October 17, 2024
In the bidding and estimating process, efficiency is everything. Estimators need tools that fit seamlessly into their workflow—not systems that create extra work or roadblocks. This is where traditional CRMs and Excel spreadsheets, despite their strengths, ultimately fall short.
CRMs can be incredibly useful for tracking follow-ups, but they’re another system, another login, and a whole other step in an already complex process. For estimators, whose workflow includes managing take-offs, preparing estimating spreadsheets, and pulling together proposals from Word documents, adding a CRM into the mix feels more like a chore than a solution. It’s disconnected from their day-to-day work, requiring extra effort and time to keep data updated.
On the other hand, Excel offers simplicity. It’s easy to learn, highly customizable, and makes tracking activity straightforward. You can log last steps, plan next steps, and keep a clear overview of what’s going on. But here's the problem: Excel isn’t part of an integrated system. Estimators have to juggle multiple files—take-offs, job proposals, and other documents—while trying to track progress in Excel. This system switching drains productivity, and eventually, updating spreadsheets gets de-prioritized.
When updating CRMs or Excel becomes an afterthought, the data quickly becomes unreliable. If you can't trust your data, it becomes impossible to make informed decisions about future bids, estimate success rates, or even track how effective your team’s follow-up is.
RhinoDox takes a different approach. By integrating data tracking directly into the bidding and proposal workflow, RhinoDox eliminates the need to switch between systems. Estimators can manage bids, update project details, and pull insights from the same platform they're already using to do the work. Instead of data updates being a separate task, they become a natural part of the workflow—keeping everything accurate and up-to-date. RhinoDox offers the simplicity of Excel with the intelligence of a CRM, without requiring estimators to do double work or leave their comfort zone.
Automated tasks and follow-ups can often get lost—either filtered out in email or buried in noise, making them easy to ignore. Instead, RhinoDox keeps critical client contact details—including phone numbers, emails, and other information—organized and easily accessible (like a CRM). These details can be quickly pulled into a table and exported for email or call lists, ensuring you always have the right info at the right time.
Summary of Pros and Cons:
Excel:
Pros: Easy to learn, highly customizable, straightforward activity tracking.
Cons: Not integrated, requires system switching, data becomes unreliable over time.
CRMs:
Pros: Great for tracking follow-ups, keeps client information organized.
Cons: Another system to manage, disconnected from estimators' workflow, requires extra effort to update.
RhinoDox:
Pros: Integrated directly into bidding workflow, combines simplicity of Excel with CRM functionality, reduces system switching, keeps data accurate and up-to-date.
Cons: Learning a new system might require initial time investment.
Weighing these options makes it clear that RhinoDox provides the best of both worlds without the downsides of traditional CRMs or Excel.
The result? No more juggling multiple systems. No more outdated spreadsheets. Just a streamlined process that allows estimators to focus on what they do best—crafting winning bids.
