Avoiding Complacency: Essential Tips for Accurate Electrical Estimating

You’ve estimated a thousand projects. When you read the specifications you gather pertinent information in half the time that it would take the other guys. You don’t just review the drawings, you visualize everything in 3D, and you can already hear what the Project Manager and Foreman will say when they take a look. You can ballpark budgets, and you get pretty darn close. You don’t really need to do the takeoff, you can just plug an average per device and you’ll get close enough. This ain’t your first rodeo, after all.  

You’ve become complacent. You know your methods and you’ve got a vast array of experience, so why rock the boat? At some point, however, that complacency will lead to problems.

Table of Сontents

1. Overconfidence and Errors
2. Missed Opportunities
3. If You’re Not Growing, You’re Dying
4. Getting Out of Complacency

Overconfidence and Errors

Imagine you are working on a bid recently and received a quote that looked particularly good–too good. In fact, it looked like it could help me win my bid because it was actually too low. After requesting the vendor to review their numbers, the representative got back to you and said, “We know that this is a complicated scope, but we are confident that we are fully covered. You can trust our proposal.” Just a few hours later, the same vendor calls to reveal that over 60% of the scope was missed, and the original quote was significantly lower than required. An allowance is offered to cover the error, illustrating how quickly overconfidence can result in costly mistakes and the need for humility in estimation practices.

When confidence turns into arrogance, small, careless mistakes often follow. It’s easy to believe that experience makes one immune to rookie errors or unexpected problems. Yet overconfidence has a way of creeping in and reinforcing false certainty. Practicing humility is far better than being forced to acknowledge — or pay for — preventable mistakes. Complacency frequently walks hand in hand with overconfidence, arrogance, and inattention to detail.

Missed Opportunities

Similarly, our complacency can lead us to being too confident in our position with clients. Perhaps your firm enjoys a close partnership with a particular client. When they need something, you are their go-to guy. Other electricians know that they’re at a disadvantage if you’ve been invited to bid. Your client trusts you so much that your understanding of the scope drives the bid form. Your client asks you questions to make sure that they are properly leveling all of their quotes. 

But what happens when you grow complacent in that relationship? Perhaps you begin to ignore an email here and there. “Ah, I’ll get back to them when I have more time.” Then you ignore a few bid invites. “I’ve already got a lot of work with these guys anyway.” Now you ignore a few important customer-service complaints. “They need me for this kind of work. Where else will they go?” 

A few missed opportunities here and there add up quickly. This complacency and expectancy for work can quickly turn a wonderful client into a disgruntled one. It has been said that there is a fine line between love and hate, and clients are subject to these emotions just like anyone else.

If You’re Not Growing, You’re Dying

When we grow complacent, we are typically resting on a plateau of some sort. Perhaps it is a plateau with a client, or a vendor, or our own skill. In any event, complacency means you are on cruise control. It is possible to ride a plateau for quite some time, but the path of least resistance on a plateau is not forward–it is backward. 

Growing in the electrical industry, especially in the office setting, often means adopting new technologies. Electrical theory is largely set (although we`re sure there are some interesting theories that are revolutionizing how we deliver energy to our clients). Electrical installations are constantly growing, and while the means and methods are increasingly optimized and improved, the basic idea of getting energy from a source to a device has remained largely unchanged. For estimators, the industry has seen a marked shift from a highlighter and pad approach of takeoff to onscreen takeoff–utilizing computer software to optimize electrical takeoff.

Getting Out of Complacency

There are some notable onscreen takeoff softwares available to the electrical estimator. If you’re not currently using one, this is an easy area where you can begin to break out of your complacency. Digital onscreen takeoff allows for greater accuracy and detail in your approach to a bid, and most estimators can get the hang of these relatively quickly–besides, your competition is likely already using this software anyway.

Want to get ahead of the competition? AI-based estimating software is on the cutting-edge of technology, and electrical contractors are learning how to utilize it in their bids. Drawer AI is a software that allows the user to count devices with great accuracy, much faster than a human can. It is also capable of running branch (and quickly re-running branch if new information becomes available). More advancements are in the works, and electrical contractors are reaping the rewards. Get started today with Drawer AI by scheduling a consultation here.