7 Reasons Virtual Bid Openings Are Better Than Traditional Openings

7 Reasons Virtual Bid Openings Are Better Than Traditional Openings

Advanced new technology is changing the way everybody works, perhaps none more so than the construction industry as a whole. Something that’s rapidly digitizing is the virtual opening of bid proposals. Out of necessity, many project owners have switched to conducting bid openings via webinar formats within online bid rooms. Here are 7 reasons why digital bid openings are going to work better for you than traditional openings.

1. Virtual Openings Save Time

Back in the day, project owners would publicly advertise construction projects in newspapers, on flyers, and through other printed formats. Then interested bidders would fill out their bids, seal, and submit them. After this relatively tedious process, the project owner would hold a public bid opening. The bidders who were the most interested would go to the opening in person, and they would wait for all the bids to be opened, analyzed by actual people—not software programs—to ensure that everything was correct, and then the owner would finally award the project to the best bidder. That process isn’t just long in practice; it even takes a while to write it out!

Virtual openings cut out the bulk of these steps without sacrificing crucial bid information and accuracy. If anything, they actually make the bidding process more accessible. With virtual bidding, it’s much faster to fill out bid proposals, submit them, and conduct bid openings. Bidders also don’t have to waste time attending in-person openings. Instead, all contractors and owners have to do is sit in their offices or homes and conduct the opening virtually.

The result of many traditional bid openings was the failure of all bidders to submit information correctly or for bids to be too high. These blunders were frustrating for owners and contractors and necessitated a rebid, which only wasted additional time and money. Is there a way to reduce the chances of a rebid?

No surprise here: there is! With virtual bidding, powerful software programs ensure that all bid forms are pre-validated, thus reducing the risk of human error. The software sniffs out mistakes big and small to bring them to a bidder’s attention before proposal submission. Ultimately, this case is one of technology simply making things more efficient.

3. Avoid Contractor Embarrassment

No one likes feeling embarrassed, especially publicly so. Traditional bid openings caused many contractors to feel shame, either because they made simple mistakes or were outbid by competitors. No need to trudge all the way to an opening just for a very public letdown.

Virtual bid openings almost completely remove those awkward moments from the bidding process. The aforementioned risk of making mistakes is reduced significantly with digital bidding. Plus, there’s a much lower chance of embarrassment for the contractor if they don’t win the bid. You simply click to leave the meeting, and that’s the end of it. No more having to look at disapproving glances from owners and the smug grins of the contractor who won.

It’s inevitable for questions to arise during bid openings. However, with virtual bid openings, questions can be answered more accurately since it’s much easier for the people answering to access information. Plus, responses come much faster than in regular bid openings. Don’t leave opening attendees with unanswered questions. Conduct your opening virtually and answer questions quickly and precisely without the hang-ups that come with an in-person process.

Additionally, all bidders can see questions at the same time. Once someone has asked or posted a question in the virtual room, every bidder can see exactly what they’ve asked and the answer to the question. Making such information centrally available simplifies openings for all parties.

5. Confirmation that All Plan Holders Have Received the Addendum 

It's important for all plan holders to be notified of an addendum. Historically, bid openings made it difficult for holders to get information about an addendum. It could quite literally be lost in the mail. With virtual bid openings, it’s simple and fast to notify plan holders of addenda. Keep everyone on the same page with digital bid openings and automated alerts.

There’s a lot of information for bidders to download and many moving parts to manage. It can be difficult for project owners to keep track of who has downloaded what. With digital openings, though, powerful software gives owners the ability to confirm that all bidders have downloaded every piece of relevant information and documents. This feature saves time and reduces frustration during bid openings.

No project can move forward until bid bonds have been secured. Owners can confirm that all bid bonds have been secured during a virtual opening. Instead of wondering if this issue has been settled, move your bid opening to an online platform and get bid bonds under control. This move doubles as a failsafe for contractors, removing the possibility of missing some bonds.

Key Takeaways

Traditional bid openings worked well for a long time. But there’s a much better way to conduct openings in this modern world. Virtual bid openings have numerous benefits, seven of which include:

• Saving time
• Reducing the chances of a rebid
• Less public embarrassment
• Better, quicker question responses
• Addendum reception confirmation
• Confirmation that every bidder has downloaded all information
• Peace of mind that all bid bonds have been secured

Here’s a table for you to compare the two types of bid openings:  

If you’re a project owner who still insists on the old way of opening bids, consider the benefits of switching to virtual bid openings. It might not seem like the old way of doing things can be changed, but it’s extremely easy to switch to virtual bidding. Make life easier for yourself and others with virtual openings.