One of the easiest ways to ensure that each job you bid is accurate and profitable is to do the work up front. You may have spent years at this point becoming a bidding expert; you know how long it will take to complete a job and how many machine and operator hours — but what if it could be easier and even more accurate? Using telematics, and ActiveCare DirectTM from Volvo in particular, can be a useful job bidding tool. Here are three ways ActiveCare Direct will help you increase profits through more accurate bidding:
1) You will know how to better allocate machines. Through ActiveCare Direct monthly reporting, you can see which machines are being used most frequently on a job and which ones are underutilized and could be used to improve operations on another job site. Ultimately, removing underutilized machines from multiple job sites could mean creating the opportunity to bid more jobs overall and vastly increase your profits.
2) You will more accurately project hard costs (and trim the fat). Through monthly fleet utilization reports and model statistics that provide fuel usage and machine hours for each of your machines, you will be able to more accurately project fuel costs, machine upkeep, maintenance and labor for jobs you plan to bid.
3) You will be able to avoid costly underbidding. Bidding is a competitive process, and you want to be one of the lowest bids to ensure you get an initial meeting. However, underbidding and then having a job fall behind due to a machine going down can mean the job costs money instead of creating profit. With ActiveCare Direct, you will not only be able to accurately give your customers the lowest bid for the job and reduce overhead, but will also be able to provide customers more value through a guarantee that your job will stay on track. Because of machine alerts provided through ActiveCare Direct, you can predict when your machines need attention before they go down.
Learn more about how ActiveCare Direct can improve your business by contacting your local dealer or visiting volvoce.com/ActiveCareDirect.