Most structural and misc metals work goes to shops the GC already trusts. You get on that list with proof before the bid: your scope, your welding codes, your finished jobs.
GCs invite the fab shops they used last time. A new shop has no way in until an estimator can check its scope and record.
Invites from BuildingConnected and PlanHub pile up, and the ones you skip read as no interest. Estimators stop sending them.
Plan rooms and builders exchanges show the public jobs everyone bids. Private work and OEM parts never reach them.
A week of RFQs at a sample fab shop. The boards stay with the estimator. The pages bring in the repeat parts that never reach them.
Example, Quenby Steel Works, a sample steel fabrication shop, one week of leads. A shared lead, Stair package, Elm Yard clinic: 3 others reach it first and priced in is 46h. Went to the low number. Quenby’s was the fourth price in. A lead from its own page, Bracket run, 400 pieces: priced in 1h 30m. No bid list. An OEM buyer asked Quenby. Priced the same day, a repeat run with no GC in between. The week before, Two bid logins and a shop email: 13 rfqs, priced in 39h 14m on average, 5 lost, 2 awarded, cost per awarded job $225. The week after, One queue for direct RFQs: 17 rfqs, priced in 10h 30m on average, 2 lost, 5 awarded, cost per awarded job $206. Eleven fab shops on the sample invite above. Boards stay with the estimator. Direct RFQs sorted.
One queue for direct RFQs
Bracket run, 400 piecesOEM parts pages
No bid list. An OEM buyer asked QuenbyPrequal request, warehouseGC, Prequal page
Laser parts, 60 gussetsOEM, OEM parts pages
Boards stay with the estimator. Direct RFQs sorted
Theo M.555-0157
400 of these brackets a quarter, 3/16 steel, powder coat. Drawing attached. Can you quote?
Quenby Steel Works: Hi Theo, Nora has your drawing and will price the run. OK to text you here? Reply STOP to opt out.
Priced in 1h 30m
Priced the same day, a repeat run with no GC in between.
Elm Yard bids
Misc metals: two egress stairs, rails and lintels. Drawings attached. Bids due Wednesday.
| Source | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| BuildingConnected | –Estimator’s login | –Stays with the estimator |
| Builders exchange | $150Estimator’s email | $150Stays with the estimator |
| Prequal page | –A shop email | $360Queue, sorted by buyer |
| OEM parts pages | $180A shop email | $173Queue, sorted by buyer |
| All sources | $225Eleven fab shops on the sample invite above | $206Boards stay with the estimator. Direct RFQs sorted |
Sample spend, not a vendor’s price.
Lead generation feeds Lead for a fab shop: GCs, engineers and OEM buyers who can check you out before they send the package.
Everything that gets you a lead.
More people find you and reach out.
Turn interest into a sale.
More of them say yes, and you never chase.
Keep the job moving.
Jobs run on time, with less of you managing them.
What happens after the job.
Finished work brings in the next job.
Feed it back into the machine.
Every finished job helps bring the next lead.
Then it starts again.
CRM: Customers, conversations, bookings, jobs and employee tasks in one place, across all five.
A site that shows capabilities, materials and tolerances, with an RFQ form that takes drawings.
Capability and material pages that come up when buyers search custom fabrication near me.
Answers on materials, tolerances and lead times that AI tools quote to a buyer.
An RFQ page that takes drawings, with a capabilities sheet to download.
Parts and projects you shipped, posted on LinkedIn where buyers look.
An AI agent checks each RFQ for material, quantity and due date before it reaches you.
A missed call from a buyer gets a text back and a call back from the shop.
RFQ reviews and shop visits book into the estimator’s calendar.
Every RFQ with its drawings on one dashboard, by due date.
After each order ships, buyers get asked for a review and who else buys parts.
Past buyers hear about new capabilities and open shop time.
PostHog shows which capability pages buyers read before they send an RFQ.
Session replay shows the buyer who tried to upload a drawing and gave up.
Each month you see RFQs in, quotes sent and orders won.
Every RFQ reaches one dashboard, and JobBOSS² stays.
What we buildBid invites and RFQs land in one tracked list, not three inboxes.
You stop pricing jobs that were never coming your way.
More GCs and OEM buyers can find and check your shop before they invite.
Free website
Plans from $1,500 a month.
You always keep your name, logo, photos, copy and domain. We keep the code and the system behind the site.
$1,500 a month
No lead lost.
Not in this plan
Every lead answered and booked, and we keep it running.
$4,000 a month
Every stage handled.
Starts hereUnlimited landing pages and lead magnets
Everything in Automated, and we run every stage for you.
No AI brain or agents of your own.
$7,500 a month
We run the whole cycle.
IncludedUnlimited landing pages and lead magnets
Everything in Automated, plus us working it and building on it.
Ad budgets and paid software stay on your accounts. Designed image and video posts start once you’re comfortable with AI drafts.
For glaziers and miscellaneous metals subs: GC prequalification, BuildingConnected, PlanHub, The Blue Book and what an estimator checks first.
Pick the markets your shop suits, show proof a buyer can check, and test Thomasnet with numbers. A plain plan for fabrication shop owners.
What engineers and purchasing buyers look for before they send an RFQ: materials, tolerances, drawing formats, certifications and lead times.
Get known before the bid: a prequal page an estimator can check, steady contact with the GCs and engineers you want, and every quote followed up. Public bids through builders exchanges add volume, at a price fight.
Register in SAM.gov for federal work and on your state’s bid portal, then watch for structural and misc metals packages. Public work often carries prevailing wage and certified payroll, so price both in.
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