ever, it is important to develop a holistic game plan for the new year to grow sales through calculated, data-driven strategies.

If you’re interested in leveraging data and insights for a fast start to growing your business in 2023 – schedule a demo today to learn more about our data and insights capabilities by giving us a buzz on 1300 705 035 or email support@estimateone.com

How Hytek Framing secure their sales pipeline with EstimateOne

EstimateOne delivers the jobs you’re already specified on, directly to you.

For Hytek Framing, that means no messing around trying to keep track of who’s building what, and where those projects are at. They can be confident that if they’ve been specified, they know about it. Nothing slips through the cracks and they can cover every specification with a quote, quickly and easily. 

Now they have the time – and the tool – to focus on building the relationships that mean they’ll keep getting specified, more often, on more projects.

The trajectory of Hytek Framing

Starting out in modular framing, Hytek Framing has grown to become one of the top 3 suppliers of light steel framing to the commercial building sector in Queensland. These days they’re doing more and more design and construct framing, supplying light gauge steel framing, trusses, floor systems and structural steel to commercial builders. Their bread and butter projects are big townhouses, schools and hospitals with $1-3 million in product value. 

<h2> How Hytek Framing use EstimateOne to work smarter and faster

<h3> Challenge one: Pull focus and track projects

“Watchlist updates and notifications about awarded projects alert me to every project we’re specified on. I can keep track of everything, and miss nothing.”

• Jon Jennings, Estimation Manager

Jon doesn’t need to spend hours searching his pipeline for the most valuable projects, tracking what he’s already quoted on, or where those projects are at. EstimateOne does the grunt work for him, freeing him up to get quotes across the line.

How EstimateOne relieves the Estimator’s workload:   

• A daily scan through new projects gives him visibility of what’s out there. 
• Jon’s experience and gut instinct means he quickly spots projects with potential. 
• Having all the docs at his fingertips allows him to confirm which jobs hold the most value, so he can get on with quoting them.  

Challenge two: Relationship building

“Traditionally, a problem would be finding new customers, and then getting a foot in the door with them.“

Jon is the primary estimator at Hytek Framing. With EstimateOne in his toolkit, he can now easily hunt down new work,growing his sales pipeline and helping him manage it.

“I get heaps of invites from builders I’ve never heard of, just wanting me to quote on stuff!”

EstimateOne solves the problem of relationship building. It’s the platform that brings everyone together, and gives builders and suppliers the power to easily connect with each other.

“The volume of highly engaged builders using EstimateOne is impressive. They don’t just put up projects and leave them, they are active and keep projects updated.”

EstimateOne is a place that suppliers can go when they don’t want to rely solely on the old school networking tactics. For proactive estimators like Jon, there’s a lot of value to be had when you’re in control of spreading the word about your product.

“Cold calling just isn’t how our industry works. The value for Hytek Framing is the exposure it gives us.”

EstimateOne: A game changing platform for an evolving industry

An unforeseen shock to supply chains during the recent pandemic, had a huge impact on resources for the construction sector in Australia.

• Mid 2021 saw a timber shortage
• Builders had to look outside of timber framing for steel options
• Steel prices doubled in the last year

The combination of these supply chain issues meant projects needed to be redesigned away from structural steel and timber. Designers had to look for smarter solutions, which is exactly what Hytek Framing offers.  

As unpredictable and unprecedented as this sudden demand was, Hytek Framing was perfectly placed to capitalise on it at the right moment. Being active and visible on EstimateOne meant they were flooded with invites and enquiries from builders suddenly needing an alternative framing material. It happened automatically without needing any extra marketing activity.

Hytek Framing success story

Using EstimateOne, Hytek Framing won and completed the supply and installation of light gauge steel walls, trusses and structural steel for FKG for a $30-50 million D&C State School project. It was their first project with them, but they’ve maintained the relationship and now they’re starting on their second school with FKG. 

“Relationships matter in this industry, and you can’t underestimate the value of that.”

• Jon Jennings, Estimation Manager, Hytek Framing

Key takeaways 

• EstimateOne makes relationship building simple and accessible to you

• The search function and ability to filter down through projects is immensely valuable for efficiency

• You can easily keep track of projects with the watchlist updates and awarded projects emails

• EstimateOne can filter out the noise for jobs that you’re not interested in, freeing you up to focus on what’s relevant and valuable for you.

Read our full interview with Hytek to learn their recipe for success here.

Sign up for EstimateOne today for free, to take advantage of all these great benefits or watch what other suppliers say about us.

Elton Group triples its supply chain visibility with EstimateOne

Established in 1943 in Melbourne, Australia; Elton Group is a supplier of high-quality Interior Architectural Products. Central to each of their products and their criteria for selecting new products to join their impressive portfolio, Elton Group is committed to environmental sustainability and best practice sourcing and manufacturing methods.

They believe that because wood is one of our few renewable resources, those who work in the industry have a responsibility to ensure the protection and wise utilization of the forests.

So these precious resources are available for future generations, Elton Group maintains 800 acres of Australian natural forest in the Otway Ranges of Victoria.

5 ways Elton Group has maximised its potential with EstimateOne

Delivering Elton Group’s innovative new products to market

Business Manager, Robert Elton, came across EstimateOne when he was looking for a way to market one of their innovative products, WoodWall, directly to builders.

“WoodWall kept falling into the wrong category because it was new and innovative – this type of panelling was relatively unknown in the market and people and didn’t understand the benefits.”

Needing to speak directly to builders, Robert discovered the perfect solution in EstimateOne.  Using the platform, Elton Group has increased its visibility in the supply chain three-fold.

Real-time delivery of actionable insights

Previously, Robert only found out about jobs from architects, and would only discover if they were successful in winning a job when they received an order.

“Every time I go on EstimateOne I see a project I didn’t know we were specified on. Specifinder told us about it.” 

With EstimateOne, Robert was able to find out that he is specified on a project and then get in touch with the builder through their system.

Organised snapshot of projects

Speci-Finder gives Elton Group an organised snapshot of the projects they are supplying to. 

This means Robert can see at a glance:

·        The project name and number

·        The amount quoted

·        The current status of the quote i.e. whether it has been won, lost or is still in progress.

·        The value of the contract if the job has been won.

Robert can easily see what projects they’re specified on, or what other products are being used on a project. This can help Elton Group find new business opportunities, stay up to date with what their competitors are doing.

Discovering new opportunities and winning more work

When a buyer posts a project on EstimateOne, all suppliers who are subscribed to that category are immediately notified. This means that Robert can get his quotes in early and increase Elton Group’s chances of winning the job. 

Saving time with quote tracking

Suppliers can see which jobs they have quoted on, how many other quotes have been received, and the status of each quote, so Robert can save time on his quoting process.

Elton Group’s tips for supplier success

EstimateOne has changed the way Elton Group does business.  Robert has a couple of key recommendations for suppliers thinking of trying it out. 

1.    Track your competitors

Robert recommends suppliers use the SpecSearch and SpeciFinder tools to track both their own and their competitor’s specifications.By tracking their competitors, suppliers can learn about new products and services, pricing changes, and marketing strategies.

2.     Maximise EstimateOne’s effectiveness with a good business modelIn order for a supplier business to be successful, it needs to have a solid business plan. Robert has built his model around EstimateOne & recommends getting an estimator who knows what they are looking for to set up the tools to be utilised effectively.

 Supply chain visibility & success

Overall, using EstimateOne has resulted in greater visibility and success for Elton Group, allowing them to continue their mission of producing sustainable materials for the Australian building industry.

Read our full interview with Elton Group to learn their recipe for success here.

Sign up for EstimateOne today for free, to take advantage of all these great benefits or watch what other suppliers say about us.

The Perfect Supplier Tool For Viridian: The Most Specified Glass Brand In The Industry

As a market leading supplier, and the most specified glass brand in the industry, keeping on top of active projects is imperative. EstimateOne gives Viridian the ability to make sure nothing slips through the cracks, so they can cover every specified product with a quote, every time.

Viridian knows what their sweet spot projects are. EstimateOne shows them where they are.

“EstimateOne enables us to act at the right time so that we’re part of the discussion to provide the right solution, rather than trying to act at the wrong time.”

Marketing and Industry Manager, Anthony Gunther, has been in building construction for 30 years. These days, he starts every morning with EstimateOne.

• The daily Specifinder email is a shopping list of projects he can act on right now
• Filtering the noticeboard by keywords reveals relevant and active projects
• Spec search allows him to benchmark Viridian against the competition 
• Data mining projects delivers high-level, strategic insights

5 ways Viridian use EstimateOne to superpower their business:

1. Visibility

As a supplier, it’s critical that you know where your products are being specified so you can be proactive at the tender stage.

Prior to using EstimateOne, tracking down projects that Viridian had been specified on then keeping track of those projects, was convoluted, fragmented and at times impossible.

“We use it as a tool to make sure that we know where our products are being specified, so we can cover those products with quotes. Because if you don’t quote you can’t win.”

2. Proactive Problem Solving

Viridian sells a technical product that solves problems for the building industry. But like every business, they are not immune to human error and issues that happen outside of their control. 

“I can look at the specification, I can look at the Section J Report, and I can look at the plans. If there’s a technical issue with the product, we can address it at the tender stage, rather than the supply stage.” 

This is exactly how Anthony spotted a red flag on a hospital project Viridian was specified on. There was a question mark around their product on one out of the three buildings on the project. Viewing the project in EstimateOne, he could immediately spot the issue and was able to pick up the phone, ring the architect and clarify the requirements for the project, way before it became a problem.

3. Streamline Your Sales Team

EstimateOne helps your sales team map relationships between builders, customers and projects by having all the data right there in front of them.

Before EstimateOne, Viridian would often find out about projects they were specified on after they had been awarded. Now, they can keep their competitive edge and set their prices at the tender stage, helping them win more work.

“It’s like an alarm clock that goes off every day and says; “hey, did you know you had ‘X’ projects out there? And here are the products in them.”

4. Benchmark Your Competition

EstimateOne’s directory gives you access to over 6,000 architects and consultant profiles. You can see all the jobs they’re working on and see if they’re specifying you, or specifying your competition.

Viridian keeps track of how often they are being specified in certain markets, compared to their competitors’ equivalent products. They know when they’re being specified two, or three, or four times more often than their lead competitor. 

5. Inform Your Marketing Strategy

Viridian can gather data around the markets and customer sets they are being specified in. They can track trends, find gaps, and look for opportunities to align their marketing activities around priority segments. 

Get Set For Success

Three ways suppliers can leverage EstimateOne today

1. Start by narrowing down your search in Specifinder to focus on key products
2. Set activities around those projects for your sales team to action
3. Work backwards from keyword searches to find more value for your business. Identity which markets your products get specified in, then align your sales and marketing activities around those specific pockets of the market.

Read our full interview with Viridian on their recipe to success here.

If Viridian’s success story is what you want, create an account & start your EstimateOne journey today. Or if you’re still not convinced, watch what other suppliers say about us.