Clearview National May 2016 - Issue 174 | Page 107

INSTALLERSUPPORT

Putting Online
Bidding in Reverse
The YouKwoteMe.com website has been designed
to stop the current speculation in relation to the
submission of feedback and to solve the issues related
to traders paying for leads from people that do
not exist (or are simply looking for an estimate).
»»DESIGNED BY PASCAL BAPTISTA, A
professional that has worked in the
construction industry all his life and who truly
knows and understands how big organisations
operate, he has applied the same principles to
domestic clients and local builders.
“I’ve been working in construction for
over 15 years now. Looking back, I was
always surrounded by mechanisms where the
selection process for main contractors had been
developed for what is now a 2 stage process.

‘When Clients list their
jobs online, they have
30 days to decide if they
want to go ahead or not’
“The first one is what we call the prequalification process. This is basically a quality,
financial health and capacity on a written
‘questions and answers’ assessment of the
organisation. Also, as part of this process,
the same companies are subject to additional
credit checks, historical growth, financial
stability, health and safety performances,
rules and policies, experience and any other
category that may be relevant to the work to
be carried out.
“The second process does vary depending
on clients and projects but it ultimately
becomes an assessment of having the right
balance between time, cost and quality. This
is basically when a quote is submitted, as the
quality aspects were assessed at the first stage.
“We are now left with time and cost. In
general, these last two are directly linked and
can have a huge influence on the final quote.
“We have replicated these processes
built-in the website, all in a unique location.
traders undergo an initial checking process to
determine if they qualify for the YouKwoteMe.

com Approved trader Stamp. This process
includes the collection of credentials, credit,
past work done and any other relevant
experience and feedback collected. From this
point, clients can be assured that our Approved
traders meet minimum standards. The second
step, ‘Pricing’, depends entirely on the client
and the quality of information provided to the
traders when the job is listed.
“There are many websites out there,
some of them have actually created a strong
foundation. But there are issues such as
missing the point when trying to sell leads
based on a text message; traders going through
the checking process and receiving feedback
but with no guarantee they will ‘win’ the job,
receiving a call or finding out the reasons for
losing a job due to lack of communication
from the client.
“Again, with YouKwoteMe.com the
loop is fully closed. traders will receive
jobs notifications, view jobs online with a
combination of text, pictures and documents,
once they’re at a job and want to do the job,
this is when they make the bookings online
and start to reverse bid or submit quotes via
the YouKwoteme.com website.
“When clients list their jobs online,
they have 30 days to decide if they want to
go ahead or not. Once works starts, both
traders and Users are protected with the
YouKwoteMe.com contract. This contract
is very simple and can be summarised in
one line, ‘Do the works in accordance with
best practices whilst following manufacturer
instructions and as stated in the job detail’.
Every construction step can be recorded in
the Daily Diary Log showing progress with a
combination of text and photos.
“Any time there is a change, two boxes are
completed stating details of the change, if
it has a cost/time impact, how much it will
cost and how long it will take. Once this is

submitted the client receives a notification
and if approved the works can proceed with
the change. This simple process makes it clear
to both parties. At the end, there is a two-way
feedback rating where not only can the clients
dictate which traders can bid on their jobs
but it gives the opportunity for traders to give
their thoughts about the client (which will
later influence the way future jobs are priced).
In addition, the handover documentation, the
operations and maintenance manuals, Health
and Safety files can be saved online for future
references. When there is a disagreement
between client and trader, they can raise a
Dispute. If the issue remains open for more
than 30 days or needs escalating, we will assist
in helping to resolve the problem.”

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