How to win profitable electrical contracts thanks to estimating software

Ensign’s mission for the last 42 years (and counting) has been to connect contractors to profit and the company says it has been very successful in doing so. In fact, a recent client survey identified that 95% of its users increased the profitability of their jobs. The newly released Ensign X looks to build on this achievement by combining automated take-off with best-in-class estimating.

The profit an electrical contractor makes on a job is locked in at the quotation stage – not on site – therefore, ensuring your estimate is as accurate as possible is a must. It’s incredibly easy to make simple mistakes when manually quoting a job, whether you miss something in your take-off or accidentally count one of those 300mm trapeze hangers more than once – classic.

Human error is one element of a potential loss-making quotation, another is using out of date pricing. Keeping your business successful isn’t possible without making a profit on every job you undertake, but miscalculations and oversights can lead to your margins being eroded. It’s too late to try to claw back margin when you’ve gone to site so it’s really important that you get it right at the estimate submission stage.

Software has been revolutionary in countless fields as time and technology have advanced, and the electrical contracting sector is no different. With the wide range of high-quality digital tools on the market today, pricing jobs with a 2B pencil and crossing your fingers that everything will be correct is an outdated approach. That’s where Ensign X comes in.

Specifically designed to help you constantly produce accurate and profitable electrical estimates, Ensign X is packed with innovative features that make human errors a thing of the past:

•  PDF Background Removal – With a single click, you can remove all of the irrelevant information on a drawing and you’re left with what actually matters.

You’ll no longer need to be a Where’s

Wally veteran in order to ensure you haven’t missed a symbol. •  Symbol Auto-Counting – Imagine only having to count one symbol and, in turn, every other symbol is automatically counted. Once you’ve identified one symbol on the drawing, the software will automatically take care of the rest for you with unrivalled accuracy. •  Intelligent Assemblies – To help you price jobs with immense speed and accuracy you can create pre-set assemblies that include every necessary component and price a job effortlessly.

For example, imagine you’re measuring some 300mm cable tray – with Ensign

X with every click not only would you be measuring and pricing the tray, but also the bends, couplers, and supports that come with it. •  Seamless Drawing Revision

Management – Life is never straightforward and unexpected changes are around every corner. This is no different for electrical contractors who know drawings can change significantly. Now with Ensign X, any existing take-off from a previous drawing is carried over to the new one, allowing for easy adjustments to be made, and your time being saved.

Competition is fierce for electrical contractors these days so its mightily important that your vital business practices are as efficient as possible. Estimating is where your money is made, therefore it would be a very rewarding idea to ensure that this step of the quotation process receives a lot of thought and potentially some investment. Take-off and estimating software could be the key for you to stay ahead of the rest and take your business to the next level, so why wait?

Ensign, ensignonline.co.uk

Ensign X is packed with innovative features that make human errors a thing of the past