Common Courtesy Is Not That Common

I'm not really one to rant, but I will forewarn you that this post is rant-like. I'd like to think that this is an issue that transcends the construction industry. I'm sure that it does.

O.K., picture this. We are asked by a potential client who shall remain unnamed to provide a bid for an office renovation. We don't bid a lot of work, but this project was different for us and in a good part of town, so we decided to accept.

We visited the site, sent drawings out to our subcontractors, did quantity take-offs, compiled bids, sorted through addenda, asked clarifying questions, and provided the most competitive bid we could on the day the bid was due. Pretty standard. This "standard" takes us an average of 40 man-hours.

This bid was submitted about three and a half weeks ago. I have followed up three or four times with the client with no response. I have called the architect. I have even gone so far as to call one of the other bidders (who happens to be a friend of mine; the commercial construction world is quite small) to see if he had heard anything. He had not.

Which leads me to the notion that Common Courtesy Is Not That Common. We understand that we cannot win every project, nor do we expect to, but I do not think it is too much to ask for a reply. "Dear Nate, you were too high. Thanks for your efforts." This, while not being ideal, would suffice.

There are very few other professions where people are asked to spend this amount of time, completely uncompensated, for the mere chance of obtaining work. (This is another topic that I will cover in the near future.) But that is the bid world in construction. However, to not have the courtesy of a response, either in the affirmative, or the negative, is difficult, and is not how business should be conducted. If this were the first time that we had experienced this, I would chalk it up to some cataclysmic event that prevented this client from responding, but unfortunately, it is not, which leads me to the title.

Thank you for indulging the rant. I promise the next topic will be more positive.