Jody Shilan, Editor

Throughout my career I have never been one to participate in the bidding process. I know that for many landscape contractors "bidding" is a very successful business model, but clearly less so these days.

In today's economy "bidding" is almost a guaranteed way to not make money considering how many contractors are willing to participate. Personally, I have always found design/build to be more enjoyable and profitable than bid/build (as it is frequently referred to) and I have spent my entire career in this arena.

So why do I say bid is a four letter word? It's not because I can't count or have some disorder. It's because the word bid is constantly used "inappropriately" by home owners and contractors alike. So I have decided to go on a personal crusade to stop the term from being misused and abused and will wash someone's mouth out with soap the next time I hear it used incorrectly. I mean it! I have a bar of "Irish Spring" in my truck just for the occasion. I figure Irish Spring has to taste really bad.

When I have a potential client say to me, "Hey Jody we want you to give us a bid to do some landscaping". You know what I say right back to them? "Oh yeah, bid you buddy"! And it's not just because I am from New Jersey.

Before I go much further I should probably clarify things a little. In construction and manufacturing, the term "bid" actually refers to the process whereby "the exact same set of drawings and construction details are provided to multiple contractors for the sole purpose of receiving comparable pricing for the exact same project". In other words: Here is a drawing of what I want you to build; Here are the exact materials and specifications I want you to use; How much will you charge?

This is a far cry from our typical scenario where 3 (or more) contractors create their own plan, determine their own materials and provide their own estimate or proposal for the installation of their unique creation. Your clients are comparing different projects at different prices and ultimately can't tell who is providing them with a better price or better project. In reality bidding is not the same thing as an estimate, proposal, contract or design.

So why is it that contractors and home owners use the words "bid and estimate" interchangeably when I have just shown that they are completely different processes. The simple reason is that nobody really thinks about this and truthfully we are as guilty as the home owners are for perpetuating this problem. Therefore because our own industry does not distinguish one from the other it creates the illusion that clients are comparing actual "bids" when in fact they are not.

Once you recognize that this is a real problem, you can start to educate yourself and your clients and recognize that the bidding process is not necessarily the best way to approach landscape design and construction. Let me show you how.

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