See Why You’re Winning and Losing Bids
BuildFolio’s Win/Loss Analytics tracks every bid outcome. Know your close rate, top loss reasons, and how pricing affects your win rate.
Quick Answer
BuildFolio tracks whether you won or lost each bid, why you lost (price, timing, competition, etc.), and analyzes patterns over time. Use this data to adjust pricing, improve follow-up, and focus on job types you win more often.
Why track bid outcomes?
Most contractors send estimates and never look back. They don’t know their close rate. They don’t know why they lose jobs. They can’t improve what they don’t measure.
The guessing problem
Without outcome tracking, you’re guessing about critical questions:
- What’s my close rate? Is 30% good or bad for my trade?
- Why do I lose jobs? Price? Timing? Competition? Trust?
- Which job types do I win most? Should I focus on kitchens or bathrooms?
- Is my pricing right? Am I leaving money on the table or pricing too high?
The invisible leak
A contractor with a 25% close rate who could improve to 30% would win 20% more jobs with the same lead flow. That’s real revenue—but without tracking, you’d never know the opportunity exists.
How Win/Loss Analytics works
Tracking outcomes in BuildFolio takes seconds per estimate:
Send Estimate
Quote the job as normal
Mark Outcome
Won, Lost, or No Response
Tag Reason
Why you won or lost
Analyze
See patterns over time
Three outcome types
- Won: Customer accepted, job is booked
- Lost: Customer went with someone else or declined
- No Response: Customer never responded (ghost)
Don’t forget “No Response”
“Ghost” leads are a separate category from true losses. High ghost rates often indicate a follow-up problem, not a pricing problem. Tracking them separately reveals different issues.
Common loss reasons
When you mark a bid as lost, BuildFolio prompts you to tag the reason. Common loss reasons include:
Custom reasons
You can also create custom loss reasons specific to your business. If “financing fell through” or “HOA rejected” are common in your market, add them as trackable reasons.
Win reasons too
Don’t just track losses—track why you win. Common win reasons include:
- Best price: You were the lowest or best value
- Fastest response: First to call back wins
- Reputation/reviews: They chose you because of reviews
- Referral: Someone recommended you
- Professionalism: Your presentation stood out
Analytics dashboard
BuildFolio aggregates your outcome data into actionable insights:
Close Rate Over Time
Track your win rate by week, month, or quarter. See if you’re improving or declining. Compare to industry benchmarks.
Loss Reason Breakdown
Pie chart of why you lose. If 60% of losses are “price too high,” that’s a pricing signal. If 40% are “no response,” that’s a follow-up problem.
Win Rate by Price Point
See your close rate at different price ranges. Maybe you close 45% of $5K jobs but only 20% of $25K jobs—useful for targeting.
Seasonal Patterns
Some trades see higher close rates in certain seasons. Analytics reveal when customers are most ready to buy.
Segmentation
Slice your data by:
- Job type: Close rate for roofing vs siding vs gutters
- Lead source: Which marketing channels produce best close rates
- Sales rep: If you have a team, compare performance
- Property type: Residential vs commercial close rates
How contractors use Win/Loss Analytics
Pricing optimization
A remodeler discovers 65% of losses cite “price too high.” But when she looks at close rate by price point, she wins 50% at $15K and only 15% at $35K. She adjusts her target market—or raises prices on small jobs where she’s leaving money on the table.
Follow-up improvement
An HVAC contractor sees 40% of his “losses” are actually “no response.” He implements a 3-touch follow-up sequence and reduces ghosts by half. His overall close rate jumps from 28% to 35%.
Lead source evaluation
A roofer compares close rates by source: Angi leads close at 18%, Google leads at 32%, referrals at 55%. He shifts budget from Angi to Google and doubles down on referral programs.
Trade focus
A general contractor tracks outcomes by project type. Kitchens: 40% close rate. Bathrooms: 25%. Additions: 20%. He focuses marketing on kitchens where he wins more.
Data-driven decisions
The contractors who track outcomes make decisions based on data, not gut feel. Over time, small improvements compound into significant revenue gains.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to mark an outcome?
About 5 seconds. When a job is won or lost, you click the outcome and optionally select a reason. That’s it. The value comes from consistency—mark every estimate.
What’s a good close rate for contractors?
Industry averages range from 20-35% depending on trade, lead source, and market. Premium contractors often close 40%+. Low close rates (<20%) usually indicate pricing, follow-up, or targeting issues.
Should I track losses even if I don’t know why?
Yes. Mark the outcome even if you’re not sure of the reason. Use “Unknown” or “No Response” as a category. Incomplete data is still valuable for calculating close rates.
How do I find out why I lost?
Ask. When a customer goes silent or chooses another contractor, a quick call or text can reveal the reason. “I understand you went another direction—mind if I ask why? It helps me improve.” Most people will tell you.
Can I track win/loss for my team?
Yes. If you have multiple estimators or sales reps, you can track outcomes by rep. This helps identify training needs and compare performance.
How much data do I need before analytics are useful?
You’ll start seeing patterns after 20-30 tracked estimates. The more data, the more reliable the insights. After 100+ estimates, you’ll have statistically meaningful patterns.
Does this integrate with Profit Intelligence?
Yes. For won jobs, you can see not just that you won, but what margin you made. This reveals whether you’re winning profitable jobs or just busy work.
Can I export the data?
Yes. Export all outcome data to CSV for further analysis in Excel or share with your accountant.
Related Resources
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